Reformed v. Arminian--Historical Background

I'm going to try to attempt to explain these 2 camps by giving historical background and then comparing and contrasting the 2 views. This will take several blog posts. And I'm not convinced that I will do this justice. But I want to try:


First, I would like to give some historical context. And then in later posts, I would like to define and touch on the differences in the points of the 2 camps.

It was 1618 and a controversy had arisen in the Dutch church over the teachings of Arminius and his followers who had raised some objections to the Belgic Confession and to the teachings of John Calvin. These objections were formulated into a document called The Remonstrance of 1610.


The Remonstrance had 5 points.
1. Partial human depravity
2. The election on the basis of foreseen faith
3. Universal atonement
4. Resistible grace and
5. The possibility of lapse from grace


A council convened at Dordrecht to settle the controversy. This council is known as the Synod of Dort. The Council concluded with the rejection of these views and set forth 5 points to answer the 5 points of The Remonstrance. These 5 counter-points have also been called the 5 points of Calvinism.


Here are the 5 points as spelled out in the response to The Remonstrance
1. Total human depravity
2. Unconditional Election
3. Limited Atonement
4. Irresistible grace
5. Perseverance of the Saints.


Together they form the acronym T-U-L-I-P.