Arminianism

Arminianism
Arminian, adj., n.
/ahr min"ee euh niz'euhm/, n. Theol.
the doctrinal teachings of Jacobus Arminius or his followers, esp. the doctrine that Christ died for all people and not only for the elect. Cf. Calvinism (def. 1).
[1610-20; J. ARMINI(US) + -AN + -ISM]

* * *

▪ Christian theology
      a theological movement in Christianity, a liberal reaction to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination. The movement began early in the 17th century and asserted that God's sovereignty and man's free will are compatible.

      The movement was named for Jacobus Arminius (Arminius, Jacobus) (q.v.), a Dutch Reformed theologian of the University of Leiden (1603–09), who became involved in a highly publicized debate with his colleague Franciscus Gomarus (Gomarus, Franciscus), a rigid Calvinist, concerning the Calvinist interpretation of the divine decrees respecting election and reprobation. For Arminius, God's will as unceasing love was the determinative initiator and arbiter of human destiny. The movement that became known as Arminianism (Remonstrant), however, tended to be more liberal than Arminius.

      Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the Remonstrance (1610), a theological statement signed by 45 ministers and submitted to the Dutch states general. The Synod of Dort (Dort, Synod of) (1618–19) was called by the states general to pass upon the Remonstrance. The five points of the Remonstrance asserted that: (1) election (and condemnation on the day of judgment) was conditioned by the rational faith or nonfaith of man; (2) the atonement, while qualitatively adequate for all men, was efficacious only for the man of faith; (3) unaided by the Holy Spirit, no person is able to respond to God's will; (4) grace is not irresistible; and (5) believers are able to resist sin but are not beyond the possibility of falling from grace. The crux of Remonstrant Arminianism lay in the assertion that human dignity requires an unimpaired freedom of the will.

      The Dutch Remonstrants were condemned by the Synod of Dort and suffered political persecution for a time, but by 1630 they were legally tolerated. They have continued to assert effective liberalizing tendencies in Dutch Protestant theology.

      In the 18th century, John Wesley (Wesley, John) was influenced by Arminianism. In The Arminian Magazine, edited by him, he stated that “God willeth all men to be saved, by speaking the truth in love.” Arminianism was an important influence in Methodism, which developed out of the Wesleyan movement. A still more liberal version of Arminianism went into the making of American Unitarianism.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Arminianism — is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560 1609) [Magnusson, Magnus (ed). Chambers Biographical Dictionary (Chambers: Cambridge… …   Wikipedia

  • Arminianism — • The popular designation of the doctrines held by a party formed in the early days of the seventeenth century among the Calvinists of the Netherlands Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin Knight. 2006. Arminianism     Arminianism …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Arminianism —    Arminianism is a moderate theological revision of the doctrine of predestination in CALViNiSM.It seeks to reconcile God s sovereignty with human free will. Jacob Arminius (1560 1609), a minister in the Netherlands Reformed Church and a… …   Encyclopedia of Protestantism

  • Arminianism — Ar*min i*an*ism, n. The religious doctrines or tenets of the Arminians. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • arminianism — ARMINIANÍSM s. n. doctrină protestantă fundată de episcopul olandez Arminius, care combătea rigorismul calvinist. (după fr. arminisme) Trimis de raduborza, 15.09.2007. Sursa: MDN …   Dicționar Român

  • Arminianism — [är min′ē ən iz΄əm] n. a liberal Christian movement based on the doctrines of Jacobus Arminius, that stressed free will as opposed to Calvinistic predestination Arminian adj., n …   English World dictionary

  • ARMINIANISM —    a general term embracing the teachings of Jacobus ARMINIUS. The THEOLOGICAL views of Arminius and his followers were summed up in five points which were designed to counter the prevailing CALVINIST ORTHODOXY of his day.    They are    1) GOD… …   Concise dictionary of Religion

  • Arminianism — a school of soteriological thought in Protestant Christian theology founded by the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius. Arminianism is closely related to Calvinism (or Reformed theology), and the two systems share both history and many doctrines in …   Mini philosophy glossary

  • Arminianism in the Church of England — Arminianism portal …   Wikipedia

  • Arminianism — noun see Arminian …   New Collegiate Dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”