Everything about James Arminius totally explained
The
Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (also known as
Jacob Arminius,
James Arminius, and by his Dutch birthname
Jacob Harmenszoon) (
October 10,
1560–
October 19,
1609), served from
1603 as professor in theology at the
University of Leiden. He wrote many books and treatises on theology and became prominent for his opposition to the
five points of Calvinism, though in actuality he objected to only three:
unconditional election,
limited atonement, and
irresistible grace.
Life
See also: History of Calvinist-Arminian Debate
Arminius, born at
Oudewater,
Utrecht, became an orphan while still in infancy when his father Herman (the name
Arminius/Armin represents a Latinized form of
Harmenszoon, "
Hermannson",
Herman's son) died, leaving his wife 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 the kindness of friends (see
Rudolph Snellius) enabled Arminius to go to study theology at the
University of Leiden.
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 answered a call to
pastor at
Amsterdam and became
ordained in
1588. He gained a reputation as a good preacher and faithful pastor. In
1590 he married Lijsbet Reael.
Theology
Arminius has arguably become best known as the founder of the anti-Calvinistic school in Reformed Protestant theology, and thereby lends his name to a movement —
Arminianism — which resisted some of the tenets of Calvinism. The early Dutch followers of Arminius' teaching became known as
Remonstrants after they issued a document containing five points of disagreement with classic Calvinism, entitled
Remonstrantiœ (1610). In attempting to defend Calvinistic
predestination against the onslaughts of
Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert, Arminius allegedly began to doubt and thus modified some parts of his view; modified, however, in a much less severe way than John Calvin himself changed his views on the issue of limited atonement between writing his
Institutes of the Christian Religion and his later commentaries. He became a professor of theology at
Leiden in
1603, and remained there for the rest of his life.
The theology of Arminianism didn't become fully developed during Arminius' lifetime, but after his death (1609) the
Five articles of the Remonstrants (
1610) systematized and formalized the ideas. But the
Synod of Dordrecht (
1618–
1619) judged his theology and its adherents
anathemas.
Publishers in Leiden (
1629) and at
Frankfort (
1631 and
1635) issued the works of Arminius in Latin.
John Wesley (1703-1791), the 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.
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