to God’s will as the cause of reprobation, his early 1540 commentary on Romans contained a reference, in his comment on Romans 9:11, to the curse inherited by all in Adam as the proximate cause of reprobation (propinquam reprobationis causam), whereas God has a just cause (iustam causam) for election and reprobation in His own will.74 Calvin did not develop this idea of the proximate cause of reprobation in his later writings.75 As Calvin distinguished reprobation from damnation,