A Reader's Guide to Calvin's Institutes (Lane)

2009 marks the 500th anniversary of John Calvin's birth, and throughout the year scholars from around the world are gathering to discuss Calvin and his influence. Calvin's Institutes is one of the great classics of Christian theology. Here a leading Calvin expert offers an affordable guide to reading the Institutes (keyed to the McNeill/Battles translation).

The book includes annotations to selected readings that offer readers a streamlined introduction to the heart of Calvin's theology. Dividing the Institutes into thirty-two portions, the author has chosen an average of eighteen pages to be read from each portion to cover the whole range of the Institutes and provide readers with passages critical to understanding Calvin's theology. The notes guide readers through the text, concentrating on the sections chosen for reading, summarizing the material, and drawing attention to the most significant footnotes in the McNeill/Battles edition. An introduction and questions at the beginning of each portion direct the reader's attention to important points. The book will serve professors and students of the Institutes; courses in Calvin, Reformed theology, and historical theology; and readers seeking a guide to the Institutes.

Author 

Anthony N. S. Lane (DD, University of Oxford) is professor of historical theology and director of research at the London School of Theology. He is the author of A Concise History of Christian Thought, John Calvin: Student of the Church Fathers, and Justification by Faith in Catholic-Protestant Dialogue and compiled The Lion Christian Classics Collection. A world-class Calvin scholar, he abridged the Institutes into a popular student edition and also edited the translation of Calvin's Bondage and Liberation of the Will.

Endorsements 

"A Reader's Guide to Calvin's Institutes makes a first-time read of John Calvin's Reformation classic more efficient by highlighting its most important sections. Tony Lane provides sufficient summaries, teasers, directions, and assessments to make the study of Calvin's magnum opus stimulating and enlightening. Though few will agree with all of Lane's assessments of Calvin, even areas of disagreement can be used as a springboard for further research. I, for one, hope to keep this handy reference tool beside my McNeill-Battles edition of the Institutes." - Joel R. Beeke, president, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids

"A concise yet meticulous guide to the Battles translation of the Institutes. Tony Lane admirably succeeds in identifying its structure and in highlighting its arguments. This guide will be an invaluable help to new readers of Calvin's great work."--Paul Helm, teaching fellow, Regent College, Vancouver