First published in 1536, the Institutes almost immediately turned John Calvin from a relatively unknown figure in Paris into a sought after teacher and pastor all over Reformation Europe. Amazing it remains a major theological work today—"a defining book of the Reformation and a pillar of Protestant theology," and "the most important book of the Protestant Reformation," it has been called—and no one can truly claim to understand Calvin or Reformed theology who has not worked her way through it.
The first edition—written in Latin—appeared in 1536; it was meant to be a concise primer setting out the essentials of the Christian faith. A French edition of this followed in 1541. On the average, a new expanded edition appeared every four years until the final "definitive" edition in 1559, by which time the work had grown four and half times in length. It was also no longer a mere 'primer' of 'essentials,' but a massive systematic exposition of the Christian faith from a Reformed point of view, the most important theological work to come out of the Reformation. Not surprisingly, the work was quickly translated into other languages. By 1540 it had had already been translated into Spanish. The Italian came out in 1557, Dutch 1560, English 1561, German 1572, Czech 1617, Hungarian 1624. It is supposed by many qualified scholars, though never verified, that an Arabic version had been done by John Hottinger who died in 1667.
These facts speak for the impact of the work. "Perhaps no other theological work," say John McNeill and Ford Lewis Battles half a century ago, "has so consistently retained for four centuries a place on the reading list of studious Christians." J. I. Packer is more expansive:
The Institutio is also one of the wonders of the spiritual world—the world of doxology and devotion, of discipleship and discipline, of Word-through-Spirit illumination and transformation of individuals, of the Christ-centered mind and the Christ-honoring heart. Shaping all its elaborate doctrinal discussions, with their rigorous biblicism, their strong assertions of divine sovereignty, and their sharply focused trinitarianism, is a persistent orientation to the conscience, a contagious awareness that we do and must live our lives coram Deo, in the presence and sight of the searcher of hearts, and a drumbeat insistence that sound belief must express itself in pietas, faithful—that is, faith-full—obedience to, and worship of, the Father and the Son through the Spirit. Though the Institutio became more than a catechism in that it reached beyond the basics of the discipling process, it nowhere became less than a catechism by losing its discipling focus as the permanent bottom line. The exposition of Jesus Christ as set forth in the Creed, and of the Christian life, of the Ten Commandments, and of praying the Lord’s Prayer, stands out in the ongoing flow as (to change the image) jewels in the crown.
English-speaking Christians today are well served by at least three good translations. For years the Church has been well served by the translation by Henry Beveridge (1845) of Calvin's 1559 Latin "definitive" edition. It is not the most perspicuous, though it has the advantage of being freely available as pdf's online and as cheap copyright-free reprints. A better translation of the same is by McNeil-Battles (Eerdmans, 1960). More recently the Banner of Truth published a translation of the less formal 1541 French edition by Robert White. Institutes is also a rather massive work, and many lay persons have difficulty getting through it; as a result, several abridgements are also available (one of which is available as a free downloand; see Resources below).
Resources:
Timothy Tow, An Abridgment of Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. Singapore: Far Eastern Bible College Press, 1997. Pdf N
Further Reading:
Bruce Gordon, John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. Lives of Great Religious Books; Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016.
Paul Helm, "Institutes of the Christian Religion," reformation21.
Peter A. Lillback, "A Theological Guide to Calvin's Institutes: Essays and Analysis," Alumni Book Gallery 52 (2008).
David W. Hall and Peter A., eds., Theological Guide to Calvin's Institutes: Essays and Analysis. Phillipburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2015.
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