Synopsis
John Calvin's interpretation of the biblical narrative on King Saul illustrates his perspective on faith. What is faith? Is there only one kind of faith? How does faith lead to the salvation of man? If King Saul had faith, how is it that he fell out of favour with God? By reading several sections from The Institutes of Christian Religion, the author highlights the positive relationship between faith and salvation, according to Calvin's perspective. With a clear understanding of faith, it may help us in our ministry.

Author
Rev Dr Bernard Koh Ming Huat is Senior Lecturer in the School of Theology Chinese at the TCA College in Singapore. He has been an editor at Tian Dao Publishing House, pastor at St. Andrew's Cathedral Mandarin Congregation, program manager at FEBA, and General Editor of the World-Wide Bible Society. He holds the following degrees: D.Min. (Leadership), M.Div. (Chinese Cultural Studies) and B.Th from the Alliance Bible Seminary (Hong Kong), and Diploma (Biblical Studies) from the University of Sheffield.

Synopsis
This lecture explores the relationship between Calvin's theology and that of its subsequent development known as Calvinism in popular parlance. It begins with an account of the way in which the above relationship has been variously construed from its nineteenth century to its most recent twenty-first century interpreters. This is followed by two case studies that serve to illustrate the merits of the most recent interpretation ("the reappraisal") of the relationship between Calvin and Calvinism. The first case study focuses on the use of the scholastic method in the writings of the leading Puritan John Owen (1616-1683), while the second explores the debate among members of the Westminster Assembly on the extent of the atonement. The lecture concludes with some pointers on the contemporary relevance of the subject.

Author
Rev Dr Edwin E.M. Tay is a Lecturer in Theology at Trinity Theological College and a Diaconal Minister in the Methodist Church of Singapore. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh (PhD), the University of London (MA), the Biblical Graduate School of Theology (MCS) and the National University of Singapore (BA), he has made significant contributions in the study of Puritan theology. Notably, he is the author of the book, The Priesthood of Christ: Atonement in the Theology of John Owen (1616-1683) by Paternoster Press and a contributor to the Ashgate Research Companion to John Owens's Theology.

Synopsis
John Calvin is acknowledged to be one of the most influential but controversial figures in modern history. Some scholars depict him as an intolerant leader and a ruthless heresy hunter. Other scholars observe that his followers were the first self-disciplined agents of social and political reconstruction in an age of destructive revolutions.

What cannot be denied is that Calvin's theology represents a coherent system of life, and a comprehensive vision for cultural transformation and right ordering of society. In this regard, Calvin's theology of covenant and positive regard for creation orders offers a social vision of mutual accountability and institutional pluralism characterized with separation, but interdependence between religious and political institutions.

Finally, Calvin's theology of Christian freedom mediated by God's grace and ordered by God's providential care encourages and guides Christians to purposive and disciplined participation in a program for social sanctification, and building of social institutions to serve the welfare of one's neighbors.

Author
Dr. Ng Kam Weng is a Research Director of Kairos Research Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. His doctoral dissertation was published as From Christ to Social Practice: Christological Foundations for Social Practice in the Theologies of Albrecht Ritchl, Karl Barth and Jurgen Moltmann. He lectured on Theology, Ethics and Philosophy. He was a fellow at the Centre for the Study of Christianity in Asia (CSCA) at Trinity Theological College, and at the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. He is a member of the Center for Theological Inquiry, Princeton.

Synopsis
John Calvin has been touted as one of the finest interpreters of Scripture in the Protestant Reformation movement of the 16th century. Yet, when Calvin came into the hermeneutical scene, he found himself standing in the midst of a strong medieval tradition that practiced the fourfold interpretation of Scripture (the Quadriga). This interpretative approach is well summarised in a poem that is cited by the modern French Jesuit, Henri de Lubac: The letter teaches what happened, allegory what you should believe, the moral what you should do, anagogy to what you should aim.

Reacting against such a tradition, John Calvin rejects the traditional practice of "spiritual" exegesis, especially that of allegorical interpretation. He reserves his harshest comments for those who do "violence" to the literal meaning of the text. Yet, there are some who think that Calvin himself uses such methods in his exegetical works. Does he or does he not? This paper examines some key passages where Calvin could have adopted a non-literal approach to biblical interpretation, and explores the possibility that perhaps the great Reformer’s approach to interpreting Scripture is more than meets the eye.

Author
Rev Dr Leonard Wee is New Testament lecturer at Trinity Theological College (TTC), and an ordained minister with the Presbyterian Church in Singapore. He obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Durham, researching on the use of the Narrative Summary in the epistles of Paul. He also holds degrees from the National University of Singapore (B.B.A.) and Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M.), and was a pastor for ten years. He was recently the series editor for the Occasional Papers published by the Asian Institute of Calvin Studies.

Synopsis
Why should we compare John Calvin’s theology of baptism with Martin Luther? Liturgically, baptisms among Presbyterians and Lutherans look the same, and so they often mislead us to the wrong conclusion that there are no differences among them in their theologies. The fact is that there are similarities as well as differences. I believe that in comparing John Calvin’s theology of baptism with Martin Luther, we can better understand and appreciate our heritage as well as those of the church catholic.

Furthermore, these questions: “Does baptism save? Why should infants be baptised? What are sacraments and how do they work?” are so common among Christians that we should try to give the best answers to them. Calvin and Luther gave similar and yet slightly different answers. Their perspectives especially to the relationship between faith and the sacraments, in particular, baptism, will hopefully shed more light on us as we consider these questions anew today.

Author
Rev Dr Samuel Wang is an ordained minister of the Lutheran Church in Singapore. Prior to joining Trinity Theological College (TTC) he worked as a history teacher and subsequently worked as a pastor in the Lutheran Church in Singapore. He has pastored two Lutheran churches before pursuing his doctoral studies at Australian Lutheran College in Adelaide, Australia (2013-2016). He is assigned by the Lutheran Church in Singapore for the ministry of theological education in TTC and is currently attached to Bedok Lutheran Church.

Synopsis
While John Calvin was widely known as an eminent sixteenth-century Protestant reformer and a brilliant theologian, it is perhaps less commonly remembered that he was also pastor and teacher to numerous exiled French Protestants among the churches in Geneva, Basel and Strasbourg. Concerned for the infant faith of these young believers, Calvin wrote in the first edition of the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) that he intends for it “to transmit certain rudiments by which those who are touched with any zeal for religion might be shaped to true godliness” (1960, 61).

Conscious of Calvin’s primary concern for faith formation, this paper serves as an introduction to Calvin’s theology and method for nurturing Christian piety as seen in the Institutes of the Christian Religion (1559). It explores Calvin’s explication of regeneration and its progress in the Christian life. The paper will draw especially from Book 3:6-10 of the Institutes and will examine, for example, the relationship between the Word and the Holy Spirit, the roles of the heart and mind in Christian formation, and a rule of life that is patterned after Christ’s. It concludes with reflections on its ramifications for our practice of Christian nurture today.

Author
Rev Dr Jimmy Tan is lecturer of pastoral and practical theology at Trinity Theological College. He obtained his PhD from Fuller Theological Seminary, where his research focused on Christian spiritual guidance. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister and has previously pastored at Singapore Life Church and Bethel Presbyterian Church, as well as served on several committees in the Synod and the English Presbytery. He is married to Soh Kwan and they have three daughters.