Sundays with Jean

Yes, Gentle Reader, Dave and I have returned to our regular reading of The Institutes, after a much interrupted summer season. We won't finish it in a year...though we are nearing the end of the first volume (we are currently in the midst of book III, on p.720!!!) We are encouraged by what we read, and hope to continue on. Here are a few favorite recent quotes. Calvin, himself, is a master of quotes. It was reading Calvin that really whet my appetite for reading Augustine. And lately, he's been encouraging me to pick up Bernard of Clairvaux.

But climbing up to a higher watchtower, let us seek the City of God, let us seek his temple, let us seek his house, let us seek his bride. I have not forgotten...,but with fear and reverence...I say: 'We, I say, are, but in the heart of God. We are, but by his dignifying us, not by our own dignity.'"
~Bernard of Clairvaux, as quoted by J. Calvin, Institutes III.2.25

Where, in fact, are safe and firm rest and security for the weak but in the Savior's wounds? The mightier he is to save, the more securely I dwell there. The world menaces, the body weighs us down, the devil sets his snares. I fall not for I am grounded upon a firm rock. I have sinned a grave sin. My conscience is disturbed, but it will not be perturbed because I shall remember the Lord's wounds...Accordingly, the Lord's compassion is my merit. Obviously, I am not devoid of merit so long as he is not devoid of compassion...Shall I sing my own righteous acts? O Lord, I shall remember thy rightweousness only, for it is also mine.
~Bernard of Clairvaux, as quoted by J. Calvin, Institutes III.12.3

Let us not be ashamed to descend from this contemplation of divine perfection to look upon ourselves, without flattery and without being affected by blind self-love.
~J. Calvin, Institutes II.12.5