Institutes of the Christian Religion [Hardcover]

John Calvin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2007

Hendrickson offers a one-volume hardcover edition of one of Western Christianity's foundational works. Re-typeset into a clean and modern typeface, this edition is easy to read for the modern eye. This book will appeal to libraries, seminarians, pastors, and laypeople. Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin is an introduction to the Bible and a vindication of Reformation principles by one of the Reformation's finest scholars.

At the age of twenty-six, Calvin published several revisions of his Institutes of the Christian Religion, a seminal work in Christian theology that altered the course of Western history and that is still read by theological students today. It was published in Latin in 1536 and in his native French in 1541, with the definitive editions appearing in 1559 (Latin) and in 1560 (French). The book was written as an introductory textbook on the Protestant faith for those with some learning already and covered a broad range of theological topics from the doctrines of church and sacraments to justification by faith alone. It vigorously attacked the teachings of those Calvin considered unorthodox, particularly Roman Catholicism, to which Calvin says he had been "strongly devoted" before his conversion to Protestantism. The over-arching theme of the book--and Calvin's greatest theological legacy--is the idea of God's total sovereignty, particularly in salvation and election.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

John Calvin (1509-1564) was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and was a central developer of the system of Christian theology called Calvinism or Reformed theology. In Geneva he rejected the authority of the Pope, established a new scheme of civic and church governance, and created a central hub from which Reformed theology was propagated. He is renowned for his teachings and writings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1059 pages
• Publisher: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.; Revised edition (December 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1598561685
• ISBN-13: 978-1598561685
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 2.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (73 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #167,120 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #96 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Protestantism > Calvinist

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Poorly produced for the Kindle August 18, 2009

By C. Ramnaraine

Format:Kindle Edition

I bought this version of "Institutes" from Samizdat Express because it was only 99 cents, but it turned out to be a waste of 99 cents and a frustrating experience as well because this was not made for the Kindle which results in a poor and frustrating reading experience. (I admit I am starting to have a pet peeve against publishers who seemingly slap up thousands of works they have copied from the internet into the Kindle Store without putting any effort into formatting them correctly for the Kindle reader). Here are my complaints:
- The "active table of contents" really isn't. When you select "menu" on your Kindle, the "Table Of Contents" option is greyed out which prevents you from going back to the Table of Contents from wherever you are in the text. In a massive work like the "Institutes" with 4 books and dozens of chapters, this is a BIG deal.
- Calvin uses Greek text in "Institutes", but that is not displayed here. For some that may be important, but for others it may not be.
- Calvin has literally hundreds of footnotes in "Institutes" but they are not linked within the text. I.e. one can not click on a footnote within the text and go to that note. Other books do this which is one of the advantages of reading such a book on an e-reader (like the Kindle!)

So after that experience, I shelled out a few dollars more for the Signalman Publishing version and the version from Christian Classics. Both were professionally well done for the Kindle, thus I recommend one of those versions instead.

By the way, this is the Beveridge translation which, in my opinion, is much better than the Battles-McNeill translation since the language is truer to Calvin's original (and better reflects Calvin's hard hitting style, in my opinion).

105 of 109 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars On the translations October 13, 2008

By pbrane

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion is a classic. And the two most frequently suggested English translations seem to be the older Henry Beveridge translation and the newer John McNeill and Ford Lewis Battles translation. But it's hard for a layperson like me to know which English translation is "best." So for what it's worth, if anything, I thought the following quotations from Christian scholars might be helpful to some people:

1. Here's what Reformed Christian scholar and theological philosopher Paul Helm (who himself has studied and contributed several works on John Calvin) says:

"Incidentally, if you have the need of a translation of the Institutes, then the reissue of the Beveridge translation (newly published by Hendrickson) may be just the thing. It has new indexes, and has been 'gently edited', which means, I hope, only the removal of typos and other detritus. (I have not yet had the chance to check). Beveridge is superior to Battles in sticking closer to the original Latin, and having less intrusive editorial paraphernalia."

2. Here's another Calvin scholar, Richard A. Muller, on the two translations (from the preface of The Unaccommodated Calvin):

"I have also consulted the older translations of the Institutes, namely those of Norton, Allen and Beveridge, in view of both the accuracy of those translation and the relationship in which they stand to the older or 'precritical' text tradition of Calvin's original. Both in its apparatus and in its editorial approach to the text, the McNeill-Battles translation suffers from the mentality of the text-critic who hides the original ambience of the text even as he attempts to reveal all its secrets to the modern reader."

3. The following is from J.I.... Packer in the foreword to A Theological Guide to Calvin's Institutes:

"No English translation fully matches Calvin's Latin; that of the Elizabethan, Thomas Norton, perhaps gets closest; Beveridge gives us Calvin's feistiness but not always his precision; Battles gives us the precision but not always the punchiness, and fleetness of foot; Allen is smooth and clear, but low-key."

4. Finally, the following is from David Calhoun:

"Let me just say a few words about English translations. The first was Thomas Norton back in the sixteenth century. Calvin was very fortunate with his first English translator. Norton did an exceptionally good job. Very soon after the completion of the Institutes in 1559, which was written in Latin, it was translated by Calvin into French and then quite soon into English. John Allen was the second translator. John Allen and Henry Beveridge were both nineteenth-century translators. The Beveridge translation is still in print. It was until fairly recently anyway. Those are not bad but not very good either. Ford Lewis Battles' 1960 translation is the one that we are using. Even though it has been criticized some, it is by far the most superior translation that we have at present."

Once again, I hope this might be helpful to some people. Read more ›

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars This Translation is Often Overlooked September 17, 2005

By T. B. Vick

Format:Paperback

Unfortunately this translation of Calvin's 'Institutes' is often overlooked due to the more popular translation from Battles. However, this is an excellent translation of Calvin's most famous work and given its age (first published in 1845), it is surprisingly modern - due in part to this very edition which has been 'tweaked' into a more modern verbiage.

This 'tweaking' in no way has diminished, however, the wonderful job Beverage did in translating this work. From what I have been told by several Latin scholars and theologians, and having studied Latin myself, Calvin's Latin is not a walk in the park. That being the case, once you read this translation, you can see why Beverage did such a great job.

The one feature I like best about this translation is the fact that it is well footnoted for the researcher and reader. Therefore, this translation is well documented for further research into Calvin's thought. This also helps to clear up difficulties of translation (remember Calvin's Latin is very tough). At certain points in Calvin's work, his thought via a solid translation gets confusing for scholars, this edition has footnotes detailing these difficulties, and that makes for a better read.

Now, about Calvin's 'Institutes' This work is Calvin's Opus and gives the reader the best information regarding Calvin's thoughts on the Church and Church Government, Calvin's hermeneutic, Calvin's theology of God, Calvin's epistemology, Calvin's Soteriology, the benefits of the grace of Christ, his views on the Papacy (of his day), the Roman Catholic Church, the current state of Christendom, and much more. The interesting thing about this work (the Institutes), it is not Calvin's definitive work on the theology of predestination.... Calvin actually wrote several other works which deal only with that subject and present a far better assessment of his theology behind predestination (see Calvin's treatise titled "Concerning the Eternal Predestination of God," and Calvin's response to Pighius titled "The Bondage and Liberation of the Will.")

But, for the best overview of Calvin's thought on the Church and theology, the Institutes is the work to read. Beverage's translation is a great work. It is introduced by the reformed theologian John Murray, it has a general index in the back of the work, and reads very much in modern verbiage. I highly recommend this edition. Read more ›