Limited atonement is the belief that Jesus only died for the elect. This is the most controversial of the five points. Conditional election states that God elects individuals to salvation based on His foreknowledge of who will believe in Christ unto salvation, thereby on the condition that the individual chooses God.Ĭalvinism sees the atonement as limited, while Arminianism sees it as unlimited. Unconditional election is the view that God elects individuals to salvation based entirely on His will, not on anything inherently worthy in the individual. In this state, made possible by prevenient grace, the sinner is being drawn to Christ and has the God-given ability to choose salvation.Ĭalvinism includes the belief that election is unconditional, while Arminianism believes in conditional election. In general, Arminians believe there is an “intermediate” state between total depravity and salvation. Note: classical Arminianism rejects “partial depravity” and holds a view very close to Calvinistic “total depravity” (although the extent and meaning of that depravity are debated in Arminian circles). Partial depravity states that every aspect of humanity is tainted by sin, but not to the extent that human beings are unable to place faith in God of their own accord. Calvinism’s doctrine of total depravity states that every aspect of humanity is corrupted by sin therefore, human beings are unable to come to God on their own accord. Calvinism holds to the total depravity of man while Arminianism holds to partial depravity. Arminianism is named for Jacobus Arminius, a Dutch theologian who lived from 1560-1609.īoth systems can be summarized with five points. Calvinism is named for John Calvin, a French theologian who lived from 1509-1564. Calvinism and Arminianism are two systems of theology that attempt to explain the relationship between God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in the matter of salvation.