Five Articles of Remonstrance

Following the death of the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius in 1609, his followers (the “Arminians”) found themselves under heavy fire from the orthodox Calvinist establishment.

To protect their positions in the state church & the universities, 44 ministers drafted a document called the Remonstrance (a formal statement of grievances) & presented it to the States General of Holland in 1610. The Articles were the Remonstrants saw as the harshness of strict Calvinism.

Article 1: Conditional Election

The Remonstrants argued that God’s decree to save individuals is based on foreseen faith. The Idea: God doesn’t just pick names out of a hat before time began. Instead, He chooses to save those who He knows will believe in Christ & persevere in faith. Election is “conditional” on the human response to grace.

Article 2: Unlimited Atonement

This article argued that Jesus died for all men/people, not just a select few. The Idea: While the benefits of the sacrifice are only applied to believers, the scope of the sacrifice is universal. It’s a direct rejection of “Limited Atonement.”

Article 3: Deprivation

This states that man is in a state of sin & has no saving power of his own. The Idea: Without the regeneration power of the Holy Spirit, a person cannot do anything truly good or exercise saving faith.

Article 4: Resistible Grace

While they agree that grace is necessary for every good action, they argue that this grace isn’t irresistible. The Idea: God offers the gift of grace to everyone through the Gospel. But a person can essentially “say no” & reject the Holy Spirit’s pull.

Article 5: Conditional Perseverance

This was the most cautious article in the original 1610 document. It questioned whether a believer could ever “fall from grace” & lose their salvation. The Idea: Initially, they said this required further study from Scripture. Eventually, they moved toward the “Arminian” stance we know today: that through negligence or sin, a believer can indeed forfeit their salvation.

The Calvinist response was the Synod of Dort (1618-1619). It was an international gathering that essentially acted as a trial for the Remonstrants. The Remonstrants were condemned. Many were exiled, & Oldenbarnevelt (their political protector) was executed.

To refute the 5 Articles of Remonstrance, the Synod produced the Canons of Dort, which we now know by the famous acronym, TULIP.

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Arminianism

This is 1 of the most significant theological traditions in Protestantism. This represents a major shift in how Christians understand the relationship between God’s sovereignty & human free will.

It began as a technical debate within the Dutch Reformed Church in the 17th century, it eventually became the dominant “theological engine” for American revivalism & much of modern evangelicalism.

Arminianism is named for Jacobus Arminius (1590-1609), a Dutch pastor & professor at the University of Leiden. Arminius was trained in the strict Calvinism of Geneva, he was actually assigned to defend the Calvinist view of predestination against critics.

As he began researching on his own, he became increasingly unsettled by the idea that God might choose to save some (the “elect”) & condemn others (the “reprobate”) before they were ever born.

He argued that if God’s decree of salvation was “unconditional,” then God would ultimately be the author of sin. Arminius sought to preserve both God’s justice & human responsibility, leading to a system where God’s grace is primary but requires a human response.

After Arminius died, his followers (known as Remonstrants) formulated their beliefs into 5 articles. These points were a direct challenge to the “High Calvinism” of the time. These 5 articles are known as the Five Articles of Remonstrance, 1610:

• Conditional Election: God chooses people for salvation based on His foreknowledge of those who will believe, not an arbitrary decree.
• Unlimited Atonement: Jesus died for everyone, not just a select few/elect. However, only those who believe receive the benefit.
• Total Depravity (with a twist): Like Calvinists, Arminians believe humans are too sinful to save themselves. They need help to even take the 1st step toward God.
• Resistable Grace: God offers “prevenient grace” (grace that goes before) to everyone. But humans have the free will to reject it.
• Conditional Preservation: While God empowers believers to stay faithful, Arminians initially left it an open question whether a believer could “fall from grace.” Later Arminians generally argued that they could.

The Dutch authorities called a national council, the Synod of Dort (1618-1619), to settle the dispute. The Remonstrants were condemned as heretics. The council produced the Canons of Dort.

Interestingly enough, the famous “Five Points of Calvinism” (using the acrostic TULIP) didn’t exist before this. They were created specifically as a point-by-point rebuttal to the 5 Arminian articles. Essentially, Arminianism made Calvinism to define itself in the rigid terms we see today.

In American history, Arminianism underwent a HUGE transformation. It made its way across the Atlantic mainly through John Wesley & the Methodist movement. But it truly exploded during the Second Great Awakening (circa 1790-1840).

Preachers like Charles Grandison Finney took to its extreme. Finney argued that a revival wasn’t a miracle from God. But a “result of the right use of means.” By using emotional music, “altar calls,” & “protracted meetings.” He believed he could persuade the human will to choose Christ. This “practical Arminianism” redefined the American religious landscape.

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Conditional Preservation of the Saints

This is also called Conditional Perseverance of the Saints, or more commonly called Conditional Security.

This is the Arminian Christian belief that believers are kept safe by God in their saving relationship with Him on the condition of a persevering faith in Christ. Arminians find the Scriptures describing both the initial act of faith in Christ, “whereby the relationship is effected,” & persevering faith in him “whereby the relationship is sustained.”

The relationship of the believer to Christ is never an unchanged relationship existing as the binding consequence of a past decision, act, or experience. It’s a living union going ahead upon a living faith in a living Savior. This living union is captured in the simple command by Christ, “Remain in me, & I in you.” (Check out John 15:4.)

Arminians believe that biblical saving faith expresses itself in love & obedience to God. (Check out Galatians 5:6 & Hebrews 5:8-9.) In the Remonstrant Confession of 1621, the first Remonstrants declared that true or living faith operates through love, & that God chooses to give salvation & eternal life through His Son.

Arminians believe that the Scriptures make it abundantly evident that believers are secure. Believers have a guarantee in knowing there’s no external power, or circumstance, that can separate them from the love of God they enjoy in union with Christ. (Check out Romans 8:35 & John 10:27-29.)

Arminians believe that if a believer becomes an unbeliever by committing apostasy, for example, they necessarily stop partaking of the promises of salvation & eternal life made to believers who continue in faith & remain united to Christ. Apostasy is the abandonment/renunciation of a religious/political system.

Arminians seek to follow the biblical writers in warning believers. Armenians seek to follow the biblical writers in warning believers about the real dangers of committing apostasy. A biblical way to avoid apostasy is to reprimand believers to mature spiritually in their relationship with God in union with Christ & through the power of the Spirit.

Maturity takes place as Christ-followers keep on meeting with fellow believers for mutual encouragement & strength, encouraging each to love God & others, to continue growing in the grace & knowledge of their Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, & to persevere, in faith in playful dependence on God through various trials & temptations.

Before the time of debate between Calvinist & the Arminians at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619), the view in the early church appears to be on the side of conditional security.

Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609, making him 49 years old upon passing away), the founder of the Arminian belief system, taught that the believer’s security is conditional, “provided they stand prepared for the battle, implore his help, & be not wanting to themselves.”

Sometimes between 1610 & the official proceeding the Synod of Dort, the Remonstrants became fully persuaded in their minds that the Scriptures taught that a true believer was capable of falling away from faith & perishing eternally as an unbeliever. They formalized their views in “The Opinion of the Remonstrants” (1618).

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