Subject Matter of the Present Work

In my comments regarding the short preface, "John Calvin to the Reader," I quoted a statement from Calvin in which he described as one of his purposes in writing the Institutes being to prepare men for the ministry of the Word. It seems to me that this might engender unnecessary hesitation in the heart of one who might have considered undertaking a study of the Institutes. To be sure, that was one of Calvin's objectives, but it was not the only use which was contemplated by him.

In the second short prefatory article entitled, "Subject Matter of the Present Work," Calvin expresses the hope that even "simple people" will profit from his labors. He writes,

"Perhaps the duty of those who have received from God fuller light than others is to help simple folk at this point, and as it were to lend them a hand, in order to guide them and help them to find the sum of what God meant to teach us in his Word."

Once again, the humility of Calvin stands forth in contrast to the caricatures of him which have been put forth by others. The only reason that some are more advanced in the things of God than others, is because God has given them "fuller light."

He also sets forth something of his philosophy in regard to the later usefulness of the ICR. It was his purpose, he says, to set forth these foundational teachings, so that later, when he writes his commentaries, he will have no need for long theological digressions, but rather will be able to accomplish a desired brevity.

"Thus, if henceforth our Lord gives me the means and opportunity of writing some commentaries, i shall use the greatest possible brevity, because there will be no need for long digressions, seeing that I have here treated at length almost all the articles pertaining to Christianity."

And so, be encouraged by the words of the author himself,

"Thus, I exhort all those who have reverence for the Lord's Word, to read it, and to impress it diligently upon their memory, if they wish to have, first, a sum of Christian doctrine, and, secondly, a way to benefit greatly from reading the Old as well as the New Testament....Above all, I must urge him to have recourse to Scripture in order to weigh the testimonies that I adduce from it."

Let us be sure to heed Dr. Calvin's exhortation.