John Calvin on Honoring and Respecting the Word of God

"Their [objection] about our cleaving to the dead letter carries with it the punishment which they deserve for despising Scripture.  It is clear that Paul is there arguing against false apostles (2 Cor 3:6), who, by recommending the Law without Christ, deprived the people of the benefits of the new covenant, by which the Lord engages that he will write his law on the hearts believers, and engrave it on their inward parts.  The letter therefore is dead, and the law of the Lord kills its readers when it is dissevered from the grace of Christ, and only sounds in the ear without touching the heart.  But if it is effectually impressed on the heart by the Spirit; if it exhibits Christ, it is the word of life converting the soul, and making wise the simple.  No, in the very same passage, the apostle calls his own preaching the ministration of the Spirit (2 Cor 3:8), intimating that the Holy Spirit so cleaves to his own truth, as he has expressed it in Scripture, that he then only exerts and puts forth his strength when the word is received with due honor and respect" (John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion).

John Calvin on the Holy Spirit and Scripture

"It is easy to understand that we must give diligent heed both to the reading and hearing of Scripture, if we would obtain any benefit from the Spirit of God (just as Peter praises those who attentively study the doctrine of the prophets [2 Pet 1:19], though it might have been thought to be superseded after the gospel light arose), and, on the contrary, that any spirit which passes by the wisdom of God's word, and suggests any other doctrine, is deservedly suspected of vanity and falsehood.  Since Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, what authority can the Spirit have with us if he be not ascertained by an infallible mark?  And assuredly he is pointed out to us by the Lord with sufficient clearness; but these miserable men err as if bent on their own destruction, while they seek the Spirit from themselves rather than from him.  But they say that it is insulting to subject the Spirit, to whom all things are to be subject, to the Scripture; as if it were disgraceful to the Holy Spirit to maintain a perfect resemblance throughout, and be in all respects without variation consistent with himself.  True, if he were subjected to a human, an angelical, or to any foreign standard, it might be thought that he was rendered subordinate, or, if you will, brought into bondage, but so long as he is compared with himself, and considered in himself, how can it be said that he is thereby injured?  I admit that he is brought to a test, but the very test by which it has pleased him that his majesty should be confirmed.  It ought to be enough for us when once we hear his voice; but lest Satan should insinuate himself under his name, he wishes us to recognize him by the image which he has stamped on the Scriptures. The author of the Scriptures cannot vary, and change his likeness.  Such as he there appeared at first, such he will perpetually remain.  There is nothing [humiliating] to him in this, unless we are to think it would be honorable to for him to degenerate, and revolt against himself" (Institutes of Christian Religion, John Calvin).

John Calvin on a False View of Scripture

"Those who, rejecting Scripture, imagine that they have some peculiar way of penetrating to God, are to be deemed not so much under the influence of error as madness.  For certain giddy men have lately appeared, who, while they make a great display of the superiority of the Spirit, reject all reading of the Scriptures themselves, and deride the simplicity of those who only delight in what they call the dead and deadly letter.  But I wish they would tell me what spirit it is whose inspiration raises them to such a sublime height that they dare despise the doctrine of Scripture as mean and childish.  If they answer that it is the Spirit of Christ, their confidence is exceedingly ridiculous; since they will, I presume, admit that the apostles and other believers in the primitive church were not illuminated by any other Spirit.  None of these thereby learned to despise the word of God, but everyone was imbued with greater reverence for it, as their writings most clearly testify.  And, indeed, it had been so foretold by the mouth of Isaiah.  For when he says, 'My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever,' he does not tie down the ancient church to external doctrine, as he were a mere teacher elements; he rather shows that, under the reign of Christ, the true and full felicity of the new church will consist in their being ruled not less by the word than by the Spirit of God.  Hence we infer that these miscreants are guilty of fearful sacrilege in tearing asunder what the prophet joins in indissoluble union.  Add to this, that Paul, though carried up even to the third heaven, ceased not to profit by the doctrine of the Law and the Prophets, while, in like manner, he exhorts Timothy, a teacher of singular excellence, to give attention to reading (1 Tim 4:13).  And the eulogium which he pronounces on Scripture well deserves to be remembered, i.e., that 'it is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect' (2 Tim 3:16).  What an infatuation of the devil therefore, to fancy that Scripture, which conducts the sons of God to the final goal, is of transient and temporary use?  Again, I should like those people to tell me whether they have imbibed any other spirit than that which Christ promises to his disciples.  Though their madness is extreme, it will scarcely carry them the length of making this their boast.  But what kind of Spirit did our Savior promise to send?  One who should not speak of himself (John 16:13), but suggest and instill the truths which he himself had delivered through the word.  Hence the office of the Spirit promised to us, is not to form new and unheard-of revelations, or to win a new form of doctrine, by which we may be led away from the received doctrine of the gospel, but to seal on our minds the very doctrine which the gospel recommends" (Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin).

