"In all of life, one supreme passion consumed John Calvin: the glory of God. All truth revealed in Holy Scripture, Calvin believed, was intended to make known God's glory and to lead the reader to behold and adore His majesty."
- Steve Lawson, The Expository Genius of John Calvin, Chapter 3, pg 39
Written by Steve Lawson, this book explores the preaching methods of John Calvin. In addition to being a Reformer and a theologian, Calvin was also a preacher who pastored his own church in Geneva, Switzerland. Calvin helped to sustain and spread the 16th century Protestant Reformation, and he did that not just through his books (such as the "Institutes of the Christian Religion" and his 22 volume Bible Commentaries) but also through his faithful and time-enduring preaching of the Word of God, as Lawson writes, "Calvin's convictions forced an emphasis on the priority of the pulpit. As the Bible was opened, reformation was unleashed."
Through this book, Lawson goes through the methods of Calvin's preparation and delivery of his sermons. Calvin's method of preaching is referred to as "expository" which means to preach the Bible from within its own context and to proclaim what the original authors actually meant (which was a rare form of preaching in that time), rather than taking verses out of context and creating one's own meaning. Reading Lawson's book, you come to realize the intense love John Calvin had for the Scriptures and his fervency in defending its truths.
"As a man, preacher, writer, and theologian, Calvin was unflinching in his pursuit of God. He was an ardent Bible student and an impassioned servant of the Lord. Week after week, month after month, year after year, and decade after decade, he anchored himself to the biblical text, then made it known to his people."
- Steve Lawson, The Expository Genius of John Calvin, Chapter 3, pg 50
