Calvinism maintained
that man cannot act freely for himself, that he is strictly under the
sovereignty of the Divine Will. The democratic tendency in Holland, where
Arminianism had its origin, expressed itself in the declaration that every
man is free to accept or to reject religious truth, that the will is
individual and self-assertive, and that the conscience is not bound.
Arminius and his coworkers accepted what the early Protestant movement had
regarded as essential, that religion should be always obedient to the
rational spirit, that nature should be the test in regard to all which
affects human conduct, and that the critical spirit ought to be applied to
dogma and Bible. Arminius reasserted this freedom of the human spirit, and
vindicated the right of the individual mind to seek God and his truth
wherever they may be found.
As Protestantism became firmly established in England, and the nation
accepted its mental and moral attitude without reserve, what is known as
Arminianism came to be more and more prevalent. This was not a body of
doctrines, and it was in no sense a sectarian movement: it was rather a
mental temper of openness and freedom. In a word, Arminianism became a
method of religious inquiry that appealed to reason, nature, and the needs
of man. It put new emphasis on the intellectual side of religion, and it
developed as a moral protest against the harsher features of Calvinism.
Pages:
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28