The Real Calvin

Amanda, you got me thinking about the real Calvin's writing. I couldn't resist; I have to share a couple of my millions of quotes from the Institutes with you:

"For what is more consonant with faith than to recognize that we are naked of all virtue, in order to be clothed by God? That we are empty of all good, to be filled by him? That we are slaves of sin, to be freed by him? Blind, to be illumined by him? Lame, to be made straight by him? Weak, to be sustained by him? To take away from us all occasion for glorying, that he alone may stand forth gloriously and we glory in him?"

"Thus, from the feeling of our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and - what is more - depravity and corruption, we recognize that the true light of wisdom, sound virtue, full abundance of every good, and purity of righteousness rest in the Lord alone."

"...It is very important for us to call upon him: First, that our hearts may be fired with a zealous and burning desire ever to seek, love, and serve him, while we become accustomed in every need to flee to him as to a sacred anchor....""You cannot in one glance survey this most vast and beautiful system of the universe, in its wide expanse, without being completely overwhelmed by the boundless force of its brightness."

And just one more (I'm restraining myself), and this one has something to do with writing, kind of:

"Read Demosthenes or Cicero; read Plato, Aristotle, and others of that tribe. They will, I admit, allure you, delight you, move you, enrapture you in wonderful measure. But betake yourself from them to this sacred reading. Then, in spite of yourself, so deeply will it affect you, so penetrate your heart, so fix itself in your very marrow, that, compared with its deep impression, such vigor as the orators and philosophers have will nearly vanish."

amanda says...
Wow, that was a long post. But good stuff - it makes me want to read Calvin sometime before I'm too much older...

I really loved the first quote. I don't usually think about "faith" in those terms: it's more just some vague term that we throw around and know it's a good thing to have. It's only when I'm really seeing my own sinfulness that I feel compelled to say, "I'm a believer, help me believe" and cry out for Christ's righteousness and glory.