Preface: This article was completed in collaboration with Gemini.

So how did Calvin ultimately prove his own innocence? The previous article discussed this at length, but it still sounded rather abstract. I then looked up The Institutes of the Christian Religion and realized that it is not a single book, but a work in three volumes.

The first volume discusses the knowledge of God, acknowledging God as the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of the universe and all that is within it—which serves as the major premise for all subsequent arguments. It does not debate whether God exists; rather, starting from the premise that God is the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, it asks how we should understand the relationship between humanity and God, and the roles of the Church and the Pope within that relationship. The first volume clarifies the nature and purpose of knowing the Creator: this knowledge is not acquired through schooling but is innate. However, because human depravity is so severe—partly due to ignorance and partly due to evil—this knowledge has been corrupted and nearly extinguished, so that it can neither lead people to glorify God nor bring happiness to themselves.

Although this inner knowledge can be assisted by all created things around us, which reflect God’s perfection like mirrors, people nonetheless fail to benefit from it. I agree with this statement. I often feel that the “divinity” of all things has existed since the very beginning of creation; it exists alongside our breathing, our actions, and our self-awareness. Even from a purely physical perspective, the existence of this world itself is an event of extremely low probability.

We can say that there is a bias here—not because we exist because we are special, but because we exist, we are able to observe and reflect, and thus raise the question: “Why do we exist?” The ability to ask this question presupposes our existence. Surrounded by this “divinity,” all things in the world are answers to our questions. I often say, “The answer is within me,” because I truly believe that the answers to all the questions I raise are already in my heart; I simply need to stop overthinking, and the answers will naturally emerge. Our problem is not a lack of answers, but an excess of them, which leaves people unable to distinguish what is important from what is not.

In order to give people guidance, God therefore granted his written Word to those whom he wished to make know him; hence we must pay attention to Scripture. In Scripture, God reveals himself—not only as the Father, but as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit united as one, the Creator of heaven and earth. Because of our fall, the knowledge inherently present in our nature, as well as the exceedingly beautiful “mirror” displayed in the world, can no longer teach us to give glory to him.

Accordingly, the author discusses God’s revelation in Scripture and issues such as the Trinity. To prevent people from attributing their willful blindness to God, the author explains the condition of humanity at creation, and addresses humanity’s creation in the image of God, free will, and the original integrity of human nature. After completing the discussion of creation, the author proceeds to examine the preservation and governance of all things, concluding the first volume with a discussion of the doctrine of divine providence.

Below, I will go through the contents of the first volume chapter by chapter.

Chapter One primarily discusses how we come to know God and how we come to know ourselves. At the beginning of the chapter, it addresses the question of what true wisdom really is.

True wisdom consists chiefly of two parts: the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. However, because these two kinds of knowledge are so closely connected, it is difficult to determine which comes first and which follows. First, because once a person examines himself, he must immediately think of God—the God in whom humans “live and move and have their being” (Acts 17:28). The talents we possess are by no means our own; even our very existence depends entirely on God. These gifts, continually bestowed upon us drop by drop from heaven, are like many rivers leading us back to their source.

I do not know how others feel about this passage, but I often sense a distinction between cleverness, wisdom, and true great wisdom. Cleverness seems related to learning and comprehension, whereas wisdom appears to be innate. Great wisdom, in my view, is the use of wisdom for inner contemplation, measured over time, extending self-understanding into an understanding of others and of all things in the world. This may reflect a Buddhist line of thought—I am not entirely sure, as I have not studied Buddhism carefully—but I do have some interest in Tibetan Buddhism, which I may explore later. For now, there are simply too many topics I want to study.

Second, our own poverty makes God’s infinite richness all the more apparent. Especially because of the rebellion of our first ancestors, we have fallen into a pitiable state of corruption, which forces us to look upward to heaven—not only as famine drives the need for food, but also as fear teaches us humility. Being constrained by various sufferings and stripped of our original sacred adornment, our deformity and brokenness are fully exposed. As each person deeply senses his or her own misery, they gain, to some degree, a knowledge of God.

This is classic biblical storytelling. I understand it, and I often feel my own sinfulness so strongly that I want to run to the nearest church, confess, and weep before a priest. But seeking confession should not be my reason for believing in Christianity. Recently, I watched the latest episode of Knives Out, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. I have never studied the Bible, and this was the first time I heard the story of the Road to Damascus. For those who don’t know, the Road to Damascus refers to the pivotal event in the New Testament’s Acts of the Apostles in which Saul (later Paul) repents and converts.

