| Prefatory Address by John Calvin to Francis I, King of France (1636) | |
| Epistle to the Reader (Calvin, 1539) | |
| Subject of the Present Work (Calvin, 1545) | |
| Epistle to the Reader (Calvin, 1559) | |
| Method and Arrangement, or Subject of the Whole Work | |
| Book First | |
| Argument | p. 3 |
| The Knowledge of God and of Ourselves Mutually Connected. Nature of the Connection | p. 4 |
| What It Is to Know God - Tendency of This Knowledge | p. 7 |
| The Knowledge of God Naturally Implanted in the Human Mind | p. 9 |
| The Knowledge of God Stifled or Corrupted, Ignorantly or Maliciously | p. 12 |
| The Knowledge of God Conspicuous in the Creation, and Continual Government of the World | p. 15 |
| The Need of Scripture, as a Guide and Teacher, in Coming to God as a Creator | p. 26 |
| The Testimony of the Spirit Necessary to Give Full Authority to Scripture. The Impiety of Pretending That the Credibility of Scripture Depends on the Judgment of the Church | p. 30 |
| The Credibility of Scripture Sufficiently Proved, Insofar as Natural Reason Admits | p. 35 |
| All the Principles of Piety Subverted by Fanatics,Who Substitute Revelations for Scripture | p. 43 |
| In Scripture, the True God Opposed, Exclusively, to All the Gods of the Heathen | p. 46 |
| Impiety of Attributing a Visible Form to God. The Setting Up of Idols a Defection from the True God | p. 49 |
| God Distinguished from Idols, That He May Be the Exclusive Object of Worship | p. 61 |
| The Unity of the Divine Essence in Three Persons Taught, in Scripture, from the Foundation of the World | p. 64 |
| In the Creation of the World, and All Things in It, the True God Distinguished by Certain Marks from Fictitious Gods | p. 89 |
| State in Which Man Was Created. The Faculties of the Soul - the Image of God - Free Will - Original Righteousness | p. 103 |
| The World, Created by God, Still Cherished and Protected by Him. Each and All of Its Parts Governed by His Providence | p. 113 |
| Use to Be Made of the Doctrine of Providence | p. 122 |
| The Instrumentality of the Wicked Employed by God,While He Continues Free from Every Taint | p. 135 |
| Book Second | |
| Argument | p. 145 |
| Through the Fall and Revolt of Adam, the Whole Human Race Made Accursed and Degenerate. Of Original Sin | p. 146 |
| Man Now Deprived of Freedom of Will, and Miserably Enslaved | p. 155 |
| Everything Proceeding from the Corrupt Nature of Man Damnable | p. 176 |
| How God Works in the Hearts of Men | p. 190 |
| The Arguments Usually Alleged in Support of Free Will Refuted | p. 196 |
| Redemption for Man Lost to Be Sought in Christ | p. 212 |
| The Law Given, Not to Retain a People for Itself, but to Keep Alive the Hope of Salvation in Christ Until His Advent | p. 217 |
| Exposition of the Moral Law | p. 229 |
| Christ, Though Known to the Jews under the Law, Yet Only Manifested under the Gospel | p. 268 |
| The Resemblance Between the Old Testament and the New | p. 272 |
| The Difference Between the Two Testaments | p. 287 |
| Christ, to Perform the Office of Mediator, Behooved to Become Man | p. 297 |
| Christ Clothed with the True Substance of Human Nature | p. 304 |
| How Two Natures Constitute the Person of the Mediator | p. 309 |
| Three Things Briefly to Be Regarded in Christ - i.e., His Offices of Prophet, King, and Priest | p. 317 |
| How Christ Performed the Office of Redeemer in Procuring Our Salvation. The Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Christ | p. 323 |
| Christ Rightly and Properly Said to Have Merited Grace and Salvation for Us | p. 339 |
| Book Third | |
| Argument | p. 347 |
| The Benefits of Christ Made Available to Us by the Secret Operation of the Spirit | p. 348 |
| Of Faith. The Definition of It. Its Peculiar Properties | p. 352 |
| Regeneration by Faith Of Repentance | p. 384 |
| Penitence, as Explained in the Sophistical Jargon of the Schoolmen, Widely Different from the Purity Required by the Gospel. Of Confession and Satisfaction | p. 403 |
