Institutes of the Christian Religion
Institutes of the Christian Religion is John Calvin's seminal work of systematic theology. Regarded as one of the most influential works of Protestant theology, it was published in Latin in 1536 at the same time as Henry VIII of England's Dissolution of the Monasteries and in his native French language in 1541. The definitive editions appeared in 1559 in Latin and in 1560 in French.
The title page of the fifth and final 1559 edition of John Calvin's Institutio Christianae Religionis, published in Geneva in 1559
Title page of the first edition (1536)
Title page of the first French edition (1541)
Institutio christianae religionis, 1597
John Calvin was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was a principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, including its doctrines of predestination and of God's absolute sovereignty in the salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation. Calvinist doctrines were influenced by and elaborated upon the Augustinian and other Christian traditions. Various Congregational, Reformed and Presbyterian churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.
Calvin was originally interested in the priesthood, but he changed course to study law in Orléans and Bourges. Painting titled Portrait of Young John Calvin from the collection of the Library of Geneva.
William Farel was the reformer who persuaded Calvin to stay in Geneva. 16th-century painting. In the Bibliothèque Publique et Universitaire, Geneva.
Saint-Nicolas Church, Strasbourg, where Calvin preached in 1538. The building was architecturally modified in the 19th century.
Martin Bucer invited Calvin to Strasbourg after he was expelled from Geneva. Illustration by Jean-Jacques Boissard.