Today’s reading presses to the heart of one of Christianity’s most decisive claims: Scripture does not gain its authority from human approval, argument, or institutional endorsement, but from God himself through the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit. John Calvin argues that while Scripture bears unmistakable marks of divine majesty and coherence, no amount of reasoning alone can produce the certainty true faith requires. That certainty comes only when the same Spirit who spoke through the prophets and apostles seals God’s Word upon the heart. Against both skeptics who demand rational proof and religious authorities who claim to validate Scripture by decree, Calvin insists that believers rest in Scripture not by blind submission or borrowed judgment, but by a living encounter with God’s own voice—an assurance deeper than argument and firmer than opinion (Isaiah 59:21; Isaiah 43:10; Isaiah 54:13).

Readings: John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, Sections 4–5

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Why should Scripture be trusted as God’s Word? Calvin argues that the Bible does not receive its authority from the Church, but from God Himself, confirmed inwardly by the Holy Spirit. While the Church bears witness to Scripture, it does not stand above it; rather, the Church is built upon the Word, not the other way around (Ephesians 2:20). Calvin insists that Scripture is self-authenticating—recognized by the believer much like light is known by sight or sweetness by taste—and that resting its authority on human approval would leave troubled consciences without true assurance. Addressing a frequently misused quote from Augustine, Calvin clarifies that even Augustine grounded certainty not in ecclesial decree but in divine illumination, showing that the Spirit alone confirms the Scriptures as the very voice of God speaking to His people.

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Why isn’t creation enough to lead us to God? In this reading, Calvin argues that while the world truly displays God’s glory, human corruption turns that light into a maze rather than a path. Scripture, he says, is not an optional supplement to nature but the necessary guide that gathers our scattered impressions of God and brings them into clarity. Like spectacles correcting failing sight, the Word enables us to see the Creator rightly, not as a vague power but as the true God who reigns, speaks, and reveals Himself for salvation. Drawing from the Psalms and the words of Christ, Calvin insists that without Scripture, humanity inevitably wanders—mistaking power for divinity, worshiping what it does not know, and exchanging the living God for imagined ones (Psalm 19:1–9; Psalm 93:5; Psalm 96; Psalm 97; Psalm 99; John 4:22; 1 Timothy 6:16). Scripture alone provides the thread that leads us safely through the labyrinth of creation to the God who made it.

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In today’s reading, Calvin delivers one of his most uncompromising critiques of false religion, arguing that any worship not grounded in God’s self-revelation ultimately replaces the true God with demons. Drawing from Paul and Christ Himself, Calvin shows that even sincere or culturally inherited religion is no refuge from error—ignorance of God is still guilt before Him (Ephesians 2:12; John 4:22; 1 Corinthians 2:8). Creation bears real witness to God, but without faith it cannot guide us to Him rightly. The problem is not lack of evidence but human blindness: though God’s glory is proclaimed loudly by creation, we corrupt that knowledge and exchange it for imagination and tradition (Hebrews 11:3; Romans 1:19; Acts 14:16–17). Calvin’s conclusion is severe but clarifying—humanity is without excuse, not because God has hidden Himself, but because we refuse to listen and insist on worshiping gods of our own making.

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In today’s reading, Calvin argues that knowing God does not require philosophical gymnastics or abstract speculation—God’s majesty is already placed directly before us in creation and providence. Yet what should be obvious is persistently ignored. Calvin shows how God reveals Himself through His works in ways that awaken worship, point us toward eternal judgment, and expose the limits of human reason. From the injustice of the present world to the hope of final justice, creation itself presses us toward the life to come. But instead of responding rightly, humanity repeatedly suppresses the truth, inventing idols and philosophical substitutes. Even the greatest thinkers—Plato, the Stoics, and the mystics—fell into confusion, multiplying gods rather than knowing the true one. Calvin’s conclusion is sobering: left to ourselves, the human mind does not ascend to God—it wanders into error. Creation testifies loudly, but without humility and divine instruction, we end up worshiping what we do not understand (Acts 17:27; Psalm 145; Psalm 92:6; 1 Corinthians 3:19).

