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Friday Night Apologetics 5-11-2007

Arminianism Series Part 2

Who was Jacob Arminius?  What influence did he have?  Who were the Remonstrants?  What is the Five Articles of the Remonstrance in 1610?

Welcome to another Friday Night Apologetics study where we are currently discussing the theme of Arminianism.  This is part 2 of our series discussing "Who was Jacob Arminius"?  What is the "Five Articles of the Remonstrance"?   We had a nice room with good discussions on the microphone and in text.  Why this study?  Many people today are affected in one way or another from the two views known as Arminianism and Calvinism.  The purpose of these discussions is to learn about the history, doctrine, and application of these things in our lives today.  You are welcome to check out our blog and share comments and questions at www.afcministry.blogspot.com 

NOTES BELOW FROM STUDY

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobus_Arminius 

• Who was Jacob Arminius?

Jacobus Arminius (aka Jacob Arminius, James Arminius, and his Dutch name Jacob Harmenszoon) (October 10, 1560–October 19, 1609), was a Dutch theologian and (from 1603) professor in theology at the University of Leiden.

Arminius is best known as the founder of the anti-Calvinistic school in Reformed Protestant theology, and thereby lent his name to a movement which resisted some of the tenets of Calvinism — Arminianism. The early Dutch followers of Arminius' teaching were also called the Remonstrants, after they issued a document containing five points of disagreement with classic Calvinism, entitled Remonstrantiœ (1610). In attempting to defend Calvinistic predestination against the onslaughts of Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert, it is contended that Arminius began to doubt and thus modified some parts of his view. However, in a much less severe way compared to John Calvin's difference on the issue of limited atonement from his Institutes of the Christian Religion to his later commentaries. He became a professor of theology at Leiden in 1603, and remained there for the rest of his life. The theology of Arminianism was not fully developed during Arminius' time, but was systematized after his death and formalized in the Five articles of the Remonstrants in 1610. The works of Arminius (in Latin) were published at Leiden in 1629, and at Frankfort in 1631 and 1635. After his death the Synod of Dordrecht (1618–1619) judged his theology and its adherents anathemas.

John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, embraced Arminian theology and became its most prominent champion. Today, Methodism remains committed to Arminian theology, and Arminianism itself has become one of the dominant theological systems in the United States.

The Five Articles of Remonstrance were given by followers of Jacobus Arminius who, ironically, did not want to adopt Arminius' name, instead choosing to call themselves the "Remonstrants".

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remonstrants

• Remonstrants, the name given to those Dutch Protestants who, after the death of Arminius, maintained the views associated with his name, and in 1610 presented to the states of Holland and Friesland a remonstrance in five articles formulating their points of departure from stricter Calvinism.

These were:

• that the divine decree of predestination is conditional, not absolute;
• that the Atonement is in intention universal;
• that man cannot of himself exercise a saving faith;
• that though the grace of God is a necessary condition of human effort it does not act irresistibly in man and
• that believers are able to resist sin but are not beyond the possibility of falling from grace.

See also: Five articles of Remonstrance

Their adversaries (the Gomarists) met them with a counter-remonstrance, and so were known as the Counter-Remonstrants. Although the states-general issued an edict tolerating both parties and forbidding further dispute, the conflict continued, and the Remonstrants were assailed both by personal enemies and by the political weapons of Maurice of Orange, who executed and imprisoned their leaders for holding republican views.

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_articles_of_Remonstrance

• The Five Articles of the Remonstrance

Forty-one preachers and the two leaders of the Leyden state college for the education of preachers met in The Hague on Jan. 14, 1610, to state in written form their views concerning all disputed doctrines. The document in the form of a remonstrance was drawn up by Jan Uytenbogaert and after a few changes was endorsed and signed by all and in July.

The Remonstrants did not reject confession and catechism, but did not acknowledge them as permanent and unchangeable canons of faith. They ascribed authority only to the word of God in Holy Scripture and were averse to all formalism. They also maintained that the secular authorities have the right to interfere in theological disputes to preserve peace and prevent schisms in the Church.

The five articles of remonstrance were subject to review by the National Synod held in the Dutch city of Dordrecht in 1618 - 1619. At the time, Dordrecht was often referred to in English as Dort. The judgements of the Synod are known as The Canons of Dort, or Canons of Dordrecht. These Canons set forth what is often referred to as the Five Points of Calvinism, commonly denoted "TULIP".

