--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If true religion is to beam upon us, our…" description: "\"If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must be, that it is necessary to begin with heavenly teaching, and that it is impossible for any man..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/john-calvin-490_beam_if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our_112515.jpg" --- # If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must… ![“If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must be, that it is necessary to begin with heavenly teaching, and that it is impossible for any man to obtain even the minutest portion of right and sound doctrine without being a disciple of Scripture.” quote by John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/john-calvin-490_beam_if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our_112515.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/john-calvin-490_beam_if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our_112515.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/john-calvin-490_beam_if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our_112515.jpg) > “If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must be, that it is necessary to begin with heavenly teaching, and that it is impossible for any man to obtain even the minutest portion of right and sound doctrine without being a disciple of Scripture.” [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He asserts that true religion must begin with scripture, arguing that sound doctrine cannot be attained without disciplined study of holy teachings. **In simple terms:** Doctrine depends on scriptural study. Key Takeaway Scripture is the foundation of true religion. Themes theology scripture doctrine Mood serious instructive Type doctrinal statement When to use this quote - seminary education - Bible study groups - personal devotion Key Concepts authority of text disciplinary learning Practical Applications - regular scriptural reading - apply teachings to daily life Questions to Reflect On - How does one balance scriptural authority with contemporary context? - What role does personal experience play in religious understanding? A Different Perspective Interpretations vary; reliance on text alone may ignore lived experience. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bible/) [Disciple](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disciple/) [Doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doctrine/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Heavenly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heavenly/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Principles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/principles/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Scripture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scripture/) [Sound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound/) [Sound doctrine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sound-doctrine/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) [True religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/true-religion/) ## Related quotes > [Subjectivism is not an absolute principle; it is a necessary but not sufficient condition for sound methodology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/murray-rothbard/subjectivism-is-not-an-absolute-principle-it-is-a-necessary-but-not/) [Murray Rothbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/murray-rothbard/) > [In a way, the futile excuses many people use to cover their superstitions are demolished. They think it is enough to have some sort…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/in-a-way-the-futile-excuses-many-people-use-to-cover-their/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Justification by faith is the hinge on which all true religion turns.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/justification-by-faith-is-the-hinge-on-which-all-true-religion-turns/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Sound doctrine does not enter into a hard and disobedient heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justin-martyr/sound-doctrine-does-not-enter-into-a-hard-and-disobedient-heart/) [Justin Martyr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justin-martyr/) > [True worship comes from people who are deeply emotional and who love deep and sound doctrine. Strong affections for God rooted in thrush are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-piper/true-worship-comes-from-people-who-are-deeply-emotional-and-who-love/) [John Piper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-piper/) > [Elegance of language must give way before simplicity in preaching sound doctrine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/girolamo-savonarola/elegance-of-language-must-give-way-before-simplicity-in-preaching/) [Girolamo Savonarola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/girolamo-savonarola/) > [Reformation is a return to the sound doctrine of the Bible. Revival is the practice of that sound doctrine under the power of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-schaeffer/reformation-is-a-return-to-the-sound-doctrine-of-the-bible-revival-is/) [Francis Schaeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-schaeffer/) > [Sound doctrine is sound politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morton-blackwell/sound-doctrine-is-sound-politics/) [Morton Blackwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morton-blackwell/) > [These then are the marks of the ideal Church - love, suffering, holiness, sound doctrine, genuineness, evangelism and humility. They are what Christ desires…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stott/these-then-are-the-marks-of-the-ideal-church-love-suffering-holiness/) [John Stott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stott/) > [The devil is not fighting religion. He's too smart for that. He is producing a counterfeit Christianity, so much like the real one that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vance-havner/the-devil-is-not-fighting-religion-he-s-too-smart-for-that-he-is/) [Vance Havner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vance-havner/) > [If sound doctrine is given up, the real Gospel of redemption by the blood of the Son of God is denied, worldliness follows.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arno-c-gaebelein/if-sound-doctrine-is-given-up-the-real-gospel-of-redemption-by-the/) [Arno C. Gaebelein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arno-c-gaebelein/) > [True zeal is connected with a holy life. It is remarkable how often the greatest zealots for God, the Church, and sound doctrine (as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-hodge/true-zeal-is-connected-with-a-holy-life-it-is-remarkable-how-often/) [Charles Hodge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-hodge/) > [The first thing Jesus tells the church of Ephesus that He loves about them is they have sound doctrine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-carter/the-first-thing-jesus-tells-the-church-of-ephesus-that-he-loves-about/) [Matthew Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-carter/) > [Paul said in the second epistle...the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine...they will accumulate for themselves teachers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jan-karon/paul-said-in-the-second-epistle-the-time-is-coming-when-people-will/) [Jan Karon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jan-karon/) > [Lord, send Your life throughout the entire church. Visit Your church; restore sound doctrine and holy, earnest living. Take away from professing Christians their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/lord-send-your-life-throughout-the-entire-church-visit-your-church/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) ## More by John Calvin > [I have never seen either a drop of piety or a grain of truth or ingenuousness - nay, I have never found common sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/i-have-never-seen-either-a-drop-of-piety-or-a-grain-of-truth-or/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [But a most pernicious error widely prevails that Scripture has only so much weight as is conceded to it by the consent of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/but-a-most-pernicious-error-widely-prevails-that-scripture-has-only/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/for-earthly-princes-lay-aside-their-power-when-they-rise-up-against/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [It is no small honour that God for our sake has so magnificently adorned the world, in order that