Publishes first edition of ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion’

From the mind of a 25-year-old who had never formally studied theology came what is considered the most important work on Protestant theology in history. Eventually becoming over 1,000 pages long, the ‘Institutes’ would be revised and updated throughout Calvin’s life as he continued to refine his thought. The first edition had six chapters; the final version of 1559 had eighty. It opens with the words, ‘Nearly the whole of sacred doctrine consists in these two parts: knowledge of God and of ourselves.’