- Home
- Speakers
- James Arminius
- The Perseverance Of The Saints
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.
Download
Topic
Sermon Summary
James Arminius discusses the perseverance of the saints, emphasizing that true believers, empowered by the Holy Spirit, have the strength to overcome spiritual battles with the assistance of God's grace. He acknowledges the ongoing assistance of Jesus Christ in times of temptation, highlighting the importance of believers seeking His help and remaining steadfast in faith to avoid falling away. Arminius expresses the need for a thorough examination of Scripture to understand if believers can potentially drift away due to negligence, returning to worldly ways and forsaking sound doctrine, despite his belief that genuine believers cannot ultimately lose their salvation.
Scriptures
The Perseverance of the Saints
V. THE PERSEVERANCE OF THE SAINTS My sentiments respecting the perseverance of the saints are, that those persons who have been grafted into Christ by true faith, and have thus been made partakers of his life-giving Spirit, possess sufficient powers [or strength] to fight against Satan, sin, the world and their own flesh, and to gain the victory over these enemies -- yet not without the assistance of the grace of the same Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ also by his Spirit assists them in all their temptations, and affords them the ready aid of his hand; and, provided they stand prepared for the battle, implore his help, and be not wanting to themselves, Christ preserves them from falling. So that it is not possible for them, by any of the cunning craftiness or power of Satan, to be either seduced or dragged out of the hands of Christ. But I think it is useful and will be quite necessary in our first convention, [or Synod] to institute a diligent inquiry from the Scriptures, whether it is not possible for some individuals through negligence to desert the commencement of their existence in Christ, to cleave again to the present evil world, to decline from the sound doctrine which was once delivered to them, to lose a good conscience, and to cause Divine grace to be ineffectual. Though I here openly and ingenuously affirm, I never taught that a true believer can, either totally or finally fall away from the faith, and perish; yet I will not conceal, that there are passages of scripture which seem to me to wear this aspect; and those answers to them which I have been permitted to see, are not of such a kind as to approve themselves on all points to my understanding. On the other hand, certain passages are produced for the contrary doctrine [of unconditional perseverance] which are worthy of much consideration.
- Bio
- Summary
- Transcript
- Download
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.