“Indeed, the knowledge of God set forth for us in Scripture is destined for the very same goal as the knowledge whose imprint shines in his creatures, in that it invites us first to fear God, then to trust in him. By this we can learn to worship him both with perfect innocence of life and with unfeigned obedience, then to depend wholly upon his goodness” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 98).

“For by a kind of mutual bond the Lord has joined together the certainty of his Word and of his Spirit so that the perfect religion of the Word may abide in our minds when the Spirit, who causes us to contemplate God’s face, shines; and that we in turn may embrace the Spirit with no fear of being deceived when we recognize him in his own image, namely, in the Word” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 95).

“But John, thundering from the heights, lays low more mightily than any thunderbolt the obstinacy of those whom he does not impel to the obedience of faith. Let all those sharp-nosed faultfinders — whose highest desire is to drive the reverence for Scripture from their own and others’ hearts — come into the open. Let them read John’s Gospel: whether they want to or not, there they shall find a thousand sayings to arouse, at least, their dull minds — nay, I should rather say, to burn a dreadful brand upon their consciences for the restraint of their mockery”  (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 91).

“Those for whom prophetic doctrine is tasteless ought to be thought of as lacking taste buds” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 83).

“Let us, then, know that the only true faith is that which the Spirit of God seals in our hearts” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 81).

“For as God alone is a fit witness of himself in his Word, so also the Word will not find acceptance in men’s hearts before it is sealed by the inward testimony of the Spirit. The same Spirit, therefore, who has spoken through the mouths of the prophets must penetrate into our hearts to persuade us that they faithfully proclaimed what had been divinely commanded” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 79).

“Credibility of doctrine is not established until we are persuaded beyond doubt that God is its Author” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 78).

“If we desire to provide in the best way for our consciences — that they may not be perpetually beset by the instability of doubt or vacillation, and that they may not also boggle at the smallest quibbles — we ought to seek our conviction in a higher place than human reasons, judgments, or conjectures, that is, in the secret testimony of the Spirit” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 78).

“When that which is set forth is acknowledged to be the Word of God, there is no one so deplorably insolent — unless devoid also both of common sense and of humanity itself — as to dare impugn and credibility of him who speaks. Now daily oracles are not sent from heaven, for it pleased the Lord to hallow his truth to everlasting remembrance in the Scriptures alone (cf. John 5:39). Hence the Scriptures obtain full authority among believers only when men regard them as having sprung from heaven, as if there the living words of God were heard. . . . But a most pernicious error widely prevails that Scripture has only so much weight as is conceded to it by the consent of the church. As if the eternal and inviolable truth of God depended upon the decision of men!” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 75).

“For errors can never be uprooted from human hearts until true knowledge is planted therein” (Translated by Ford Lewis Battles, John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 73).