| Of the Modes of Supplementing Satisfaction, i.e., Indulgences and Purgatory | p. 434 |
| The Life of a Christian Man. Scriptural Arguments Exhorting to It | p. 444 |
| A Summary of the Christian Life. Of Self-Denial | p. 448 |
| Of Bearing the Cross - One Branch of Self-Denial | p. 457 |
| Of Meditating on the Future Life | p. 464 |
| How to Use the Present Life, and the Comforts of It | p. 469 |
| Of Justification by Faith. Both the Name and the Reality Defined | p. 473 |
| Necessity of Contemplating the Judgment Seat of God, in Order to Be Seriously Convinced of the Doctrine of Gratuitous Justification | p. 492 |
| Two Things to Be Observed in Gratuitous Justification | p. 498 |
| The Beginning of Justification. In What Sense Progressive | p. 502 |
| The Boasted Merit of Works Subversive Both of the Glory of God, in Bestowing Righteousness, and of the Certainty of Salvation | p. 516 |
| Refutation of the Calumnies by Which It Is Attempted to Throw Odium on This Doctrine | p. 522 |
| The Promises of the Law and the Gospel Reconciled | p. 526 |
| The Righteousness of Works Improperly Inferred from Rewards | p. 539 |
| Of Christian Liberty | p. 548 |
| Of Prayer - A Perpetual Exercise of Faith. The Daily Benefits Derived from It | p. 559 |
| Of the Eternal Election, by Which God Has Predestinated Some to Salvation, and Others to Destruction | p. 606 |
| This Doctrine Confirmed by Proofs from Scripture | p. 614 |
| Refutation of the Calumnies by Which This Doctrine Is Always Unjustly Assailed | p. 624 |
| Election Confirmed by the Calling of God. The Reprobate Bring Upon Themselves the Righteous Destruction to Which They Are Doomed | p. 636 |
| Of the Last Resurrection | p. 652 |
| Book Fourth | |
| Argument | p. 669 |
| Of the True Church. Duty of Cultivating Unity with Her, as the Mother of All the Godly | p. 670 |
| Comparison between the False Church and the True | p. 690 |
| Of the Teachers and Ministers of the Church. Their Election and Office | p. 699 |
| Of the State of the Primitive Church and the Mode of Government in Use before the Papacy | p. 709 |
| The Ancient Form of Government Utterly Corrupted by the Tyranny of the Papacy | p. 719 |
| Of the Primacy of the Romish See | p. 731 |
| Of the Beginning and Rise of the Romish Papacy, till It Attained a Height by Which the Liberty of the Church Was Destroyed, and All True Rule Overthrown | p. 741 |
| Of the Power of the Church in Articles of Faith. The Unbridled License of the Papal Church in Destroying Purity of Doctrine | p. 760 |
| Of Councils and Their Authority | p. 770 |
| Of the Power of Making Laws. The Cruelty of the Pope and His Adherents, in This Respect, in Tyrannically Oppressing and Destroying Souls | p. 779 |
| Of the Jurisdiction of the Church, and the Abuses of It, as Exemplified in the Papacy | p. 799 |
| Of the Discipline of the Church, and Its Principal Use in Censures and Excommunication | p. 811 |
| Of Vows. The Miserable Entanglements Caused by Vowing Rashly | p. 827 |
| Of the Sacraments | p. 842 |
| Of Baptism | p. 858 |
| Paedobaptism, Its Accordance with the Institution of Christ, and the Nature of the Sign | p. 871 |
| Of the Lord s Supper, and the Benefits Conferred by It | p. 893 |
| Of the Popish Mass. How It Not Only Profanes, but Annihilates the Lord s Supper | p. 933 |
| Of the Five Sacraments, Falsely So Called. Their Spuriousness Proved, and Their True Character Explained | p. 946 |
| Of Civil Government | p. 968 |
| One Hundred Aphorisms: Containing within a Narrow Compass, the Substance and Order of the Four Books of the Institutes of the Christian Religion | p. 989 |
| Indexes | |
| Hebrew and Greek Word Index | p. 1004 |
| About the Authors & Works Cited in Institutes | p. 1005 |
| Authors &Works Cited Index | p. 1011 |
| General Index | p. 1021 |
| Scripture Index | p. 1046 |
| Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved. |
