John Calvin

The door is closed to prayer unless it is opened with the key of trust.

The Scriptures obtain full authority among believers only when men regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were heard.

You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy.

When a certain shameless fellow mockingly asked a pious old man what God had done before the creation of the world the latter aptly countered that he had been building hell for the curious.

By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which He determined with Himself whatever He wished to happen with regard to every man.

God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.

There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence.

The name of Christ excludes all merit of our own.

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.

Free will does not enable any man to perform good works unless he is assisted by grace indeed the special grace which the elect alone receive through regeneration. For I stay not to consider the extravagance of those who say that grace is offered equally and promiscuously to all

Augustine does not disagree with this when he teaches that it is a faculty of the reason and the will to choose good with the assistance of grace; evil, when grace is absent.

Hypocrisy can plunge the mind of a man into a dark abyss, when he believes his own self-flattery instead of God's verdict.

Distinction between virtuous and vicious actions has been engraven by the Lord in the heart of every man.

Inquire not what are the opinions of any one; but inquire what is truth.

The word hope I take for faith and indeed hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith.

For there is no one so great or mighty that he can avoid the misery that will rise up against him when he resists and strives against God.

All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits committed to our trust on this condition that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors.

We must remember that Satan has his miracles, too.

There is no work, however vile or sordid, that does not glisten before God.

I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels.

The angels are the dispensers and administrators of the divine beneficence toward us; they regard our safety, undertake our defense, direct our ways, and exercise a constant solicitude that no evil befall us.

The Scriptures should be read with the aim of finding Christ in them. Whoever turns aside from this object, even though he wears himself out all his life in learning, he will never reach the knowledge of the truth.

A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God's truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.

Is it faith to understand nothing, and merely submit your convictions implicitly to the Church?

A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that Gods truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.

All the blessings we enjoy are Divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors.

Seeing that a Pilot steers the ship in which we sail, who will never allow us to perish even in the midst of shipwrecks, there is no reason why our minds should be overwhelmed with fear and overcome with weariness.

No man is excluded from calling upon God, the gate of salvation is set open unto all men: neither is there any other thing which keepeth us back from entering in, save only our own unbelief.

The Scriptures should be read with the aim of finding Christ in them. Whoever turns aside from this object, even though he wears himself out all his life in learning, he will never reach the knowledge of the truth.

Holiness is not a merit by which we can attain communion with God but a gift of Christ which enables us to cling to him and to follow him.

The Scriptures obtain full authority among believers only when men regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were heard.

The cross of Christ only triumphs in the breast of believers over the devil and the flesh, sin and sinners, when their eyes are directed to the power of His Resurrection.

The torture of a bad conscience is the hell of a living soul.

The Holy Spirit is the bond by which Christ efficaciously unites us to himself.

Man's mind is like a store of idolatry and superstition; so much so that if a man believes his own mind it is certain that he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own brain.

Yet consider now, whether women are not quite past sense and reason, when they want to rule over men.

The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.

God tolerates even our stammering, and pardons our ignorance whenever something inadvertently escapes us - as, indeed, without this mercy there would be no freedom to pray.

Knowledge of the sciences is so much smoke apart from the heavenly science of Christ.

Christians rejoice even while they truly sorrow - because their rejoicing is in the hope of heaven... While joy overcomes sorrow, it does not put an end to it.

However many blessings we expect from God, His infinite liberality will always exceed all our wishes and our thoughts.

Every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master craftsman of idols.

The one condition for spiritual progress is that we remain sincere and humble.

Lawful worship consists in obedience alone.