- For the Armenian nationality, see Armenia or the Armenian language.
Arminianism is a school of thought in Protestant Christian theology founded by the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius. It is perhaps most prominent in the Methodist movement and found in various other evangelical circles today.
Origins
The original Arminian party arose within the Reformed churches in the Netherlands, to advocate a revision of the Reformed doctrine of predestination, in favor of an idea of predestination that was more agreeable to reason and Catholic tradition. They charged that the Calvinist party, especially the followers of Theodore Beza and the University of Leiden professor, Franciscus Gomarus, had developed a system of doctrine that made God the author of evil as well as of good. The Arminians attempted to formulate a consistent system, and proposed five corrections of the Reformed doctrine which would better express the important proposition that all good originates with God, but sin in no sense originates with Him. These became known as the Arminian Articles of Remonstrance (1610) [1], and their proponents became known as Remonstrants (correctors or reformers) giving rise to the Quinquarticular Controversy and the Synod of Dordrecht. The Arminians also questioned the Reformed understanding of the free will of man and the Calvinist understanding of the doctrine of original sin.
Theology
The Arminians suggested five anti-Calvinist corrections, which are summarized below:
- Conditional Election: God has decreed to save through Jesus Christ, out of fallen and sinful mankind, those foreknown by Him who through the grace of the Holy Spirit believe in Christ; but God leaves in sin those foreseen, who are incorrigible and unbelieving. Contra the Calvinst doctrine of unconditional election.
- Universal Atonement: Christ's death was suffered on behalf of all men, but God elects for salvation only those who believe in Christ. Contra the Calvinist doctrine of Limited atonement.
- Free Will with Partial Depravity: Freedom of will is man's natural state, not a spiritual gift - and thus free will was not lost in the Fall, but cannot be exercised toward good apart from the grace of God. Grace works upon all men to influence them for good, but only those who freely choose to agree with grace by faith and repentance are given new spiritual power to make effectual the good they otherwise impotently intend. As John Wesley stated more forcefully, humans were in fact totally corrupted by original sin, but God's prevenient grace allowed free will to operate. Contra the Calvinist view of depravity which denies universal prevenient grace and moral ability to turn to Christ.
- Resistible Grace: The grace of God works for good in all men, and brings about newness of life through faith. But grace can be resisted even by the regenerate. Contra the Calvinist's Irresistible grace.
- Uncertain Perseverance: Those who are incorporated into Christ by a true faith have power given them through the assisting grace of the Holy Spirit, sufficient to enable them to persevere in the faith. But it may be possible for a believer to fall from grace. Contra the Calvinist's Perseverance of the Saints.
Political Considerations in Early 17th Century England
Early Stuart society was highly religious. Though James I managed to remove religious conflict for most of the 1610's, most Protestants still maintained a fear of Catholicism. Though Arminians were Protestant, they were perceived as being less antagonistic to Catholicism than the Calvinists were. James I initially supported moves to keep them out of Britain, but he later changed his mind.
In 1618, the Thirty Years War began. It was a highly religious war, and many of James' Puritan subjects (particularly in Parliament) wanted England to go to war on the side of the king's son-in-law, Frederick V, Elector Palatine. James, however, preferred diplomacy and did not want to involve Britain in it. The loudest of the supporters for war were the Puritans, who were declared enemies of the Arminians due to their differing beliefs regarding predestination. Some scholars believe that the Arminians' support for the king's efforts to prevent war led to him promoting a number of them in order to balance out the Puritans. Others argue that these promotions were simply the result of meritocratic considerations: 'James promoted Arminians because they were scholarly, diligent and able men in their diocese.'1 In any case, the growing influence of the Arminians proved important to keeping peace, but in 1625, James I died, leaving the throne to his son, Charles.
Charles I fully supported the Arminians, and continued the trend of promoting them. However, while James was careful never to give any one group too much favor over another, Charles tended to promote only Arminians.2 This horrified the Calvinists, who already viewed Arminianism as a major problem. This eventually led to Civil War in England and the execution of Charles I.
Reformed reaction
The Calvinists responded to the Arminian position at the Synod of Dordrecht, with a rebuttal against the charge that Reformed churches relieve men of responsibility for their own sin, or teach that God is the author of evil. The Synod also rejected the Arminian proposals as a republication of the error of Semi-Pelagianism, and reaffirmed the Calvinist position on the five points of Arminianism, without requiring the doctrine of predestination as advocated by Franciscus Gomarus. The Synod's point-by-point rebuttal of the five articles has since been popularly referred to as "the five points of Calvinism".
Wesley and Finney
The Wesleyan revival in England, which was part of the First Great Awakening in America, recovered the Arminian emphasis on personal responsibility. The Second Great Awakening, beginning approximately sixty years later, brought a widespread overthrow of Calvinism in favor of Arminianism in much of America, especially through the influence of the burgeoning Methodist movement and the Presbyterian revivalist Charles Grandison Finney, who aggressively advanced his own version of Arminianism as an antidote to hypocrisy and religious apathy.
Protestant denominations that traditionally adhere to Arminianism include most Methodist and related denominations. The two early leaders of the Methodist revival were John Wesley (Arminian) and George Whitefield (an ardent Calvinist) and the two honed their doctrinal differences by debate, but eventually agreed to disagree. There are still some Calvinistic Methodists who are spiritual descendants of Whitefield, but Wesley's views have predominated worldwide.
Atonement
Traditionally, Arminians have held to the governmental theory of the atonement. A substitutionary view, this doctrine says that Christ suffered as a propitiation in order to demonstrate the seriousness with which God views sin. This is in opposition to the Calvinist penal-satisfaction theory which maintains that Christ died in the sinner's place and stead bearing the punishment due the Elect. Arminians generally have believed that if Christ took humankind's punishment, then forgiveness would not be possible, for punishment and forgiveness are mutually exclusive. (See Hugo Grotius, John Miley, J. Kenneth Grider). Of course, Calvinists do not agree that the concepts of forgiveness and punishment are mutually exclusive.
References
1Carrier, Irene, (1998). James VI and I, King of Great Britain Cambridge University Press
2Coward, Barry. (1980). The Stuart Age Longman Group UK
See also
External links
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