Albert Szenci Molnár: Institutio Christianae religionis (Translated into Hungarian)

John Calvin’s four-volume Institutio Christianae religionis is considered the basic work of Calvinism. Its first volume is about the knowledge of God, the Almighty Creator of the world, who reveals himself by his work and his word. The second is about the Redeeming God, Jesus Christ. The third is about the Holy Spirit, and the fourth is dedicated to the Church. Institutio explains, based upon the Holy Scripture, with simple arguments and detailed refutations of the counter-arguments and different religious beliefs, the fundamental and most important teachings of the Helvetian confession: God’s sovereignty, the Bible as God’s revelation, the interpretation of predestination and the sacraments, and the questions of church discipline. Immediately upon its publication, the book gained fame in the torn-to-three Hungary, and 60 years later, in 1624, the Hungarian translation was commissioned by Transylvanian Prince Gábor Bethlen. This assignment became the peak of the career of Albert Szenci Molnár, translator of the Psalms, publisher of the Bible, and renowned scholar of languages. The accompanying essays by András Szabó and Judit Vásárhelyi offer a deeper knowledge of Institutio and its importance.