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In today’s reading from John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (Book 1, Chapter 5, Sections 5–8), we confront the limits of natural reason and the depth of God’s self-revelation in both the human soul and the created order. Calvin argues that the soul’s powers—its reasoning, creativity, moral judgment, and even its activity during sleep—cannot be reduced to bodily function, but bear the unmistakable imprint of God’s image. From there, he moves outward to creation and providence, showing how God’s power, eternity, justice, mercy, patience, and wisdom are displayed not only in the heavens and the earth, but in His ongoing governance of human affairs (Psalm 145:9; Psalm 107; Psalm 113:7; 1 Corinthians 3:19). Yet Calvin presses the sobering conclusion: although God’s works surround us, true understanding requires rare wisdom, for many wander blindly through this glorious theater without recognizing the Creator. This reading challenges us to see that what the world calls chance is, in fact, the careful and fatherly hand of God at work.

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Creation leaves us without excuse, but it does not leave us with clarity—and John Calvin explains why God never intended nature to stand alone as our guide. In today’s reading from Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 6, Calvin shows that although God’s glory shines clearly in the heavens and the earth, the human mind is too corrupt, forgetful, and inventive to remain anchored there. Without Scripture, we wander into superstition, false religion, and confusion; with Scripture, God gathers the scattered impressions of His majesty, speaks with His own voice, and leads us safely through the labyrinth of error. From the patriarchs to the prophets to the Psalms and the words of Christ Himself, this reading argues that true knowledge of God—whether as Creator or Redeemer—begins, grows, and endures only where God has chosen to reveal Himself: in His Word (Psalm 19:1–9; Psalm 93:5; John 4:22; Romans 10:4; 1 Timothy 6:16).

Readings:

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 6

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Today’s reading confronts us with a simple but devastating truth: the knowledge of God is not hidden, distant, or reserved for the educated—it presses in on us from every side, written into the heavens, the earth, and even our own bodies, leaving humanity without excuse for ingratitude or denial. John Calvin opens Book 1, Chapter 5 of the Institutes by insisting that God has made himself unmistakably known through creation, so that no one can open their eyes without encountering divine glory, wisdom, and power. Yet this same clarity exposes the perversity of the human heart, which suppresses what it knows by nature and substitutes pride, chance, or “nature” for the living God (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20; Acts 17:27–28). Augustine deepens this theme by turning inward, showing how the soul itself bears witness to God’s nearness even as it restlessly flees from him, while Aquinas grounds the discussion philosophically, arguing that created effects necessarily point beyond themselves to their divine cause. Together, today’s readings press a single question: if God is this evident, why are we so determined not to see him?

Readings:

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 5 (Sections 1–4)

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Calvin presses us here with an uncomfortable truth: although God has planted a seed of religion in every human heart, almost no one allows it to grow into genuine piety. Instead of receiving God as He reveals Himself, people either sink into superstition or harden themselves in deliberate rebellion, fashioning a god of their own imagination and then worshiping that illusion. Calvin shows that false religion is not a harmless mistake but a culpable corruption—born of pride, curiosity, and a refusal to submit to God’s justice and providence. Even those who claim God is distant or indifferent are, in effect, denying Him, since a god without judgment, governance, or moral authority is no God at all. What results is a fear without reverence: a servile dread that produces rituals and excuses rather than obedience and love. Yet even here, the sense of God is never fully extinguished. It flickers in the conscience, erupts in moments of despair, and exposes the hypocrisy of those who mock God in comfort but cry out to Him in fear. Calvin leaves us with a sobering conclusion: true religion does not consist in zeal, ceremony, or fear-driven observance, but in a life ordered by reverent obedience to the God who cannot be reshaped by human will (Psalm 14:1; Romans 1:21–22; Galatians 4:8; 2 Timothy 2:13).

Readings:

John Calvin, The Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 4 (Sections 1–4)

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True knowledge of God is never something we invent, negotiate, or outgrow—it is something we are born with and spend our lives trying, often unsuccessfully, to suppress. In this reading from Calvin, we are confronted with the claim that every human being carries an implanted sense of God, a sensus divinitatis, placed there by God Himself and continually renewed so that no one can plead ignorance. Calvin argues that the universality of religion, the persistence of idolatry, and even the restless conscience of God’s fiercest mockers all testify to this inescapable knowledge. Though the human heart corrupts and distorts what it knows of God, it can never fully erase it; even rebellion presupposes the reality it resists. Calvin presses the point further by showing that this knowledge of God is not meant for speculation but for worship, obedience, and reverent fear, and that when it fails to lead us to honor God, it becomes vain—marking not only moral failure but a failure to live toward the very end for which we were created (Romans 1:19–21; Psalm 14:1).

Readings:

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 3 (Sections 1–3)

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