preaching altogether. Such as would not submit to this order, were ignominiously sent into exile, and subjected to other punishments and indignities. Hence many retired to Antwerp, and others to France: and a large body of them emigrated to Holstein, by the invitation of Frederic duke of Holstein, and built the handsome town of Frederickstadt in the duchy of Sleswick. In that town the Arminians still live in tranquillity, and enjoy the free exercise of their religion. The leaders of this colony were men of distinction in Holland, especially Adrian vander Wahl, the first governor of the town of Frederickstadt. Among the clergymen who accompanied this colony, the most distinguished were, the famous Conrad Vorstius, who drew a great deal of odium upon the Arminians by his sentiments, which were none too remote from those of the Socinians; Nicholas Grevinchovius, a man of acuteness, who had been a pastor at Rotterdam; Simon Goulart; John Grevius; Marcus Walther; John Narsius; and others'. § 9. Maurice, under whose government the Arminians suffered so greatly, died in 1625. By the clemency of his brother and successor, Frederick Henry, the Arminian exiles were recalled, and restored to their former reputation and tranquillity. Those therefore returned who had retired to France and to the Spanish Netherlands: and they established congregations distinct from the Reformed, in various places, and particularly at Rotterdam and Amsterdam. In order to have a seminary for their own sect and religion, they founded a distinguished school at Amsterdam; in which two professors train up young men for the ministry, the one teaching theology, and the other history, philosophy, and the learned languages. Simon Episcopius was the first professor of Arminian theology; and since him, these offices have been filled, down to the present time, by men highly famed for learning and genius, namely, Stephen The history of this colony may be learned from the noted Epistolæ præstantium et eruditorum virorum ecclesiastica et theologica, published by Phil. Limborch and Christ. Hartsoecker; the latest ed. Amsterd. 1704. fol. Compare Jo. Möller's Introductio in Histor. Chersonesus Cimbrica, pt. ii. p. 108, &c. and Eric Pontoppidan's Annales Eccle sia Danica Diplomatici, tom. iii. p. 714, &c. 1 Concerning Vorstius, Jo. Möller, treats very fully, in his Cimbria Litterata, tom. ii. p. 931, &c. He also treats expressly of the other persons here mentioned; Ibid. tom. ii. p. 242. 247. 249. 255. 576. Curcellæus, Arnold Poellenburg, Philip Limborch, John le Clerc, Adrian van Cattenburgh, and John James Wetstein. § 10. The Remonstrants, as we have seen, differed at first from the Reformed in nothing, except the five propositions concerning grace and predestination; and it was on this ground that they were condemned at the synod of Dort. They moreover so explained those five propositions, that they seemed to teach precisely what the Lutherans do. But from the time of the synod of Dort, and still more, after the exiles were allowed 2 Of these and the other Armenian writers, Adrian van Cattenburgh treats expressly, in his Bibliotheca Scriptorum Remonstrantium, Amsterd. 1728. 4to. [Episcopius was born at Amsterdam, a pupil of Arminius, and after the deposition of Vorstius, his successor at Leyden; an eloquent and acute man, who being full of theological scepticism, began to question many of the received opinions, e. g. the doctrine of original sin. He died in 1643, as professor in the Arminian Gymnasium at Amsterdam. His life, written by Limborch, and his writings, were published by Curcellæus and Poelenburg, Amsterd. 1650. 1665. 2 vols. fol.-Curcellæus, (Courcelles) was born at Geneva, of French parentage, and carly showed a propensity towards Arminianism, which he defended against the decrees of Dort. He died in 1659, an Arminian professor at Amsterdam. His theological works were published collectively by Limborch. Amsterd. 1675. fol. His fine edition of the Greek New Testament, with various readings, is well known.-Pöllenburg was born at Horn, in the Netherlands, where he became a preacher. Thence he was removed to Amsterdam as a preacher; was made successor to Curcellus in his professorship there, and died in 1666.-Limborch was brother's grandson to Simon Episcopius, first a preacher at Gouda, and then at Amsterdam, and lastly professor there; where he also died in 1712. He was a modest theologian, who united great learning with extraordinary clearness of style in his writings. This is manifest by his Theologia Christiana. Also his Amica Collatio cum erudito Judo de Veritate Religionis Christiana, his Historia Inquisitionis, and his collection of the R. Epistles of Remonstrants, are important works; as likewise his very temperately written Relatio Historica de Origine et Progressu Controversiar. in Foederato Belgio de Prædestinatione et capitib. annexis.