Institues of Christian religion - Calvin - V - Chapters 6, 7 & 8 of Book 1

Required reading
Institutes of Christian religion by John Calvin (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapters 6, 7 & 8 of Book 1.

My summary
Now that Calvin has established that general revelation does not produce worship of God in sinful man, in Chapter Six Calvin demonstrates the need for special revelation: '...we shall adduce many passages from the New Testament, and some also from the Law and the Prophets, in which express mention is made of Christ, the only object will be to show that God, the Maker of the world, is manifested to us in Scripture, and his true character expounded, so as to save us from wandering up and down, as in a labyrinth, in search of some doubtful deity.'

Then in Chapter Seven Calvin clearly states that the testimony of the Spirit is what leads us to accept the authority of Scripture, not the church or reason: 'Nothing, therefore can be more absurd than the fiction, that the power of judging Scripture is in the Church, and that on her nod its certainty depends.'

However, in Chapter Eight Calvin does outline how reason helps our recognition of the authority of Scripture.  For example we see God's handiwork in:
(i) the elegance of the Scriptures;
(ii) the miracles recorded of those who wrote the Scriptures;
(iii) the consent of the church on the Scriptures;
(iv) the blood of the martyrs in dying because of the Scriptures.

What grabbed me
I loved this description of the Scriptures: 'For it is wonderful how much we are confirmed in our belief, when we more attentively consider how admirably the system of divine wisdom contained in it is arranged—how perfectly free the doctrine is from every thing that savours of earth—how beautifully it harmonises in all its parts—and how rich it is in all the other qualities which give an air of majesty to composition. Our hearts are still more firmly assured when we reflect that our admiration is elicited more by the dignity of the matter than by the graces of style. For it was not without an admirable arrangement of Providence, that the sublime mysteries of the kingdom of heaven have for the greater part been delivered with a contemptible meanness of words. Had they been adorned with a more splendid eloquence, the wicked might have cavilled, and alleged that this constituted all their force. But now, when an unpolished simplicity, almost bordering on rudeness, makes a deeper impression than the loftiest flights of oratory, what does it indicate if not that the Holy Scriptures are too mighty in the power of truth to need the rhetorician’s art?'

What we hold in our hands is most certainly the word of God.

Next week's reading
Read Chapters 9, 10 & 11 of Book 1.

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