Reading Calvin Profitably

The Who famously sang that there ain’t no cure for the summertime blues (though they didn’t write that one). Well, I reckon there is a cure: Get a bit of R&R, and feed your soul on Calvin.

Returning Moore College students begin each academic year by signing a statement that they have carefully read their assigned portions of Calvin’s Institutes’. And they do.

A student once told me that when he mentioned things from previous summer’s Calvin reading to other students, they often looked blank. ‘Perhaps they didn’t read their Calvin,’ he guessed, but I replied, ‘No. They probably just read it the way I read it at College.’

I did my Calvin readings each summer: I read, I enjoyed parts, I underlined, and I moved on. But I retained little and profited little beyond that. This student, on the other hand, had made his own, presumably modest, study notes on Calvin. That’s why he retained much even ten months on. And this was a normally gifted student, not a future academic or PhD.

If you want or need to read Calvin, you want it to be profitable, not profitless as was my reading. That will only take a slightly greater effort than reading the way I read it.

Now to learn from the great man, you will need to implement a few strategies:

 Go buy yourself a little notebook. And get a pen for making notes.

Get the big picture background:

Understand a little of the history and formation of the Institutes. The briefest I know is Tip #5 in Derek Thomas’ Six Tips, but let me know if you find other good ones.

Then start actively reading:

Before reading:

• Without looking back, revise what you have read recently: The big flow of what you’ve read till now. The flow of recent chapters and sections, and the main points of yesterday’s readings.[1]

And check that your answers are correct, so you don’t fix bad info in your mind.

• Look over your day’s portion. Scan the section, read the titles and section headings – quickly.

• Predict what the great man might say on those pages.

While reading, read actively:

• Frequently pause and ask, ‘What is his big point in this section?’

• Scribble down a couple test questions to ask someone on the day’s reading.

• Jot quickly your questions, confusions, and new terminology as you go.

• Note what is new to you, and what doesn’t fit your own theology: Why does Calvin differ? What might I have missed in my own theologizing?

• At the end of every section, write a clear, one-sentence summary of that section. This might take a couple minutes, but the effort will help you understand it and retain it. Then move on.

• Derek Thomas advises paying attention to Calvin’s own summaries at the end of sections.

After each reading session:

• Engage your heart: Again, Derek Thomas advises, “Try asking yourself at the end of each section, How should I respond to this truth? What graces should I manifest, by the Holy Spirit’s aid as I read this?” Turn this to prayer and to praise, as befits students of God.

• Engage your mind: Attempt to recall the key points and ideas from today’s reading, and from yesterday’s. Check your notes to see if you’ve recalled correctly.

• Revise earlier material periodically.[2]

And to maximise your profit:

• Read in smaller, manageable chunks – giving yourself time to ‘digest’ what you’re taking in. Long reading and study sessions give low returns.[3]

• Keep it manageable – Just go for the big idea of each section (there are enough of these!) – if you can retain most of these, then you have a framework for understanding Calvin and for your own theologizing.

Do these things and you will gain a solid outline and understanding of one of the great minds of the church – fodder for godliness, for knowing the Lord and his ways, and for better theologizing and living.

The Institutes are rich and will richly repay the effort you put into them. I still read a condensed version of the Institutes for my devotions every 5-10 years – as well as Packer’s Knowing God.

May you find great joy and profit in reading Calvin, and in reading other such greats in the years to come!

[1] And remember that if it is a struggle to recall, that is good. This struggle will help fix things into your long-term memory. (Recalling while looking at the answers is akin to looking in a mirror and forgetting what you see.)

[2] Revise with ‘spaced repetition’: Less frequently for what you easily recall, more frequently for what you don’t recall.

[3] Slow readers take heart! John Piper confesses to being a slow reader, and yet, in just 20 minutes a day, he can finish the Institutes in six months. This plan will get you there in 25 weeks.