Editor’s Note

The five sermons in this volume were originally preached by John Calvin in French and form part of his larger series of sermons on the Harmony of the Gospels. They are presented here in a new English translation prepared from the French text.

Artificial intelligence tools were used during the preparation of this edition to assist with the initial translation of the French text and with subsequent editorial revision. Every sermon was reviewed and revised by the editor. The French source text remained the controlling authority throughout the translation process.

The source text for this translation is Calvin’s Soixante cinq Sermons de Iean Calvin sur l’Harmonie ou Concordance des trois Euangelistes, sainct Matthieu, S. Marc, et S. Luc, collected by Denis Ragueneau and first published in 1562. The present volume contains Sermons 61–65 from that collection, the five sermons in which Calvin expounds the opening portion of the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes. The translation was prepared from the French text preserved in the collected edition of Calvin’s works made available through the University of Geneva.

Our aim has been to produce a faithful translation that reads naturally in modern English while preserving the character and force of Calvin’s preaching. Because these sermons originated in oral proclamation, the French often contains long sentences, repetition, and idiomatic constructions. Where a strictly literal rendering would obscure Calvin’s meaning, we have adjusted wording and sentence structure while preserving his argument, emphasis, and theological substance.

Scripture quotations have been translated from Calvin’s French as they appear in the source text, with biblical references supplied where helpful. Our purpose throughout has been to let Calvin speak clearly in English without modernizing his theology or recasting him as a contemporary preacher.

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