"God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation."

Forgiveness

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Thematic Reflection

This quotation examines the core nature of Forgiveness as articulated by John Calvin. Within historical and literary traditions, reflections on Forgiveness provide actionable mental models, challenging individuals to evaluate personal ethics, self-discipline, and daily actions.

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About John Calvin

John Calvin was a French theologian, pastor and reformer in Geneva during the Protestant Reformation. He was the principal figure in the development of the system of Christian theology later called Calvinism, including its doctrines of predestination and of God's absolute sovereignty in the salvation of the human soul from death and eternal damnation. Calvinist doctrines were influenced by and elaborated upon Augustinian and other Christian traditions. Various Reformed Church movements, including Continental Reformed, Congregationalism, Presbyterianism, Waldensians, Baptist Reformed, Calvinist Methodism, and Reformed Anglican Churches, which look to Calvin as the chief expositor of their beliefs, have spread throughout the world.

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More by John Calvin

"Is it faith to understand nothing, and merely submit your convictions implicitly to the Church?"

— John Calvin
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"God tolerates even our stammering, and pardons our ignorance whenever something inadvertently escapes us - as, indeed, without this mercy there would be no freedom to pray."

— John Calvin
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"You must submit to supreme suffering in order to discover the completion of joy."

— John Calvin
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"There is no worse screen to block out the Spirit than confidence in our own intelligence."

— John Calvin
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More about Forgiveness

"Ignorance is no excuse, it's the real thing."

— Irene Peter
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"Therefore I am sure that this, my Coronation, is not the symbol of a power and a splendor that are gone but a declaration of our hopes for the future, and for the years I may, by God's Grace and Mercy, be given to reign and serve you as your Queen."

— Queen Elizabeth II
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"God forgive you, but I never can."

— Elizabeth I
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