A Theological Dirty Word Recently I’ve noticed that, over the past century, Arminians have increasingly used the word “synergist” to describe themselves, rather than seeing it as a negative epithet, as most Christian theologians have.…
Arminian Heritage
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace – Part Seven
BEN: Why was Arminius accused of Pelagianism or semi-Pelagianism if in fact he was clear that prevenient grace comes to a person purely by unmerited divine initiative? KEITH: This controversy is inherent in the Protestant…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace – Part Six
BEN: In regard to the old chestnut about God’s knowing and willing it seems clear that Calvin would say God knows it because he wills it, and therefore Calvin makes God’s will (and its exercise…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace – Part Five
BEN: Would it be correct to say that Arminius rejects Calvin’s strong distinction between the secret decrees and will of God and the revealed will of God, which allowed for the possibility that God’s revealed…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace– Part Four
BEN: Arminius seems to work hard to avoid making God the author of sin, or of anything evil for that matter, including the Fall. He is very willing to talk about God’s ‘permissive’ will when…
Vic Reasoner, “An Arminian Covenant Theology”
Too many Arminians have pushed their tray through the theological cafeteria, accepting a helping of whatever sounded good. Before we accept all the popular theology of the celebrity teachers, we had better determine upon what…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace– Part Three
BEN: There is also a strong emphasis early on in the book on what is called the ‘intellectualist’ approach to the nature of God, which is to say that God’s knowledge is given priority over…
Why Calvinists Should Advance Arminius
Arminianism, as with the overall theology of the early Church fathers, will never die. Calvinism experiences ebb and flow in popularity but Arminianism and other non-Calvinistic theological systems remain constant. I argue, though, that Calvinists…
Ben Witherington and Keith Stanglin, Jacob Arminius, Theologian of Grace– Part Two
BEN: Jacob Arminius seems to be a frequently misrepresented theologian, whose works have been neglected, and lack readily accessible translations into English from the Latin and Dutch. To what would you attribute this neglect, and…
Ben Witherington, “Jacob Arminius. Theologian of Grace– Part One”
Of late there has been an attempt, rightly in my view, to clear away a lot of misconceptions and in fact misrepresentations of Arminian theology, including the misrepresentation of Arminius himself as either a Pelagian…
Reformed Arminianism: Oxymoron or Historically Orthodox?
Someone asked whether one should refer to classical Arminianism as Reformed Arminianism (some prefer Reformation Arminianism). Arminian Baptist James Leonard commented to me personally that his hope is that people will not think that we…
J. Matthew Pinson, “Individual Election, Corporate Election, and Arminianism”
There is a flurry of activity at present from quarters in the Arminian theological community on the doctrine of corporate election. The exponents of this view are able and must be reckoned with, both by…
Life after Arminius: The Arminians and Dordt
After the death of Arminius, anti-Arminian Calvinists become emboldened, which merely attests to the place of prominence granted Arminius within his own lifetime: with Arminius still alive, the anti-Arminians find lording their doctrines over the…
The Full Original Act of Remonstrance in English and Dutch
Luis Henrique asked the director of the Arminius Instituut of the VU University of Amsterdam, Bert Dicou, to translate portions of the original Act of Remonstrance (1610) that are not normally translated. They have been combined…
I. Howard Marshall, Arminian New Testament Scholar, Dies at 81
I. Howard Marshall (1934-2015), one of the top New Testament scholars of our time, has recently passed away. Here are some tributes to the man and his legacy: Ray Van Neste, “I. Howard Marshall, New…
Understanding the Controversy of Former Supralapsarian Calvinist Arminius
The title of this post is a bit controversial in itself: Was Arminius a supralapsarian Calvinist at one time? That is a possibility. I believe that he was a supralapsarian. At least twice in Arminius’…
Roger Olson, “My Response to ‘An Assemblies of God Response to Reformed Theology'”
The Assemblies of God denomination is one of the largest, if not the largest, evangelical Christian denomination that is historically-theologically primarily, if not exclusively, Arminian in theology. I grew up Pentecostal but not “AG.” However,…
Arminius the Gadfly
A gadfly is a “persistent irritating critic; a nuisance.” (link) The late Anglican priest John R.W. Stott comments that the Church needs gadflies to “sting and harry us into action for change,” even though gadflies…
The Motive for Arminius’ Theology
What we must first understand about Arminius’ theological thought process is his positional biblicistic framework. Calvinist theologian Richard A. Muller confesses as much: “Had Arminius been a biblicistic pietist,” i.e., a devotional writer, “promulgating a…
The Unjust Persecution of the Arminians
After the death of Arminius in 1609 the Remonstrants petition the States for protection and safe conduct. Why? Why would the early Arminians fear for their physical safety? By the era of Arminius’ death in…
