John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Chapter 11
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Seeing that this brutish stupidity has overspread the globe, men longing after visible forms of God, and so forming deities of wood and stone, silver and gold, or of any other dead and corruptible matter, we must hold it as a first principle, that as often as any form is assigned to God, his glory is corrupted by an impious lie.

— John Calvin on Idolatry

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Seeing that this brutish stupidity has overspread the globe, men longing after visible forms of God, and so forming deities of wood and stone, silver and gold, or of any other dead and corruptible matter, we must hold it as a first principle, that as often as any form is assigned to God, his glory is corrupted by an impious lie." in the context of "John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Chapter 11" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Idolatry" (C) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
John Calvin

About John Calvin

John Calvin (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) was a major French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation; he is renowned for his teaching and infamous for his role in the execution of Michael Servetus.