To begin with, the doctrines of grace that have become known as Calvinism were most certainly not invented by Calvin, nor were they characteristic of his thought alone during the Reformation period. As we shall see, these are the truths taught by Jesus and confirmed for us in Scripture by the apostle Paul. Augustine argued for the same truths over against the denials of Pelagius and those who followed him. Luther was a Calvinist. So was Zwingli. That is, they believed what Calvin believed and what he later systematized in his influential Institutes of the Christian Religion. The Puritans were also Calvinists; it was through them and their teaching that both England and Scotland experienced the greatest and most pervasive national revivals the world has ever seen. In that number were the heirs of John Knox: Thomas Cartwright, Richard Sibbes, Richard Baxter, Matthew Henry, John Owen, and others. In America, thousands were influenced by Jonathan Edwards, Cotton Mather, and George Whitefield, all of whom were Calvinists.

首先，被称为加尔文主义的恩典教义肯定不是加尔文发明的，也不是宗教改革时期加尔文独有的思想特征。正如我们将要看到的，这些是耶稣教导的真理，也是使徒保罗在圣经中为我们证实的真理。奥古斯丁主张同样的真理，反对伯拉纠及其追随者。路德是加尔文主义者，慈运理也是如此。也就是说，他们相信加尔文所相信的以及他后来在他有影响力的《基督教要义》中系统化的东西。清教徒也是加尔文主义者。正是通过他们和他们的教导，英格兰和苏格兰经历了举世瞩目的最伟大、最普遍的民族复兴。其中包括约翰·诺克斯的继承人：托马斯·卡特赖特、理查德·西布斯、理查德·巴克斯特、马修·亨利、约翰·欧文等。在美国，成千上万的人受到乔纳森·爱德华兹、科顿·马瑟和乔治·怀特菲尔德的影响，他们都是加尔文主义者。