400 years ago, on this date, 9 May
1619, the Synod of Dort came to its conclusion at Dordrecht, Netherlands. I will post the information from Wikipedia and
other links. I will post about the conclusion in the Canons of Dort:
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| The Synod of Dort. The Arminians are seated at the table in the middle. |
The Reason for Dort
Feature Article
Jude in his epistle teaches that while the faith was given to the church by the Apostles, the church through the ages will have to defend that faith over and over again (Jude 3). Paul opposed the legalists, Athanasius opposed Arius, Augustine opposed Pelagius, and Martin Luther opposed Erasmus. These are a few examples of how Christians have contended for the Apostolic faith in history. After the Reformation, one of the greatest challenges to the Apostolic faith arose within the Dutch Reformed Church from a minister and professor named Jacobus Arminius and from his followers.
Arminius (1559–1609) as a boy lost his father in the Dutch revolt against Spain. He was educated through the generosity of the Reformed churches at the new university in Leiden and then continued his studies at Geneva and Basel. At Geneva, Theodore Beza, John Calvin’s successor, was the leading theologian and a great champion of Calvinist teaching. Arminius showed himself to be a bright and clever student. With letters of recommendation from Beza, Arminius returned to the Netherlands and was ordained to the ministry in Amsterdam. He served there as a pastor from 1588 until 1603, when he was appointed to teach theology with two other professors at his alma mater, Leiden. He served there until his death in 1609.
While Arminius experienced some controversy in Geneva and in Amsterdam, no lasting trouble followed him. But concerns about his doctrine grew during his early years in Leiden. These concerns were difficult to evaluate because Arminius published nothing in his lifetime. After his death, a number of writings were found—enough to fill three sizable volumes—but, very unusually for the time, he had not published them. During his life, his theology was judged on the reports of students, and his fellow professors and ministers became more and more concerned. Finally, in 1608, he was required to write out his views—his Declaration of Sentiments—for evaluation by the civil government, which supervised the university. This declaration showed his rejection of a Calvinist doctrine of election. Recent studies of his work have concluded that he was motivated not so much by a desire to assert some human freedom or cooperation in salvation as by a desire to defend the goodness of God against any suggestion that God is a tyrant or the author of sin.
In the years after his death, those who claimed to follow him became more radical in their theologies. They increasingly adopted the views that we think of as “Arminian” or “semi-Pelagian,” teaching a limited effect of sin on human abilities and a measure of human freedom so that man is able to cooperate with or to resist saving grace. They summarized their views in a document that became known as the Remonstrance of 1610. That summary had five points: conditional election, universal atonement, complete depravity, resistible grace, and uncertainty about the perseverance of the saints.
One of the greatest challenges to the Apostolic faith arose from Jacobus Arminius.
The years from the death of Arminius to the meeting of the Synod of Dort were characterized by growing theological controversy and divisions in the church. The stress on Dutch society became so great that civil war became a real possibility. Only the change of the civil government and the call of the national synod of the Dutch Reformed Church to meet in the port city of Dordrecht prevented that war.
The Dutch Calvinists decided that the synod should be more than simply a national synod. They invited representatives from most of the Reformed churches of Europe to attend and to be full voting members of the synod. The result was the greatest and most ecumenical gathering of Reformed churches ever held. (Lest my Presbyterian friends feel that I am slighting the Westminster Assembly, let me remind them that that assembly was not properly a church gathering but a gathering of theologians to advise the English Parliament.)
The Synod of Dort did its work carefully and thoroughly. It met from mid-November 1618 until late May 1619, first hearing the Arminians and then, when they were uncooperative, reading their writings. The greatest accomplishment of the synod was the preparation of what are known as the Canons of Dort. These canons or rulings of Dort respond to the five points of Arminianism. Strictly speaking, Calvinism does not have only five points; rather, it has the many points that one finds in the Belgic Confession or the Westminster Confession of Faith. Calvinism has five answers to the five errors of Arminianism. The canons respond point by point to the Arminian summary presented in 1610. The synod’s first head (or chapter) is on unconditional election. The second head is on limited atonement. The synod combines the third and fourth heads to show that total depravity is maintained only when the necessity of irresistible grace is taught. The fifth head teaches the perseverance of the saints because of the preserving grace of God.
Each head of doctrine is divided into several positive articles and rejections of specific Arminian errors. The most important decision about how to write these articles was the decision to write them for the people in the churches rather than for professors in the universities. The synod intended its canons to be clear and understandable for all the members of the church. Over the years, one of the problems has been that translations of the canons into English have kept the long sentences that work in Latin but are not clear in English. Even in the older English translations, however, when the reader moves from clause to clause, the meaning is clear.
