John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian religion: a biography

300 Pages·2017·2.412 MB·English

by  Gordon, Bruce

Lives of Great Religious Books
John Calvin’s
Institutes of the Christian Religion
Lives of Great Religious Books
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John Calvin’s
Institutes of the Christian Religion
A Biography
Bruce Gordon
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Princeton and Oxford
Copyright © 2016 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton,
New Jersey 08540
In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street,
Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW
press.princeton.edu
Jacket art: Sadao Watanabe, Flight to Egypt, hand-colored kappazuri
stencil print on momigami wrinkled paper, 1987
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gordon, Bruce, 1962– author.
Title: John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian religion : a biography /
Bruce Gordon.
Description: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University, 2016. | Series: Lives of
great religious books | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015048197 | ISBN 9780691152127 (hardcover)
Subjects: LCSH: Calvin, Jean, 1509–1564. Institutio Christianae religionis.
Classification: LCC BX9420.I69 G67 2016 | DDC 230/.42—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015048197
British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available
This book has been composed in Garamond Premier Pro
Printed on acid- free paper. ∞
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Sebastian Moser, my Swiss godson
Calvin may not be as much fun as driving a tractor, but he’s close

With what clear manifestations his might draws
us to contemplate him!
— Institutes 1.5.6

contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xvii
Note on the Translation Used xix
Introduction Remembering a Man and
His Book 1
Chapter 1 A Book Emerges 13
Chapter 2 1559: The Year of the Book 35
Chapter 3 The Inheritors 48
Chapter 4 Enlightenment Ambivalence 68
Chapter 5 Fashioning a Reformer 89
Chapter 6 America’s Calvins 110
Chapter 7 “A Very Calvinist Professor” and His
Dutch Friends 122
Chapter 8 Titans: Barth and Brunner 133
Chapter 9 Prophet of Modernity— Prince
of Tyrants 148
Chapter 10 Oppression and Liberation:
South Africa 166
Chapter 11 Change and Dissent: China 183
Chapter 12 Contemporary Voices 198