Institutio Christianae Religionis

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Title page of the last edition of the Institutio from 1559.

The Institutio Christianae Religionis ( German teaching (or instruction ) in the Christian religion ) is the main theological work of Johannes Calvin . As one of the most important books of the Reformation , the Institutio became the theological textbook of the French-speaking Reformed Church and the basis of the theology of the Reformed Church outside of France. As a result, it influenced the Christian western world and is still widespread among Reformed and theology students today.

history

Institutio christianae religionis , 1597

The Institutio was originally written by Calvin as a catechism for the educated. That is why the first edition is also in Latin; a French version was not published until 1541. He was moved by the persecution of his fellow believers in France and initially wanted to demonstrate with the Institutio that they were by no means heretics and inciters, but serious innovators of biblical faith and the true Church. According to Calvin, the institute should be “a key and a door to a good and right understanding of the Scriptures”. Due to the great response from the population at the time, he continuously expanded the institute over almost 25 years of his life.

He dedicated the first edition of the Institute to the French King Francis I , as Calvin hoped - but in vain - that he could dissuade him from persecuting the Huguenots . Franz I probably read neither the dedication nor the book. Calvin completed the institute, which initially comprised just six chapters, on August 23, 1535. In March 1536, the first edition was printed and published by the Basel book printer Thomas Platter .

He then translated the Latin edition, which was expanded to 17 chapters in 1539, into French for the first time and published this edition in 1541. A further revised Latin edition appeared in 1543 with 21 chapters; the French translation was published in 1545. In the penultimate revision from 1550 (French translation: 1551), the chapters were also subdivided into paragraphs due to their large size. Calvin had the last significantly expanded edition of the Institutio in Latin published by the Geneva printer Robert Estienne in 1559; the French translation appeared in 1560.

As a result of the continuous expansion, the institute grew into a large textbook of the Christian faith in the Reformation sense. The 6 chapters of the first edition of 1536 became 80 chapters in the last edition of 1559. The Latin and French editions of the Institutio have been translated into many other languages ​​over the centuries.

The first complete translation into German appeared in Heidelberg in 1572 . This was followed in 1823 by a new translation of Book I and Book II by Friedrich Adolf Krummacher . In 1909, on the anniversary of Calvin's 400th birthday, a shortened translation into German by Ernst Friedrich Karl Müller was published. Since the last complete translation dates from the 16th century, Otto Weber decided to do a complete translation of all four books with reference to Müller's partial translation. The first part appeared in 1936, the second part in 1937 and the third part in 1938. Six new editions were published by 1997. On the occasion of Calvin's 500th birthday and due to the fact that all new editions are out of print, Weber's translation was edited by Matthias Freudenberg and scholars from the Netherlands and Germany and reissued in 2008.

The first translation of the less popular first edition from 1536 into German was done by Bernhard Spiess in 1887. This was edited and re-edited in 2008 by Thomas Schirrmacher .

content

The last edition consists of 4 parts (also called books ) with a total of 80 chapters. The content is as follows:

  • Part 1: Knowledge of God the Creator (De cognitione Dei creatoris)
The first part has 18 chapters and begins with chapters on God and self-knowledge. Other topics include: authority of the Bible, condemnation of idolatry and the worship of images, trinity, creation of man and God's providence
  • Part 2: Knowledge of God as the Redeemer in Christ (De cognitione Dei redemptoris)
The second part has 17 chapters. Here Calvin deals with the following topics: sin, free will, covenant, law, ten commandments, old and new testament, mediocrity of Jesus Christ, divine and human nature of Jesus Christ, incarnation of Jesus Christ, three offices of Jesus Christ (prophet, king and priest), Work of the Redeemer
  • Part 3: Reception of the grace of Jesus Christ and its effects (De modo percipiendae Christi gratiae et qui fructis nobis proveniant et qui effectus consequantur)
The third part has 25 chapters and contains the following topics: Holy Spirit, Faith, Penance, Confession, Indulgence and Purgatory, Christian Life and Sanctification, Justification, Good Works, Christian Freedom, Prayer, Election, Resurrection of the Dead
  • Part 4: External means by which God invites and maintains communion with Jesus Christ (De externis mediis vel articulis, quibus Deus in Christi societatem nos invitat, et in ea retinet)
The last fourth part has 20 chapters. The topics are: nature and characteristics of the church, offices of the church, papacy, teaching authority, councils, church statutes, canon law, church discipline, vows, sacraments, baptism, the Lord's Supper, rejection of the sacrament and the seven number of sacraments, state and church

literature

expenditure
  • Teaching in the Christian Religion - Institutio Christianae Religionis , based on the last edition of 1559 transl. and edit by Otto Weber , arr. and newly published by Matthias Freudenberg . 2nd edition Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2008 ISBN 978-3-7887-2327-9
  • Christian doctrine of the faith: first edition of the institute from 1536 , after the first edition of 1536 trans. by Bernhard Spiess, arr. and re-edited by Thomas Schirrmacher . 1st edition. Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, 2008 ISBN 978-3-938116-58-6

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Preface, In: Teaching in the Christian religion - Institutio Christianae Religionis , based on the last edition of 1559 trans. and edit by Otto Weber, arr. and newly published by Matthias Freudenberg. 2nd edition Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2008 ISBN 978-3-7887-2327-9
  2. ^ Preface by Johannes Calvin to the reader, In: Teaching in the Christian religion - Institutio Christianae Religionis , after the last edition of 1559 trans. and edit by Otto Weber, arr. and newly published by Matthias Freudenberg. 2nd edition Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2008 ISBN 978-3-7887-2327-9
  3. ↑ p. 10 PDF file: http://www.reformiert-info.de/daten/File/Upload/doc-3976-1.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.calvin-institutio.de/side.php?news_id=124&part_id=0&navi=2
  5. ^ Introduction by Matthias Freudenberg, In: Teaching in the Christian Religion - Institutio Christianae Religionis , based on the last edition of 1559 trans. and edit by Otto Weber, arr. and newly published by Matthias Freudenberg. 2nd edition Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2008 ISBN 978-3-7887-2327-9
  6. ^ Foreword, In: Christliche Glaubenslehre: First edition of the Institutio from 1536 , after the first edition from 1536 trans. by Bernhard Spiess, arr. and re-edited by Thomas Schirrmacher. 1st edition. Verlag für Kultur und Wissenschaft, 2008 ISBN 978-3-938116-58-6
  7. ↑ Compiled with: Teaching in the Christian Religion - Institutio Christianae Religionis , based on the last edition of 1559 trans. and edit by Otto Weber, arr. and newly published by Matthias Freudenberg. 2nd edition Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 2008 ISBN 978-3-7887-2327-9

Web links

Commons : Institutio Christianae Religionis  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
  • Digitized by the institute - after the last edition from 1559 trans. and edit by Otto Weber. Neukirchener Verlag, Neukirchen-Vluyn 1997