Calvinism: An Introduction.

Calvinism was founded by John Calvin, with the writing of the Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1535. While he intended to provide a document for all of protestantism, he instead created a long ranging unique faith, separate from the other sects of protestantism extant at the time.

While my next article will delve more deeply into the history of Calvinism, this article shall discuss the essential beliefs of Calvin and Calvinism. The essential beliefs of Calvinism are often abbreviated to TULIP; total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistable grace and perseverance of the saints. In this article, I will attempt to define and briefly discuss each of the main beliefs of Calvinism.

The doctrine of total depravity is one of the most often questioned doctrines of Calvinism. Total depravity, also known as total inability, means that the impact of the human fall from grace has brought sin not only into humanity, but all through humanity. Body, emotions, thought, and will are all tainted by sin. It is only through the grace of God that humanity can find salvation.

Unconditional election is essentially what is known as predestination. God and only God chooses who will come to knowledge of God and salvation. Good works can not insure salvation, but they do prove that an individual is one of the elect.

The doctrine of limited atonement limits those who are saved by Christ's death to those who have been elected by God for salvation, the "invisible church." God elected the saved and the damned prior to creation, and Christ has died only for the saved.

Irresistable grace ensures that all who are saved will be called to God and will know God. Active participation in the faith is therefore a marker of elect status.

Finally, the perseverance of the saints ensures that God will keep those he has elected and will ensure that they follow his plan and do his will. The saints, in this instance, refers to all of God's elect.

These doctrines serve as the basis for Calvinism, both historically and today. I hope that this article has clarified the positions of the Calvinist church and provided a deeper insight into a faith that is often simplified to "predestination" or "total depravity".

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