INSTITUTES OF CALVIN

The major theological treatise of John calvin and the most important exposition of the doctrines of early Protestantism, the first draft of which appeared in 1536 and the final, definitive form in 1559. Calvin called his Institutes of the Christian Religion "a summary of the principal truths of the Christian religion." The original version, written in Latin in 1534 or early 1535 (Institutio religionis Christianae ), was constantly revised and enlarged during Calvin's life. Latin editions appeared in 1539, 1543, 1550, and 1559 and French translations by Calvin were published in 1541, 1545, 1551, and 1560. The first printing of the Institutes was done in March 1536 at Basel, where Calvin had taken refuge after his flight from France. Prefaced by a dedicatory letter to Francis I, King of France, whom Calvin bids to respect the new doctrines, it consists of six chapters and follows the order of Martin Luther's Der grosse Catechismus (1529). The first four chapters treat the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Eucharist. The fifth chapter discusses and rejects the other Sacraments, and the sixth chapter deals with Christian liberty.

The second edition, published in Strassburg in 1539, during Calvin's temporary banishment from Geneva, is three times as large and has more coherent and systematic organization. It contains an extended statement of his doctrine of predestination, a tenet whose elaboration was influenced by the Strassburg reformer Martin bucer. This edition, translated by Calvin into French and published in Geneva in 1541, is an important landmark in French literary style as well as French religious thought. The final revision of 1559, followed by a French translation in 1560, is five times the size of the original draft, with 80 chapters, divided into four books. It is the expression of Calvin's mature Biblical theology presented under four main headings (corresponding to the four books): (1) the knowledge of God the Creator, (2) the knowledge of God the Redeemer in Christ, (3) the way in which we receive the grace of Christ, (4) the external means or aids. The famous statement on eternal election, or predestination, is found in bk. 3, ch. 21.

The Institutes remains a theological masterpiece, the summa of Reformed Protestantism and the most important single work of the Reformers. The final edition was soon translated into most of the languages of Europe. A Dutch version appeared in 1560, the first English translation in 1561, and a German version at Heidelberg in 1572. (see calvinism; predestination.)

Bibliography: j. calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. j. t. mcneill, tr. f. l. battles, 2 v. (Philadelphia 1960), the best English ed.; Ioannis Calvini opera selecta, ed. p. barth and w. niesel, 5 v. (Munich 1926–36), contains critical eds. of the 1536 and 1559 Latin text.

[j. c. olin]