we may not only be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/it-is-no-small-honour-that-god-for-our-sake-has-so-magnificently/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [The word "hope" I take for faith; and indeed hope is nothing else but the constancy of faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/the-word-hope-i-take-for-faith-and-indeed-hope-is-nothing-else-but/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [No man can come to God but by an extraordinary revelation of the Spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/no-man-can-come-to-god-but-by-an-extraordinary-revelation-of-the/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [There is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/there-is-nothing-in-afflictions-which-ought-to-disturb-our-joy/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [There cannot be a surer rule, nor a stronger exhortation to the observance of it, than when we are taught that all the endowments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/there-cannot-be-a-surer-rule-nor-a-stronger-exhortation-to-the/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [The surest source of destruction to men is to obey themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/the-surest-source-of-destruction-to-men-is-to-obey-themselves/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [The whole gospel is contained in Christ.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/the-whole-gospel-is-contained-in-christ/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [For Scripture is the school of the Holy Spirit, in which, as nothing is omitted that is both necessary and useful to know, so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/for-scripture-is-the-school-of-the-holy-spirit-in-which-as-nothing-is/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [“For earthly princes lay aside their power when they rise up against God, and are unworthy to be reckoned among the number of mankind.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/for-earthly-princes-lay-aside-their-power-when-they-rise-up-against-2/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [If a preacher is not first preaching to himself, better that he falls on the steps of the pulpit and breaks his neck than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/if-a-preacher-is-not-first-preaching-to-himself-better-that-he-falls/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Again I ask whence it happened that the fall of Adam involved, without remedy, in eternal death so many nations, together with their infant…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/again-i-ask-whence-it-happened-that-the-fall-of-adam-involved-without/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Unless God's Word illumine the way, the whole life of men is wrapped in darkness and mist, so that they cannot but miserably stray.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/unless-god-s-word-illumine-the-way-the-whole-life-of-men-is-wrapped/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) [Explore all 520 John Calvin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) ## More Beam quotes > [I've said it before, good people are forced to do bad things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angus-cloud/i-ve-said-it-before-good-people-are-forced-to-do-bad-things/) [Angus Cloud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angus-cloud/) > [Letters crossing in the post, unfamiliar tunes heard three times in one day, the way that blows of fate descend upon the same bowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-weldon/letters-crossing-in-the-post-unfamiliar-tunes-heard-three-times-in/) [Fay Weldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-weldon/) > [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [I was really interested in this ability for others to create virtual memories for us. In "The Cartographers" I explore this through Adam Woods,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-weinstein/i-was-really-interested-in-this-ability-for-others-to-create-virtual/) [Alexander Weinstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-weinstein/) > [Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/order-is-the-sanity-of-the-mind-the-health-of-the-body-the-peace-of/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [“Sometimes good people do bad things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-gilmore/sometimes-good-people-do-bad-things/) Andrew Gilmore > [See with what force yon river's crystal stream Resists the weight of many a massy beam. To sink the wood the more we vainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/see-with-what-force-yon-river-s-crystal-stream-resists-the-weight-of/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [Let her alone,' said the enkanto, 'or I will curse you blind, lame, and worse.' The old man laughed. 'I'm a curse breaker, fool.'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/let-her-alone-said-the-enkanto-or-i-will-curse-you-blind-lame-and/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [The closer the source of light is to a subject, the broader the beams are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-hall/the-closer-the-source-of-light-is-to-a-subject-the-broader-the-beams/) [Conrad Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-hall/) > [Raise high the roof beam, carpenters. Like Ares comes the bridegroom, taller far than a tall man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sappho/raise-high-the-roof-beam-carpenters-like-ares-comes-the-bridegroom/) [Sappho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sappho/) > [I would love to see what's going to happen with science fiction with peoples' heads, because we still have people running around in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-nielsen/i-would-love-to-see-what-s-going-to-happen-with-science-fiction-with/) [Leslie Nielsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-nielsen/) > [The House ...She lays her beams in music, In music everyone, To the cadence of the whirling world Which dances around the sun- That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-house-she-lays-her-beams-in-music-in-music-everyone-to-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Nothing to me is more distasteful than that entire complacency and satisfaction which beam in the countenances of a new married couple; in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lamb/nothing-to-me-is-more-distasteful-than-that-entire-complacency-and/) [Charles Lamb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lamb/) > [“Bad people very often do one good thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emma-forrest/bad-people-very-often-do-one-good-thing/) [Emma Forrest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emma-forrest/) > [I had a constant fear, a constant little doubt in my mind: 'OK, I'm getting ready to do my standing back full on beam…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shawn-johnson/i-had-a-constant-fear-a-constant-little-doubt-in-my-mind-ok-i-m/) [Shawn Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shawn-johnson/) Browse all 396 Beam quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must be, that it is necessary to begin with heavenly teaching, and that it is impossible for any man to obtain even the minutest portion of right and sound doctrine without being a disciple of Scripture.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Calvin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our-principle-must-be-that-it-is/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beam" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our-principle-must-be-that-it-is/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/john-calvin-490_beam_if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our_112515.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/john-calvin-490_beam_if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our_112515.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9a3/john-calvin-490_beam_if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our_112515.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If true religion is to beam upon us, our principle must be, that it is necessary to begin with heavenly…” — John Calvin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Calvin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If true religion is to beam...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our-principle-must-be-that-it-is/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/if-true-religion-is-to-beam-upon-us-our-principle-must-be-that-it-is/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```