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 undoubtedly
the best-known critic of John Calvin's teachings, and one's
perception of him often depends on one's view of Calvinism. A
Calvinist once described Arminianism and Calvinism by noting the
former as "the religion of common sense" and the latter as "the
religion of St. Paul." By contrast, however, Arminius has also
been called the greatest of the church's three great
theologians. According to one of his admirers, "Athanasius
understood God, Augustine understood man and Arminius understood
the relationship between God and man." There's probably not a
single Christian theologian who is as misrepresented as James
Arminius (except for maybe Augustine). Most critiques of his
theology focus on the more extreme descendents of his teaching
and almost never interact with his works on their own. Most
don't even quote him!
What were Arminius' views, and how did this humble and devout
man become so hated in many evangelical circles?? On the first
four points, he clearly rejected Calvinism. He believed (1) no
one can come to Christ of his own free will, (2) God predestined
to salvation all who, by faith, believed in His Son, (3) even
though only those who believe obtain the benefit of that death,
Christ died for all, and (4) the grace by which a man is drawn
to Christ can be resisted so that the man ends up perishing.
With respect to the fifth point (that of perseverance of the
saints), he ended up stating he was unsure as to whether
Scripture teaches that a true believer cannot fully or finally
fall away from the faith and become lost. In addition to those
doctrines, Arminius advocated infant baptism, the existence of
the church since the Fall, Erastianism, and the view that
whereas Galatians 5 describes the struggle between the "spirit"
and the "flesh" in the life of a Christian, Romans 7 describes
the struggle the "mind" and the "flesh" in the life of a person
who is not yet saved.
All in all, this is a classic work that ought to be in as many
libraries as Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, and John Calvin. These
works are essential to understanding how the Bible explains the
tension between the man's will and God's grace. In addition, few
Arminian commentaries or systematic theology books come even
close to the careful exegesis and spirit displayed in these
works by Jacobus Arminius.
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.
Jacobus {James) Arminius was born
at Oudewater, Utrecht. His father Herman ('Arminius' is a
Latinized form of Harmenszoon, Herman's son) died while Jacob
was an infant, leaving his mother a widow with small children. A
priest, Theodorus Aemilius, adopted Jacobus and sent him to
school at Utrecht. His mother was slain during the Spanish
massacre of Oudewater in 1575. About that year Arminius was sent
to study theology at the University of Leiden by the kindness of
friends (Rudolph Snellius).
Arminius remained at Leiden from 1576 to 1582. His teachers in
theology included Lambertus Danaeus, Johannes Drusius, Guillaume
Feuguereius, and Johann Kolmann. Kolmann believed and taught
that high Calvinism made God both a tyrant and an executioner.
Under the influence of these men, Arminius studied with success
and had seeds planted that would begin to develop into a
theology that would later compete with the dominant Reformed
theology of John Calvin. Arminius began studying under Theodore
Beza at Geneva in 1582. He was called to pastor at Amsterdam and
was ordained in 1588. He was reputed to be a good preacher and
faithful pastor. In 1590 he married Lijsbet Reael.
In His Works, James Arminius, discusses his opposition to John
Calvin's teaching of the predestination of those whom God elects
for salvation. He stressed that God had foreknowledge of all
those who would later have faith in Jesus Christ for eternal
life, and all those who reject Him for eternal separation from
God. Arminius on the other hand emphasized that God has given
human beings the free will, true freedom to either accept or
reject salvation. The Works of James Arminius was first
published in 1825 in Latin and then later translated into
English by James Nichols, and William R. Bagnall.
Hard cover versions of these works
have sold for 10 times or more the cost of this disk. With
our CD, you can read, study, and print out the pages as many
times as you want.
