Deep Dive into Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin - This Knowledge is Either Smothered or Corrupted, Partly by Ignorance, Partly by Malice

The knowledge of God, implanted as an innate "seed of religion" in all human hearts, is rarely cultivated and is almost universally corrupted, leading to a profound lack of true piety. This corruption manifests primarily through superstition, conscious turning away, and hypocrisy.

Superstition is born of human pride and obstinacy. Rather than seeking God as He truly offers Himself, individuals measure Him by their "carnal stupidity" and presumption. This leads them to worship "a figment and a dream of their own heart" and substitute divine truth with their own ravings, resulting in self-inflicted spiritual blindness. They believe that any zeal for religion is sufficient, failing to recognize that true religion must conform strictly to God’s unchangeable will as a universal rule. Any deviation leads to idolatry, leaving them with an accursed idol.

A more deliberate form of corruption is the conscious turning away from God. Individuals hardened in habitual sin actively extinguish the light of nature and repel the remembrance of God to indulge their desires without fear of consequences. They deny God's judgment and providence, effectively stripping Him of glory by imagining Him "shut up idle in heaven." This denial allows them to applaud their own wrongdoing, though this willful ignorance is justly punished by spiritual fatness and blindness.

Hypocrisy represents a "vain and false shadow of religion." Hypocrites only acknowledge God when compelled, driven by a "slavish, forced fear" of inescapable judgment, which they dread even to the point of loathing. To avoid appearing contemptuous, they perform outward religious observances—frivolous trifles and rituals of expiation—believing these acts will fulfill their duty, while inwardly they rebel against God and continue polluting themselves with vice. Their superficiality stifles the sparks of God’s glory. Despite all these corruptions, the inherent sense of divinity cannot be entirely uprooted, compelling even the reprobate to seek God in times of crisis, yet this corrupted seed produces only the worst fruits.

Reformed Theologian GPT: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-XXwzX1gnv-reformed-theologian

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