John Calvin Quotes

Now among the other things proper to recreate man and give him pleasure, music is either the first or one of the principal;and we must think that it is a gift of God deputed for that purpose'.

And let us not be similar to those dreamers, who have a spirit of bitterness and contradiction, who reprove everything and pervert the order of nature. We will see some so deranged, not only in religion, but who demonstrate in all things that they have a monstrous nature, that they will say that the sun does not move, and that it is earth that moves and turns. When we see such minds, it must be said that the devil possess them, and may God set them before us as mirrors, to make us remain in his fear.

The ceremony of lifting up our hands in prayer is designed to remind us that we are far removed from God, unless our thoughts rise upward.

No religion is genuine unless it be joined with truth.

The apostle denies that anyone actually knows Christ, who has not learned to put off the old man, corrupt with deceitful lusts, and to put on Christ.

All things being at God’s disposal, and the decision of salvation or death belonging to him, he orders all things by his counsel and decree in such a manner, that some men are born devoted from the womb to certain death, that his name may be glorified in their destruction.

The vices of which we are full we carefully hide from others, and we flatter ourselves with the notion that they are small and trivial; we sometimes even embrace them as virtues.

We should never insult others on account of their faults, for it is our duty to show charity and respect to everyone.