Arminius' free will defense

Who was Arminius?

A Dutch theologians and minister in the Dutch Reformed Church - he originally supported Calvinist but came to object to the teaching of limited atonement.

What was ‘The Remonstrance’?

A theological document written in support of Arminius by Johannes Uyttenbogaert and a summary of this work - the Five Articles of Remonstrance - was signed by Arminius’ followers after Arminius died in 1609. It was this document that was debated at the Synod of Dort in 1618-1619

what was the Synod of Dort?

A European transnational Synod held in 1618-19 by the Dutch Reformed Church to settle a divisive controversy caused by the rise of Arminianism. In the Canons of Dort, they rejected the Arminian view on the five articles

Where can Arminius’ own explanation of his teachings be found?

A Declaration of Sentiments

What is the first point made in the Five Articles of Remonstrance?

Article one - before the creation of the world, God predetermined that through Christ, he would save those who believe and condemn those who do not

what is the second article?

Jesus died for everyone but only the believer will benefit from his death

what is the third article?

Humanity cannot save themselves. They need the help of Christ and the Holy Spirit. God can and will renew human understanding so that they can choose to believe

what does the fourth article state?

Without prevenient grace, humans can do nothing good. But God's grace can be resisted

What does article five state?

Through the help of the Holy Spirit, people can remain faithful provided they choose to cooperate. This means that God's grace can be resisted. However, the fifth article remains undecided over whether a believer can fall away from God

what did the Synod of Dort reject?

Arminianism, declared it as an error and affirmed what they considered to be the five central principles of Calvinism

What did Arminius not reject?

Predestination. Arminius saw a place for both free will and predestination in his thinking - however he did reject the Calvinist understanding of predestination because he felt that it was not consistent with the gospel

what did Arminius claim about Calvinism?

Requires no faith, virtue or effort from people before they are saved and was never approved in any early Church doctrine even by those who dealt with Pelagius and his errors

what did Arminius believe about what scripture taught?

Salvation was through grace, faith and Christ alone. The gosepls tell people to repent and have faith so that their sins will be forgiven. Therefore, salvation is reserved for those who have faith in Christ, who died for everyone and not just the Elect

what did Arminius say about God?

A merciful, loving God cannot decree evil by creating individuals just for the pleasure of eternally condemning them

What is a quote from Arminius?

‘God therefore has not, from his own absolute decree, without any consideration or regard whatever faith and obedience, appointed to any man, or determined to appoint to him, life eternal… God, therefore, has not, by any absolute decree without respect to sin and disobedience, prepared Eternal Death for any person - ‘A declaration of the Sentiments of James Arminius

what do the reasons that Arminius provide for rejecting the Calvinist doctrine of predestination?

Focuses on Arminius’ belief that scripture clearly requires a decision of faith from an indivudal before they are saved and makes it clear that reward or punishment in the afterlife depends on the choices that an individual makes in life. Arminius said this becomes impossible if God has predestined an indivudal to salvation or dam nation without regard to the personal choices they make

What did Arminius point out about the concept of sin?

The concept of sin requires someone to disobey or rebel against God. If a person has been decreed sinful and can do nothing else but be sinful, such behaviour is not actually sin. In fact, it makes God the only sinner, because God causes the person to act in this fashion. It is as though God has given humans a law and then made it impossible for them to fulfil

what did Arminius say about Calvinism?

It makes prayer, baptism, sermons and the work of ministers pointless. God has already decided who will be saved and there is nothing anyone can do to alter this decision. Arminius felt that Calvinistic predestination set everything back to front

what does scripture require?

A decision of repentance first, in return for the promise of salvation. Calvinism decides in advance who is saved or condemned and thrn forces repentance afterwards

what is a quote from Arminius?

‘The constitution of this doctrine is such, as very easily to render pastors and teachers slothful and negligent in the exercise of their ministry: because, from this doctrine it appears to them as though it were impossible for all their diligence to be useful to any persons’

What did Arminius understand?

God as supervising the whole world snf everything in it, sustaining it, preserving it and governing it. However, he did not hold God responsible for the existence of evil or sin

What did Arminius argue?

When God created, heaven and earth were perfectly good. it is impossible that God should create anything with the express purpose of condemning it as evil. Adam was free not to sin because he was created perfect and holy, imago dei. He could, and should, have resisted the temptation to sin. God did not cause or dictate that Adam should sin

If God did nt cause or dictate Adam should sin, then what did he do?

Allow him the freedom to sin through divine concurrence

what is divine concurrence?

God permitting human sin, while at the same time disapproving of it

Through God’s providence, what was possible?

Adam's sin was possible but it was just as possible that Adam could have avoided that first sin

How did Arminius view original sin?