• Article I - That God, by an eternal, unchangeable purpose in Jesus Christ, his Son, before the foundation of the world, hath determined, out of the fallen, sinful race of men, to save in Christ, for Christ's sake, and through Christ, those who, through the grace of the Holy Ghost, shall believe on this his Son Jesus, and shall persevere in this faith and obedience of faith, through this grace, even to the end; and, on the other hand, to leave the incorrigible and unbelieving in sin and under wrath, and to condemn them as alienate from Christ, according to the word of the Gospel in John iii. 36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him," and according to other passages of Scripture also.

• Article II - That, agreeably thereto, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, died for all men and for every man, so that he has obtained for them all, by his death on the cross, redemption, and the forgiveness of sins; yet that no one actually enjoys this forgiveness of sins, except the believer, according to the word of the Gospel of John iii. 16: "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"; and in the First Epistle of John ii. 2: "And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only. but also for the sins of the whole world."

• Article III — That man has not saving grace of himself, nor of the energy of his free-will, inasmuch as he, in the state of apostasy and sin, can of and by himself neither think, will, nor do anything that is truly good (such as having faith eminently is); but that it is needful that he be born again of God in Christ, through his Holy Spirit, and renewed in understanding, inclination, or will, and all his powers, in order that he may rightly understand, think, will, and effect what is truly good, according to the word of Christ, John xv. 5: "Without me ye can do nothing."

• Article IV — That this grace of God is the beginning, continuance, and accomplishment of an good, even to this extent, that the regenerate man himself, without that prevenient or assisting; awakening, following, and co-operative grace, can neither think, will, nor do good, nor withstand any temptations to evil; so that all good deeds or movements that can be conceived must be ascribed to the grace of God in Christ. But, as respects the mode of the operation of this grace, it is not irresistible, inasmuch as it is written concerning many that they have resisted the Holy Ghost,—Acts vii, and elsewhere in many places.

• Article V — That those who are incorporated into Christ by a true faith, and have thereby become partakers of his life-giving spirit, have thereby full power to strive against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh, and to win the victory, it being well understood that it is ever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost; and that Jesus Christ assists them through his Spirit in all temptations, extends to them his hand; and if only they are ready for the conflict. and desire his help, and are not inactive, keeps them from falling, so that they, by no craft or power of Satan, can be misled, nor plucked out of Christ's hands, according to the word of Christ, John x. 28: "Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." But whether they are capable, through negligence, of forsaking again the first beginnings of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evil world, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scriptures before we ourselves can teach it with the full persuasion of our minds.

• More History on the Remonstrants http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/encyc/encyc09/htm/iv.vii.cliii.htm

• I. History to 1818.

The Remonstrance (� 1).

• Doctrines (� 2).
• Counter-remonstrance (� 3).
• II. From 1818 to 1832.
• III. From 1832 to 1795.
• IV. The Period of Independent Existence.

Remonstrants is a name given to the adherents of Jacobus Arminius (q.v.) after his death, from the "Remonstrance" which they drew up in 1610 as an exposition and justification of their views (see below). Their history may be divided into four periods, the first extending to the Synod of Dort, 1618; the second comprising the years of persecution until 1632; the third the time of toleration during the existence of the Republic of the United Netherlands until 1795; the fourth the period of their existence as an independent church community.

I. History to 1818:

1. The Remonstrance.

After the death of Arminius (see i. 296 sqq. of this work) those who shared his conviction drew together more closely. They repudiated the name Arminians, but upheld the principle that the free investigation of the Bible should not be hampered by subscription to symbolical books. They addressed themselves to the States of Holland, urging the convocation of a synod for the reconsideration and examination of the Netherland confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. On the invitation of Oldenbarneveldt, the Dutch liberal statesman and a sympathizer with the Remonstrants, forty-one preachers and the two leaders of the Leyden state college for the education of preachers met in The Hague on Jan. 14, 1610, to state in written form their views concerning all disputed doctrines. The document in the form of a remonstrance was drawn up by Jan Uytenbogaert (q.v.) and after a few changes was endorsed and signed by all and in July presented to Oldenbameveldt. It treats of the value of formulated confessions of faith, of the effect of the grace of God in opposition to

their Calvinistic opponents, and of the power of secular authorities in the affairs of the Church. The Remonstrants did not reject confession and catechism, but did not acknowledge them as permanent and unchangeable canons of faith. They ascribed authority only to the word of God in Holy Scripture and were averse to all formalism. They also maintained that the secular authorities have the right to interfere in theological disputes to preserve peace and prevent schisms in the Church.

