total depravity

Calvinist doctrine focuses on the teaching of "total depravity", the T in TULIP. Here is how a typical Calvinist (Dr. Richard Phillips, What's So Great About the Doctrines of Grace?) describes "total depravity": This is a negative definition (what is total depravity not?), so he cites Loraine...

Depravity is total: Arminius states "In this [fallen] state, the free will of man towards the true good is not only wounded, infirm, bent, and weakened; but it is also imprisoned, destroyed, and lost. And its powers are not only debilitated and useless unless they be assisted by grace, but it...