As a terrible thing, which was transmitted to the rest of humanity, but which was performed freely. The effects of original sin are both physical (pain and death was introduced into the world) and spiritual (humanity can no longer think, will, or do anything truly good by themselves)

what did Arminius say about the sin?

Human beings continue to perform inidivual sin not because God causes them to do so, or because he has abandoned them to sin, but because they are permitted to sin through divine concurrence. Original sin produces a tendency towards personal sin that God permits. God does not cause or will personal sin and does not approve of personal sin but allows it to proceed

As a sinner, a human cannot do good alone, to be capable of good, what must a person receive?

God's grace, so that they can be renewed by God, in Christ, through the Holy Spirit

Arminius refers to two different kinds of grace, which are they?

• Prevenient grace - the grace given by God that precedes the act of a sinner choosing faith in Jesus Christ

• subsequent grace - the grace given by God that helps a singer by cooperating with them so that they can make a free choice of saving faith in Jesus Christ

Describe prevenient grace.

It precedes each moral decision and is the work of the Holy Spirit outside of the human being. It is offered to everyone and is sufficient alone for each person to receive Christ's salvation

Define subsequent grace.

It is the work of the Holy Spirit inside the person, aiidng and assisting believers to accept the gift of faith. It is the cooperation of the Holy Spirit and the individual's will

what does Arminius liken prevenient grace to?

Christ, through the Holy Spirit, knocking on a door

What does he liken subsequent grace to?

The Holy Spirit assisting the sinner to open the door and let Christ in

what is a quote from Revelations 3:20 that depicts these two types of grace?

‘Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me’

Without God's grace, what can people not do?

People can do no good because original sin has deprived them of the working of the Holy Spirit but with God's grace, individuals have the ability to be regenerated, that deprivation of the Holy Spirit is corrected and they can freely chose faith

what is Arminius clear on?

Arminius is clear that God requires people to use their free will to respond to the Holy Spirit, who will help them. The Holy Spirit balances the impulse to sin, but is not forced upon a human being; the Holy Spirit is God's guidance and not God's coercion

what did Arminius teach?

It is possible for a human to reject God's gift of grace at any time

What s a quote from Arminius that describes how people can reject God's gift of grace?

‘Because the representations of grace that the scriptures contain, are such as describe it capable of ‘being resisted’, (Acts 7:51) and ‘received in vain’ (2 Corinthians 6:1) and that it is possible for man to avoid yielding his assent to it and refuse all cooperation with it’

what does the grace of God not do?

Destroy a person's free will. It corrects a person's tendency towards sin and gives them the ability to understand the god. Sin is only possible if this is true because if sin is to exist, people must be able to rebel against it and reject God

what does Arminius affirm?

That through God's providence, or guiding of the world, God has complete foreknowledge, but he denies that human faith is determined by anything outside of human control. God knows who, by God's grace, will believe and who, by their own fault, will not

What is the doctrine of middle knowledge?

God's knowledge of the full range of possible events that could occur and the full range of actions that a person could choose from in response

What does God know?

Whether an individual will have faith in any given situation. God has given everyone enough grace in tbeir unique circumstances so that they can freely choose faith if they wish and knows who will accept or resist this assistance. God presdestines them to salvation or dam nation on that basis

What does this mean for Arminius?

It does not damage the omnipotent character of God. God is omnipotent because God can do anything that is logically possible for an omnibenevolent being to do. In accordance with scripture, God cannot force a person to will something freely and he cannot rightly cause them to do evil; to do otherwise is illogical

what does Arminius appear to allow?

That true believers can possibly fall away from God and can be brought back. Just as a begger, Arminius said, can reach out their hand for charity and can accept or refuse it, people can accept or reject God's grace

What did Arminius argue about Calvinism?

It is an inversion of the Gospel. He cited John 3:16 as evidence that God will save those who have chosen to have faith

what quote does Arminius cite from John 3:16?

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes I him shall perish but have eternal life.’

In contrast, what did Calvinists believe?

God has promised them eternal life, in advance, only to those who God will then force into faith by God's own irresistible will

What did Arminius say about Calvinism?

It gets everything backwards: it says that God has predetermined people so that they will believe, rather than saving people who have chosen to believe

Arminius believed that Calvinism was at odds with God's love, so what did Arminius believe?

The foundation of the gospel is God's love for justice and God's love for people. This love is demonstrated by giving eternal life to the faithful. This is only possible for the faithful because of the salvation of Christ

What does Arminius not accept?

that God's love is demonstrated by predestining any human being to salvation or destruction without regard to their will

what is Arminius’ approach known as?

Conditional predestination (or conditional election). Having faith is a condition of being elected. God, in his omniscience, knows in advance who will choose faith and be saved and God helps the Elect choose faith with prevenient grace and the gift of salvation through the death of Christ

So what does this mean for Arminius’ theory of free will?

Predestination and free will are compatible for Arminius