The Christian Polity of John Calvin

This book explores the relationship between Calvin's thought about civil and ecclesiastical order and his own circumstances and activities.

Harro Höpfl (Author)

9780521316385, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 18 July 1985

320 pages
21.6 x 13.8 x 1.9 cm, 0.4 kg

This book explores the relationship between Calvin's thought about civil and ecclesiastical order and his own circumstances and activities. The early chapters argue that in his pre-Genevan writings, including the first edition of the Institution, Calvin's political thinking was entirely conventional; his subsequent thought and conduct were not an implementation of previously formulated ideas. Later chapters examine whether and to what extent Calvin developed a distinctive vision of the Christian polity as part of an overall conception of the Christian life.

1. The training of a lawgiver
2. The Institution: the first version
3. The first public ministry
4. Reconstruction
5. The Institution of 1543
6. Geneva and Calvin, 1541-64
7. The civil order of a Christian commonwealth
8. Political morality in the thought of Calvin
9. The laws and mores of a Christian commonwealth
10. Unfinished business: a speculative summary and PostScript.

Subject Areas: History of ideas [JFCX]