Chapter 1 Part 1

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 1, Part 1 of 3.

This biography of James Arminius was written in Latin by Caspar Brandt, published by Gerard Brandt in 1724, and translated to English by John Guthrie in 1854.
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THE LIFE OF JAMES ARMINIUS
CHAPTER I. EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION OF ARMINIUS, TILL THE COMMENCEMENT OF HIS MINISTRY IN AMSTERDAM. A.D. 1560 TO A.D. 1588.

OF all the religious controversies which have furnished divines of recent as well as of more ancient note, with fertile matter of debate, not the least prominent, perhaps, is the oft-agitated question respecting divine predestination, and its dependent doctrines. On one side, for example, in that discussion may he found Augustine, and his followers Prosper, Hilary, and Fulgentius; on the other, Chrysostom, Ambrose, and other bishops, both of the Greek and Latin Church: — a fact admitted by all who have more attentively studied the writings of the ancients. Afterwards also, when the influence of Augustine was predominant among the Schoolmen, the question as to what was his meaning, and as to the principle on which his different statements were to be reconciled, was long keenly debated between the Franciscan and Dominican orders. Nay, even in the last century, at the very dawn of the uprising truth, there was a diversity of opinion on this point among the Protestant leaders themselves; one view being held by Luther [Melancthon declares that, on this point, Luther's opinion, latterly at least, coincided with his own:— 'Scis me,' says he 'quaedam minus horride dicere de praedestinatione, de assensu voluntatis, de necessitate obedientise nostrae, de peccato mortali; de his omnibus scio re-ipsa Lutherum sentire eadem, sed ineruditi quaedam ejus phortikwtera dicta, cum non videant quo pertineant, nimium amant.' Epist. p. 445. Edit. 1647. — TR.], Calvin, and Beza, and another by Erasmus, Melancthon, Bullinger, Sarcerius, Latimer, and many other leaders of the Reformed faith. And more, following these last at no great interval, George Sohnius of the University of Heidelberg, Peter Baro of the University of Cambridge, and John Holmann of the Leyden University, three professors of theology; and in the provinces of Friesland, Guelderland, and Holland, Anastasius Veluanus, Hubert Duifhusius (or Dovehouse), Snecanus, and other men of note in these Low Countries, differed from others in their views of this subject, without injury, however, to ecclesiastical peace or brotherly concord.

But when a number of pastors, particularly those who had prosecuted theological studies at Geneva, or in the University of Heidelberg, put forth unremitting and strenuous efforts, in lower Germany, to convert their own harsher opinion on the Divine decrees into law, and either debar dissentients from the sacred office, or, if already in office, to expel them, there was no one, in this century at least, who resisted the attempt so openly and manfully, as JAMES ARMINIUS, doctor and professor of theology, of no mean name, in the University of Leyden, in Holland, upwards of eighty years ago. But, as the reputation of this man has been assailed by many writers, and he himself traduced as Holland's unpropitious star, and as the leader and author of that disgraceful schism which has, in the most grievous manner, convulsed the Reformed churches - in the Low Countries — just as if his object had been to pile up for himself, out of their ruins, a stepway to fame — I may be admitted, perhaps, to have performed no unworthy office to his blessed memory, if, from various and most authentic documents, as many as I could lay my hands upon, I furnish the public with a faithful and compendious memoir of his life.

To commence, then, with his nativity: — JAMES HERMANNS (or HERMANSON) was his original name; but, after the example of Capnio, Erasmus, Melancthon, Sadeel, and other eminent men, who, guided by a similarity either of sound or of signification, adopted other than their original names, he afterwards allowed it to be latinised into ARMINIUS. He was born A.D. 1560, the self-same year that terminated the earthly career of a theologian of highest name, that illustrious ornament of the Reformation — Philip Melancthon, of whom the Emperor Ferdinand is reported to have declared, on being apprised of his death — 'That man was always distinguished for the moderation of his counsels.' [Bucholceri Chronol.] Even so does the Great Disposer control human events; and as in the firmament, while some stars set, others rise; so, in this lower sphere, when one renowned for learning and piety dies, forthwith another arises and takes his place, till at last, from among the crowd of his fellow-mortals, he stands out conspicuous as a star, and in point of mental endowment and moral excellence, will bear comparison with those who have finished their life and their labours.

