Institutes of The Christian Religion - Title

Title

In English, this work is known as The Institutes of the Christian Religion or Calvin's Institutes. This title, however, may not be the best translation from the original Latin, Institutio Christianae Religionis. A literal, word for word translation of the title would read something like this: An Instruction in Christian Piety.

The Latin word institutio can mean arrangement, custom, introduction, or education. The English word institute can mean elementary principle or a brief, intensive course of instruction devoted to technical fields. Perhaps a better rendering for this part of the title would be introduction or catechism. This is supported by something Calvin himself says in his prefatory address to King Francis: "My intention was only to furnish a kind of rudiments, by which those who feel some interest in religion might be trained to true godliness."

The Latin word religio at the time did not have its modern definition as "religion". The idea of a distinct religious system or denomination at the turn of the 16th century was unknown, because there was only one acknowledged Christian church. The word religio (literally, "to bind") meant the bond that unites humans to God, as exemplified in the monastic vow. This is how Zwingli used the word in his 1525 De Vera et Falsa Religione Commentarius ("Commentary on the True and on the False Religion").

Instead of The Institutes of the Christian Religion, a more helpful English title would probably be An Introduction to Christian Piety or Basic Christian Piety, but the current English title is quite well established and unlikely to be replaced in popular or academic usage.