In the 17th century a Calvinist was distinct from Lutherans and Zwinglians on the doctrine of the Lord's supper. By the 19th century it had come to define those who maintained Calvin's teaching on the doctrines of grace as formulated by the Synod of Dort in distinction especially from evangelical Arminianism. The term is as useful and valid as the names of "Christian," "Puritan," or anything else men use to cast scorn on adherence to the truth as it is in Jesus. Fundamentally, though, if a person does not hold to the doctrines of grace as taught by the articles of Dort, he is not a Calvinist.

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Yours sincerely,


"Illum oportet crescere me autem minui."