John Calvin (1509-1564) originally wrote his famous Institutes of the Christian Religion in Latin to reach the rulers, reformers, and educated people across Europe. However, he was also consciously working to provide the laity in his native France with biblical teaching and a way to understand it.
Beginning with the second edition of this early theological textbook published in 1541, Calvin translated each new version into French. He simultaneously adapted the text to suit lay audiences, shaping it subtly but clearly to teach, exhort, and encourage them.
This masterful translation of the earliest French Edition is the first access in English both to Calvin's first pastoral presentation of the book and to the second edition of the Institutes (1539) from which he made the translation. For those pastors, seminarians, and scholars who do not have time to read the original Latin or early modern French, this version makes it possible to see the development of the original work as Calvin moved from interested layperson to experienced minister. It offers full access to the mind of this brilliant pillar of Christendom as he considered what a serious Christian should know and could handle.
