Arminianism: Past and Present (1)

Blood poisoning can be very serious and can even take our life. If it is not too severe, then, it is possible with medication and the blessing of the Lord, that our blood can be purified again. What blood is for our body so is the preaching of God’s Word for our soul. However, the preaching must be pure, else we will be poisoned so to speak. The fountains of pure preaching are Moses and the prophets, Christ and the apostles.

In the Bible we read about false prophets and false apostles. God’s Word strongly condemns them, also the worshiping of idols. It is remarkable that in our days the difference between the true and false doctrines of the world are not seen anymore—or one does not want to see it The great majority of the churches desire to have freedom in their views about God and His service. In previous centuries that difference was felt, but now much of shallow Christendom says: “One just expresses himself differently from the other, but their meaning is the same.” So they try to pretend that all denominations speak the same truths and say, “At the gate of heaven we will not be asked— to which church did you belong?” This way of approach is not new, as we will see in this topic.

The Life of the Founder of Arminianism

The man whom we will try to write something about has practiced this many centuries ago. Under the cloak of orthodoxy he brought a false doctrine. He never confessed to being a heretic, although he clearly departed from the truth according to God’s Word as it is written in the Belgic Confession. He always maintained that in essence there were no differences of any importance between him and the Belgic Confession. A historian wrote about him: “Arminius’s weakness was that he posed as a faithful professor of Reformed doctrine.” In reality it was totally different.

The theological system called Arminianism received its name from the Dutch theologian, Jacobus Harmensz. He was born October 10, 1560, in Oudewater, a small, pleasant village between Utrecht and Rotterdam. In Latin his name was Arminius.

Arminius had a very tragic childhood. You have to remember that it was at the time of the eighty-year war between Spain and the Netherlands, which was fought over freedom of religion. Finally, the yoke of the church of Rome was cast off (1568–1648). In that war the Spanish soldiers burned Oudewater and also the parental home of Arminius. His parents were both killed and he was left as an orphan.

As a child he was taken under the kind care of a clergyman who supervised his education. Later, he entered the University of Utrecht, but then his benefactor died. Another person took over his care. He then went to the University of Marburg. He also studied in Leiden, The Netherlands. At the age of twenty-two he was sent to Geneva where he had the privilege of studying under Theodore Beza, the successor to Calvin. It was already in Geneva that the so-called spirit of Arminianism began to reveal itself.

To great activity of mind and ardor of inquiry Arminius added self-sufficiency and self-assertion. This soon expressed itself in whispered criticisms of his professors, chiefly by means of private conversations. This resulted in drawing together several young malcontents, which eventually led to his dismissal at the university.

He returned to the Netherlands where his cleverness still blinded his Dutch friends to his inward dishonesty. Arminius was elected as one of the pastors of the Reformed Church in Amsterdam. He posed as the most orthodox among the orthodox, but at the same time he was undermining the doctrine he professed and thus stirred up distrust and dissension. Soon he was accused of not holding to the doctrine of free grace.

When in 1602 a professor of divinity at Leiden died, his friends conspired to have Arminius appointed to fill the vacancy. Notwithstanding the most strenuous efforts of the staunch orthodox, the thing was accomplished and Arminius became the professor. The Classis, however, exacted from him a solemn and particular promise to maintain the doctrine described in the Belgic Confession. Arminius agreed because he felt that he now had his way. Time would tell if his promises were sincere.

On entering upon his professorship he tried to clear himself from all suspicion by publicly proclaiming the pure doctrine of grace. For a few years it seemed to go quite well, but suddenly it was discovered that he had two sets of opinions—one opinion in his professor’s chair and an opposing one in his private manuscripts and personal talks among the students. Publicly, he commended the Reformed divines, but at the same time he artfully opposed their standards, thus bringing them into discredit. In this way he lessened their influence and weakened their hold on the popular mind.

In this same way Satan worked in Paradise, putting question marks behind the commandments of the Lord, which led to our destruction. How sly was this learned man to undermine the doctrine of free grace! He was really an instrument of Satan to attempt to destroy the Reformation, as we shall prove from the teaching of Arminius.

The Doctrine of the Arminians

What then is Arminianism of which we hear so much in sermons? Arminius himself has written this down and it sounds innocent: “God being a righteous Judge and kind Father, had, from the beginning made a distinction between the individuals of a fallen race, according to which He would remit the sins of those who should give them up and put their trust in Christ, and would bestow on them eternal life; also that it is agreeable to God that all men be converted, and having come to the knowledge of the truth, remain therein, but He compels no one.”

This sounds innocent until you place it beside the truth. We will try to compare the two view points: Arminianism versus Reformed doctrine. We can find the main errors on the last page of our well-known and beloved catechism book of Rev. Hellenbroek, which we will follow.

1) Election occurred due to a foreseen faith and good works

According to the Arminians, God’s decree respecting the salvation of man is founded upon foreseen faith and good works. This would mean that God’s decree came first, but was dependent upon the determination of man. To this opinion the doctrine of Scripture is directly opposed. Election is only out of grace and excludes works (Rom. 11:5,6). Rev. Kersten writes: “It is clear that this error denies the sovereignty of predestination, deprives God of His honor and glory. It makes God dependent upon the creature and ascribes to man what he no longer possesses since the fall. Neither the angels, nor man who is brought forth in time, can be the cause of what is decreed in eternity.”

When you think about Arminian thought, then it means that man describes to God what he wants. God then must only decree according to man’s desires, who will be saved. In other words, God has nothing to do with our salvation, except to register our decision. This is clearly against the truth, for God alone decrees, and man does not have to add anything to it.

2) Christ has made satisfaction for all men

This means general redemption for everyone. The Westminster Confession states: “As God hath appointed the elect unto glory, so hath He, by the eternal and most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto. Wherefore they who are elected, being fallen in Adam, are redeemed by Christ, are effectually called unto faith in Christ by His Spirit working in due season” (Head 3, section 6).

This article instructs us that Christ died exclusively for the elect and purchased redemption for them alone. This Confession first asserts positively that the elect are redeemed by Christ; and then later on in the same article, negatively says that “none other are redeemed by Christ, but the elect only.”

These words are diametrically opposed to the system of the Arminians who teach that Jesus Christ, by His death and suffering, made an atonement for the sins of all mankind in general, and of every individual in particular. The celebrated Richard Baxter, to mention only one name, also favors general redemption, but God’s Word teaches us differently. “Many are called, but few are chosen.”

Rev. AM. den Boer is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Sunnyside, Washington.

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