A Year through John Calvin’s

Institutes of the Christian Religion

(1559)

Arranged and Prepared by J. R. Harris

John Calvin’s

Institutes

represents the finest theological text of the Reformation. Many scholars have spenttheir entire professional lives attempting to plumb the depths of the text and the man behind it. Karl Barth onceremarked in a letter to a friend:John Calvin is a cataract, a primeval forest, a demonic power, something directly down fromHimalaya, absolutely Chinese, strange, mythological; I lack completely the means, the suctioncups, even to assimilate this phenomenon, not to speak of presenting it adequately. What I receiveis only a thin little stream and what I can then give out again is only a yet thinner extract of thislittle stream. I could gladly and profitably set myself down and spend all the rest of my life with just Calvin.I share Barth’s awe and respect and yet have found that even for the beginner, Calvin is surprisinglyapproachable and warm. What follows is the fruit of one who has tried to make the most of his “thin little stream.”This schedule allows the student to systematically work his or her way through the 1559

Institutes

over the course of one calendar year.

At the suggestion of J.I. Packer, I began doing this in seminary and have continued ever since,reading the

Institutes

through every year right alongside Holy Scripture. This reading plan does not claim to beauthoritative or beyond edition; it simply represents what I have found to be effective. Under this division, thestudent can expect 4-10 pages of reading per day with a day of “reflection” interspersed once every two weeks or so.Where shorter sections were assigned, this was generally because I felt the topic to be especially important andworthy of more thorough study, but even this was subjective as even the opening sentence merits entire dissertations.Again, Barth reminded us, “I could gladly and profitably set myself down and spend all the rest of my life with justCalvin.”I desired that the divisions, especially within chapters, be consistent with Calvin’s subject matter.However, this was not always possible and where changes would make the flow of reading more enjoyable, I wouldcertainly welcome feedback. In the past, I read the text through in fewer sittings and in larger portions, often 80-100 pages at a time. It is my hope that this format (daily, shorter readings) will result in greater comprehension of theoverall tenor of the work.Finally, Calvin wrote this text to introduce a student to the study of Scripture as you will learn on January1

. A caveat: this program is no substitute or supplement for regular reading of God’s Word. Rather, the former isdesigned to serve as a aid to the latter. Also, this text is meant to be studied in faith, humility, and prayer, alwayslooking beyond the human vessel to the inestimable treasure which it contained. With this in mind, I leave you witha prayer from Calvin himself. We would all do well to read and reflect upon his work with these words in mind:Grant, Almighty God, that, since to a perverse, and in every way a rebellious people, thou didstformerly show so much grace, as to exhort them continually to repentance, and to stretch forththy hand to them by thy Prophets, — O grant, that the same word may sound in our ears; andwhen we do not immediately profit by thy teaching, O cast us not away, but, by thy Spirit, sosubdue all our thoughts and affections, that we, being humbled, may give glory to thy majesty,such as is due to thee, and that, being allured by thy paternal favor, we may submit ourselves tothee, and, at the same time, embrace that mercy which thou offerest and presentest to us in Christ,that we may not doubt but thou wilt be a Father to us, until we shall at length enjoy that eternalinheritance, which has been obtained for us by the, blood of thine only-begotten Son. Amen

This edition is the final and definitive one, published just five years before Calvin’s death. While there are manytranslations available, the best is from the

Library of Christian Classics,

2 vols., ed. John T. McNeill, trans. FordLewis Battles (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960).

A Year through Calvin’s

Institutes

(1559)Arranged and Prepared by J.R. Harris

1-Jan Prefatory2-Jan 1.13-Jan 1.24-Jan 1.35-Jan 1.46-Jan 1.5.1-47-Jan 1.5.5-88-Jan 1.5.9-129-Jan 1.5.13-1510-Jan 1.611-Jan 1.7.1-312-Jan 1.7.4-513-Jan 1.8.1-414-Jan

Reflection

15-Jan 1.8.5-1016-Jan 1.8.11-1317-Jan 1.918-Jan 1.1019-Jan 1.11.1-420-Jan 1.11.5-721-Jan 1.11.8-1122-Jan 1.11.12-1623-Jan 1.1224-Jan 1.13.1-225-Jan 1.13.3-626-Jan 1.13.7-1027-Jan 1.13.11-1328-Jan

