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Bishop Sadoleto wrote to the Genevans and urged them all to "return to the church" and Calvin replies.

A paradigm of Biblical argumentation, Calvin focuses on (1) the two irreconcilable plans of the sinner's justification before the holy God, and (2) on the question, "What is the true church, and how exactly is this established?"

Luther's famous response to all who would take Jesus' "Words of Institution" in any other way but what they look like.

After stating his own argument concerning these words, he contrasts it with the "fanatics'" interpretation of them. He responds to Zwingli's claims, and to those of Oecolampadius. He next sarcastically reformulates their arguments using other words.

One of Luther's best. He tries to defend two seemingly contradictory propositions: (1) The Christian is perfectly free Lord of all and subject to none, and, (2) the Christian is the dutiful servant of all (his neighbor). In doing this, he does a great job of expositing what Justification is (as opposed to sanctification).

J. Gresham Machen was the Presbyterian giant who taught at Princeton during the time of B.B. Warfield—another giant.

During that era, Protestant Liberalism "ruled the roost" of almost every seminary in America. It was, as usual, presented as "the thinking man's version of Christianity." Those who did not "line up" with it were subjected to various insults, disparagements of intellect, and all the usual pejoratives. Machen had gone through the virtual loss of his own Christian faith when doing doctoral work in Germany and had had to cognitively fight his way back. Of course, the same thing goes on for students today. Only the names have changed.

Luther chides his readers, if they are papists, for complaining about the "re-baptizers" when, in a sense, every papist is a sort of Anabaptist! He argues that these people do not deserve to be so lamentably murdered, burned and tormented to death.

He notes that, there remains much that is Christian and good under the papacy (Scripture, Baptism, the Supper, the Keys, the ministry, the content of the Catechism, etc.), so if the Anabaptists are justifying everything by "not doing what the Antichrist does", they are simply wrong.

A detailed tracing of the beginnings of the post-World War II "evangelical movement" in (1) the Church of England, and (2) in the U.S. After explicating the state of evangelicalism and the players in the drama (again, in both England and the U.S.), he traces "blow-by-blow" how it has become almost entirely vitiated in both countries.

Murray does not shrink from naming names (some of these stories shocked me, because they centered on men who have sort of been on my list of "heroes!") He also takes very great care, as he describes the self-destruction of "evangelicalism" in both countries, to give space and time to the brave ones who spoke out "against the tide" (e.g., Edward John Carnell, Dr. D. Marty Lloyd-Jones and Francis Schaeffer).

Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion has a place within the canon of the Great Books of the Western World. Love Calvin or hate him, it is beyond dispute that this book changed Protestantism for 500 years – and is still doing so! What began in 1536 as simple catechetical booklet grew into a massive magnum opus in 1559. This final edition is outlined here.

The first book of Calvin's magnum opus is arguably the finest piece of theological writing in church history; even an honest Arminian would have to agree. It excels in eloquence, ingenuity, and influence.

Here, Calvin discusses the knowledge of God, how it relates to human nature, the role of the Holy Spirit in the creation of faith, how Christians should approach theology, and how sin affects the human intellect.

The second book is extremely important because it provides a foundation for Reformed perspectives on human nature, especially the enslaved will.

By now, readers should have noted that Calvin follows the outline of the Apostles' Creed. God the Son is the focus of this portion of the work. Those with a background in churches that have difficulty making sense of the "old covenant" should find Calvin's thoughtful approach to the relationship between the Old and New Testaments fascinating.

In the third book, Calvin's focus turns to the Holy Spirit, as seen through the perspective of the economy of salvation.

Most readers interested in the Institutes will be seeking to understand the distinctive theology Calvin lays out in this book, especially his doctrine of predestination (III.xxi). Nonetheless, one should note from the outline that before discussing election, Calvin considers other doctrines which are essential to evangelical thought.