Is there a translation/edition which is considered the "best"?

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Davidius
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the Battles edition is the most popular but I like the Beveridge version.

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Chris
Presbyterian Reformed Church of Charlotte (PRC)
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Muller's reply is well worth pondering.

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Rev. Lane Keister
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Uh oh...do I need to start a poll?

Is there a republished hardback Beveridge Edition? If so, what's the ISBN?

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
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I am glad David started this thread! It is something I was thinking about. There was an edition that came out around 95? my Pastor mentioned, I forgot the Publisher and Translator anyone here know of one done around that time???

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et

Good question.

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Casey Bessette
Westminster OPC • West Suburbs of Chicago

Not that I know of. There are plenty of the hardback editions available used. And, of course, the whole thing is available for free here. I know that wasn't what Josh wants (I don't like reading on a computer screen either!). However, it is at least available.

Battles. I struggled through the first volume in the Beveridge translation, and then purchased the newest John McNeill edition. Breath of fresh air!

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Vaughan
BTh Student, Presbyterian Theological Centre
Student Assistant, Ashfield Presbyterian Church
Sydney, Australia
The Ransomed

I believe that Battles is the preserved text

HOW CAN YOU SAY SO? WHY, YOU MODERNIST ANTI-19TH CENTURY-IST ANTI-BEVERAGE (HMM, SPELLING ANYONE?) ELITIST!!!!!! (Chokes on own bile).

Oh, yes. CCEL has been a good friend to me, particularly when I'm teaching and need a quick copy and past job for a quote.
You'd be surprised how much of my reading has been online for the last few months. It's not too bad...just the migraines...a small price to pay for priceless reading.

Here you go, Josh. Found it from a link on Greenbaggins's blog!

Amazon.com: Institutes of the Christian Religion: Books: John Calvin

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OK, that's REALLY embarassing! To tell poor Josh that a new hardback doesn't exist, and then someone finds it because of a link on my own blog.

Thanks, Vic. It's revised, though. About 210 pages less. Hmm...I gues I'll have to print out the plain text version from CCEL.

Looks like you been reading online again by your avatar.

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NO...that's me looking at a thread wherein men, such as yourself, have decided to charge me money for mere interaction in said thread.

Man that looks like it hurts. I guess my services will be free now. Charges dropped. I feel a need to relieve your eye strain.

Josh I believe that this isbn is for the Bev. Trans. as published by Jay P. Green in 2 vols. isbn 1589603168

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Lon Wadkins (Jesup, Iowa)
New Covenant Fellowship, OPC
Independence, Iowa

Thanks, Mr. Wadkins!

This seems to be the ISBN for vol 2 1589603176

Also they seem to have these new on Amazon. Kinda pricey though.

Battles is obtainable on CD - and a lot cheaper than hardback (2 vols.), but I guess you ought to have both. Here in the UK the CD can be purchased; not sure about where to get it in the US. You may also like my blog on Calvin, et al. If you are keen you ought to get the 1536 edition; do not forget Battles' excellent analysis. Best wishes.

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I would buy anything but the Green set. Maybe even a good 19th century printing.

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Thanks for the link. What do you mean by the 1536 edition? A copy in the original Latin?

Calvin's Institutes went through 5 editions, including immense expansion. The 1536 edition is the first edition, which is considerably smaller than the final edition of 1559.

Actually, I don't believe this Hendrickson version on Amazon is revised (someone correct me if I'm wrong!) -- it's been re-typeset, not revised (like what they did with the Keil-Delitzsch OT commentaries). What that means is they've changed the font and reformatted it, which would of course change the total number of pages, but that doesn't mean they've changed the text itself. Although, this Hendrickson edition isn't out yet, and with the low price, I'm not so sure the binding will be good (hopefully they don't do what Eerdmans did with poor old Berkhof!).

Of the Institutes, the modern critical edition is the Battles edn, but Muller prefers the Allen and there are advantages to the Beveridge. For citation purposes, however, the Battles edn is to be used.

The critical Latin edn is in vols 1-3 of the Opera selecta. This is available in most academic libraries or via ILL or via ABE et al. Scholars also cite the ediiton in the Corpus Reformatorum, esp. for the earlier editions. There is a 19th century Latin text, ed. Tholuck, which one might find used, but it's been supersceded by the Opera Selecta.

rsc

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R. Scott Clark, D.Phil
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Wouldn't Tholuck's Latin edition be the pure text? Ad fontes. For English translations, the 1561 (authorised) version must have some claim on the purists. Nevertheless, I would say Beveridge is best for reliability and Battles for readability and scholarly notes.

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Yours sincerely,


"Illum oportet crescere me autem minui."

Interesting. Do you know of any editions in the old French?

Yes, they are also in the CR.

rsc

Well, Tholuck's is easier to use but I don't know why a 19th century critical text is more ad fontes than an early 20th century criticial text. The OS has line numbers and that's the edn that most scholars cite most frequently for the '59 Latin text.

If one wants to go ad fontes then one wants to use one of the 16th century editions. I'm not sure it's worth the effort, but Muller argues in his 2000 Calvin volume (a must read) that this is the way Calvin scholars should read Calvin. For most of us that means rolling through microfiche or print outs from fiche readers and the like.

rsc

I am partial to Beveridge version myself. In case your counting votes

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Jeffrey Wilson
Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church
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Summerland, British Columbia, Canada

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Sorry Prof. Clark, I hadn't seen your post when I wrote mine. I was responding to an earlier statement about an English translation being a pure text. Hence my reference to ad fontes. Sorry for any confusion.

Indeed. As such, it can (relatively speaking) somewhat reveal more of Calvin's "young thought." One version (Battles) can be ordered here.

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Christopher Blum
Member of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Northern Kentucky (PCA) in Burlington, KY

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I usually refer to the Battles 1559 and 1536 editions, as well as the 1978 Editions Kerygma-Editions Farel French 3 volume set.

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Andrew

The Battles edition is what we are required to read at PRTS and I have been quite happy with it.

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Jeff Wyman
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Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI

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