John Calvin Quotes
-
For the fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being, and it is a monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light.
-
All truth is God's truth.
-
It is amazing how much our lack of trust provokes God if we request of him a boon that we do not expect.
-
There is no erratic power or action or motion in creatures but they are governed by God's secret plan in such a way that nothing happens except what is knowingly and willingly decreed by Him.
-
But a most pernicious error widely prevails that Scripture has only so much weight as is conceded to it by the consent of the church. As if the eternal and inviolable truth of God depended upon the decision of men!
-
Let that ethical philosophy therefore of free-will be far from a Christian mind.
-
We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or be satisfied with food...or to be delighted with music or to drink wine.
-
The subject then of these chapters may be stated thus, - man's only righteousness is through the mercy of God in Christ, which being offered by the Gospel is apprehended by faith.
-
Unless men establish their complete happiness in God, they will never give themselves truly and sincerely to him.
-
The blindness of unbelievers in no way detracts from the clarity of the gospel; the sun is no less bright because blind men do not perceive its light.
-
Free-will cannot will good and of necessity serves sin.
-
The effect of our knowledge rather ought to be, first, to teach us reverence and fear; and, secondly, to induce us, under its guidance and teaching, to ask every good thing from God, and, when it is received, ascribe it to him. For how can the idea of God enter your mind without instantly giving rise to the thought, that since you are his workmanship, you are bound, by the very law of creation, to submit to his authority?-\-\that your life is due to him?-\-\that whatever you do ought to have reference to him.
-
Nobody seriously believes the universe was made by God without being persuaded that He takes care of His works.
-
Concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, we must also be aware that he is our Advocate, and that without him we cannot approach God.
-
There is no wisdom but that which is founded on the fear of God, which Solomon also declares to be the chief part of wisdom.
-
Indeed, a Christian ought to be disposed and prepared to keep in mind that he has to reckon with God every moment of his life.
-
When we come to a comparison of heaven and earth, then we may indeed not only forget all about the present life, but even despise and scorn it.
-
No one can travel so far that he does not make some progess each day. So let us never give up. Then we shall move forward daily in the Lord's way. And let us never despair because of our limited success. Even though it is so much less than we would like, our labour is not wasted when today is better than yesterday!
-
Since no daily responses are given from heaven, and the Scriptures are the only record in which God has been pleased to consign His truth to perpetual remembrance, the full authority which they ought to possess with the faithful is not recognized unless they are believed to have come from heaven as directly as if God had been heard giving utterance to them.
-
Christ is much more powerful to save, than Adam was to destroy.
-
Peace and friendship are an amiable thing among men. They be so indeed, and we ought to seek them to the uttermost of our power. But yet for all that, we must set such store by God's truth, that if all the world should be set on fire for the maintenance thereof, we should not stick at it.
-
The sum is, that the worship of God must be spiritual, in order that it may correspond with His nature. For although Moses only speaks of idolatry, yet there is no doubt but that by synecdoche, as in all the rest of the law, he condemns all fictitious services which men in their ingenuity have invented.
-
The vices of which we are full we carefully hide from others, and we flatter ourselves with the notion that they are small and trivial; we sometimes even embrace them as virtues.
-
There is also an old proverb, that they who pay much attention to the body generally neglect the soul.