Commentaries on the First Book of Moses Called Genesis #270241

No book of the Bible is more important to the Reformed faith as the basis of its formulation than the Book of Genesis. No writer in the whole field of theological literature is more basic in his perception of the Reformed faith as the teaching of the Holy Word revealed by God's Spirit through Prophets and Apostles, than John Calvin.<br><br>Perhaps the most striking feature of Calvin as thinker and commentator is the way in which he allows his mind to be controlled by the specific meaning of the God-revealed truth, rather than foisting upon that truth some concepts of his own. While one can never escape this sense of the complete enthrallment of his mind by the Bible, even in the Institutes, it is nowhere more apparent than in his commenting upon this book of origins.<br><br>Since it is in the very creation of the world that the relation between God and the creation was forever established and since it is that very relationship the expression of which constitutes the Reformed faith, it is natural that what John Calvin has to say about God's sustaining and controlling power over His creation, is basic to an understanding of God's Word and of the Reformed faith.<br><br>It is all too often remarked in these days that we are not interested in theological niceties; that what is needed is more of Christian life and less of Christian doctrine. It is even observed that the ancient battle between Arminian and Calvinistic points of view must not be taken too seriously and that in a dynamic age we must meet its challenge with less doctrine and more action.<br><br>Such careless observations, however, fail to analyze the problems. They do not truly reflect an understanding of the meaning of theology or properly evaluate the relation between thought and action.