Book Review: John Calvin
These past couple of months I have been reading numerous amounts of books but have not left any time to sit down and write up a quick review of each of the books. Therefore, I am going to work on reviewing the books that I have finished reading and really enjoyed.
“John Calvin: A Heart For Devotion, Doctrine, & Doxology” was one of the many books that was given away in my swag bag at the 2009 Desiring God Conference. This book had been on my wish list for a while and thankfully Desiring God and Reformation Trust Publishing graciously gave this book out for free!
What is amazing about this book is so many theologians and pastors contributed in writing this phenomenal book. If you’re looking for a good introduction to John Calvin, it’d be hard to go wrong with John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, Doxology, edited by Burk Parsons.
John Calvin was a man who did not try to develop a system of theology that complemented the Word of God; rather, he strove to derive his theology from the Word of God for the right worship, enjoyment, and love of God.
In Calvin’s Institutes he writes, “Let us not take it into our heads either to seek out God anywhere else than in his Sacred Word, or to think anything of him that is not prompted by his Word, or to speak anything that is not take from that Word.”
This book provides great insight into Calvin’s theology and pastoral ministry, which is founded on his heart’s devotion to the biblical God, the mind’s pursuit of the biblical doctrine of God, and the entire being’s surrender to doxology.
Therefore, Calvin’s Calvinism is that which begins with God, teaches us about God, and directs our hearts and minds back to God according to the way God deserves, demands, and delights in our worship of Him and our obedience to Him.
Of all the books that are available today in honor of Calvin, perhaps there is none other that can give you a glimpse into a man who gazed at God through the lens of His Word. Given the popular misperception that Calvinists are not committed to evangelism, missions, or church planting, however, it would have been more fitting to highlight Calvin’s impact in turning Geneva as the greatest missionary sending city during the Reformation.
More than a focus on Calvin, this book, as Calvin would so desire, transcends to a deeper and truer knowledge of God. If it is agreeable that “a true Calvinist is one who strives to think as Calvin thought and live as Calvin lived—insofar as Calvin thought and lived as our Lord Jesus Christ” (pg. 6), then it is incumbent upon all Calvinists, especially those brought up in this recent resurgence, to read this book.
Divided into two sections, the excellent list of contributors provides both breadth and depth into both Calvin’s life and thought in way that both the layman and scholar can richly benefit. But more importantly, the tenor of the writings exhibit the humility of Calvin and cast his writings under the majesty of the God whose fear was always in his heart.
A closer look into the life of Calvin would garner a deeper love for God and His Word, which to no one’s surprise, reveals the enduring impact of the contribution he made, and continues to make, 500 years after his birth.
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