作者：Keith Mathison 译者：小草

除了圣经之外，有很少的书籍影响了历史进程。人们立即会想到的书籍，比如，哥白尼的“天体的演变”，牛顿的“数学原理”，达尔文的“物种起源”，康德的“纯理性批判”，马克思的“资本论”，爱因斯坦的“相对论”等。还有少数的书籍通深刻影响了教会的历史和思想。例如，人们可能会想到奥古斯丁的“上帝之城”，托马斯·阿奎那的“神学大全”，或者卡尔·巴特的“教会教义”。约翰·加尔文的《基督教要义》是为数不多的能够塑造教会历史和世界历史的书籍。

《基督教要义》第一个拉丁文版于1536年出版，当时加尔文接近三十岁。第一版由六章组成。1539年，全面修订的版本由15个章节组成。第一版被作者视为教义概要和信仰告白，修订版本的目的则是作为培训教牧人员的神学教科书。加尔文于1543年再次修改了他的著作，增加了四章在新版里。1550年出版第四版，但仅有少量的修订，其中最重要的不同是分段的编号。1559年，出版第五版，也是最后一版的加尔文《基督教要义》。此版本比其前身大得多，共有80章。这个权威的、完整的版本在过去450年中已被翻译成多种语言。1960年以来的标准英语翻译一直是Ford Lewis Battles 的译版。他的翻译由John T. McNeill 编辑并发表在基督教经典图书馆里。

实际上，约翰·加尔文的《基督教要义》是第一本改革宗的“系统神学”。它对后来所有改革宗神学思想的影响是无法估量的。这部作品分为四个主要部分或“书籍”。第一部分涉及造物主上帝的知识。在这一部分中，加尔文讨论了上帝，圣经和人对上帝和他对自己的认识。第二部分是关于基督里的救赎主。在这部分里，加尔文还解释了圣经中关于堕落，律法，道成肉身和赎罪的教义。第三部分是有关我们在基督里接受恩典的途径。在这部分里，加尔文讨论了信心，称义，基督徒生活等等。最后，第四部分，是有关上帝邀请我们进入教会的外在方式。在这里，加尔文涵盖了与教会，圣礼和民事司法相关的主题。

加尔文并不是一个枯燥的学者，这是与人们常常从当代书籍和文章中所发现的加尔文的形象相反。如果人们花时间去阅读他的作品，这种对加尔文形象的歪曲就是显而易见的。加尔文热衷于上帝被荣耀和耶稣基督被尊崇，在他的《基督教要义》中处处闪耀着他这样的激情。即使是那些无法阅读整本《基督教要义》的基督徒，也应该花时间阅读至少第三部分，第6-10章。其间所蕴含的基督徒日常与基督同行的智慧确实是深刻的。

遗憾的的是，许多当代的基督徒认为自己是“改革宗”或“加尔文主义者”，却从未读过这部经典的基督徒作品的任何部分。《基督教要义》确实可能是一部令人生畏的著作。例如，标准的英文译本由两大卷组成，不包括介绍和索引，文本就占了1,521页。看到这么大的一本书，很容易就会把它放在一边，而去选择比较短和容易的书。然而，许多值得的事情都是困难的，而那些因为《基督教要义》之大而放弃它的人，就错失了坐在教会杰出的教师之一的脚前的机会。

读完这本书实际上并不像乍看之下那么困难。八十章中的每一章都分为较小的部分，每一小部分平均长度就一页多。如果一个人每天阅读四个小部分（4-5页），他将在不到一年的时间内读完整本。如果每天读两小部分，他将在不到两年的时间内读完整本。这样的阅读计划是有益的，因为这样可以让读者有时间去思想每天所读的。有杰出的基督徒著作，然后有真正的经典之作。《基督教要义》是真正的经典之作，我们都应该拿起来阅读。

