The Key Teachings of John Calvin

This is not a book by John Calvin. It is a companion to him — an independent work of exposition and appreciation, written by Ochorus, that gathers the heart of his teaching into twenty-one short chapters for the ordinary reader, with a chapter on his life, a conclusion and a guide to his books. It draws throughout on his Institutes of the Christian Religion and his commentaries, and on the four of his sermons that sit in the Ochorus library.

Calvin’s one theme was the knowledge of God — not the cold knowledge of a textbook, but the knowledge that makes a person bow, trust and give thanks. We cannot know ourselves truly until we have looked upon God, and we cannot know God as He wishes to be known except in Christ, clothed with His gospel. This volume follows that thread from the opening page of the Institutes through Scripture, providence, sin and grace, union with Christ, faith, self-denial, prayer and election, to the church, the sacraments, the state and the Genevan pulpit. It is honest about the burning of Michael Servetus, the severity of Genevan discipline, the hardness of his teaching on reprobation and the heat of his polemic.

Calvin’s own writings are in the public domain, and older English translations of the Institutes, the commentaries and many sermons are freely available; every chapter here names them so the reader can go to the source. This companion is offered only to open the door. It quotes Scripture from the Authorised (King James) Version, and makes no claim to stand in for the man’s own clear, searching and deeply reverent pages.