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[–] mostlyfriendly 0 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago 

I'll try.

Calvinism emphasizes that faith alone is the source of salvation. But also, that the those who would trust in Christ were predestined to do so by God. Specifically - that God is all-knowing and knows who will have the faith to be saved ... therefore it follows that the believer is predestined to be saved.

One 'side effect' of Calvinism is there tends to be less evangelism. Similar to some of the Orthodox church beliefs there can be a bit of fatalism, "why bother trying to witness to people or do mission work ... God will save those who he chooses."

Everyone would argue until the end of time what 'original Christianity' is, so I'm not sure if I can answer that question.

I guess you might say that most Christians look to hold the balance of (A) yes - God is all knowing and knows who will follow Him, but ALSO (equally true) (B) we must make the choice to be saved therefore it is still our decision and will.

To be honest, I don't lose any sleep trying to sort this out. Guess, you might just call it faith...

Does this answer your question?

For further reading, you can look up the "5 points of Calvinism" which is a distillation of the thought process.