A Guide to Reading Calvin's Institutes in One Year

In seminary, I took a class on Calvin and the Reformed Tradition from Dr. Timothy George, Reformation scholar and author of The Theology of the Reformers. The major assignment in this class was to read the entirety of the 1559 Institutes and to create an analytical outline of the work as we read it. Despite the massive amount of work (my outline was 247 single-spaced pages!), I thoroughly enjoyed the project. It was one of my favorite assignments in seminary.

Since that time, I have read the Institutes through every year. J.I. Packer suggested doing this if I wanted to become more familiar with Calvin's theology. However, in the past, I have always done it in an irregular manner, often reading 100 pages in one sitting and then not touching the text for a month. To remedy this irregularity, I have created a day-by-day reading plan that will allow the student to read small sections of the Institutes (4-10 pages) each day and in the course of one calendar year, finish the entire work. Since the new year is upon us, perhaps this will be a benefit to some of you.

It is my hope that many of the misconceptions about Calvin and his thought will be clarified by a more widespread reading of the primary sources. Calvin's theology is far too brilliant and far too accessible for us to read about it. Tolle, lege! Take it up and read!

To download or print the Guide, click on the link below the viewing screen.

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