After reading Mullers work on the way Calvins Institutes are supposed to be read in the context of his commentaries, and their relationship, I actually feel pretty good about this older piece. Once again: Calvin didnt intend for the Institutes to stand alone. He meant it to be a guide to the main message of Scripture as well as the place where he could enter into sustained discussion or engaged polemics over specific doctrinal issues. This focus enabled him to avoid bogging down his commentaries with such issues. In that sense they can stand alone. That said, as many times as he edited and reworked them, the Institutes dont exhaust his thought on any subject, or certainly on any text cited. For instance, if you think youre getting Calvin on the Decalogue by only reading the Institutes, youre missing out on the expanded treatments he gives to each command in his Harmony of the Law. Or for Calvins most beautiful meditations on the uniqueness and sufficiency of Christ, yes, the Institutes have some fabulous sections, but try engaging his work on the Christ hymn in Colossians 1:15-20 or on the Johannine discourses.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 18:34:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015