The first edition of the Institutes appeared in 1536, prefaced by a letter to King Francis I of France. This letter was designed to acquit Protestants of the charge that they were subversive of the state. The first edition of the book itself was divided into six chapters based on the model of Martin Luther's Small Catechism. In succeeding editions of 1539, 1543, and 1559, Calvin recast this small book into an extended theological treatise eventually divided into four books. In its complete form, the Institutes of the Christian Religion sets out some of the theological themes that characterize the Reformed tradition as a whole: the authority of Scripture; the majesty, sovereignty, and providence of the living God; the praise of God; the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the individual believer and the church; the Christian life as a life of obedience to God's law; social and political activism.