Position · 1536

Calvinism

Salvation as entirely God’s sovereign work: before creation God unconditionally chose those he would save, and his grace brings them to faith without fail.

John Calvin set out the system in the Institutes (first edition 1536), drawing heavily on Augustine. It shares Luther’s justification by faith alone but gives predestination a larger place. The Synod of Dort (1618–19) sharpened it into five points in answer to Arminianism, later summed up in English as TULIP: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, perseverance of the saints.