In 1610, followers of Jacobus Arminius, who died in 1609, presented a “Remonstrance,” an official state protest, to the civil government of Holland and Friesland. They were seeking political toleration to continue as ministers in Dutch churches. In five theological articles their protest outlined substantial divergence from the far more commonly held Calvinistic beliefs found in the Belgic Confession (1561).
“An error in justification is dangerous, like a crack in the foundation,” said Thomas Watson.
The problem with a crack is two-fold. First, trouble easily passes through, such as swelling ground water, bringing deleterious effects upon the foundation and everything meant to be guarded by it. Second, a little crack does not heal itself. It is soon not so little.
For these reasons we now set our sights on the error concerning justification which emerged among the Remonstrants.
In 1610, followers of Jacobus Arminius, who died in 1609, presented a “Remonstrance,” an official state protest, to the civil government of Holland and Friesland. They were seeking political toleration to continue as ministers in Dutch churches. In five theological articles their protest outlined substantial divergence from the far more commonly held Calvinistic beliefs found in the Belgic Confession (1561).
Soon enough the matter came before the Synod of Dort (1618-1619), an international assembly of approximately 100 leaders including ministers, ruling elders and academic theologians. The result? The Remonstrants were utterly defeated and immediately sanctioned or dismissed from the region.
It was this synod which produced what came to be known as the Five Canons of Dort, or more popularly, the Five Points of Calvinism. The canons are not a full expression of Calvinistic doctrine, but they are sincerely confessed today by several Reformed denominations.
Now I have suggested the Remonstrants caused a crack in the foundation of the biblical doctrine of justification. This crack is not as vivid in the five articles submitted in 1610 as it is in the writings of Arminius himself.
In a 1608 letter written to Hippolytus Collibus, the ambassador from the Elector of Palatine, Arminius states the following:
“I affirm, therefore, that faith is imputed to us for righteousness, on account of Christ and his righteousness. In this enunciation, faith is the object of imputation; but Christ and his obedience are the impetratory or meritorious cause of justification. Christ and his obedience are the object of our faith, but not the object of justification or divine imputation, as if God imputes Christ and his righteousness to us for righteousness.”
