July 10, 2009 - 500th Anniverary of John Calvin - July 10, 1509-May 27, 1564This is the beginning of valuable quotes from John Calvin as we approach the 500th Anniversary of his birth; a birth which brought about by the providence of God a servant of the Reformation.
I. John Calvin was a man of the Word and of the Holy Spirit. Calvin wrote: “that the Holy Spirit so adheres in His truth, which He expresses in Scripture, that only when its proper reverence and dignity are given to the Word does the Holy Spirit show forth His power. And what has lately been said—that the Word itself is not quite certain for us unless it be confirmed by the testimony of the Spirit—is not out of accord with these things. For by a kind of mutual bond the Lord has joined together the certainty of his Word and of his Spirit so that the perfect religion of the Word may abide in our minds when the Spirit, who causes us to contemplate God’s face, shine; and that we in turn may embrace the Spirit with no fear of being deceived when we recognize him in his own image, namely, in the Word. So indeed it is. God did not bring forth his Word among men for the sake of a momentary display, intending at the coming of his Spirit to abolish it. Rather he sent down the same Spirit by whose power he had dispensed the Word, to complete his work by the efficacious confirmation of the Word.” [The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Word and Spirit belong inseparably together, Bk 1, Ch 9]
