John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology
by Various Contributors and Burk Parsons
Review by Jay Veverka
Recently, I’ve been itching to read more biographies; in particular, biographies about saints who have long since gone to be with the Lord. Biographies are a great way to learn from a “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 11) who have come before us and, in many cases, fought the same battles, asked the same questions, and wrestled with the answers. I just finished a book on the life and doctrine of John Calvin called, John Calvin: A Heart for Devotion, Doctrine, and Doxology edited by Burk Parsons. Contributing authors include John MacArthur, Jerry Bridges, Sinclair Ferguson and Jay Adams among others. My soul was nourished and my mind sharpened by learning more about Calvin than the 21st century caricatures often painted of him; usually surrounding the five points of Calvinism.
Because each chapter is written by a different author there is some repetition, particularly when it comes to the biographical information. However, the repetition was helpful to remind me of the circumstances of Calvin’s life and the theology that was cultivated as Calvin was drawn back to God’s Word again and again. The authors seek to paint Calvin in his own words so there is a good deal of Calvin quoted in the work, though not enough to lose the flow of the author’s thought or bog down the reader. The book is a reasonable length (245 pages) and is a wonderful introduction to John Calvin as a theologian, pastor, writer and teacher. I enthusiastically recommend this book.