The Synod of Dort was a national council held in what is now Dordrecht, Netherlands in 1618-1619. It is considered by many Calvinists to be a historically authoritative council on a similar level as Nicaea or Constantinople which condemned Arminianism as a heresy. If you are wondering how a local synod in the Netherlands would have that level of historical authority, you would be right. Now I don’t want to say that Dort was a kangaroo court which didn’t properly hear out the Arminian position and that didn’t even have enough authority to sustain its judgements locally within a single generation, so I won’t give my opinion. What is truly important about Dort is that it is one of the more articulate and straightforward descriptions of Calvinist theology ever penned and is thus worthy of study in understanding Calvinism itself. Below are some articles looking at Dort both historically and theologically:
- James Arminius, “Arminius’ Nine Questions For the Synod of Dort“
- Eric Landstrom,” Political Powerbrokers, Authority, and the Road to Dort“
- Kevin Jackson, “The Calvinists Who Became Arminians at Dort“
- Remonstrance Podcast, “The Synod of Dort” Part I and Part II
- Keith Stanglin, Video Lecture: “How Much Purer Is the Synopsis Purioris Theologiae? A Comparison of Leiden Theology before and after Dordt”
- “Life after Arminius: The Arminians and Dordt“
- “The Synod of Dort vs. Arminius and the Remonstrants“
- “Dutch Calvinists against Religious Freedom: Synod of Dort“
- “The Unjust Persecution of the Arminians“
- Frederick Calder, Memoirs of Simon Episcopius {This last one is not an article, but simply a link to a book. Still, it is a book worth reading, so I included it here.}
