5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm glad I read another biography first..., January 23, 2005
This review is from: John Calvin (Men of Faith) (Paperback)
John Calvin is a pivotal character in Protestant Church history. The bio on the cover says that "after Ausgustine" he is one of the most important theologians. I wasn't certain whether this was literally 'after' or 'in the footsteps of...' both standpoints being partly true.
Certainly, Calvin's exegetical methodology in writing commentaries is examined later in this book, and having looked at both Augustine's allegorising and Calvin's systematic approach, I would have to say that Calvin doesn't really follow "after Augustine" in this sense!
I recommend, prior to reading this, you get your hands on a copy of "Man of Geneva" from Banner of Truth. It is most likely out of print. But it is in chronological order, less thematic, and has a slightly less academic approach.
Good bibliography, good timeline, but an index would have been handy.
Altogether - 5 out of 5. Thoroughly recommended.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good place to start, if..., December 13, 2009
This review is from: John Calvin (Men of Faith) (Paperback)
I agree with the previous reviewer that this is a very good biography of Calvin's life. However, the book is not chronological, and it jumps around by themes in Calvin's life. This makes reading and referencing the material quite difficult. This is a good place to start reading Calvin if you have a chronological view or timeline of his life handy.
Overall, Lindner does a good job of providing a balanced view of Calvin's life. He avoids some of the bias found in biographies like Theodore Beza's (granted, he was a 16th century contemporary of Calvin's and Reformer, so I recommend Beza despite the bias). He covers the major events of Calvin's life, but one must consult other sources for greater detail, as this is intended to be an overview of Calvin's life. If one would like more details aside from what is included in this volume, see Benedict's "Christ's Churches Purely Reformed: A Social History of Calvinism."
Lindner uses quotes and references quite frequently, which is superb; although, he rarely references from where the quotes come. This is difficult, as I would like to read the context of the quotes, as many of them have to do with Calvin's theology. He uses some footnotes, but they appear sparingly.
He provides a chronology of Calvin's major writings and a short bibliography as appendices.
The text is modern and easy to read. Frankly, the book could be read by an average reader in a few hours. This serves well as a introduction to Calvin's life.
I gave this book 4 stars due to its thematic format rather than chronological telling, and due to its lack of a reference system.
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