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James Arminius
James Arminius (October 10, 1560 – October 19, 1609) was a Dutch preacher and theologian whose calling from God within the Reformed Church challenged prevailing Calvinist doctrines, influencing Christian thought through preaching and teaching in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Born in Oudewater, Netherlands, to Harmen Jacobsz, a cutler, and Elborch Florisdr, he was the eldest of nine children in a modest family devastated by the Spanish massacre of Oudewater in 1575, leaving him orphaned at 15. Educated initially by Theodore Aemilius in Utrecht, he studied at Marburg (1575), the University of Leiden (1576–1581, earning an M.A.), and later Geneva under Theodore Beza (1582–1586) and Basel (1584), mastering theology and languages despite early hardship. Arminius’s calling from God was affirmed with his ordination in 1588 as pastor of a Reformed congregation in Amsterdam, where he served until 1603, preaching sermons that initially aligned with Calvinism but gradually questioned absolute predestination after engaging Petrus Plancius in debate. Appointed professor of theology at the University of Leiden in 1603, he continued preaching and teaching, advocating a theology of conditional election and resistible grace—later termed Arminianism—articulated in works like Declaration of Sentiments (1608). His sermons and lectures called for a faith rooted in human responsibility under God’s grace, sparking the Arminian-Calvinist controversy that persisted beyond his lifetime. Married to Lijsbet Reael in 1590, with whom he had nine children—including sons Harmen, Pieter, and Jacob—he passed away at age 49 in Leiden, Netherlands.
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James Arminius discusses the free-will of man, emphasizing that in his original state, man was created with the ability to understand, will, and perform good deeds, but only with the assistance of Divine Grace. However, in his fallen state, man is incapable of thinking, willing, or doing good on his own and requires regeneration by God through the Holy Spirit to be able to do what is truly good. Once regenerated, man is capable of good deeds but still relies on the ongoing help of Divine Grace.
The Freedom of the Will
III. THE FREE-WILL OF MAN This is my opinion concerning the free-will of man: In his primitive condition as he came out of the hands of his creator, man was endowed with such a portion of knowledge, holiness and power, as enabled him to understand, esteem, consider, will, and to perform the true good, according to the commandment delivered to him. Yet none of these acts could he do, except through the assistance of Divine Grace. But in his lapsed and sinful state, man is not capable, of and by himself, either to think, to will, or to do that which is really good; but it is necessary for him to be regenerated and renewed in his intellect, affections or will, and in all his powers, by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, that he may be qualified rightly to understand, esteem, consider, will, and perform whatever is truly good. When he is made a partaker of this regeneration or renovation, I consider that, since he is delivered from sin, he is capable of thinking, willing and doing that which is good, but yet not without the continued aids of Divine Grace.
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James Arminius (October 10, 1560 – October 19, 1609) was a Dutch preacher and theologian whose calling from God within the Reformed Church challenged prevailing Calvinist doctrines, influencing Christian thought through preaching and teaching in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Born in Oudewater, Netherlands, to Harmen Jacobsz, a cutler, and Elborch Florisdr, he was the eldest of nine children in a modest family devastated by the Spanish massacre of Oudewater in 1575, leaving him orphaned at 15. Educated initially by Theodore Aemilius in Utrecht, he studied at Marburg (1575), the University of Leiden (1576–1581, earning an M.A.), and later Geneva under Theodore Beza (1582–1586) and Basel (1584), mastering theology and languages despite early hardship. Arminius’s calling from God was affirmed with his ordination in 1588 as pastor of a Reformed congregation in Amsterdam, where he served until 1603, preaching sermons that initially aligned with Calvinism but gradually questioned absolute predestination after engaging Petrus Plancius in debate. Appointed professor of theology at the University of Leiden in 1603, he continued preaching and teaching, advocating a theology of conditional election and resistible grace—later termed Arminianism—articulated in works like Declaration of Sentiments (1608). His sermons and lectures called for a faith rooted in human responsibility under God’s grace, sparking the Arminian-Calvinist controversy that persisted beyond his lifetime. Married to Lijsbet Reael in 1590, with whom he had nine children—including sons Harmen, Pieter, and Jacob—he passed away at age 49 in Leiden, Netherlands.