Calvin - Opening with Knowledge
John (Jean) Calvin makes it very clear from the very first book and first five chapters of his Institutes of the Christian Religion that his primary goal is based on Knowledge or Gnosis.
Remember the scriptures are clear.
I Timothy 6:20-21
O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”— 21 which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith. Grace be with you.
The sad truth is that many of those that claim to be Calvinist today have never read or studied any of the writtings of Calvin. This is no surprise for just as with the cults like the Mormons, most of their followers have never read any of Joseph Smiths and Brigham Youngs writtings either. Instead these cults provide other reading material like the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants. With the Jehovah's witnesses they have their followers focus on the Watchtower and Awake rather than the scriptures.
We see the same exact thing now going strong within the Calvinist community today with many of the followers focused on the writtings of MacArther, Piper, and many others.
This comes to no surprise at all for the scriptures have already foretold us that this would occur.
2 Timothy 4:3
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
In Calvin's Institutes he lays out his belief system very clearly and it is not based on Faith, it is not based on the Gospel, but it is most clearly focused from the very beginning on one single topic and that is knowledge.
John Calvin [a.d. 1509-1564]
BOOK FIRST. OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE CREATORhttp://www.ccel.org/ccel/calvin/institutes.iii.i.html
CHAPTER 1. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AND OF OURSELVES MUTUALLY CONNECTED. —NATURE OF THE CONNECTION.
CHAPTER 2. - WHAT IT IS TO KNOW GOD,—TENDENCY OF THIS KNOWLEDGE.
CHAPTER 3. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD NATURALLY IMPLANTED IN THE HUMAN MIND.
CHAPTER 4. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD STIFLED OR CORRUPTED, IGNORANTLY OR MALICIOUSLY.
CHAPTER 5. - THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD CONSPICUOUS IN THE CREATION, AND CONTINUAL GOVERNMENT OF THE WORLD.
This first book and the very first five chapters mentions knowledge over 50 times which is more times than the entire new testament uses knowledge, yet in these first five chapters he only mentions the faith of man 3 times.
The Bible is clear that God is far beyond our comprehension and who has known the mind of the Lord.
See how clear the scriptures are, for who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor?
Isaiah 55:8
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. 9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Romans 11:33
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 34 For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who became His counselor? 35 Or who has first given to Him that it might be paid back to him again? 36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.