Arminius, Jacob

(1560–1609)

   Theologian.

   Arminius was born in Oudewater, Holland. He was a student of Theodore beza in Geneva, but after an extensive education, he returned to Holland in 1587. He was ordained and served a congregation in Amsterdam. During this period he became increasingly unhappy about the Calvinist doctrine of predestination and he came into sharp conflict with many of his colleagues. In 1603 he was appointed to a chair in theology at the University of Leyden, but he had to vindicate himself against charges of Pelagianism and Socinianism. In this he was successful and he spent the remaining years of his life in Leyden working for the revision of the official doctrines of the Dutch Church. Among his many sympathisers was the theologian Hugo grotius. The theology which goes by the general name of Arminianism is grounded in the conviction that human beings were created with free will and that Jesus Christ died not merely for the elect, but for all humanity. These doctrines have been highly influential on the development of later Protestant theology, and the Calvinist and the Arminian positions have been in frequent conflict.

   C. Bangs, Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation (1971);

   A.W. Harrison, Arminianism (1937).