In today’s reading from John Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion (Book 1, Chapter 5, Sections 5–8), we confront the limits of natural reason and the depth of God’s self-revelation in both the human soul and the created order. Calvin argues that the soul’s powers—its reasoning, creativity, moral judgment, and even its activity during sleep—cannot be reduced to bodily function, but bear the unmistakable imprint of God’s image. From there, he moves outward to creation and providence, showing how God’s power, eternity, justice, mercy, patience, and wisdom are displayed not only in the heavens and the earth, but in His ongoing governance of human affairs (Psalm 145:9; Psalm 107; Psalm 113:7; 1 Corinthians 3:19). Yet Calvin presses the sobering conclusion: although God’s works surround us, true understanding requires rare wisdom, for many wander blindly through this glorious theater without recognizing the Creator. This reading challenges us to see that what the world calls chance is, in fact, the careful and fatherly hand of God at work.

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