Originally a Pharisee, Saul was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians when he was suddenly struck down by a heavenly light, blinded for three days, and heard a voice calling his name and asking why he was persecuting Jesus. In Damascus, he was healed by Ananias and baptized, transforming from a persecutor into a preacher, with his identity and mission completely overturned. The importance of this event lies not in “seeing a vision,” but in a moment of being named and forcibly interrupted—a collapse of cognition in which someone who believed himself to be on the side of truth suddenly realized that he had mistaken God for a tool, thereby undergoing an irreversible restructuring of his worldview.

While watching this film, I suddenly understood something I had previously been unable to grasp about the phrase “God is within me.” I can feel it; I can sense that this “divinity” is higher than myself. I am not sure whether I trust the story of Jesus, but whether the story is literally true does not matter. If believing in this story can lead us to understand and approach God—whether it is Jesus or not—I think that would be one of the most beautiful things in the world. Because I am lost. God of all things—whatever kind of God you may be—please give me direction.

When we feel our ignorance, emptiness, poverty, weakness, evil, and corruption, we come to perceive and acknowledge that only in the Lord can true wisdom, firm strength, perfect mercy, and flawless justice be found. Thus, because of our own imperfection, we begin to think of God’s perfection. Only when we become dissatisfied with ourselves can we truly look to God. For who does not prefer to rely on oneself? When a person has not yet recognized his true condition, but is content with his own endowments, forgetting or remaining oblivious to his misery, who would not be complacent and self-satisfied? Therefore, self-knowledge not only motivates people to seek God, but also helps them discover God.

Chapter Two discusses the nature of knowing God and the purpose of knowing God.

Calvin argues that truly knowing God is not merely an intellectual acknowledgment that a god exists, but includes reverence and love. To know God is to perceive his greatness and thus develop reverence for him, and at the same time to perceive his benevolence and thus develop love for him. Calvin criticizes empty discussions that focus solely on what God’s “essence” is, while ignoring what God “means to us.” He maintains that knowledge of God must be practical—concerned with how God’s attributes affect our lives.

Calvin defines “piety” as follows: “Piety is that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of his benefits induces.” He emphasizes that unless a person first senses that God is the source of all good, and thereby develops gratitude and obedience, true worship will not occur. If someone truly knows God as Creator, that person will display two characteristics: voluntary obedience and complete trust. Here I want to reference a character from Knives Out 3 again. When Father Josh is accused of murder, he also wants to escape blame, but he ultimately refuses to devote his energy to solving the murder case. Because every minute spent suspecting the extreme evil of others draws him further away from what he is truly meant to do. While investigating the case, he suddenly receives a call from a salesperson asking him, as a priest, to pray for his gravely ill mother. In that moment, he realizes that his duty is not to hunt down the true culprit, but to continue helping lost people find direction. In times of hardship, he trusts in God’s protection; in times of success, he gives glory to God.

Chapter Three, “On the Knowledge of God Implanted in the Human Mind” (The Knowledge of God Has Been Naturally Implanted in the Minds of Men), advances a central argument: no one can legitimately claim ignorance of God.

Calvin proposes that God has implanted in every human heart a certain awareness of the divine (sensus divinitatis). This knowledge is not acquired through later learning, but is innate—consistent with what I said earlier. No matter how primitive or barbaric a civilization may be, even those whose lifestyles verge on the animalistic still possess, deep within, a kind of “religious sense.” This divinity is indelible. Although people may try hard to suppress it or even verbally deny God, when crisis or death approaches, this sense of awe toward God resurfaces.

Religion is not a human invention. Calvin refutes the view prevalent at the time that “religion is a deception invented by a few clever people in order to rule the masses.” He argues that if there were no innate awareness of God as a seed in the human heart, then no matter how much politicians or cunning individuals tried to indoctrinate people, they would never succeed in establishing religion in humanity. Calvin points out that people would rather worship wood and stone than have no god at all. This behavior—“better to worship the wrong god than none”—ironically proves that there is a deep-rooted, ineradicable longing for God in the human heart. This inner knowledge also generates a basic sense of moral responsibility, making people aware that they are accountable to God.

Conclusion of the chapter: humanity is without excuse. Calvin concludes that since God has left a witness in every human heart: #1 Atheism is false; those who claim not to believe in God are in fact engaged in an intense inner struggle, attempting to flee from God. #2 Judgment is just; ultimately, before God, no one can use “I didn’t know God existed” as an excuse to defend their sins.

(To be continued)