Secondly, Calvin's doctrine of total depravity is holistic. There is no aspect of us in which we are in right relation to God. No portion of us is free of the corruption of sin. This holistic approach prohibits a moral definition of sin, encourages a holistic anthropology, and insists we must rely totally upon God's grace to regenerate us. Thirdly, Calvin's doctrine of sin is dynamic.
Sin is a contagion that is logically prior to any specific act.
Our depravity is such that the varying patterns of relationship are twisted and even the good we try to do is corrupted. Having highlighted three aspects of Calvin's total depravity that can be fairly easily retrieved by theologians of our time, Kelsey next suggested a way in which the more troubling piece of our sin making us liable to God's wrath might also be retrieved. Then Kelsey turned his attention to Reinhold Niebuhr. Niebuhr rejected Calvin's total depravity as well as the Catholic understanding of original sin because of the new challenges to theology presented by the modern period. For Niebuhr, each piece of this paradox is intelligible.