The Works of James Arminius: The London Edition (3 Volumes)

by James Arminius, Petrus Bertius, Jacobus Arminius

Book Overview

The definitive edition of the works of James Arminius, founder of Arminian theology. First published in 1875. Translated into English by James and William Nicholes.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801002060
• ISBN13: 9780801002069
• Release Date: November 1986
• Publisher: Baker Books
• Length: 2280 Pages
• Weight: 2.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.5" x 6.4" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 15 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 10

Customer Reviews

Not Reviewing The Actual Book(S)

They only sent me one book.

ONE OF THE "INDISPENSABLE" THEOLOGIANS TO READ

James [Jacobus] Arminius (1560-1609; actually was named "Jakob Harmenszoon") was a Christian theologian who became famous for his opposition to Calvinism. These three volumes (a reprint of the 1875 "London Edition") collect all of his works. (Interestingly, most of his works were published posthumously.) He vigorously rejects Predestination ("Nor is (Predestination) the foundation of the certainty of salvation: For that is dependent upon this decree---'They who believe, shall be saved.' I believe, therefore I shall be saved. But the doctrine of this Predestination embraces within itself neither the first nor the second member of the syllogism"; "(Predestination) is repugnant to the nature of God, but particularly to those attributes of his nature by which he performs and manages all things---his wisdom, justice, and goodness"), stating his own view: "God ... knew from all eternity those individuals who WOULD, through his preventing grace, BELIEVE, and, through his subsequent grace, WOULD PERSEVERE." He says, "Christ prayed also for the non-elect. For He prayed for those who crucified Him, for His enemies, among whom there were also non-elect." In his essay on Romans 9, he writes, "If any one simply say that God has the power of making man a vessel to dishonour and wrath, he will do the greatest injustice to God, and will contradict clear Scripture." Concerning the "assurance" of salvation by a believer (aka "eternal security"), he states, "I dare not place this assurance on an equality with that by which we know there is a God, and that Christ is the Saviour of the world ... Yet it will be proper to make the extent of the boundaries of this assurance, a subject of enquiry in our convention." He adds, "it is one thing to declare that 'it is possible for the faithful to fall away from faith and salvation,' and it is another to say, that 'they DO actually fall away.'" He is equally opposed as Luther and Calvin to the Roman Catholic Church (e.g., he calls the Pope "the adulterer and the Pimp of the church"). He also strongly rejects Pelagianism (i.e., "works salvation"): "I profess that I detest to the soul the Pelagian dogmas...; and that, if any one can prove, from what I say, that anything follows which has any affinity with those doctrines, I will change and correct my opinion." Arminius is one of the most important Christian theologians, and his works belong in every serious theological library.

The greatest theological work ever written.Second only to the Bible!

D.D.James Arminius is one of the three most famous protestant theologicans.Luther,Calvin,Arminius.After reading His works for me there is no doubt that He was the best.His works are second only to the bible!I like the way he writes,and His use of Holy Scripture.He sees the bible as the final Authority!One of the biggest losses the church has had happened to it.Is that we dont have all of Arminius works translated into English!In a day an age were people do not have sound doctrine this is a must for every christian library. Jim Brown

If you want to know what Arminius taught, read his works...

There's probably not a single Christian theologian who is as misrepresented as James Arminius (except for maybe Augustine). Most critiques of his theology focus on the more extreme descendents of his teaching and almost never interact with his works on there own. Most don't even quote him! So how did this humble and devout man become so hated in many evangelical circles? Arminius studied under Theodore Beza and drew large crowds in the Netherlands with his expositional preaching. However, one day two ministers came from a debate with a Catholic humanist named Dirck Coornhert, whom they felt exposed Beza's supralapsarianism as making God the author of sin, and asked Arminius to analyze the charges and refute them. After careful study, Arminius concluded that the supralapsarian theory, and Calvinist predestination in general, contradicted the Bible. Although no one refuted his arguments directly, that didn't stop people from attacking him publicly. Finally, Arminius asked for a national Synod to resolve the question. He died awaiting the trial. Eventually a Synod (at Dort in Holland) was called and basically condemned Arminius' followers in a kangaroo court-style. Although the scholastic style of writing that Arminius employs is a bit tough for the modern theological reader and torture for the layman. These works are essential to understanding how the Bible explains the tension between the man's will and God's grace. In addition, few Arminian commentaries or systematic theology books come even close to the careful exegesis and irenic spirit displayed by Arminius.The highlights, in my opinion, are his declaration of sentiments (which would be the best introduction to his works for the layman) and his analysis of Romans 7 and 9. His exegesis of both chapters is rarely interacted by Calvinists....

A must-buy for any serious Bible student

James Arminius (1560-1609) is undoubtedly the best-known critic of Calvinism, and one's perception of him often depends on one's view of Calvinism. A Calvinist has contrasted Arminianism and Calvinism by describing the former as "the religion of common sense" and the latter as the religion of St. Paul. By contrast, however, Arminius has also been called the greatest of the church's three great theologians. According to one of his admirers, Athanasius understood God, Augustine understood man and Arminius understood the relationship between God and man. In spite of all of this, Arminius' his actual words are rarely quoted and his views are often distorted by those who comment on him. After all, not many writers tell us that Arminius recommended Calvin's "Commentaries" to his students or that he "sat on the fence" on the Perseverance of the Saints (or Eternal Security) issue. Even fewer would know Arminius believed man does not have the free will to come to God for salvation, but requires the grace of God to draw him. What then were some Arminius' views? On the first four points, he clearly rejected Calvinism. He believed (1) no one can come to Christ of his own free will, (2) God predestined to salvation all who, by faith, believed in His Son, (3) even though only those who believe obtain the benefit of that death, Christ died for all, and (4) the grace by which a man is drawn to Christ can be resisted so that the man ends up perishing. With respect to the fifth point (that of perseverance of the saints), he ended up stating he was unsure as to whether Scripture teaches that a true believer cannot fully or finally fall away from the faith and become lost. In addition to those doctrines, Arminius advocated infant baptism, the existence of the church since the Fall, Erastianism, and the view that whereas Galatians 5 describes the struggle between the "spirit" and the "flesh" in the life of a Christian, Romans 7 describes the struggle the "mind" and the "flesh" in the life of a person who is not yet saved. For someone wanting to read only one work by Arminius, the "Declaration of Sentiments" (in Volume 1) is the one. Written only one year before his death, this work provides a detailed attack on the Calvinist view of Predestination and briefly sets out Arminius' own views on Grace, Predestination, the Free Will of Man, the Perseverance of the Saints (where he sits on the fence) and the Perfection of Believers (where he simply defers to the opinion of Augustine). Arminius' disputation on "The Free Will of Man and its Powers" is the next to read, and for those looking for good short works to read, the "Reply to 31 Defamatory Articles", the "Answer to Nine Questions", the Public and Private Disputations, the "Letter to Hippolytus a Collibus", the "Analysis of Romans 9" and perhaps the "Certain Articles to be Diligently Examined and Weighed" should be turned to (most of which are in Volume 2). When reading the "Certain Articles to be Diligently Examined a

Incredible inspiring writings.

I would highly recommend looking over the writings of mr. arminius. His writings make clear his doctrine and the inspiration of his work is second to none. Incredible Work.-I can vouch for only the writings of arminius himself, not the interpreter; although I have no reason to doubt him