Calvin is there reason I am Presbyterian. I remember reading him in college and thinking that this man was not the cold Scholastic I thought he would be. In fact, reading John Calvin was like drinking Choclate Milk, smooth and sweet showing me beautiful vistas of God's goodness.
I will be reading a chapter or so a week and finish whenever I finish. I am not in a rush, I want to understand in a new way what this work is about and how Calvin does theology. I read the Institutes before seminary 10-12 years ago, now I hope to see new things as a pastor and father.
What is embarrassing is that I never have read the Prefatory before! But what a great historical work that is. Calvin writes this to the King of France as an exile pleading with the King that he and this movement are innocent of the charges being brought against them.
He addresses briefly the charge of schism and the authority of the Pope. I find this especially important in our modern world. Unity is prized in many circles, but the fact remains that people are divided in their own churches. So what then should the unity be based on? The Word being purely preached and the sacraments rightly practiced. There is the unity. Of course the follow up questions can be legion: What is the Gospel? How Pure? what is rightly? Are they sacraments or ordinances? However, I get the feeling that all of the Institutes are all about answering all these questions.
So my reading will be guided by that statement of Word and Sacrament and how that guides the Institutes.
