Calvin's theological writing and thinking are a variegated field, heavy laden and ready for harvest, and yet so densely planted and so thickly intertwined in its growth that it is difficult to state in any definitive manner exactly what he has sown or the pattern by which he has sown it. Thus, among the reapers, there is confusion over what we should gather and the best method for our gleaning, not to mention the matter of separating the wheat, or whatever fruits we are searching for, from the tares. There is, simply, so much there and so much that seems at tension with itself, not only in terms of its content, but also in terms of its methodological underpinnings and its authorial purpose.