-Le Clerc was born and educated at Geneva, and professor of Hebrew, philosophy, and the fine arts, and afterwards of church history, in the Arminian Gymnasium at Amsterdam; and died in 1736, aged 79. His Epistola Theologice, under the name of Liberius de S. Amore; Sentimens de quelques Théologiens d'Hollande sur l'Histoire Critique du V. T. par Simon; his Journals (periodical works, containing analyses and reviews of works, with original essays interspersed,) namely, Bibliothèque Universelle et Historique, (1686–1693, in 26 dense vols. 12mo.) Bibliothèque Choisie, (1703-1713, in 28 vols. 12mo.) Bibliothèque Ancienne et Moderne, (1714 -1727, in 29 vols. 12mo.) his Commentaries on the Old Testament; Ars Critica; Harmony of the Gospels; Histoire des Provinces unies de Pays bas, (from 1560 to 1728, in 3 vols. fol. -his Historia Litteraria duorum primorum a Christo Sæculorum, 1716. 4to.) and his editions of classical and other authors, have procured him a great name among the learned.--Cattenburgh was professor of theology in the Arminian Gymnasium at Amsterdam till the year 1730. He wrote Bibliotheca Scriptorum Remonstrantium; Spicilegium Theologiæ Christiana Limborchiance; and some works explanatory of the Bible.-Wetstein succeeded Le Clerc, after being deposed at Basle, and died in 1754, (aged 61). His critical edition of the New Testament, (1751-2, in 2 vols. fol.) is well known. Schl.] to return to their country, they professed an entirely new species of religion, different from the views of all other sects of christians. For most of them not only gave such an explanation of these propositions as seemed to differ very little from the views of those who deny that a man needs any divine aid in order to his conversion and living a holy life; but they also lowered down very much most of the doctrines of christianity by subjecting them to the modifications of reason and ingenuity. James Arminius, the parent of the sect, undoubtedly invented this form of theology, and taught it to his followers; but it 3 It is a common opinion, that the early Arminians, who flourished before the synod of Dort, were much purer and more sound than the later ones, who lived and taught after that council; and that Arminius himself only rejected Calvin's doctrine of absolute decrees, and its necessary consequences, while in every thing else he agreed with the Reformed but that his disciples, and especially Episcopius, boldly passed the limits which their master had wisely established, and went over to the camp of the Pelagians and Socinians. But it appears to me very clear, that Arminius himself revolved in his own mind, and taught to his disciples, that form of religion which his followers afterwards professed; and that the latter, especially Episcopius, only perfected what their master taught them, and casting off fear, explained it more clearly. I have as a witness, besides others of less authority, Arminius himself; who, in his Will, drawn up a little before his death, explicitly declares, that his aim was to bring all sects of christians, with the exception of the Papists, into one community and brotherhood. We will cite his words, from Peter Bertius' Funeral Oration on Arminius, p. 15. "Ea proposui atque docui quæ ad propagationem, amplificationemque veritatis, religionis christianæ, veri Dei cultus, communis pietatis, et sanctæ inter homines conversationis, denique ad convenientem christiano nomini tranquillitatem et pacem juxta verbum Dei possent conferre, excludens ex iis Papatum, cum quo nulla unitas fidei, nullum pietatis aut christianæ pacis vinculum servari potest." Now what, I ask, is this, but that very Arminianism of more recent times, a which extends so wide the boundaries of the christian church, that all sects may live harmoniously within them, whatever opinions they may hold, except only the professors of the Romish religion?-[The opinion, that Arminius himself was very nearly orthodox, and not an Arminian, in the common acceptation of the term, has been recently advocated by professor Stuart of Andover, in an article expressly On the Creed of Arminius; in the Biblical Repository, No. II. Andover, 1831. See p. 293 and 301. To such conclusion the learned professor is led, principally, by an artful and imposing statement, made by Arminius to the magistrates of Holland in the year 1608, one year before his death, on which Mr. Stuart puts the most favourable construction the words will bear. But from a careful comparison of this declaration of Arminius with the original Five Articles of the Arminian creed, (which were drawn up almost in the very words of Arminius, so early as the year 1610, and exhibited by the Remonstrants in the conference at Hague in 1611; and were afterwards, together with a full explanation and vindication of each article, laid before the synod of Dort in 1617, changing, however, the dubitation of the fifth article into a positive denial of the saints' perseverance ;) it will, I think, appear manifest, that Arminius himself actually differed from the orthodox of that day on all the five points; and that he agreed substantially with the Remonstrants on all those doctrines