Tracts & Letters (Vol 2) - Calvin - V - Chapters 5 & 6

Required reading
Tracts and Letters (Volume 2) by John Calvin (Available from Amazon or free here).  Read Chapters V (Brief confession of faith) and VI (Confession of faith of the reformed churches of France).

My summary
This week we read two confessions from Calvin.

The first confession is a 'Brief form of a confession of faith' and reads more like a long creedal statement.  It hits the usual points of God, man, sin, Jesus, salvation and the church.

The second confession is much longer with thirty-nine chapters/articles.  It was written to inform the Emperor what the Reformed Churches of France believed and deals with the subjects of the trinity, scripture, the fall, original sin, salvation, good works, prayer, the church and sacraments.

What grabbed me
Calvin gave us a good one sentence summary of original sin: 'Moreover, we hold that original sin is a corruption spread over our senses and affections, so that right understanding and reason is perverted in us, and we are like poor blind persons in darkness, and the will is subject to all wicked desires, full of rebellion, and given up to evil ; in short, that we are poor captives held under the tyranny of sin ; not that in doing evil we are not pushed by our own will in such a way that we cannot throw our sins upon another, but because sprung of the cursed race of Adam, we have not one particle of strength to do well, and all our faculties are vicious.'

Not one particle of strength to do well.  So true.

Next week's reading
Read Chapter VII (Short treatise on the supper of our Lord).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.