Institutes of Elenctic Theology, Volume 3

Treats the church, the sacraments, and the last things. Also includes indices, biographical sketches, and Benedict Pictet's funeral oration.

About the Series

Francis Turretin (1623-87) has been called “the best expounder of the doctrine of the Reformed Church” (Samuel Alexander), “a marvelous synthesizer” (Roger Nicole), and “a towering figure among the Genevan Reformers” (Leon Morris). His Institutio Theologiae Elencticae, first published in 1679-85, was the first of some thirty years' teaching at the Academy of Geneva. Once described by E. J. Young as a “magnificent treatise on the Scriptures,” Turretin's Institutio has become a virtual hidden treasure to students unable to read the original Latin.

This the third of three volumes in the first complete edition of the Institutes to be published in the English language. As an “elenctic” theology - which affirms and demonstrates the truth in refutation of false doctrine - the Institutes contrasts Reformed understandings of Scripture with conflicting theological perspectives, particularly Roman Catholic, Arminian, and Socinian.

American Protestantism, especially Presbyterianism, owes much to Turretin's influence in that Charles Hodge and Robert L. Dabney assigned the Institutes to their students. It was at Hodge's request that Princeton's George M. Giger produced an English translation, which amounted to eight thousand handwritten pages. Now, more than a century later, James T. Dennison has undertaken the monumental task of editing, documenting, and indexing that translation of Turretin's timeless classic for the benefit of readers today.