Critique of Calvin's Institutes - Chapter 3

1. No Scriptural references - not even one.

2. Quotes Plato and Gryllus - So this chapter contains platonic ideas which are being taught as Christianity.

3. "That there exists in the human minds and indeed by natural instinct, some sense of Deity, we hold to be beyond dispute, since God himself, to prevent any man from pretending ignorance, has endued all men with some idea of his Godhead, the memory of which he constantly renews and occasionally enlarges, that all to a man being aware that there is a God, and that he is their Maker, may be condemned by their own conscience when they neither worship him nor consecrate their lives to his service." - Where is the biblical support for such an idea? Calvin does not provide any scriptural support.

^"20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. ²¹ For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1 : 20 , 21.

The Apostle Paul differs says that , people have revelation of God , his eternal power and divine nature , from what has been made or created. They are without excuse for having such clear revelation and not responding in worship and thanksgiving. 

The whole chapter has no biblical basis . These are at best Calvin's own ideas from sources other than the bible.

So the biblical teaching isNOT that man has by instinct some sense of deity . This idea of Calvin finds support only in greek philosophers and not in bible. The biblical idea is that creation shows forth  the creator. 

4. Pearl : " I readily acknowledge, that designing men have introduced a vast number of fictions into religion, with the view of inspiring the populace with reverence or striking them with terror, and thereby rendering them more obsequious; but they never could have succeeded in this, had the minds of men not been previously imbued with that uniform belief in God, from which, as from its seed, the religious propensity springs"
 This answer of Calvin to the idea that all religions are product of human cunning and for acquisition and maintenance of  political power is  correct. But this does not prove that God has planted in every human a sense of God  , the denial of which leads judgement.
   People have sense of God from nature and created order and macheavillians use it to their own ends.