Commonly Quoted Calvin

OUR wisdom, in so far as it ought to be deemed true and solid wisdom, consists almost entirely of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But as these are connected together by many ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes, and gives birth to the other.

John Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Institutes of the Christian Religion (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2010).

I laugh almost every time I hear this quote, or some variation on it, attributed to Calvin. It isn’t the quote itself that makes me laugh, or that it isn’t form Calvin, rather it is the fact that of all the beautiful and majestic things that Calvin penned in his life, I find that people quote this more than anything else. The reason? Because it is the very first chapter of the very first book of Calvin’s Institutes. While I don’t know how much Calvin people have read who quote this, I can’t help but think the frequency of this section’s use is directly related to the amount of Calvin they have read. If people would but dig further into Calvin (um, say, past the first page), oh the depths of treasures he would share and they would have an over abundance of quotes to recite.

Alas, I challenge you. Listen up when you hear someone say, “John Calvin said…” Statistically, I’m betting this quote will follow more than any other.