The synod also wanted to show the catholicity of Reformed Christianity, denying the Arminian charge that the Reformed churches were teaching sectarian novelties. Therefore, each head of doctrine begins with a catholic statement with which Roman Catholics and Lutherans as well as the Reformed would agree. From that initial catholic article, further articles show that the fullness of Reformed teaching follows properly from catholic foundations.
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In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being
predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will: - Ephesians 1:11 (KJV)
[PHOTO
SOURCE: https://www.primobibleverses.com/q/1162/kjv]
Article 6: God's Eternal Decision
The fact that some receive from God the gift of
faith within time, and that others do not, stems from his eternal decision. For
all his works are known to God from eternity (Acts 15:18;
Eph. 1:11).
In accordance with this decision he graciously softens the hearts, however
hard, of his chosen ones and inclines them to believe, but by his just judgment
he leaves in their wickedness and hardness of heart those who have not been
chosen. And in this especially is disclosed to us his act--unfathomable, and as
merciful as it is just--of distinguishing between people equally lost. This is
the well-known decision of election and reprobation revealed in God's Word.
This decision the wicked, impure, and unstable distort to their own ruin, but
it provides holy and godly souls with comfort beyond words.
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Something
of the character of the canons can be experienced in the first head of doctrine
(on unconditional election), article 6:
The reality that some people are given faith by God in time, while others are not given faith, proceeds from God’s eternal decree. “He knows all His works from eternity” (Acts 15:18; Eph. 1:11). According to this decree, He graciously softens the hearts of the elect, however hard, and inclines them to believe. He also leaves the nonelect according to His just judgment in their wickedness and hardness of heart. This decree most powerfully shows us God’s profound, merciful, yet also just distinction among people equally lost. This decree of election and reprobation is revealed in the Word of God. And although the perverse, impure, and unstable twist it to their own destruction, it gives inexpressible comfort to holy and pious souls. (author’s translation)
The synod also did other important work that provided for the life and health of the Dutch Reformed Church for centuries to come. The synod appointed a committee to prepare a new Dutch translation of the Bible. This Bible would have the same status and influence in the Dutch-speaking world that the King James Version of the Bible would have in the English-speaking world. This Bible would support the piety and life of Dutch Christians well into the twentieth century.
The synod also reiterated the church’s commitment to the Belgic Confession and established the official text of the confession, since slight variations were found in earlier publications. The synod had been asked to write a new confession of faith that all the Reformed churches of Europe would accept. The synod concluded that it did not have time for such an undertaking, but it did approve the Belgic Confession as an agreeable confession to all the Reformed.
The synod also adopted a church order that provided the rules of procedure for the Dutch churches for centuries to come. The church order described the work of ministers, elders, and deacons as well as the ministry and worship of congregations. It also laid out the work of local consistories (similar to sessions) as well as the work of the broader assemblies of the classes (similar to presbyteries) and synods.
The synod was also asked to make a definitive statement on the doctrine of the Sabbath. The synod again did not have time for a definitive study, but it did prepare a brief statement to help the churches and Christians. The Sabbath, after all, is not just a teaching of the churches but is a crucial part of the piety and life of the churches. The synod called for rest and worship on the Lord’s Day. Beyond its statement, when asked what to do with the traditional evening service if it was poorly attended, the synod advised that the evening service should be held even if only the minster’s family were in attendance. In time, the Dutch Reformed churches became careful in observing the Christian Sabbath, and the two services helped greatly in producing a devout and well-educated laity.
The Synod of Dort did outstanding work that is well worth celebrating four hundred years later. It preserved the true teaching of the Bible on salvation and provided in other ways as well for the well-being of the life of the church. The synod fought the good fight to which Jude calls Christians. The fight did lead to a fracture in the church. A small minority left to form the Remonstrant Brotherhood. But as Jude makes clear, such a division is not the fault of the orthodox but the fault of those who oppose the truth (Jude 19). The great accomplishment of the synod was that it kept, taught, and defended our faith, “our common salvation” (v. 3).
Dr. W. Robert Godfrey is a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow and president emeritus and professor emeritus of church history at Westminster Seminary California. He is also the featured teacher for the six-part Ligonier teaching series A Survey of Church History and author of several books, including Saving the Reformation.
INTERNET SOURCE: https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2019/01/the-reason-for-dort/
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1 I charge you in the presence
of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and
by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in
season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete
patience and teaching. – 2 Timothy 4:1-2 (ESV)
[PHOTO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVqLedcmpRI]
Article 3: The Preaching
of the Gospel
In order that people may
be brought to faith, God mercifully sends messengers of this very joyful
message to the people and at the time he wills. By this ministry people are
called to repentance and faith in Christ crucified. For “how shall they believe
in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without someone
preaching? And how shall they preach unless they have been sent?” (Rom. 10:14-15).
