Arm in i an

One profe ing Arm in i an ism. -a. Relating to Arm in i us, or to his doctrines. Armin'ianism, n. (Eccl. Hist.) The doctrine of Arm in i us, a Protestant divine, ( q. v..) who maintained that God had predestinated the salvation or condemnation of individuals only from having foreseen who would and who would not accept of offered mercy. His chief opponent was Gomar, who, with the Calvinists, a erted that God had from all eternity, of his free good pleasure, elected some to everlasting life, while he had left others to unbelief and consequent perdition. After the death of Arm in i us, in 1609, his followers rapidly increased, and were vehemently attacked by the Calvinists. In 1610, they addre ed a petition to the States of Holland for protection, from which they got the name of Re mons trants. The Calvinists put forth a counter-remonstrance, and in 1614, the States i ued an edict granting full toleration to both parties. This displeased the Calvinists, who continued their persecutions, and at length, in 1619, the doctrines of the A. were condemned by the synod of Dort, and their clergy were driven from their churches, and forbidden the exercise of their ministry in public. Owing to this step, many left the country, and found refuge in France, England, and other places. The views of the A. are summed up in the following five articles:-1. That God had, from all eternity, determined to save all who, he foresaw, would persevere in the faith, and to condemn all who should continue in unbelief. 2. That Christ died for all men; but that only those who believe are really saved by his death. 3. That man is of himself incapable of true faith, and must therefore be born again, of God, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit. 4. That all good works are to be attributed to the grace of the Holy Spirit, which, however, does not force a man against his own inclination. 5. That God gives to the truly faithful the power to resist sin. With respect to the po ibility of a fall from the state of grace, Arm in i us and his immediate disciples were undecided; but his followers came afterwards to the belief that it was po ible. After 1630, the A. were again tolerated in Holland; but from that time, their opinions underwent a considerable change. They have inclined more and more to freedom of thought, and the rejection of creeds and confe ions. They chiefly build on the nece ity of moral duties and good works, and allow each one to interpret the Holy Scriptures for himself. They reject many articles of faith, and do away almost entirely with the nece ity of succor from the Holy Spirit. The A. have, however, dwindled down to a very small body; but their tenets, more especially regarding, predestination, have been adopted by various other denominations, as the Wesley an Methodists, as well as by numerous individual members of other churches. Armin'ius, or HERMANN, who by his intrepidity and succe acquired the title of " the Deliverer of Germany," was son of Segimer, a chief of the Cherusci. Having been sent to Rome as a hostage, he was there educated, served in the Roman army, and for his valor was raised to citizenship, and knighted. But his attachment to his native country induced him to revolt, and he became one of the most powerful leaders of the discontented German nations. He drew Varus, the Roman commander on the Rhine, into that ambuscade in which he and nearly all his troops were slain, and completely baffled Germanic us; but, after having for years withstood the vast power of Rome, Arm in i us was a a inated by one of his own countrymen, in the 37th year of his age, A. D. 19.