The birthplace of Arminius was OUDEWATER, which some call Old Waters [Its literal meaning. — TR.], a small town of South Holland, distinguished, not only by the loveliness of its circumjacent plains, and by the Yssel that flows through it, but also, and in the highest degree, by a long siege it sustained against the Spaniards, which terminated in its overthrow and in the barbarous slaughter of its inhabitants. In some elegiac verses addressed to a friend at Delft the subject of our memoir thus celebrates, in a strain of dearly cherished remembrance, the place of his nativity, the home of his fathers: —

Ah fuit in Batavis urbecula finibus olim,
Quse nunc Hispani strata furore jacet.
Huic Undae Veteres posuerunt nomina prima;
Haee mihi nascenti patria terra fuit.

[In English: —
In Holland once (ah! once) there stood a town,
Now by the Spaniard's rage in ruins thrown;
Old Waters named — ne'er be that name forgot !
Scene of life's sunny morn — my natal spot! — TR.]

From this little city which, among other eminently learned men, gave birth also to the great mathematician, Rudolph Snellius, sprung Arminius, of parents respectable indeed, but of moderate means. His father was a cutler, of the name of Hermann Jacobs (or Jacobson). His mother's name was Angelica Jacobson: she belonged originally to Dort. He lost his father in infancy; and his mother, thus prematurely deprived of her partner, was left, with the three children she had by him, to pass her widowed days in somewhat straitened circumstances. There were not wanting, however, kind friends to the widow, who most faithfully acted towards her the part of a husband, and made it their study to assist her by their counsel and their means. Among others there lived at that time, and in the same place, a certain priest of the name of Theodore AEmilius, a man of singular erudition, who stood high among all his fellow-townsmen for the gravity of his manners, and the purity of his life. In his early years he had been imbued with the popular errors and with the superstitions of the Romish Church; but, afterwards, by divine illumination, he conceived a relish for the Reformed doctrine, and at last resolved to abandon at once and for ever the idolatrous sacrifice of the mass, which he had often performed. Wherefore, to escape the hands of persecutors, he removed his abode from place to place; till at last, settling down privately at Utrecht, he took the fatherless boy Arminius under his truly fatherly protection. Finding him apt to learn, and already beaming, at that very tender age, with indications of mind, he took care to get him initiated, at the school of Utrecht, in the elements of both languages, and instilled into him the principles of genuine piety [Ex. Bertii Orat. funeb.]. When, moreover, he saw in the boy evident marks of an excellent and piously inclined disposition, he set himself with special earnestness to stimulate, day by day, his budding intellect and piety by the most salutary admonitions. Above all, he exhorted and urged him again and again, that, putting away and spurning from him every earthly consideration, he should devote himself entirely to God and his conscience; that the life which now is, was of trivial moment, and that it was succeeded by a state of existence beyond, which was not to be estimated by the distinctive badges of temporal bondage or freedom, but by an eternity of weal or of woe. These counsels, and many more of the same character, emanating as they did from a thoroughly sincere and unsophisticated breast, and followed up and confirmed by the diligent perusal and meditation of the sacred volume, remained infixed so deeply and indelibly in his mind, that, inflamed with the hope of that better life and never-ending glory which the venerable old man often pressed upon his attention, he consecrated himself entirely to the pursuit of piety, and the promotion of the divine glory. In the course of a few years, however, while living in this manner at Utrecht, and daily advancing in learning, and in holiness of life, his faithful patron was suddenly snatched from him by the hand of death.