2. Doctrines.

Their views concerning the operation of divine grace they expressed in the following five articles ("The Five Articles of Arminianism" ), the positive part of the Remonstrance:

ARTICLE I. � That God, by an eternal, unchangeable purpose in Jesus Christ, his Son, before the foundation of the world, hath determined, out of the fallen, sinful race of men, to save in Christ, for Christ's sake, and through Christ, those who, through the grace of the Holy Ghost, shall believe on this his Son Jesus, and shall persevere in this faith and obedience of faith, through this grace, even to the end; and, on the other hand, to leave the incorrigible and unbelieving in sin and under wrath, and to condemn them as alienate from Christ, according to the word of the Gospel in John iii. 36: "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him," and according to other passages of Scripture also.

ART. II. �That, agreeably thereto, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, died for all men and for every man, so that he has obtained for them all, by his death on the cross, redemption, and the forgiveness ef sins; yet that no one actually enjoys this forgiveness of sins, except the believer, according to the word of the Gospel of John iii. 16: "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life"; and in the First Epistle of John ii. 2: "And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only. but also for the sins of the whole world."

ART. III. � That man has not saving grace of himself, nor of the energy of his free-will, inasmuch as he, in the state of apostasy and sin, can of and by himself neither think, will, nor do anything that is truly good (such as having faith eminently is); but that it is needful that he be born again of God in Christ, through his Holy Spirit, and renewed in understanding, inclination, or will, and all his powers, in order that he may rightly understand, think, will, and effect what is truly good, according to the word of Christ, John xv. b: "Without me ye can do nothing."

ART. IV. � That this grace of God is the beginning, continuance, and accomplishment of an good, even to this extent, that the regenerate man himself, without that prevenient or assisting; awakening, following, and co-operative grace, elm neither think, will, nor do good, nor withstand any temptations to evil; so that all good deeds or movements that can be conceived must be ascribed to the grace of God in Christ. But, as respects the mode of the operation of this grace, it is not irresistible, inasmuch as it is written concerning many that they have resisted the Holy Ghost, -Acts vii., and elsewhere in many places.

ART. V. � That those who an incorporated into Christ by a true faith, and have thereby become partakers of his lifegiving spirit, have thereby full power to strive against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh, and to win the victory, it being well understood that it is ever through the assisting grace of the Holy Ghost; and that Jesus Christ assists them through his Spirit in all temptations, extends to them his hand; and if only they are ready for the conflict. and desire his help, and are not inactive, keeps them from falling, so that they, by no craft or power of Satan, can be misled, nor plucked out of Christ's hands, according to the word of Christ, John x. 28: "Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." But whether they are capable. through negligence, of forsaking again the first beginnings of their life in Christ, of again returning to this present evil world, of turning away from the holy doctrine which was delivered them, of losing a good conscience, of becoming devoid of grace, that must be more particularly determined out of the Holy Scriptures before we ourselves can teach it with the full persuasion of our minds.

3. Counter-remonstrance.

The Confessionalists presented to the States of Holland a Counter-remonstrance in which the view of the Remonstrants was sharply condemned. The States requested six deputies of both parties to discuss the five articles before them. There participated in this Conference of The Hague (1610), Uytenbogaert and Episcopius on the one side and Festus Hommius and Ruardus Acronius, two preachers, on the other; but the dissenting parties agreed neither here nor at another conference held two years later at Delft. As the dissensions led to disturbances, the States in 1614 passed a resolution of peace in which the discussion of disputed points was forbidden in the pulpit. Owing to the influence of Oldenbarneveldt and of the States, the controversies assumed a political character. Zealous Calvinists separated from the congregations of the Remonstrants and held special church services. The majority in the States of Holland persistently refused to convene a national synod as advocated by the Counterremonstrants, but matters changed as soon as Prince Maurice publicly avowed the cause of the latter. A national synod was convoked (May 30, 1618) by the States-general at Dort, where the five articles of the Remonstrants were condemned (see DORT, SYNOD OF).