J.C. Ryle on Private Reading of Scripture

"Let us read our Bibles in private more, and with more pains and diligence.  Ignorance of Scripture is the root of all error, and makes a man helpless in the hand of the devil.  There is less private Bible reading, I suspect, than there was fifty years ago.  I never can believe that so many English men and women would have been 'tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine,' some falling into skepticism, some rushing into the wildest and narrowest fanaticism, and some going over to Rome, if there had not grown up a habit of lazy, superficial, careless, [hasty] reading of God's Word.  'You do err not knowing the Scriptures' (Matt. 22:29).  The Bible in the pulpit must never supersede the Bible at home" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

J.C. Ryle on Christianity's Unexplainable Facts (2 of 4)

"When skeptics and infidels have said all they can, we must not forget that there are three great broad facts which they have never explained away, and I am convinced they never can, and never will.  Let me tell you briefly what they are.  They are very simple facts, and any plain man can understand them."

Fact #1 - Jesus Christ

"The second fact is the Bible itself.  If Christianity is a mere invention of man, and the Bible is of no more authority than any other uninspired volume, how is it that the book is what it is?  How is it that a book written by a few Jews in a remote corner of the earth, written at distant periods without consort or collusion among the writers; written by members of a nation which, compared to Greeks and Romans, did nothing for literature - how is it that this book stands entirely alone, and there is nothing that even approaches it, for high views of God, for true views of man, for solemnity of thought, for grandeur of doctrine, and for purity of morality?  What account can the infidel give of this book, so deep, so simple, so wise, so free from defects?  He cannot explain its existence and nature on his principles.  We only can do that who hold that the book is supernatural and of God" (J.C. Ryle, Holiness).

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).

John Calvin on the Church and the Authority of Scripture

"Paul testifies that the church is 'built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets' (Eph. 2:20). If the doctrine of the apostles and prophets is the foundation of the church, the former must have had its certainty before the latter began to exist. Nor is there any room for the [criticism], that though the church derives her first beginning from thence, it still remains doubtful what writings are to be attributed to the apostles and prophets, until her judgment is interposed.  For if the Christian church was founded at first on the writings of the prophets, and the preaching of the apostles, that doctrine, wheresoever it may be found, was certainly ascertained and sanctioned [prior] to the church, since, but for this, the church herself never could have existed. Nothing, therefore can be more absurd than the fiction, that the power judging Scripture is in the church, and that on her nod its certainty depends. When the church receives it, and gives it the stamp of her authority, she does not make that authentic which was otherwise doubtful or [refuted] but, acknowledging it as the truth of God, she, as in duty bound, shows her reverence by an unhesitating assent. As to the question, How shall we be persuaded that it came from God without recurring to a decree of the church? it is just the same as if it were asked, How shall we learn to distinguish light from darkness, white from black, sweet from bitter? Scripture bears upon the face of it as clear evidence of its truth, as white and black do of their color, sweet and bitter of their taste" (John Calvin, Institutes of Christian Religion).

J.C. Ryle: To be Without Christ is to be Without Heaven

In recent years there has been a fascination with heaven.  More specifically, books (and soon after movies of those books) have captured the imagination of believers and unbelievers alike.  In discussions of these books and movies the question usually arises, "Is this a true story?"  How can we know if this story on heaven is trustworthy?  One basic test is to ask the question, "What is the center of heaven in the story?"  In looking at Scripture, Christ is the central and ever present figure of heaven.  If Christ is not at heaven's center then it is more than likely a false story, no matter how sincere the storyteller.  The words of J.C. Ryle below speak a divine truth: a heaven without Christ is not the heaven of the Bible.

"To be 'without Christ' is to be without heaven.  In saying thing I do not merely mean that there is no entrance into heaven, but that 'without Christ' there could be no happiness in being there.  A man without a Savior and Redeemer could never feel at home in heaven.  He would feel that he had no lawful right or title to be there; boldness and confidence and ease of heart would be impossible.  Amid pure and holy angels, under the eyes of a pure and holy God, he could not hold up his head; he would feel confounded and ashamed.  It is the very essence of all true views of heaven that Christ is there.

"Who are you that dreams of a heaven in which Christ has no place?  Awake to know your folly.  Know that in every description of heaven which the Bible contains, the presence of Christ is one essential feature.  'In the midst of the throne,' says St. John, 'stood a Lamb as it had been slain.'  The very throne of heaven is called the 'throne of God and of the Lamb.'  'The Lamb is the light of heaven, and the temple of it.'  The saints who dwell in heaven are to be 'fed by the Lamb,' and 'led to living fountains of waters.'  The meeting of the saints in heaven is called 'the marriage supper of the Lamb' (Rev. 5:6; 22:3; 21:22, 23; 7:17; 19:9).  A heaven 'without Christ' would not be the heaven of the Bible.  To be 'without Christ' is to be without heaven" (J.C. Ryle, Holiness).

J.C. Ryle: The True Church Loves to Read About Christ

"If we love a person, we like to read about him.  What intense pleasure a letter from an absent husband gives to a wife, or a letter from an absent son to his mother.  Others may see little worth notice in the letter.  They can scarcely take the trouble to read it through.  But those who love the writer see something in the letter which no one else can.  They carry it about with them as a treasure.  They read it over and over again.  Well, it is just so between the true Christian and Christ!  The true Christian delights to read the Scriptures, because they tell him about his beloved Savior.  It is no wearisome task with him to read them.  He rarely needs reminding to take his Bible with him when he goes on a journey.  He cannot be happy without it.  And why is all this?  It is because the Scriptures testify of Him whom his soul loves, even Christ" (JC Ryle, Holiness).