"There was good ground for the apostle's declaration, that the faith of the Corinthians was founded not on 'the wisdom of men,' but on 'the power of God' (1 Cor 2:5), this speech and preaching among them having been 'not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power' (1 Cor 2:5). For the truth is vindicated in opposition to every doubt, when, unsupported by foreign aid, it has its sole sufficiency in itself. How peculiarly this property belongs to Scripture appears from this, that no human writings, however skillfully composed, are at all capable of affecting us in a similar way. Read Demosthenes or Cicero, read Plato, Aristotle, or any other of that class: you will, I admit, feel wonderfully allured, pleased, moved, enchanted; but turn from them to the reading of the sacred volume, and whether you will or not, it will so affect you, so pierce your heart, so work its way into your very marrow, that, in comparison of the impression so produced, that of orators and philosophers will almost disappear; making it manifest that in the sacred volume there is a truth divine, a something which makes it immeasurably superior to all the gifts and graces attainable by man" (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion).
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
John Calvin on the Affect of Scripture
"There was good ground for the apostle's declaration, that the faith of the Corinthians was founded not on 'the wisdom of men,' but on 'the power of God' (1 Cor 2:5), this speech and preaching among them having been 'not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power' (1 Cor 2:5). For the truth is vindicated in opposition to every doubt, when, unsupported by foreign aid, it has its sole sufficiency in itself. How peculiarly this property belongs to Scripture appears from this, that no human writings, however skillfully composed, are at all capable of affecting us in a similar way. Read Demosthenes or Cicero, read Plato, Aristotle, or any other of that class: you will, I admit, feel wonderfully allured, pleased, moved, enchanted; but turn from them to the reading of the sacred volume, and whether you will or not, it will so affect you, so pierce your heart, so work its way into your very marrow, that, in comparison of the impression so produced, that of orators and philosophers will almost disappear; making it manifest that in the sacred volume there is a truth divine, a something which makes it immeasurably superior to all the gifts and graces attainable by man" (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion).
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