II. From 1618 till 1632:

By the decrees of the Synod of Dort, the church services of the Remonstrants were prohibited. Episcopius, with the other Remonstrants summoned before the synod, was deposed, as were more than 200 preachers. Those who were not willing to renounce all further activity as preachers, were banished. They united in 1619 at Antwerp, where the basis for a new church community was laid, under the name Remonstrant Reformed Brotherhood. Uytenbogaert and Episcopius, who had found a refuge in Rouen, and Grevinohoven, formerly a preacher of Rotterdam, now in Holstein, assumed the leadership of the Brotherhood while three exiled preachers secretly returned to their country to care for the congregations left there; for in spite of the unfavorable decree, there was still left a considerable number who would not hear the doctrine of absolute grace preached, and there were not wanting deposed preachers who dared to serve them. In 1621 Episcopius drew up a Confessio sive declaratio sententi� pastorum qui Remonstrantes vocantur, which found a large circulation in its Dutch translation. Its value to-day is only historical. Owing to the lack of preachers, there originated in Warmond a movement in favor of the lay sermon, the adherents of which settled later at Rynsburg and founded the Society of Collegiants (see COLLEGIANTS). On the invitation of Sweden and Denmark some preachers went to Gl�ckatadt, Danzig, and other places, founding congregations, which, however, were only of short duration, except that of Friedrichstadt, under the favor and protection of Duke Frederick of Holstein. The congregations in Holland which had separated from the Reformed church were harassed and persecuted. The preachers were punished with lifelong imprison-

ment at the castle of Loevestein. The conspiracy of the sons of Oldenbarneveldt against Prince Maurice (1623) gave new impulse to the persecution. It was only after the latter's death (1625) that a better time dawned for the Remonstrants. Prince Frederick Henry was of a milder spirit, so that Episeopius and Uytenbogaert could return from exile. All captives, seven in number, fled in 1631 from the castle of Loevestein, without any serious attempt being made to rearrest them. Churches were built, and the congregations received their own preachers. Thus the Brotherhood was established as the Remonstrant Reformed Church Community.

III. From 1632 till 1795

The Remonstrants were tolerated, but not officially recognized until 1795. They were not allowed to build their churches on the street and had to support their preachers by voluntary gifts. In the beginning there were forty congregations, mostly in South Holland. In North Holland there were only four and as many in Utrecht; others were in Gelderland, Overyssel, and Friesland. The delegates of these congregations met every year alternately at Rotterdam and Amsterdam. At one of the first meetings there was established a church order. Uytenbogaert wrote an Onderwysinge in de christelycke religie in strict accordance with the confession. A theological seminary was founded at Amsterdam, with Episcopius at its head, who in 1634 delivered his first lectures; this institution educated many distinguished preachers. Gerard Brandt and his sons Caspar, Johannes, and Gerard the Younger belonged to the best preachers of the country in the seventeenth century. As the Remonstrants were not bound by any confession, schism frequently showed itself among them, while tendencies toward Socinianism and Rationalism were not wanting.

IV. The Period of Independent Existence

When Church and State were separated, after the revolution of 1795, the Brotherhood of the Remonstrants was recognized as an independent church community, and they then made an attempt to unite all Protestants. In Sept., 1796, the convention of the Brotherhood sent a letter to the clergymen of all Protestant churches in which the plan was fully discussed; but the Reformed Church refused cooperation. The chief tenet of the Remonstrants was to confess and preach the Gospel of Christ in freedom and tolerance. Their communities suffered considerably during the French rule, but after the restitution of the earlier conditions their cause began to flourish. Many country congregations died out in the last century; but new congregations originated in cities like Arnheim, Groningen, and Dort, where the adherents of the modern tendency in the Netherland Reformed Church joined the Brother hood under the pressure of confessionalism. It numbers at present twenty-seven congregations with about 12,500 members, all of the congregations being in a flourishing condition.

(H. C. ROGGE�.)

