Book by R E Witt
#87612 in Books 2000-08-01 2000-08-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 7.75 x .32 x 5.25l; .38 #File Name: 0801023904138 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Sadoleto vs CalvinBy Stefano NikolaouI've only ever read the Institutes so I was keen to read something else from Calvin. This book seemed a good choice as it wasn't too long and included a text that he was responding to. This book contains an brief introduction (pages 7-27); Jacopo Sadoleto's letter to the people of Geneva (pages 29-48) and Calvin's reply (pages 49-94). There is also an appendix with extracts from the Institutes on justification and the canons from the Council of Trent on the same subject.Jacopo Sadoleto was the Roman Catholic bishop of Carpentras so he was perfectly qualified to send his letter in 1539. Calvin was still at the start of his career. While Calvin puts up a good case I feel he contradicts himself in two ways. Firstly; he sees the past as corrupt (exactly when is not clear) but he is happy to use authors from then (John Chrysostom; Augustine; Ambrose; etc) to prove his points. Secondly; Calvin states in clear terms to Sadoleto that his beliefs are more in conformity with the past (like the 4th century) than Roman Catholicism. He states '...our agreement with antiquity is far closer than yours; but all we have attempted has been to renew that ancient form of the Church...' (page 62). Anyone with a modicum of knowledge about the early church can see what a fantasy that statement is!This is a nice self-contained volume that summarises the Reformation in a nutshell. I would have liked some more of Calvin's correspondence (apparently he corresponded widely) but I'm happy with this.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Highly recommend.By Nick GardnerShort book that captures the heart of the Reformation Debate. Highly recommend.2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Decently understandableBy Kenneth BoumanI'm not a huge fan of Calvin's ideas; but this made things easy enough to understand where he's coming from. Still don't agree with him though.
