Augustine had a significant influence on him
One of the interesting facts about John Calvin is that Augustine had a significant influence on him. According to John Calvin, "Augustine is so wholly within me, that if I wished to write a confession of my faith, I could do so with all fullness and satisfaction to myself out of his writings." "This is why one finds that every four pages written in the Institutes of the Christian Religion John Calvin quoted Augustine. Calvin, for this reason, would deem himself not a Calvinist, but an Augustinian. Christian Calvinist, should they be more likely deemed an Augustinian-Calvinist?" As a result, Calvinism, in particular, is frequently referred to as Augustinianism," Cary states.
Calvinism's theology has been immortalized in the acronym TULIP, which stands for Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of the saints. These were detailed following Calvin's death in the Second Synod of Dort in 1618-1619 in opposition to the opposing Five Articles of Remonstrance, which followed Jacobus Arminius' doctrine. Modern Reformed theology maintains these five Calvinist ideas as a basic exposition of the soteriological doctrines proclaimed by Calvin and attributed to Augustine.
Calvin developed his theology in his biblical interpretations, sermons, and treatises, but his magnum opus, the Institutes of the Christian Religion, is the most thorough expression of his views. He intended for the book to be read in connection with his commentaries as a summation of his views on Christian theology. The numerous versions of that work spanned virtually his entire reforming career, and the book's subsequent updates reveal that his theology changed very little from his adolescence until his death. The initial edition, published in 1536, had only six chapters. The second version, published in 1539, was three times as long because he included chapters on Melanchthon's Loci Communes. He supplied additional information and expanded a chapter on the Apostles' Creed in 1543. The Institutes were published in their final edition in 1559. The work had grown to four volumes of eighty chapters each, each called after a creed statement: Book 1 on God the Creator, Book 2 on the Redeemer in Christ, Book 3 on receiving Christ's Grace through the Holy Spirit, and Book 4 on the Society of Christ or the Church.
