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Written by Loraine Boettner
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Page 6 of 8
The Two systems Contrasted
We have said that Christianity comes to its fullest expression in the
Reformed Faith. The great advantage of the Reformed Faith is that in the
framework of the Five Points of Calvinism it sets forth clearly what the Bible
teaches concerning the way of salvation. Only when these truths are seen as a
unit an in relation to each other can one really understand or appreciate the
Christian system in all of its strength and beauty.
The reason that so many Christians have only a weak faith, and that so many
churches present only a rather superficial form of Christianity, is that they
never really see the system in its logical consistency. It is not enough for the
professing Christian to know that God loves him and that his sins have been
forgiven. He should know how and why his redemption has been accomplished and
how it has been made effective. And that is set forth systematically in the
Five Points of Calvinism.
Historically, the Five Points of Calvinism have been held by the
Presbyterian and Reformed churches and by many Baptists, while the substance of
the Five Points of Arminianism has been held by the Methodist and Lutheran
churches and also by many Baptists.
The Five Points of Calvinism may be more easily remembered if hey are
associated with the word T-U-L-I-P:
T - Tota
l Inability
U - Unconditional Election
L - Limited Atonement
I - Irresistible (Efficacious) Grace
P - Perseverance of the Saints
The following material, taken from Romans: an Interpretive outline, by
David N. Steele and Curtis Thomas, Baptist ministers in Little Rock, Arkansas,
contrasts the Five Points of Calvinism with the Five Points of Arminianism in
the clearest and most concise form that we have found anywhere. It is also
included as an Appendix in The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, by the
present writer. Each of these books is published by the Presbyterian and
Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, N.J.
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Contemporary 
