ARMINIANS

A powerful party of Christians, so called from Arm in i us, profe or of divinity at Leyden, who was the first that opposed the then received doctrines in Holland, of an absolute predestination. They took the name of Remonstrants, from a writing called a Remonstrance, which was presented by them to the states of Holland, 1609, wherein they reduced their peculiar doctrines to these five articles:— 1. That God , from all eternity, determined to bestow salvation on those who, as he foresaw, would persevere unto the end in their faith in Jesus Christ ; and to inflict everlasting punishment on those who should continue in their unbelief, and resist, to the end of life, his Divine a istance; so that election was conditional; and reprobation, in like manner, the result of foreseen infidelity and persevering wickedne . 2. On the second point, they taught, That Jesus Christ , by his suffering and death, made an atonement for the sins of mankind in general, and of every individual in particular; that, however, none but those who believe in him can be partakers of that Divine benefit. 3. On the third article they held, That true faith cannot proceed from the exercise of our natural faculties and powers, nor from the force and operation of free will; since man, in consequence of his natural corruption, is incapable either of thinking or doing any good thing; and that, therefore, it is nece ary to his conversion and salvation, that he be regenerated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Ghost , which is the gift of God , through Jesus Christ . 4. On the fourth they believed, That this Divine grace, or energy of the Holy Ghost , begins, advances, and perfects everything that can be called good in man; and that, consequently, all good works are to be attributed to God alone; that neverthele , this grace, which is offered to all, does not force men to act against their inclinations, but may be resisted and rendered ineffectual by the perverse will of the impenitent sinner. 5. And on the fifth, That God gives to the truly faithful, who are regenerated by his grace, the means of preserving themselves in this state; and, though the first Arminians entertained some doubt with respect to the closing part of this article, their followers uniformly maintain, That the regenerate may lose true justifying faith, fall from a state of grace, and die in their sins. The synod of Dort, consisting of Dutch, French, German, and Swi divines, and held in 1618, condemned their opinions.