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发帖数: 3781 | 1 Arminius And His Teachings
There was nothing in Arminius to suggest revenge against one's enemies or th
e use of violence, much less the death sentence for heresy. He stood uncompr
omisingly for sound doctrine and believed in the infallibility and inerrancy
of the Bible as inspired by God. He rejected the Mass as a denial of "the t
ruth and excellence of the sacrifice of Christ." 4 He joined in calling the
pope "the adulterer and pimp of the Church, the false prophet ... the enemy
of God. . . the Antichrist . . . 5 the man of sin, the son of perdition, tha
t most notorious outlaw 6 ... [who] shall be destroyed at the glorious adven
t of Christ,"7 and urged all true believers to "engage in ... the destructio
n of Popery, as they would ... the kingdom of Antichrist . . . ." 8
Arminius recognized and rejected the false doctrines of Augustine for what t
hey were. In contrast to Augustine, Arminius also rejected the Apocrypha and
authority of tradition. He believed in the eternal Sonship of Christ, co-eq
ual and co-eternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, 9 that Christ came t
o this earth as a man, 10 that He was Jehovah of the Old Testament 11 who di
ed for our sins, paying the full penalty by His one sacrifice of Himself on
the cross, 12 that He was buried, rose again and ascended to heaven, 13 that
man is hopelessly lost and bound by sin and that salvation is by grace alon
e through faith alone in Christ alone. '14
Arminius was evangelical in the gospel he preached. Salvation was entirely t
hrough Christ as a work of grace which God alone could do in the heart. He c
ategorically denied the false charges made against him of Pelagianism and So
cinianism. 15 He also, with these words, defended himself against the false
charge that he taught the doctrine of falling away: "At no period have I ass
erted `that believers do finally decline or fall away from faith or salvatio
n."' 16
It is astonishing with what disapproval Arminius is denounced today by Calvi
nists, while Augustine is praised. J.1. Packer quotes with approval "Robert
Traill, the Scottish Puritan, [who] wrote in 1692, `The principles of Armini
anism are the natural dictates of a carnal mind, which is enmity both to the
law of God, and to the gospel of Christ, and, next to the dead sea of Poper
y (into which also this stream runs), have, since Pelagius to this day, been
the greatest plague of the Church of Christ, and it is like will be till hi
s second coming.' "17 Sheldon, however, says, "The doctrinal system of Armin
ius, who is confessed on all hands to have been a man of most exemplary spir
it and life, was the Calvinistic system with no further modification than ne
cessarily resulted from rejecting the tenet of absolute predestination." 18
A leading Arminian of the nineteenth century summarized his understanding of
that doctrine:
Arminianism teaches that God in Jesus Christ made provision fully for the sa
lvation of all those who, by repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Je
sus Christ, accept the terms [of the gospel], and all who do thus accept are
eternally saved. All who rebel against God, and refuse to accept of Jesus o
n the terms of proffered mercy, sink under Divine wrath and are eternally lo
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