Today’s Readings Podcast Description

How carefully did the early Church guard the liberty of the people in choosing their bishops? In these sections of the Institutes, Calvin shows that no one was to be forced upon an unwilling congregation, that the election required the consent of clergy, people, and magistrates, and that the ordination itself was performed with the laying on of hands by the provincial bishops. He traces how this ordered and public process gradually gave way to more centralized and ambitious customs, yet insists that the ancient pattern remained far closer to the apostolic standard than the later claims of hierarchical power.

Readings:

John Calvin — Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 4, Sections 11–15

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