Bibles, Study Guides, and Accessories
Deciding which bibles and bible references and bible commentaries to stock is a challenge. I attempt a historical and a critical approach. We begin with the Hebrew and Greek originals. We move through the significant translations chronologically: the Geneva (with its sharp and learned Calvinist notes), the King James (safer for its sponsor), the New Revised Standard, and the excellent harvest of translations in the late 20th Century -- the New International, the English Standard, and the Common English.
Our dictionaries and handbooks tend to be a little conservative, mostly because I am skeptical of the confidence and the imagination of modern liberal scholars. Two thousand years of brilliant minds have thought about and written about scriptures (longer and more in the case of the Hebrew scriptures), and the humble approach with that perspective is useful and wise. The best approach is to begin with the basics and go from there.
On a less controversial note, protect your treasure of wisdom with a book cover or tote. We have several designs with neat features.
In the Power of the Spirit: Sermons on Matthew, Mark, and Luke
In the Power of the Spirit: Sermons on Matthew, Mark, and Luke
Translated from the French of 1562 by Robert White
‘We cannot cleanse ourselves; God must work in us with power. That is why the Holy Spirit is fire. We must go back into the oven when God chooses to make us new.’
— John Calvin
Of the many sermons which Calvin preached on the Synoptic Gospels, only the first sixty-five were recorded and published, under the title Sermons on the Harmony or Concordance of the Three Evangelists, Matthew, Mark and Luke (1562). Eighteen of these sermons appear here, for the first time in English translation. They focus on the events of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee: his baptism, his testing by Satan, the calling of his first disciples, his teaching and his works of healing.
In consecutive sermons the preacher traces the drama of Jesus’ confrontation with the forces of darkness and unbelief, which make him a prophet without honour in his own country. For the time being, his identity as Messiah remains hidden. Already, however, he is filled with the Spirit of God who empowers and directs him; already Satan must contend with one stronger than he; already the poor have good news preached to them; already God’s kingdom is present in Jesus’ gracious words and mighty works.
These sermons, the last Calvin was to preach on a New Testament text, reveal the Reformer at his best: a lucid interpreter of Scripture, an engaging preacher, and a pastor passionate to present every soul in his care mature in Christ.