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The Canons of Dort:
Conclusion
The
Canons of Dort: Conclusion
First Head of Doctrine | Second Head of Doctrine | Third and Fourth Heads of Doctrine | Fifth Head of Doctrine | Conclusion
And
this is the perspicuous, simple, and ingenuous declaration of the orthodox
doctrine respecting the five articles which have been controverted in the
Belgic churches, and the rejection of the errors with which they have for some
time been troubled. This doctrine the Synod judges to be drawn from the Word of
God and to be agreeable to the confessions of the Reformed churches. Whence it
clearly appears that some whom such conduct by no means became, have violated
all truth, equity, and charity, in wishing to persuade the public:
“That the doctrine of the Reformed churches concerning predestination, and the points annexed to it, by its own genius and necessary tendency, leads off the minds of men from all piety and religion; that it is an opiate administered by the flesh and the devil, and the stronghold of Satan, where he lies in wait for all; and from which he wounds multitudes, and mortally strikes through many with the darts both of despair and security; that it makes God the author of sin, unjust, tyrannical, hypocritical; that it is nothing more than interpolated Stoicism, Manicheism, Libertinism, Turcism; that it renders men carnally secure, since they are persuaded by it that nothing can hinder the salvation of the elect, let them live as they please; and therefore, that they may safely perpetrate every species of the most atrocious crimes; and that if the reprobate should even perform truly all the works of the saints, their obedience would not in the least contribute to their salvation; that the same doctrine teaches that God, by a mere arbitrary act of His will, without the least respect or view to any sin, has predestinated the greatest part of the world to eternal damnation; and has created them for this very purpose; that in the same manner in which the election is the fountain and the cause of faith and good works, reprobation is the cause of unbelief and impiety; that many children of the faithful are torn guiltless from their mothers’ breasts and tyrannically plunged into hell; so that neither baptism nor the prayers of the Church at their baptism, can at all profit by them”; and many other things of the same kind which the Reformed Churches not only do not acknowledge, but even detest with their whole soul. Wherefore, this Synod of Dort, in the name of the Lord, conjures as many as piously call upon the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, to judge of the faith of the Reformed Churches not from the calumnies, which on every side are heaped upon it; nor from the private expressions of a few among ancient and modern teachers, often dishonestly quoted or corrupted and wrested to a meaning quite foreign to their intention; but from the public confessions of the Churches themselves and from the declaration of the orthodox doctrine, confirmed by the unanimous consent of all and each of the members of the whole Synod.
Moreover,
the Synod warns calumniators themselves to consider the terrible judgment of
God which awaits them for bearing false witness against the confessions of so
many churches, for distressing the consciences of the weak, and for laboring to
render suspect the society of the truly faithful. Finally, this Synod exhorts
all their brethren in the gospel of Christ to conduct themselves piously and
religiously in handling this doctrine, both in the universities and churches;
to direct it, as well in discourse as in writing, to the glory of the divine
Name, to holiness of life, and to the consolation of afflicted souls; to
regulate, by the Scripture, according to the analogy of faith, not only their
sentiments, but also their language; and to abstain from all those phrases
which exceed the limits necessary to be observed in ascertaining the genuine
sense of the holy Scriptures, and may furnish insolent sophists with a just
pretext for violently assailing or even vilifying the doctrine of the Reformed
churches.
May
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who, seated at the Father’s right hand, gives
gifts to men, sanctify us in the truth, bring to the truth those who err, shut
the mouths of the calumniators of sound doctrine, and endue the faithful
minister of His Word with the spirit of wisdom and discretion, that all their
discourses may tend to the glory of God and the edification of those who hear
them. Amen.
That
this is our faith and decision we certify by subscribing our names. Here follow
the names, not only of President, Assistant President, and Secretaries of the
Synod, and of the Professors of Theology in the Dutch Churches, but of all the
Members who were deputed to the Synod as the Representatives of their
respective Churches, that is, of the Delegates from Great Britain, the
Electoral Palatinate, Hessia, Switzerland, Wetteraw, The Republic and Church of
Geneva, The Republic and Church of Bremen, The Republic and Church of Emden,
The Duchy of Gelderland and of Zutphen, South Holland, North Holland, Zeeland,
The Province of Utrecht, Friesland, Transylvania, The State of Groningen and
Omland, Drent, The French Churches.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://heritagereformedgr.org/our-beliefs/canons-of-dort/the-canons-of-dort-conclusion/
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Franciscus Gomarus (François Gomaer;
30 January 1563, Bruges
– 11 January 1641, Groningen) was a Dutch theologian, a
strict Calvinist
and an opponent of the teaching of Jacobus
Arminius (and his followers), whose theological disputes were addressed at
the Synod
of Dort (or Dordrecht) (1618–19).
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OTHER
LINKS:
The
Four-Hundred-Year Flower
Arminius,
Dort, and the Battle for Grace
God's
Predestination - by Franciscus Gomarus (1563-1641)
Calvinistic Articles on the Christian Faith
Calvinistic Articles on the Christian Faith
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