4. 알미니안주의와 돌트 신조(Arminianism and The Dort Confession)

[남인도_윤]

Topic: Synod of Dort

After Calvin's death, churches and denominations based on Reformed theology were established that succeeded Calvin's theology.

The following countries currently have churches and denominations established according to Reformed theology around the world.

Reformed church - Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, USA (CRC and RCA), Hungary.

Presbyterian church - Scotland, England, USA, Canada, Australia, Korea.

Congregational church - England, USA, Australia, Canada, Ireland, South Africa

Reformed Baptist churches - England, Scotland, USA, Canada, Italy, France, Switzerland, Zambia and Brazil

Arminianism was started by Jacobus Arminius. Jacobus Arminius was a Dutch pastor and theologian in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.

He was taught by Theodore Beza, Calvin's hand-picked successor, but after examination of the scriptures, he rejected his teacher's theology that it is God who unconditionally elects some for salvation.

Instead Arminius proposed that the election of God was of believers, thereby making it conditional on faith.

Arminius's views were challenged by the Dutch Calvinists, especially Franciscus Gomarus, but Arminius died before a national synod could occur.

Arminius died before he could satisfy Holland's State General's request for a 14-page paper outlining his views.

Arminius's followers replied in his stead crafting the Five articles of Remonstrance (1610), in which they express their points of divergence with the stricter Calvinism of the Belgic Confession.

This is how Arminius's followers were called Remonstrants, and following a Counter Remonstrance in 1611, Gomarus' followers were called Counter-Remonstrants.

The Dort Synod or Dordrecht synod was an international synod held by the Dutch Reformed Church in Dordrecht in 1618-1619 to resolve divisive disputes caused by the rise of Arminianism. (Synod).

The first meeting was on November 13, 1618 and the last meeting, the 180th meeting, was on May 29, 1619.

Voting representatives from eight foreign Reformed churches were also invited.

In 2014 the first full review of Synod Acts and Documents was published.

1. Background - History of the Calvinist-Arminian Controversy

Previously there had been a Provincial Synod in Dort, and in 1578 a National Synod.

For that reason the 1618 meeting is sometimes called the Second Synod of Dordt.

The actions of the Synod were related to a political intrigue that occurred during the 12-year armistice that halted the Dutch war with Spain.

After the death of Jacob Arminius, his followers opposed the Belgic Confession and the teachings of John Calvin, Theodore Beza and their followers.

These objections were published in a document called the Remonstrance of 1610, so the Arminians were also known as the Remonstrance.

They are Free Will or Human Ability, Conditional Election, Universal Redemption or General Atonement, Holy Spirit That Can Be Effectively Resisted, Grace Falling From Grace.

Those who opposed the Calvinists, or Gomarists, led by Franciscus Gomarus of Leiden University, became known as the Remonstrance.

The Arminians were accused of spreading false doctrine and were perceived as ready to compromise with Spain, while the Dutch Calvinists were not, leading some to regard Arminianism as not only theologically unsound but also politically traitorous.

In 1617-1618 there was a pamphlet war and Francis van Aarssens expressed the view that the Arminians were working for Philip IV of Spain.

In March 1618 Adriaan Pauw began planning a national convention.

Prior to that, there was some debate about whether the contest should be national as the Contra-Remonstrants wish it to be, or regional in the Netherlands as the Remonstrants claim.

This decision was made in 1617 following the outside opinion of Dudley Carleton, the English ambassador.

2. Purpose of Synod

Synod's purpose was to settle the controversy over Arminianism.

There have been claims that the outcome has already been determined, but this has not been substantiated.

According to Frederick Calder, “the condemnation [of the Remonstrant doctrine] was decided before the General Assembly was held.”

All the support Gomarists want. In fact, Johannes Bogerman, the moderator of the General Assembly, himself a Supralapsarian, advocated the inclusion of an Infralapsarian position in church law.

The more extreme views of the Dutch Calvinists were tempered in a detailed discussion.

3. Delegates

The Dort Synod had members representing reformist groups from continental Europe and the British Isles.

Among this group were representatives of the Anglican Church of England and the Church of Scotland.

4. Proceedings

Simon Episcopius (1583–1643) was the spokesman for the 14 protesters called before the 1618 synod.

