“The first edition of Institutes of the Christian Religion, dated 1536, can be said to be the core of Calvin’s theology.
The reason for publishing several supplementary editions thereafter was not to correct or revise the content, but simply to increase the volume by refuting the theological errors of the Roman Catholic Church and the Anabaptists at the time.
Therefore, the first edition can be considered a summary of the final edition.
“Therefore, the first edition is read as much in academic circles as the final edition in terms of historical value.” - Park Hee-seok, former professor at Chongshin University

This book is a complete translation of the first edition of The Institutes of the Christian Religion.
This first edition is called the essence and core of Calvin's theology because the ideas of the first edition are carried over almost unchanged to the final edition.
The first edition was in Latin and had about 300 pages, and the final edition had about 1,500 pages, making the first edition one-fifth the length of the final edition.
When this first edition of Institutes of the Christian Religion came out in 1536, it shook the Christian world and moved history.


The Roman Catholic Church was most afraid of the imposition of Christianity, and the Reformed Church was able to establish a system through this book and confidently walk the path toward becoming the true church.
With this book, Calvin was recognized as a first-class theologian and was invited to the Church of Geneva.

As the Roman Catholic Church relied on Aquinas' Summa Theologica, the Protestant Church relied on Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion.
American theologian Paul T.
Fuhrmann) said: “To understand the vast final version, one must understand the position of all Calvin’s opponents.
This is not easy.
So, the first edition, which lacks such controversy, is much more understandable to modern readers.”

Furthermore, while the first edition of Institutes of the Christian Religion was written for all believers, the final edition was written with theologians and opponents in mind, so that while the first edition contained the essence of Calvin's theological thought, it was written so that anyone could read and understand it.
The final edition was expanded over 20 years through responses to opponents and supplements, becoming five times the length of the first edition.