Those who uphold the original beliefs of Jacobus Arminius himself, is the common way to define Arminianism, but those of Hugo Grotius, John Wesley and others also understood the term as a sort of umbrella for a bigger alliance of ideas as well.

Classical Arminianism, which sees Arminius as the main contributor, and Wesleyan Arminianism, which sees John Wesley as the main contributor, are the two main outlooks on how the system is realistic in detail.

Wesleyan Arminianism is often identical with Methodism.

Also, Arminianism is often altered by a few of its critics including Semipelagianism or even Pelagianism, though advocates of both primary views fervently refute these claims.

The two systems share both history and many doctrines, and the variety of the history of Christian theology, Arminianism is relevant to Calvinism ( or Reformed theology ).

The current scholarly support for Arminianism is wide and varied.

Classical Arminianism ( sometimes titled Reformed Arminianism or Reformation Arminianism ) is the theological system that was presented by Jacobus Arminius and maintained by some of the Remonstrants ; its influence serves as the foundation for all Arminian systems.

Understanding Arminianism is aided by understanding the theological alternatives: Pelagianism, Semi-Pelagianism, and Calvinism.

Arminianism, like any major belief system, is frequently misunderstood both by critics and would-be supporters.

* Arminianism is Pelagian ( or Semi-Pelagian ), denying original sin and total depravity – No system of Arminianism founded on Arminius or Wesley denies original sin or total depravity ; both Arminius and Wesley strongly affirmed that man's basic condition is one in which he cannot be righteous, understand God, or seek God.

The extreme of Calvinism is hyper-Calvinism, which insists that signs of election must be sought before evangelization of the unregenerate takes place and that the eternally damned have no obligation to repent and believe, and on the extreme of Arminianism is Pelagianism, which rejects the doctrine of original sin on grounds of moral accountability ; but the overwhelming majority of Protestant, evangelical pastors and theologians hold to one of these two systems or somewhere in between.

# Arminianism is named after Jacobus Arminius, a Dutch Reformed pastor who was trained to preach Calvinism, but concluded that some aspects of Calvinism had to be modified in the light of Scripture.

Classically, this view is called Arminianism, which holds that each person is able to accept or reject God's offer of salvation and hence God allows man's choice to determine salvation ( John 3: 16-18 ).

Conditional Predestination, or more commonly referred to as conditional election, is a theological stance stemming from the writings and teachings of Jacobus Arminius, after whom Arminianism is named.

Thus the Christian individualism of the Quakers, that each person shares the " inner light " and the Arminianism of the Evangelicals were both differently based from the Lockean or Kantian individualism of a Philosophe or a Utilitarian, but all recognized the equal moral significance of the human person and that the disregard of it was wrong.

Charles believed in a sacramental version of the Church of England, called High Anglicanism, with a theology based upon Arminianism, a belief shared by his main political advisor, Archbishop William Laud.

Recent influence of the New Perspective on Paul movement has also reached Arminianism — primarily through a view of corporate election.

Wesley departs from Classical Arminianism primarily on three issues:

These show that he took part in all the great controversies on predestination and Arminianism which then so agitated and harassed all Europe.

It is true that one wing of Arminianism picked up Arminius's stress on human freedom and tolerance toward differing theologies, becoming latitudinarian and liberal.

During his Oxford years he wrote Justitia Divina ( 1653 ), an exposition of the dogma that God cannot forgive sin without an atonement ; Communion with God ( 1657 ), Doctrine of the Saints ' Perseverance ( 1654 ), his final attack on Arminianism ; Vindiciae Evangelicae, a treatise written by order of the Council of State against Socinianism as expounded by John Biddle ; On the Mortification of Sin in Believers ( 1656 ), an introspective and analytic work ; Schism ( 1657 ), one of the most readable of all his writings ; Of Temptation ( 1658 ), an attempt to recall Puritanism to its cardinal spiritual attitude from the jarring anarchy of sectarianism and the pharisaism which had followed on popularity and threatened to destroy the early simplicity.

The responsibility for salvation does not rest on the sinner to any degree as in " synergism " or Arminianism.

