No, not me. Beginning in January Reformation21 will be blogging their way through John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion. I’ll be trying to keep up the reading, but doubt I’ll be able to do regular blogging on it.
If you aren’t familiar with the Institutes, don’t let that word “religion” throw you. It has only become a “bad” word in our culture. (See below.) Yes, there is hypocritical religion that is man’s way of trying to reach for/appease/become God. But Christianity is a religion. Difference is, it is TRUE religion. It includes the working out of what God has wrought in our hearts – IOW, both faith and practice.
This book was a necessary work in its time, when people were ignorant of true religion (worshipping the One True God aright, from a heart that had been transformed by Him) just as it is now, in a time that is much the same, when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. This is a “must read, must study, must do” according to my friend Joan. It will truly help you in your Christian walk.
Email r21@alliancenet.org for a reading schedule, and sign up for the RSS feed or email subscription of the blog posts here.
Purchase Institutes at a great price here.
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Institutes of the Christian Religion
By John Calvin, translated by Henry Beveridge / Hendrickson PublishersA colossal milestone of Christian thought—at an irresistible price! Calvin’s sweeping outline of biblical faith stands among a select group of books that truly shaped the course of church history. Newly re-typeset for clarity, this single volume translated by Henry Beveridge offers a more affordable edition of one of the last millennium’s must-have works. 1100 pages, hardcover from Hendrickson. |
Webster’s original American dictionary of the English language:RELIGION, n. relij”on. [L. religio, from religo, to bind anew; re and ligo, to bind. This word seems originally to have signified an oath or vow to the gods, or the obligation of such an oath or vow, which was held very sacred by the Romans.]
1. Religion, in its most comprehensive sense, includes a belief in the being and perfections of God, in the revelation of his will to man, in man’s obligation to obey his commands, in a state of reward and punishment, and in man’s accountableness to God; and also true godliness or piety of life, with the practice of all moral duties. It therefore comprehends theology, as a system of doctrines or principles, as well as practical piety; for the practice of moral duties without a belief in a divine lawgiver, and without reference to his will or commands, is not religion.
2. Religion, as distinct from theology, is godliness or real piety in practice, consisting in the performance of all known duties to God and our fellow men, in obedience to divine command, or from love to God and his law. James 1.
3. Religion, as distinct from virtue, or morality, consists in the performance of the duties we owe directly to God, from a principle of obedience to his will. Hence we often speak of religion and virtue, as different branches of one system, or the duties of the first and second tables of the law.
Let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.
4. Any system of faith and worship. In this sense, religion comprehends the belief and worship of pagans and Mohammedans, as well as of Christians; any religion consisting in the belief of a superior power or powers governing the world, and in the worship of such power or powers. Thus we speak of the religion of the Turks, of the Hindoos, of the Indians, &c. as well as of the Christian religion. We speak of false religion, as well as of true religion.
SDG,
For Me and My House ~ At Jesus’ feet,
Lisa @ Me and My House ~ Discipleship for Life!
1 Thessalonians 5:23
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However, I have hope. Much like a pregnant woman, inactivity on the outside has not meant unproductiveness on the inside. And like the expectant mother, I am excited about what is to be birthed. I know not exactly what it will look and be like, but I do know that it is coming, and what it is to be (in general). I know God has a plan for it, and that plan is to glorify Him and to serve His people.
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