At the opening of the synod, Episcopius was asked to speak.

Episcopius argued that ... we can begin with a refutation of the Calvinist doctrine, especially the doctrine of reprobation.

By putting his own objection to this doctrine above all other doctrines, he sought to secure a public voice in his favor, and to induce prejudice against other items of that doctrine.

But the Synod very appropriately reminded him that the Remonstrants were accused of departing from the Reformed faith and had to first justify themselves by providing biblical evidence to support their views.

The Arminians did not obey this plan of procedure.

Because it destroyed their entire argumentation plan.

So the Arminians left the synod, and when they left the synod proceeded without them.

Episcopius expressed his dissatisfaction with the organization of the conference and concluded that the Contra-Remonstrants prevented the accurate representation of the Arminian supporters of the Dutch Reformed Church by voting at the synod.

Episcopius's delegation, consisting of Bernard Arentsz Dwinglo (1582–1652) and Johannes Arnoldi Corvinus, summoned representatives of the Church of England and others from outside to request assistance and give written accounts of the situation.

After that, Synod spent a month on procedural issues regarding the protesters.

They, remonstrants, were finally expelled at the 57th Synod on January 14th.

5. Dort Canon

The Synod concluded by rejecting the Arminian view, and presented Reformed doctrine on each point.

They are sometimes referred to as the five doctrines of Calvinism: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.

The nomenclature did not imply that all Calvinism could be reduced to just five, but TULIP (an abbreviation later developed for Dort's teachings in the English-speaking world) summarized the Calvinist position regarding the doctrine of the sovereignty of God.

The decisions of the synod of Dort on the five main doctrines of the Dutch dispute, commonly known as the Dort Canons, are the descriptions of the judicial decisions of the synod.

In the original foreword, the decision reads:

Regarding the above 5 doctrines (TULIP), it is a judgment that explains the true views that are consistent with God's Word and rejects false views that are not consistent with God's Word.

6. Aftermath

Thirteen Remonstrant priests, including Episcopius, were to remain in Dort pending further instructions.

On May 20, 1619, the protest ministers present were summoned by the synod's lay commissioners and instructed to refrain from such pastoral activities as preaching, admonishing, administering the sacraments, and visiting the sick.

Moreover, Episcopius was ordered not to write letters or books promoting the doctrines of the Remonstrants.

The protesters agreed to refrain from ministering in government-ordained churches, but confessed their duty to expound their doctrines wherever people gathered to hear.

On July 5, they were called to a state general meeting and asked to sign the Cessation Act legalizing the order to suspend ministries.

When they refused to sign, they were declared "disrupters of the public peace" and ordered to leave the United Province.

However, in the 18th century, Arminian theology spread to England and was incorporated into Methodist theology.

7. Bible Translation

The synod also began an official Dutch Bible translation (Statenvertaling, or State of the States, or Dutch Authorized Version) from the original language to be completed in 1637.

project. It had a lasting impact on Standard Dutch, which at the time was gaining wider acceptance and beginning to develop a literary tradition.

It remained the standard translation of the Protestant Church for more than three centuries and is still used in some sister churches and similar smaller denominations of the Dutch Reformed Congregation.

Like the sister translations, the Genevan Bible and the King James Version (Authorized Version), Dutch pastors and scholars worked on the Old Testament in the Masoretic Text and the New Testament in the Received Text (by reference to the majority).

In 1645, the Westminster Parliament appointed Theodore Haak to translate Statenvertaling met kanttekeningen (The Dort Bible and its Commentary) into English for wider distribution.

This work was published by Henry Hill in London in 1657.

8. Political Influence

The Synod rejected the teachings of the Reformers on issues outside the scope of the Reformed Confession.

Political accusations followed against the Remonstrants' protector, the politician Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.

For a crime (treason) that had thrown the state into chaos, both in Church and State, he was beheaded on May 13, 1619, just four days after the Synod's last meeting.

As a result of the Arminian defeat, jurist Hugo Grotius was sentenced to life imprisonment.

However, he escaped with the help of his wife.

Van Oldenbarnevelt and Grotius were in fact imprisoned after 29 August 1618.