Reader Question: From a Reformed perspective (I am relatively new to this thinking in many ways), assuming the Doctrine of Election is true (I believe this to be true myself), what is the role of parenting? Knowing that there is no way to know whether or not your children are “elect”, how can a loving … Continue reading »
Filed under Knowledge of ourselves …
Nothing in my hand I bring
Book II Chapter III Section 1-14 The opening chapters of Book II are returning again and again to the key question of how far reaching was the effect of Adam’s fall; and how from such depravity our hearts are turned and yielded to God. Having established that Adam’s fall resulted in a permanent rupture in … Continue reading »
Free to do what you love
Book II Chapter II Section 1-27 After looking at original sin (or as Calvin calls it, hereditary sin) in Chapter 1 of Book 2, Calvin moves on to consider whether as a result of the fall man really has the freedom to choose to do good or evil. Does man really have a free will? … Continue reading »
The day we all died
Book II Chapter I Section 1-11 The theme of Book II is the knowledge of God the Redeemer and in the opening chapters Calvin considers why we need a redeemer at all. The first reason is because of original (or inherited) sin and in Chapter 1 he examines the fall of Adam. We have already … Continue reading »
Reflections on reading Book I
Well I’ve finally finished the first of the four books – the knowledge of God and ourselves. I’m taking a quick break from the regular posts to share some of my thoughts after reading Book I of Calvin’s Institutes over the last two months. Four things have struck me: 1. He doesn’t try to square the circle. … Continue reading »
Look at what you could’ve been
Book I Chapter XV Section 1-8 Growing up in our house in the 1980s there were a few shows that became part of the family culture. One of these institutions was the darts & quizz game Bullseye. I know it doesn’t sound exciting but it was so tacky it was brilliant. There were three teams of two, … Continue reading »
God knows you better than you know yourself
Book I Chapter I Section 1-3 One of the most famous sentences in the Institutes is the opening line…”almost all wisdom consists of two parts – knowledge of God and of ourselves.” In this short chapter Calvin describes his thoughts on how we begin to come to an understanding of a real knowledge of ourselves … Continue reading »
