Calvin's Institutes: January 20

John Calvin's Institutes in a Year · Jan 20, 2026 · 7m

Today’s reading presses to the heart of one of Christianity’s most decisive claims: Scripture does not gain its authority from human approval, argument, or institutional endorsement, but from God himself through the inward testimony of the Holy Spirit. John Calvin argues that while Scripture bears unmistakable marks of divine majesty and coherence, no amount of reasoning alone can produce the certainty true faith requires. That certainty comes only when the same Spirit who spoke through the prophets and apostles seals God’s Word upon the heart. Against both skeptics who demand rational proof…