for which they were condemned in the synod of Dort. And that such was the fact, appears to have been assumed without hesitation, by the principal was Simon Episcopius, the first master in the Arminian school after its founder, and a very ingenious man, who digested and polished it, and reduced it to a regular system *. § 11. The whole system of the Remonstrants is directed to this one simple object, to unite the hearts of christians, who are divided by a variety of sentiments and opinions, and to gather them into one fraternity or family, notwithstanding they may differ in many points of doctrine and worship. To accomplish this object, they maintain that Christ does not require of his followers to believe much, but to do much, or to cultivate love and virtue: and they give a very broad definition of a true christian. For, according to them, every person belongs to the kingdom of Christ, who-I. receives the holy Scriptures, and particularly the New Testament, as the rule of his faith, whatever may be the interpretation he gives to those books:-II. is opposed to the worship of many gods, and to whatever is connected with such an abomination:-III. leads an upright life, conformable to the divine law: and IV. never troubles or disturbs those who differ from him on religious subjects, or who interpret the books of the New Testament in a different manner from what he does. By these principles a wide door is opened to all who honour Christ, though differing widely in sentiments, to enter into the Arminian communion. Yet the papists are excluded from it because they think it right to persecute and to put to death such as oppose the Romish prelate'. And, indeed, if other christians would abide writers of that and following age, both Remonstrants and Contra-Remonstrants. Tr.] 4 A life of this celebrated man, which is well worth reading, was composed by Philip Limborch, and first published in Dutch, and then, more full and complete, in Latin, Amsterd. 1701. 8vo. 5 In place of all others, may here be read, the tract of Simon Episcopius, entitled: Verus Theologus Remonstrans, sice Vera Remonstrantium Theologia de errantibus dilucida declaratio; which is extant in his Opera, tom. i. p. 508, &c. and like the rest of his productions, is neatly and perspicuously written. John le Clerc sums up the doctrines of his sect, in the Dedication of his Latin translation of Hammond's New Testa- "Ils se by these precepts, the great diversities of opinion among them would, clearly, be no obstacle to their mutual love and concord. § 12. It hence appears, that the Arminian community was composed of persons of various descriptions; and that it had, properly, no fixed and stable form of religion, or to use a common phrase, no system of religion. They would not, indeed, wish to be thought destitute of a bond of union; and therefore they show us a sort of Confession of faith, drawn up with sufficient neatness, by Simon Episcopius, for the most part in the very words of the sacred writers; and which they represent as their formula and rule of faith. But as none of their teachers are so tied to this formula, by oath or promise, as not to be at liberty to depart from it; and on the contrary, as every one, from the constitution of the sect, is allowed to construe it according to his own pleasure,-and it is capable of different expositions, it must be manifest, that we cannot determine at all, from this Confession, what they approve and what they reject. And hence their public teachers advance very different sentiments respecting the most weighty doctrines of the christian religion'. Nor do they, in almost any thing, take one fixed and uniform course, except in regard to the doctrines of predestination and grace. For they all continue to assert, most carefully, though in a very different manner from their fathers, the doctrine which excluded their ancestors from the pale of the Reformed church; namely, that the love of God embraces the whole human race, and that no one perishes through any eternal and insuperable decree of God, but all merely by their own fault. Whoever attacks this doctrine, attacks the whole school or sect: but one who may assail any other doctrines contained in the writings of Arminians, must know that he has no controversy with the Arminian church, çoivent l'Ecriture Sainte comme la seule règle de la foi et des mœurs, et qui ne sont ni idolâtres, ni persecuteurs." This Confession is extant in Latin, Dutch, and German. The Latin may be seen in the Works of Episcopius, tom. ii. pt. ii. p. 69; where also, p. 97, may be seen an Apology for this Confession, by the same Episcopius, written against the divines of the university of Leyden. 7 This any one may see, with his own eyes, by only comparing together the writings of Episcopius, Curcellæus, Limborch, Le Clerc, and Cattenburgh, [Those Arminians who agree with the Reformed in all doctrinal points, except the Five Articles contained in their remonstrance, are, for distinetion's sake, called Quinquarticulans. Schl.] |