The Theology of John Calvin

Though Karl Barth wrote his lectures on John Calvin more than seventy years ago, the wrestling of one theological giant with another can hardly fail to be exciting and instructive. Delivered at the University of Göttingen in 1922, Barth's lectures offer a brilliant theological analysis of the Reformation — of Calvin in particular — while at the same time providing vital insights into the development of the theologian Barth himself.

Barth's lectures open with an illuminating sketch of medieval theology, an appreciation of Luther's breakthrough, and a comparative study of the roles of Zwingli and Calvin. The main portion of the lectures consists of an increasingly sympathetic, and at times amusing, account of Calvin's life up to his recall to Geneva. In the process, Barth examines and evaluates the early theological writings of Calvin, especially the 1536 edition of the Institutes.