BOOK REVIEW: John Calvin's Sermons on Acts 1-7

Basic Info:

Title: John Calvin’s Sermons on the Acts of the Apostles: Chapters 1-7
Author: John Calvin
Translator: Rob Roy McGregor
Publisher: Banner of Truth Trust
Year: 2008
ISBN: 9780851519685
Binding: Cloth
Pages: 688
Index: Scripture Index only
Reading Level: 3.0
Price: $36.00

Josh Gelatt’s Review: Rob Roy McGregor, retired pastor and able scholar, has done inestimable service for God’s kingdom with his recent translation of John Calvin’s sermons on the book of Acts. Though many recognize Calvin as a ‘giant’ among theologians, he was also uniquely gifted as a pastor. While students and pastors typically turn to his commentaries while studying a text, it is his sermons which best demonstrate how Calvin communicated deep theological truths to his congregants—many of whom would have been illiterate. McGregor now offers us—for the first time in English—Calvin’s sermons on chapters 1-7 of the Acts of the Apostles.

Calvin typically preached at least five times per week, and from 1549 through 1560, many of Calvin’s sermons were transcribed by Denis Raguenier, who had developed a new method of shorthand. Other continued this practice until 1654 (the close of John Calvin’s ministry). As McGregor notes in his introduction, these shorthand transcriptions were subsequently written out in long hand and then bound into volumes. In time, over 40 of these volumes were produced and were put in the care of the deacons of the Reformed Church of Geneva. In 1613 these volumes were moved to the University Library in Geneva. Sadly, most of these volumes were lost to history when the Library sold them in 1805 to open up much-needed self-space.

Of the volumes that have been recovered, only a few have ever been translated into English. Those fluent in French or Latin can avail themselves of the massive Supplementa Calviniana, which is a scholarly attempt to produce a critical edition of the surviving works of John Calvin. Volume 8 is the base of McGregor’s present translation, and is titled Sermons on the Acts of the Apostles. Apparently there originally were four volumes covering the entire book of Acts, though volumes two, three, and four have been lost to us. The forty-four sermons covered in this Banner of Truth edition were originally preached between August 25, 1549 and January 11, 1551.

The present volume is a modern English translation and is very smooth and easy to read. McGregor’s style captures the simplicity of Calvin’s original without obscuring its profound depth. McGregor rarely adds footnotes, but when he does they are brief and beneficial—though I frequently found wishing he had made more notations. The sermon titles seem to be modern additions, and sometimes are a bit contrived but generally helpful.

Physical Copy: Cloth bound on blue board with glued binding and an attractive dust jacket. It is printed on off-white alkaline (acid-free) paper and the text is sharp and clean. Dimensions are 6 x 9 inches.