A set of doctrines once commonly accepted by traditional Christianity that have become controversial in more recent times due largely to the perception that they knock man off his high throne and elevate God. This of course is not a popular idea with most men, and therefore very few people believe these doctrines, let alone know what they are.

Incidentally, though they get their name from John Calvin, he did not actually create them, and was probably quite surprised to look down from Heaven and see people attributing these beliefs to him. They were actually originally created by the council of Dort in 1619 to combat the five points of Arminanism. They are preserved here because they could be correct. The five points are summarized as follows.

Total Depravity: Man is treacherously bad. He is so bad that he would sell his mother into slavery for a six pack of beer and a good woman, if his friends would approve of it and it might bring him an ounce of fame. This of course is not as bad as he could be in the worst of all scenarios, but the nature of his heart is bad.  Man, in fact, has no control over this, and is quite content to wallow in the mess he has made, but can in no way fix himself. Most women would agree with this assessment of men, though they wouldn't necessarily apply it to themselves.

Unconditional Election: God on the other hand, is not treacherously bad and if he had a mother, certainly wouldn't sell her into slavery. God is in fact the ultimate of good. Unfortunately, for man to have the option of spending eternity with God, he has to become good as well. Since he cannot do this for himself, God has to do it for him, without condition. Man doesn't have to be good, do good, or do the right thing. God chooses to adopt people into his family and call them good based solely on His own purposes as the ruler of the universe. Since man cannot choose God because of the aforementioned total depravity, God must perform all the work needed to redeem sinful people.

Limited Atonement: This is where the story of man's salvation takes an interesting turn, and has been the source of much argument and confusion. When Jesus died on the cross, he was acting as a substitute for man. Most Christians believe this. Yet, there is still a need for man to come to God, again through God's leading, not man's. What does that mean for people whom God does not choose to lead? What explains why if Christ died to save people from sin, some sinners are forgiven while other sinners perish? Calvinists reckoned that Christ must have died only for particular people, namely those whom God chose to bring to Himself and adopt into His family. While this does make logical sense, particularly to those who would like to think they have been "chosen" it has caused people to cry "favoritism." The Calvinists, unmoved by this, simply state that God owns the shop and can use the items in the shop as he chooses. This of course, is not at all comforting to anyone in particular, including the Calvinists, who have chosen to believe that there are truths about God that they may not like.

Irresistible Call: If God, as the all powerful creator of all things and ruler of the universe, intends to call someone to Himself and adopt them into His family, they will find themselves powerless to resist. This, also, is an unpopular view among people, who would wish to be ultimately free to make all of their own choices. Human beings tend to believe that free will means they are in control of their destiny, and if God says we have free will, then we have the freedom to say no—even to God. Of course, man also tends to overlook the fact that he does not have the free will to avoid being destroyed by a hurricane or to completely avoid death. These truths do not bother people nearly as much as the thought that God could have some part in controlling their destiny.

Perseverance of the Saints: At long last, the fifth point of Calvinism, after four points of absolutely miserable news, takes it's subscribers to a happy place. It reasons, if man is totally depraved, and God is all powerful, then what God chooses is final. Therefore, once God has chosen to save a person there is nothing that person can do to lose their spot on the lifeboat. The Baptists, who tend to believe four out of the five points, have re-named this "Once Saved, Always Saved."

The acronym to remember the five points is TULIP, for obvious reasons. Proponents of these beliefs call the opposing belief "daisy" as in "He loves me, he loves me not," for reasons that will be discussed in another entry.