Calvinism, by taking away the rituals of Romanism, had to replace it with something else the people could find confidence in.
Instead of the Bible, Calvin went to Augustine's philosophy and stated that you do not need rituals, you are one of the 'elect' (if you persevere).
Calvinism does not believe you need the Cross to be saved, but are saved without the Cross before you believe.
That you happen to believe afterward is a secondary issue.
Thus, election not faith in Christ is the central tenet of Calvinism and serves as a substitute for the Romanist rituals.
As a Calvinist you cannot say you were saved by faith in Christ, you were regenerated before you believed anything, thus, you were saved by election not faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
This does not sound like Christianity to me.