An introduction to the preaching of John Calvin, showing how his preaching style developed out of the medieval tradition of preaching. The book covers Calvin's general theological rationale for preaching, his practice of preaching in Geneva, the progress of his preaching and the method and message of the sermons and their form and style. The author shows how his sermons and style influenced those of later preachers, particularly in the English language.

This is a full-scale life of the controversial Reformation leader and influential theologian. Even granted the present high level of biographical writing, it stands out. - CP Snow, Financial Times. John Calvin, the French Protestant theologian, had planned a life of quiet, scholarly study. But while travelling to Strasbourg in 1536, a local war forced him to make a detour through Geneva. Here he stayed, apart from a short period of exile, until the end of his life. His time in Geneva was marked by long, bitter struggles over the independence of the Church from the State and the rules Calvin tried to impose on Geneva as a whole. Calvin's reputation as a controversialist is strong even today. In this major biography, he is seen against the background of the turbulent times in which he lived. By putting Calvin in his context, the book brings to life the quiet, 'timid scholar' whose ideas took Europe by storm.

This volume contains John Calvin's commentary on chapters 11-21 of the Gospel of John and the First Epistle of John. Calvin, theologian par excellence of the Reformation, laid the foundation for all later Proestent exegesis of the Bible. Marked by an honest, careful handling of the text, Calvin's expositions of Scripture remain as "modern" as ever in their relevance to today's student.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

John Calvin was one of the most important leaders of the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation. In this revision of his major biography, T. H. L. Parker explores Calvin's achievement against the backdrop of the turbulent times in which he lived. With clear and concise explanations of Calvin's theology, analyses of his major works, and insights into his preaching, this definitive biography brings this crucially important reformer and his world to life for readers.

John Calvin (1509-64) was a key figure in what we now call the European Reformation; but his influence extends to the twentieth century, most notably through the theology of Karl Barth. Outstanding as biblical scholar, preacher and practical Church reformer, Calvin intended all his work to be service of the Word of God. Although couched in sixteenth-century terms, his theology drew on the wealth of previous Christian thinking and possesses an enduring quality which makes it relevant to the situation of the Church today. This book provides a solid and comprehensive introduction to the whole range of Calvin's theology. Concentrating on Calvin's major work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, it explains what he has to say to all Christians at all times. It leads readers through the text of the Institutes in a new and original way that will give them a serious sense of Calvin both as a Christian and as a thinker.

Calvin has always been regarded as one of the greatest biblical commentators in the history of the church. Now again available is this valuable and complete study of his Old Testament expositions - both written commentaries and lectures transcribed verbatim. The book begins by describing the composition and delivery of the expositions, as well as Calvin's preaching on the Old Testament. An explanation and discussion of Calvin's view on the relationship between the two Testaments and on the presence of Christ in the Old Testament follows. The volume concludes by showing how Calvin expounded the Old Testament: its history and narrative, the Law of moral imperative and ceremonial, and the Prophets in regard to both proclamation and apocalyptic.

This enlarged and revised edition of a much-acclaimed, full length study (1971) of Calvin's New Testament commentaries expounds upon Calvin's principles of interpretation. It considers early sixteenth-century hermeneutics and gives special emphasis to the reformers Melanchthon, Bucer, and Bullinger and to "rhetorical" interpretation. A chapter on Calvin's view of the New Testament canon leads to an extensive section on the Greek and Latin texts of the New Testament: the conclusion is that this basic Greek text for the earlier commentaries was not that of Erasmus but the Colinaean text of 1534. The final chapter shows Calvin at work on his commentaries and describes the sources he used for social, geographical, and linguistic understanding of the New Testament. Extensive bibliographies of Calvin's commentaries, as well as those of the relevant Greek and Latin Bibles and the classical patristic, medieval, and renaissance work in which he was indebted, complete this comprehensive study. Calvin emerges as the first great modern commentator and, above all, as the faithful minister of the Word of God.

This rare and important study of John Calvin's sermons gives a complete review of Calvin's preaching activity, purpose, method, and style. Included are the theological considerations that moved Calvin to preach the way he did; his view of the preacher's office, his duty, and the congregation's active participation; a historical account and the preservation of his preaching; Calvin's expository method and the way he applied scripture to the needs of the congregation; and the form of the sermons and the "familiar" style that was employed.

This volume offers a collection of works by important thinkers of the English Reformation.

Long recognized for the quality of its translations, introductions, explanatory notes, and indexes, the Library of Christian Classics provides scholars and students with modern English translations of some of the most significant Christian theological texts in history. Through these works--each written prior to the end of the sixteenth century--contemporary readers are able to engage the ideas that have shaped Christian theology and the church through the centuries.

John Calvin (1509-64) was a key figure in what we now call the European Reformation; but his influence extends to the twentieth century, most notably through the theology of Karl Barth. Outstanding as biblical scholar, preacher and practical Church reformer, Calvin intended all his work to be service of the Word of God. Although couched in sixteenth-century terms, his theology drew on the wealth of previous Christian thinking and possesses an enduring quality which makes it relevant to the situation of the Church today. This book provides a solid and comprehensive introduction to the whole range of Calvin's theology. Concentrating on Calvin's major work, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, it explains what he has to say to all Christians at all times. It leads readers through the text of the Institutes in a new and original way that will give them a serious sense of Calvin both as a Christian and as a thinker.