Hello, brothers and sisters.
I have a love of reading systematic theology, especially the "dead guys." However, with Turretin's Institutes, I need some help. I can pick up Calvin, and he is pure joy—it's actually fun to read him. I can pick up à Brakel, and he is so enriching from a practical perspective. I can even pick up Bavinck and fall in love with his vast and thorough research mixed with pastoral warmth. However, when I pick up Turretin, I find that I become exhausted within the first couple of pages. I know the Giger translation isn't exactly new, but I find his sentence structure and vocabulary to be much, much more difficult than any of the authors mentioned above. Is this anyone else's experience with Turretin vs. other writers? Do not misunderstand me: I fully adore the value of Turretin, and thus desire eagerly to read his work, but I am finding it difficult.
My question is this: Other than slowing way down when I read him, are there any other helps anyone on this board can give me to aid in my reading of Turretin? I could try a dictionary, but I fear that some of the verbiage Turretin uses would be difficult to grasp with only a dictionary.
Any and all help is appreciated.There is no doubt this is, in part, simply the outcome of a tiny brain encountering the towering intellect of one of Christianity's finest.
I have a love of reading systematic theology, especially the "dead guys." However, with Turretin's Institutes, I need some help. I can pick up Calvin, and he is pure joy—it's actually fun to read him. I can pick up à Brakel, and he is so enriching from a practical perspective. I can even pick up Bavinck and fall in love with his vast and thorough research mixed with pastoral warmth. However, when I pick up Turretin, I find that I become exhausted within the first couple of pages. I know the Giger translation isn't exactly new, but I find his sentence structure and vocabulary to be much, much more difficult than any of the authors mentioned above. Is this anyone else's experience with Turretin vs. other writers? Do not misunderstand me: I fully adore the value of Turretin, and thus desire eagerly to read his work, but I am finding it difficult.
My question is this: Other than slowing way down when I read him, are there any other helps anyone on this board can give me to aid in my reading of Turretin? I could try a dictionary, but I fear that some of the verbiage Turretin uses would be difficult to grasp with only a dictionary.
Any and all help is appreciated.There is no doubt this is, in part, simply the outcome of a tiny brain encountering the towering intellect of one of Christianity's finest.