The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum History question?

What is orign of calvinisn of reformed theology? <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bingo.gif" alt="" />

I believe it is called, "The Bible". <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> It is important to remember that theological "systems" came about over time as heresy tried to gain a foothold. Thus the individual doctrines, even the doctrine of the Trinity, were not formulated officially until they were attacked. As far back as the 6th century, we see some of the doctrines of grace being formulated as official positions of the Church. See, for example, THE CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF ORANGE, which dealt with the doctrine of Total Depravity vs. Free-will.

Over time, each of the doctrines which make up what is known as "Calvinism" were debated and finally systematized in their basic form as we know them today by John Calvin, thus the unfortunate nickname "Calvinism" was attached. Calvin didn't dream up "Calvinism" for in fact historically they existed centuries before Calvin was even born. He simply put all the individual doctrines together; codified them, in his well-known Institutes of the Christian Religion which you can download for free here: Calvin's Institutes. This is a self-extracting file, which means you only need to double-click it to install the program. It's in the form of a Windows "Help" file so not only can one read the Institutes in their entirety, but you can also search for topics, words, etc. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/BigThumbUp.gif" alt="" />

In His grace,