He wrote many books and treatises on theology, and his views became the basis of Arminianism and the Dutch Remonstrant movement.

Some have asserted on this basis that the text of John 6: 44 can entail either universalism or Calvinism, but not Arminianism.

In the next twelve months or so, Helwys wrote three more important works: an argument for Arminianism ( A short and plain proof, by the word and works of God, that God ’ s decree is not the cause of any man ’ s sin or condemnation: and that all men are redeemed by Christ ; as also that no infants are condemned ), a polemic explaining his differences with the Mennonites, and, most importantly, A Short Declaration on the Mystery of Iniquity, a critique and apocalyptic interpretation of the Papacy as well as criticisms of Brownism and Puritanism, and possibly the first ever English book defending the principle of religious liberty.

Dutch Arminianism was originally articulated in the Remonstrance ( 1610 ), a theological statement signed by 45 ministers and submitted to the States-General of the Netherlands.

Arminianism is the theological stance of Jacob Arminius and the movement which stemmed from him.

Some scholars have said that Arminianism is Pelagian, is a form of theological liberalism, and is syncretistic.

Yet, he chose the term " Arminianism " to distinguish the kind of Evangelicalism his followers were to espouse from that of their Calvinist theological opponents.

His adoption of Congregational principles did not affect his theological position, and in 1647 he again argued against Arminianism in The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, which drew him into long debate with Richard Baxter.

In 1627 he published his first book, a theological treatise, followed in the next three years by three others attacking Arminianism and its teachers.

, the majority of Methodists remain committed to Arminian theology, and Arminianism itself has become one of the dominant theological systems in the United States, thanks in large part to the influence of John and Charles Wesley.

Episcopius may be regarded as in great part the theological founder of Arminianism, since he developed and systematized the principles tentatively enunciated by Arminius.

But Pierre Du Moulin ( Molinæus ) ( since 1621 professor of the rival theological school of Sedan ), Friedrich Spanheim ( 1600 – 1649, Professor in Leiden ), André Rivet ( 1572 – 1651, Professor in Leiden ), and the theologians of Geneva opposed it, as a departure from the orthodox faith and a compromise between Calvinism and Arminianism.

In practice, members tended to cluster around various shared theological concepts, such as a Arminianism theological anthropology ( i. e. doctrine of human nature ), a rejection of the doctrine of election and a radically decentralized form of church government.

The theology of Arminianism did not become fully developed during Arminius ' lifetime, but after his death ( 1609 ) the Five articles of the Remonstrants ( 1610 ) systematized and formalized the ideas.

The Synod of Dort ( also known as the Synod of Dordt or the Synod of Dordrecht ) was a National Synod held in Dordrecht in 1618 – 1619, by the Dutch Reformed Church, to settle a divisive controversy initiated by the rise of Arminianism.

The Arminians were perceived as ready to compromise with the Spanish, whereas the Dutch Calvinists were not, so Arminianism was considered by some to be political treason ; in 1617 – 8 there was a pamphlet war and Francis van Aarssens expressed the view that the Arminians were working for Philip IV of Spain.

* Arminianism – Reaction to Calvinist soteriology, which affirms man's freedom to accept or reject God's gift of salvation ; identified with Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius, developed by Hugo Grotius, defended by the Remonstrants, and popularized by John Wesley.

Later General Baptists such as John Griffith, Samuel Loveday, and Thomas Grantham defended a Reformed Arminian theology that reflected more the Arminianism of Arminius than that of the later Remonstrants or the English Arminianism of Arminian Puritans like John Goodwin or Anglican Arminians such as Jeremy Taylor and Henry Hammond.

Forlines has referred to this type of Arminianism as " Classical Arminianism ," while Picirilli, Pinson, and Ashby have termed it " Reformation Arminianism " or " Reformed Arminianism.

Some Reformed theologians have mistakenly used the term " Arminianism " to include some who hold the Semipelagian doctrine of limited depravity, which allows for an " island of righteousness " in human hearts that is uncorrupted by sin and able to accept God's offer of salvation without a special dispensation of grace.

*" The Reformed Faith and Arminianism " ( Part 1 ) ( Part 2 ) ( Part 3 )