Reflection

29-Jan 1.13.14-1530-Jan 1.13.16-2031-Jan 1.13.21-221-Feb 1.13.23-252-Feb 1.13.26-293-Feb 1.14.1-34-Feb 1.14.4-85-Feb 1.14.9-126-Feb 1.14.13-197-Feb 1.14.20-228-Feb 1.15.1-29-Feb 1.15.3-510-Feb 1.15.6-811-Feb

Reflection

12-Feb 1.16.1-413-Feb 1.16.5-714-Feb 1.16.8-915-Feb 1.17.1-216-Feb 1.17.3-517-Feb 1.17.6-818-Feb 1.17.9-1119-Feb 1.17.12-1420-Feb 1.1821-Feb 2.1.1-322-Feb 2.1.4-723-Feb 2.1.8-1124-Feb

Reflection

25-Feb 2.2.1-426-Feb 2.2.5-927-Feb 2.2.10-1128-Feb 2.2.12-171-Mar 2.2.18-212-Mar 2.2.22-253-Mar 2.2.26-274-Mar 2.3.1-55-Mar 2.3.6-96-Mar 2.3.10-147-Mar 2.4.1-58-Mar 2.4.6-89-Mar

Reflection

10-Mar 2.5.1-511-Mar 2.5.6-1112-Mar 2.5.12-1513-Mar 2.5.16-1914-Mar 2.6.1-215-Mar 2.6.3-416-Mar 2.7.1-517-Mar 2.7.6-1118-Mar 2.7.12-1719-Mar 2.8.1-520-Mar 2.8.6-1221-Mar 2.8.13-1622-Mar 2.8.17-2123-Mar 2.8.22-2724-Mar 2.8.28-3425-Mar 2.8.35-3826-Mar

Reflection

27-Mar 2.8.39-4428-Mar 2.8.45-5029-Mar 2.8.51-5530-Mar 2.8.56-5931-Mar 2.91-Apr 2.10.1-62-Apr 2.10.7-143-Apr 2.10.15-194-Apr 2.10.20-235-Apr 2.11.1-36-Apr 2.11.4-87-Apr 2.11.9-128-Apr 2.11.13-149-Apr 2.12.1-310-Apr 2.12.4-711-Apr

Reflection

12-Apr 2.1313-Apr 2.14.1-314-Apr 2.14.4-815-Apr 2.15.1-216-Apr 2.15.3-617-Apr 2.16.1-418-Apr 2.16.5-719-Apr 2.16.8-1220-Apr 2.16.13-1921-Apr 2.1722-Apr

Reflection

23-Apr 3.124-Apr 3.2.1-525-Apr 3.2.6-726-Apr 3.2.8-1327-Apr 3.2.14-1828-Apr 3.2.19-2829-Apr 3.2.29-3230-Apr 3.2.33-401-May 3.2.41-432-May 3.3.1-43-May 3.3.5-94-May 3.3.10-155-May 3.3.16-206-May 3.3.21-257-May

Reflection

8-May 3.4.1-39-May 3.4.4-810-May 3.4.9-1311-May 3.4.14-1912-May 3.4.20-2413-May 3.4.25-2714-May 3.4.28-3315-May 3.4.34-3916-May 3.5.1-517-May 3.5.6-1018-May 3.619-May 3.7.1-320-May 3.7.4-721-May 3.7.8-1022-May

Reflection

23-May 3.8.1-624-May 3.8.7-1125-May 3.9.1-226-May 3.9.3-627-May 3.1028-May 3.11.1-429-May 3.11.5-830-May 3.11.9-1231-May 3.11.13-201-Jun 3.11.21-232-Jun 3.12.1-33-Jun 3.12.4-84-Jun 3.135-Jun

Reflection

6-Jun 3.14.1-67-Jun 3.14.7-88-Jun 3.14.9-119-Jun 3.14.12-1710-Jun 3.14.18-2111-Jun 3.15.1-412-Jun 3.15.5-813-Jun 3.1614-Jun 3.17.1-515-Jun 3.17.6-1016-Jun 3.17.11-1317-Jun 3.17.14-1518-Jun

Reflection

19-Jun 3.18.1-420-Jun 3.18.5-721-Jun 3.18.8-1022-Jun 3.19.1-323-Jun 3.19.4-624-Jun 3.19.7-925-Jun 3.19.10-1326-Jun 3.19.14-1627-Jun

Reflection

28-Jun 3.20.1-329-Jun 3.20.4-530-Jun 3.20.6-71-Jul 3.20.8-102-Jul 3.20.11-143-Jul 3.20.15-164-Jul 3.20.17-205-Jul 3.20.21-246-Jul 3.20.25-277-Jul 3.20.28-30