# Best Institutes edition?



## TomVols (Dec 7, 2010)

McNeill Lewis or Beveridge (sorry if my spelling is off).

Currently I only have the Institutes on CDROM. I'd like them on my shelf.


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## jawyman (Dec 7, 2010)

It is just my opinion, but I prefer the Institutes edited by McNeill (translated by Battles) over Beveridge. The McNeill/Battle edition is just better done.


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## ClayPot (Dec 7, 2010)

Best in what way?

Beveridge is open domain, so you can download it for free (to read on a Kindle, computer, etc.) and can be purchased very cheap. The Battles translation is much more modern, but you'll have to pay for it. I'm reading the Battles translation and I am enjoying it quite a bit. However, I can't say how it compares to the Beveridge translation.


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## FenderPriest (Dec 7, 2010)

Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2 Volumes ed. by McNeill is _soooo_ helpful with all of the footnotes that I think it stands above the others. It helps one learn the Institutes and the thinking of Calvin throughout the Institutes. Though, there are a few interpretive footnotes by McNeill that I'd contest, I still think his work is invaluable.


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## Guido's Brother (Dec 7, 2010)

Richard Muller recommends the older Allen translation over both the Beveridge and the Battles editions. He has some discussion about the defects of the Battles edition in The Unaccommodated Calvin. You can find the links to the three volumes of the Allen edition at the Post-Reformation Digital Library.


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## JM (Dec 7, 2010)

I don't know if it's better but I like this one: Hendrickson.com - Institutes of the Christian Religion by: John Calvin


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## Dearly Bought (Dec 7, 2010)

JM said:


> I don't know if it's better but I like this one: Hendrickson.com - Institutes of the Christian Religion by: John Calvin


 
This is the recently published Hendrickson edition of Beveridge's translation. I will let those more knowledgeable than myself comment on the merits of the translation. However, in very pragmatic terms, I should mention that this edition has the best formatting and typeface that I've seen. It is the edition that I would give away to others, simply because the publisher has put together the volume in such a way that it is "easier" to read. If I were writing a scholarly article, maybe I would reach for McNeill/Battles for citations, but the format is not very nice for prolonged reading. Also, the Hendrickson edition is ridiculously cheap.


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## KMK (Dec 7, 2010)

Here is an excellent discussion from a year ago: http://www.puritanboard.com/f29/beveridge-battles-46444/


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## Wayne (Dec 7, 2010)

The best edition of the _Institutes_ is the one that you actually take the time to read.


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## DMcFadden (Dec 7, 2010)

Experts have compared the translational philosophy to that of a dynamic equivalent (NIV) for the Battles/McNeil vs. a formal correspondence (ESV, KJV) for the Beveridge. I have read through both of them and actually liked the Beveridge better. However, as others have noted, the notes are quite valuable in the Battles/McNeil edition. If money is an issue, it is $13-15 vs. $60-80.

Since I prefer digital format, when Logos was selling the 108 volume "Calvin 500" collection for a song, I added it. It has Beveridge, Allen, AND Norton (plus the French and Latin)!!!

Individual Titles
The Institutes of the Christian Religion, by John Calvin: English, Latin, and French (9 vols.)
Calvin's Commentaries (46 vols.)
The Letters of John Calvin (4 vols.)
Tracts and Treatises of John Calvin (8 vols.)
John Calvin Biography Collection (10 vols.)
Calvin and the History of Calvinism Collection (31 vols.)


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## JM (Dec 7, 2010)

Good price, Institutes of the Christian Religion trans. Henry Beveridge - Reformation Heritage Books


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## bookslover (Dec 7, 2010)

By the way, the Battles translation is 50 years old this year (published in 1960). I wonder if it's time for a new translation...


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## ClayPot (Dec 8, 2010)

bookslover said:


> By the way, the Battles translation is 50 years old this year (published in 1960). I wonder if it's time for a new translation...


 
Probably. Words like sinful, wicked, holy, and righteous keep popping up in my reading. It's really quite difficult to make heads or tails of it!


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