John Calvin: Trending quotes

“A perfect faith is nowhere to be found, so it follows that all of us are partly unbelievers.”

“It would be the height of absurdity to label ignorance tempered by humility "faith"!
(Institutio III.2.3)”

“If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house, then in a field,… it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light.”

“The gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue, but of life. It cannot be grasped by reason and memory only, but it is fully understood when it possesses the whole soul and penetrates to the inner recesses of the heart.”

“A dog barks and stands at bay if he sees any one assault his master. I should be indeed remiss, if, seeing the truth of God thus attacked, I should remain dumb, without giving one note of warning.”

“It is better to limp in the way, than run with the greatest swiftness out of it.”

“Without the fear of God, men do not even observe justice and charity among themselves.”

“True wisdom consists in two things: Knowledge of God and Knowledge of Self.”

“There is no knowing that does not begin with knowing God.”

“We should ask God to increase our hope when it is small, awaken it when it is dormant, confirm it when it is wavering, strengthen it when it is weak, and raise it up when it is overthrown.”

“Is it faith to understand nothing, and merely submit your convictions implicitly to the Church?”

“There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence.”

“The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.”

“A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent”

“Man's nature, so to speak, is a perpetual factory of idols.”

“The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.”

“men are undoubtedly more in danger from prosperity than from adversity. for when matters go smoothly, they flatter themselves, and are intoxicated by their success”

“… a man will be justified by faith when, excluded from righteousness of works, he by faith lays hold of the righteousness of Christ, and clothed in it, appears in the sight of God not as a sinner, but as righteous…”

“God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.”