The Arminian/Calvinism Conflict and Why It Matters | Part Four

This series is from the From the Editor’s Desk column of the Sword and Trumpet. The articles were co-authored by Paul Emerson and myself.

While the debate over God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility in salvation continued in various forms over the 1000+ years between Augustine and the Reformation, there is little to enhance this particular study during that so-called “Devil’s Millennium.” The Roman Catholic church gradually apostasized into Pelegianism, with a works-based view of salvation. In the 1500s the Protestant Reformers reacted against this works-based message of salvation and put forth the five Solas: Sola Scriptura, Sola Christus, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, and Sola Dei Gloria. In English these mean: Scripture alone, Christ alone, Grace alone, Faith alone, and God’s glory alone. Many of the primary tenets of the gospel were recovered in this time. Though they rediscovered the biblical gospel, they often failed to follow through in life. With a few notable exceptions, the Reformers did not align their lifestyle practices with their theology.

The beauty and importance of the Anabaptist response to the Reformers brought orthopraxy alongside orthodoxy. That is, the Anabaptists required the lifestyle applications of Sola Scriptura. The differences between the Reformers and the Anabaptists were not primarily theological but rather practical. Must the true follower of Christ obey in life, practicing the theology they espouse? Does God expect the Sermon on the Mount to be lived out or can its commands be ignored? The Anabaptists were not content to simply believe the Bible’s maxims; they sought to obey its commands too.

The above brought the focus of discussion among Anabaptists to an emphasis on sanctification as an essential component of salvation, whereas the Reformers tended to lay too little emphasis on sanctification. Justification by faith alone was lauded; faithful living was too often neglected.

Over the next 100 years, tension developed within the Reformers over the doctrine of salvation between what became known as the Arminian party (also known as the Remonstrants) and those called Calvinists. This came to a head in a church trial in Holland known as the Synod of Dort. This proceeding was held in Dordrecht in 1618-1619 under the direction of the Dutch Reformed Church, the state church of Holland. The Synod provides an excellent introduction to the development and solidification of the two adversarial theological positions known today as Arminianism and Calvinism. Future editorials will examine these formulations.