Arminianism

Definition and Meaning

Arminianism is a theological tradition named after the Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius (1560–1609). It holds that God's grace first reaches out to human beings, but that they may either respond to that grace or reject it. This position emphasizes both God's sovereignty and human responsibility in salvation. It is commonly presented as one side of the debate over predestination, in opposition to Calvinism; the controversy between the two positions is treated in the article Predestination and Free Will. Its principal tenets are as follows.

• Conditional election: God foreknew who would believe and chose them.
• Universal atonement: Christ's atonement is for all people and is effective for those who believe.
• Prevenient grace: Human beings cannot choose the good by their own power; they can respond only through grace that is given to them before they seek God.
• Resistible grace: Human beings can refuse God's call.
• The question of the perseverance of the saints: The early Arminians suspended judgment on this point. Later, many Arminians held that believers can fall away from faith. Perseverance refers to keeping the faith to the end.

Biblical and Historical Background

Arminians cite the following passages as principal support:

• John 3:16, 1 Timothy 2:4, and 2 Peter 3:9: taken as evidence that God desires the salvation of all people.
• Hebrews 6:4–6: taken as evidence that believers can fall away from faith.

Calvinists, for their part, appeal to Ephesians 1:4–5 and Romans 9 in support of unconditional election.

While serving as a professor at the University of Leiden, Arminius raised objections to certain aspects of the Reformed doctrine of predestination as taught in his day. After his death, his supporters issued the Remonstrance in 1610 and thus came to be known as the Remonstrants. The Synod of Dort (1618–1619) rejected the Remonstrant position and adopted the Canons of Dort, which became the basis for what are commonly known as the "five points of Calvinism." In eighteenth-century England, John Wesley took up this tradition and developed it into Wesleyan theology, with its emphasis on prevenient grace and sanctification.

In the Korean Church

• Methodist and Holiness denominations: The Korean Methodist Church, the Korea Evangelical Holiness Church, the Jesus Korea Sungkyul Church, the Korea Nazarene Church, and The Salvation Army Korea Territory are heirs of Wesleyan theology. They stand in the Arminian tradition as mediated through Wesley.
• Pentecostal denominations: The Korea Assemblies of God and others are regarded as close to Arminianism in their understanding of salvation.
• Presbyterians: Presbyterian churches take the Westminster Confession of Faith as their standard and follow the Calvinist position. Presbyterian seminaries treat Arminianism critically. In some Presbyterian circles the term "Arminian" is also used pejoratively to suggest an undue emphasis on human choice. In response, Arminians maintain that salvation proceeds entirely from grace, and they therefore argue that their position differs from Pelagianism, which holds that salvation is attained by the human will.
• Baptists: Baptists have historically been divided into the Arminian General Baptists and the Calvinist Particular Baptists. Both tendencies are reported to exist within Korean Baptist churches as well.

These differences appear as varying emphases among denominations in their preaching and teaching on assurance of salvation and the perseverance of the saints.