If total depravity is true, the rest of Calvinism is a mere footnote. Let's examine this doctrine more fully by considering whether we read in many summaries of  total depravity  not so much what the doctrine actually means and implies but rather, what it does not mean and does not imply. (See comments box at bottom before reading further. I've included representative samples of a common caveat.) Indeed, many unbelievers lead impeccable lives, even engage in philanthropic work - even work that benefits the kingdom of God! Yet has that ever been a bone of contention or a misunderstanding of the doctrine? Many an unbeliever's external law-works have been a rebuke to me. That said... Beyond what we find in the comments box (giving those thoughts the most lenient interpretation), with Augustine I think we must also maintain that all the “good” unregenerate man does is merely the result of one lust restraining another. Man’s so-called good, not wrought in regeneration,