Today’s reading presses the central Reformation question: by what standard is the Church judged? In this portion of the Prefatory Address, John Calvin confronts the danger of allowing tradition, age, and custom to outweigh the authority of Scripture. He insists that the Reformers are not innovators but restorers, calling the Church back to the purity of the gospel rather than forward into human inventions. Calvin rejects a false peace built on error, defends the proper use of councils and Church Fathers, and appeals directly to the king’s conscience to let the Word of God be the final judge between truth and falsehood.

Readings:

John Calvin, Prefatory Address to the Most Christian King of France, Francis the First (Part 3)

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