In 1543, in order to combat what they called the heterodox teachings that were already circulating in France and other places, the faculty of the theological school of the University of Paris drew up twenty-nine articles they expected to strengthen their theological beliefs and to prevent schism from happening. By the order of King Francis I the Parliament made an official record of the articles and they were published in Paris on August 1 of the same year. The articles underwent a process of revision and in the second version and its French translation, they went down to twenty-five, with the four extra articles included as an epilogue.

The articles reached Geneva quite likely at the end of 1543 or early in 1544. Soon a rebuttal of the twenty-five articles were published in Geneva. While Calvin's name was nowhere to be found in the refutation, scholars agree that he was the one penning the work. The reason why Calvin did not put his name on that publication, many argue, was because he did not consider the work a serious one, but merely a game (xix).

This critical edition puts the Latin and French versions of the articles, together with Calvin's refutations, side by side. Adriaan Bas, the editor of this edition, writes a helpful historical context of the origin of the articles as well as Geneva's reaction to them. He also provides bibliographical information of the Latin and French editions of the articles in the sixteenth century, as well as their modern translations to help modern readers trace the history of the publication of these short but historically significant articles.