But it is first and foremost the record of God's work in the life of one who represented all that was finest in her evangelical life.

    

    John Calvin, living and working in Geneva, then as now a center of trade and banking, is the reformer who thought most carefully about economic and social issues, warning that "social disorder is first and foremost disdain for the poor and oppression of the weak." Calvin's application of the teaching of the Bible to practical issues of his place and time speaks to us with continuing relevance. Andr Bi ler examines the reformer's practical theology within the context of his proclamation of the Christian gospel and doctrine, carefully differentiating the authentic voice of Calvin from that of later Calvinists, Puritans, and such academic interpreters as Max Weber, Ernst Troeltsch, and R.H. Tawney. Biéler's monumental work, a storehouse of Calvin's own writing and teaching, has enjoyed steady sales in French since it first appeared in 1959. With this new edition, it becomes available for the first time in English translation.

    Barth s theology found its expression mainly through his closely reasoned fourteen-part magnum opus, Die Kirchliche Dogmatik. Having taken over 30 years to write, the Church Dogmatics is regarded as one of the most important theological works of all time, and represents the pinnacle of Barth s achievement as a theologian.