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Besides the works by Simon Episcopius, Philippus van Limborch, and Jan Uytenbogaert, and the literature under the articles on them, consult: The life of Coolhaes by H. C. Rogge, 2 vols., Amsterdam, 1856-1858; of Coornhert by F. D. J. Moorrees, Nijmegen, and by C. Lorentzen, Jena, 1886; G. Brandt, Historie der Reformatie, 4 parts, Amsterdam, 1671-1704, Eng. transl., Hist. of the Reformation . . . in . . . the Low Countries, 4 vols., London, 1720-23; A. a Cattenburgh, Bibliotheca scriptorum Remonstrantium, Amsterdam, 1728; J. E. I. Walch, Religionsstreitigkeiten aueaer der lutherischen Kirche, iii. 540 sqq.. 10 vols., Jena, 1733-39; J. Regenborg, Historie der Remonstranten, 2 parts, Amsterdam, 1774-76; F. Calder, Memoirs of Simon Episcopius, London, 1838; A. des Amorie van der Hoeven, Het tweede Eeuwfest van het Seminarium der Remonstranten, Leeuwarden, 1840; J. Tideman, De Remonstr. Broederschap, Haarlem, 1847; idem, De Renwnetratie en het Remonstratisme, ib. 1851; idem, De catechetische Literatuur der Remonstranten, Rotterdam, 1852; idem, De Stichting der Remonstr. Broederschap, 1619-34, 2 vols., Amsterdam, 1871-72; A. Schweitzer, Die protestantischen Centraldogmen, 166 sqq., Zurich, 1856; G. Frank, Geschichte der protestantischen Theologie, i. 403 sqq., Leipsic, 1862; W. Cunningham, Historical Theology, ii. 371-513, Edinburgh, 1864; Gedenkschrift van het 250 jarig Bestaen der Remonstr. Broederschap, Rotterdam, 1869; P. H. Ditchfield, The Church in the Netherlands, London, 1893; H. Y. Groenewegen, De Remonatrantie op haren driehonderdaten gedenkag, 1610-14, Januari 1910, Leyden, 1910; Schaff, Creeds, i. 516 sqq., iii. 550 sqq.; the literature under DORT, SYNOD OF; and HOLLAND.

• Information on Calvinism http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synod_of_Dort

The Synod of Dort was a National Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618/19, by the Dutch Reformed Church, in order to settle a serious controversy in the Dutch churches initiated by the rise of Arminianism. The first meeting was on 13 November 1618, and the final meeting, the 154th, was on 9 May 1619.

The purpose of the Synod held in Dordrecht was to settle a controversy that had arisen in the Dutch churches following the spread of Arminianism. After the death of Jacob Arminius his followers presented objections to the Belgic Confession and the teaching of John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and their followers. These objections were published in a document called The Remonstrance of 1610, and his proponents were therefore also known as Remonstrants. The opposing Calvinists, led by professor Franciscus Gomarus of the University of Leiden, became known as the Contra-Remonstrants.

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_points_of_Calvinism

The Five points of Calvinism, sometimes called the doctrines of grace and remembered in the English-speaking world with the mnemonic TULIP, are a summary of the judgments (or canons) rendered by the Synod of Dordt reflecting the Calvinist understanding of the nature of divine grace and predestination as it relates to salvation. The central assertion of the five points is that God is able to save every one of those upon whom he has mercy and that his efforts are not frustrated by the unrighteousness or the inability of humans.

Total Depravity: Also called "radical depravity" and "total inability", this point means that every person is corrupt and sinful throughout in all of his or her faculties, including the mind and will. Thus, no person is able to do what is truly good in God's eyes, but rather, everyone does evil all the time. As a result of this corruption, man is enslaved to sin, rebellious and hostile toward God, blind to truth, and unable to save himself or even prepare himself for salvation.

Unconditional Election: Election means "choice." God's choice from eternity past, of whom he will bring to himself, is not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in the persons he chooses but rather is unconditionally grounded in his own sovereign decision.

Limited Atonement: Also called "particular redemption" or "definite atonement", the doctrine of the limited atonement is the teaching that Jesus' atonement was definite and certain in its design and accomplishment. It teaches that the atonement was intended to render complete satisfaction for those and only those whom the Father had chosen before the foundation of the world. Calvinists do not believe that the atonement is limited in its value or power (if the Father had willed it, all the people of all generations could be saved), but rather they believe that the atonement is limited in that it is designed for some and not all.

Irresistible Grace: Also known as "effectual grace", this doctrine does not hold that every influence of God's Holy Spirit cannot be resisted but that the Holy Spirit is able to overcome all resistance and make his influence irresistible and effective. Thus, when God sovereignly purposes to save someone, that individual certainly will be saved.

Perseverance of the Saints: Also called the "preservation of the saints" or "eternal security," the fifth point teaches that those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end. Those who apparently fall away either never had true faith to begin with or will return. This is slightly different from the "once saved, always saved" view prevalent in some evangelical churches in which, despite apostasy or unrepentant and habitual sin, the individual is truly saved if he or she had truly accepted Christ in the past; in traditional Calvinist teaching, apostasy by such a person may be proof that they never were saved.