Against the persecution of a tyrant the godly have no remedy but prayer.
John CalvinRead
The most accomplished in the Scripture are fools, unless they acknowledge that they have need of God for their schoolmaster all the days of their life.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Knowledge is meaningless without humility and acknowledgment of a higher power.
This quote by John Calvin emphasizes the importance of recognizing one's limitations and the need for guidance from a higher authority, specifically God, in the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge. It suggests that even the most knowledgeable individuals are foolish if they do not understand their dependence on divine guidance throughout their lives, highlighting the interplay between humility and learning.
Themes
WisdomKnowledgeHumilityGodLearning
In practice
Example use cases
In a sermon highlighting the importance of humility in education.
More from John Calvin
All quotes βThe pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both.
John CalvinRead
Man is never sufficiently touched and affected by the awareness of his lowly state until he has compared himself with God's majesty.
John CalvinRead
Whomever the Lord has adopted and deemed worthy of His fellowship ought to prepare themselves for a hard, toilsome, and unquiet life, crammed with very many and various kinds of evil.
John CalvinRead
For as the aged, or those whose sight is defective, when any book, however fair, is set before them, though they perceive that there is something written, are scarcely able to make out two consecutive words, but, when aided by glasses, begin to read distinctly, so Scripture, gathering together the impressions of Deity, which, till then, lay confused in our minds, dissipates the darkness, and shows us the true God clearly.
John CalvinRead
When God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.
John CalvinRead
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