注：作者Keith Mathison 是史普罗（RC Sproul）牧师 ligonier 事工的同工，圣经学院教授，Tabletalk 副编。原文发表在 ligonier 网站，译文标题为译者所加，图片来自网络。

原文：https://www.ligonier.org/blog/institutes-christian-religion/

The Institutes of the Christian Religion

FROM Keith Mathison Jun 30, 2010 Category: Articles

There are a very small number of books other than the Bible that have affected the course of history. One thinks immediately of books such as Nicholas Copernicus’ Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, Isaac Newton’s Principia Mathematica, Charles Darwin’s Origin of the Species, Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, or Albert Einstein’s Relativity. There are also a small number of books that have profoundly influenced the history and thought of the church. One might think, for example, of Augustine’s City of God, Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica, or Karl Barth’s Church Dogmatics. Among the few books that have shaped the course not only of church history but also of world history is John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion.

The first Latin edition of the Institutes was published in 1536, when Calvin was only in his late twenties. This first edition consisted of six chapters. A fully revised edition consisting of seventeen chapters appeared in 1539. While the first edition was viewed by its author as a compendium of doctrine and a confession of faith, the revised edition was intended as a theological textbook to be used in the training of candidates for the ministry. Calvin revised his work again in 1543, adding four chapters to the new edition. A fourth edition appeared in 1550, but it contained only minor revisions, the most significant of which was the numbering of the paragraph divisions. Finally, in 1559, the fifth and final edition of Calvin’s Institutes was published. This edition is substantially larger than its predecessor, containing 80 chapters. This definitive edition has been translated into many languages over the last 450 years. The standard English translation since 1960 has been that of Ford Lewis Battles. His translation was edited by John T. McNeill and published in the Library of Christian Classics.

John Calvin’s Institutes is, essentially, the first Reformed “systematic theology.” Its influence on the thought of all subsequent Reformed theology is immeasurable. The work is divided into four major sections or “Books.” Book One concerns the knowledge of God the Creator. In this Book, Calvin discusses God, Scripture, and man’s knowledge of God and of himself. Book Two concerns God the Redeemer in Christ. Here Calvin explains, among other things, the biblical doctrine of the fall, the Law, the incarnation, and the atonement. Book Three concerns the way in which we receive the grace of Christ. In this section Calvin discusses faith, justification, the Christian life, and more. Finally, Book Four concerns the external means by which God invites us into the church. Here, Calvin covers subjects related the church, the sacraments, and the civil magistrate.

Contrary to the portrayals of Calvin that one often finds in contemporary books and articles, Calvin was not a dry academic scholar. Such caricatures are evident the moment one takes the time to read his works. Calvin has a passion to see God glorified and Jesus Christ exalted, and this passion shines throughout the Institutes. Even those Christians who cannot read the entire work should take the time to read at least Book Three, chapters 6-10. The wisdom contained therein for the Christian’s daily walk with Christ is truly profound.

It is unfortunate, but many contemporary Christians who consider themselves “Reformed” or “Calvinist” have never read any part of this classic Christian work. Admittedly, the Institutes can be an intimidating work. The standard English translation, for example, consists of two large hardback volumes, and the text, not including introductions and indexes, itself fills 1,521 pages. It is easy when looking at a book of that size to pass it up in favor of something shorter and less difficult. However, many things that are worthwhile are difficult, and those who do pass up this work because of its size are missing the opportunity to sit at the feet of one of the church’s great teachers.

Completing the book is actually not as difficult as one would imagine at first glance. Each of the eighty chapters is divided into smaller sections, which average a little over one page in length. If a person reads four of these subsections (4-5 pages) per day, every day, he will complete the entire work in less than a year. Read two per day, and he will finish the book in less than two years. Such a reading schedule is actually helpful because it will give the reader time to contemplate what he has read each day. There are great Christian works, and then there are true classics. The Institutes is a true classic that we should all take up and read.

Keith Mathison ：He is an Associate Editor of Tabletalk as well as Professor of Biblical Studies with the Bible College。