Calvin’s Concept of the State

Calvin's main treatise on civil government is found in Book IV, Chapter 20 of his Institutes of the Christian Religion. Since Chapter 20 constitutes the final chapter in his Institutes, it is considered by many to be strategically placed -- a culmination of his teaching on what it means to be Christian in this world, the consequence of his theology. Whether this is indeed true we will leave for the Calvin scholars to argue, but what we do know is that Calvin gives prominence in his Institutes...