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，被稱為加爾文主義的恩典教義肯定不是加爾文發明的，也不是宗教改革時期加爾文獨有的思想特徵。正如我們將要看到的，這些是耶穌教導的真理，也是使徒保羅在聖經中為我們證實的真理。奧古斯丁主張同樣的真理，反對伯拉糾及其追隨者。路德是加爾文主義者，慈運理也是如此。也就是說，他們相信加爾文所相信的以及他後來在他有影響力的《基督教要義》中系統化的東西。清教徒也是加爾文主義者。正是通過他們和他們的教導，英格蘭和蘇格蘭經歷了舉世矚目的最偉大、最普遍的民族復興。其中包括約翰·諾克斯的繼承人：托馬斯·卡特賴特、理查德·西布斯、理查德·巴克斯特、馬修·亨利、約翰·歐文等。在美國，成千上萬的人受到喬納森·愛德華茲、科頓·馬瑟和喬治·懷特菲爾德的影響，他們都是加爾文主義者。