Friday, December 12, 2008

Chapter 2 Part 3

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 2, Part 3 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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A few days, then, previous to the arrival of Uitenbogaert, on the occasion of having decided to give a call to Jeremias Basting, the honourable senators had signified, in no ambiguous terms, that nothing would be more agreeable to their wish than that a grave deliberation should be entered into by the Classical Court, as to the propriety of calling, in addition to Basting, that very eloquent minister of the Church in the Hague, of whom they affirmed that they had some reason to believe he would accede to the call. The court accordingly met to consider this matter on the 14th of January; and on each being asked to give his conscientious opinion on this proposal of the honourable senators, up rose Plancius first of all, and declared 'That he had heard some things concerning Uitenbogaert which furnished ground to suspect that on certain doctrines of the Christian faith he was not decided, particularly on the doctrine of original sin, which he was reported to have said, received no countenance from the passage in the fifth chapter of Romans, and the others commonly cited. Farther, that Uitenbogaert had sometimes, in his presence, mooted certain doubts respecting several questions in the Catechism; that on one occasion he had declared of a certain Arian book, that it was unanswerable; and that he wished he could see the book of Coornhert satisfactorily refuted. That in addition to all this, it was rumoured that he held the same view with Arminius on the seventh chapter of the Romans; and, consequently, that to call that man, particularly at that tune, would not tend much to the good of the church.' [Ex schedulis MS. Arminii.].

To these and similar aspersions thus openly promulgated, and seriously implicating the character of an absent friend, whom he loved as a brother, Arminius fearlessly opposed himself; and showed that the charges above specified rested upon mere suspicions, and would at once vanish into smoke as soon as Uitenbogaert was present to speak for himself. Arminius, accordingly, and a few others, gave it as their opinion that the proposal of the senators should be agreed to, and that Uitenbogaert himself be directly treated with in the matter. But their counsel was rejected, it being carried by a majority of votes to request the senators, through delegates to be appointed at that meeting, to allow them to carry into effect the proposed call to Basting; and to intimate to them at the same time, that the classis had reasons satisfactory to itself for judging that the idea of calling that minister of the Hague was one which ought to be abandoned. These delegates, moreover — consisting of two of the elders, Thomas Kronenburg, and John de Vry, men of the highest respectability, and of senatorial dignity — were empowered to disclose the considerations mentioned above, should the senators press it.

As soon as Uitenbogaert received some inkling of the affair, though he had come to Amsterdam specially for the sake of Arminius, and of the church in that city, he was nevertheless unwilling to let the occasion slip without taking measures to vindicate his own character. Wherefore, falling upon Peter Plancius, the fabricator of those wicked suspicions which some had conceived against him, he entered into a serious expostulation with him in respect to every particular, and reduced him to such straits that he pleaded guilty of imprudence, and pledged his faith that he would inform the Church Court of all that had passed between him and Uitenbogaert. This promise he implemented on the 23rd of the same month, in the presence of the whole classis; on which, that body commissioned the same delegates who had previously met with the senators, to intimate, in name of their entire meeting, to the honourable magistrates of the city, that all those doubts which some had started respecting Uitenbogaert had vanished, after he and Plancius had been brought face to face.

Having briefly and cursorily disposed of this circumstance respecting Uitenbogaert, it now remains that we proceed to trace the progress and issue of this affair for the settlement of which he had undertaken a winter's journey — as yet without any satisfactory result. In this conjuncture, then, of ecclesiastical affairs, it pleased the supreme rulers of the city to call Uitenbogaert — who was already on the eve of returning home — and the Rev. John Taffin into the council-hall, and make inquiry into the state of the whole matter, and the steps thus far they had taken in regard to it. This mandate these two ministers most promptly obeyed; and after explaining everything which seemed to bear on the case, with a courteous farewell, and an exchange of grateful acknowledgments, they took their leave.

Shortly after, when the annual change of magistrates had taken place, and Uitenbogaert set out for the Hague, the new senators, Reiner Cant, William Bardes, Corn. Flor. van Teilingen, and Nic. F. Oetgenius a Waveren, cited before them all the ministers of religion, in a body, on the 11th of February, at three o'clock in the afternoon; and that the matter might be transacted with the greater authority and effect, they asked the presence also of these very influential persons, P. Bomius, Corn. P. Hoofdius, and Barthold Cromhout, who had just retired from the office of chief magistrates of the city [Ex schedulis MS. Arminii.]. The ministers having arrived at the time appointed, the. senators intimated to them, through Cant, who was in the chair, 'that they had perceived with pain from their public ministrations, and that for a considerable time back, as well as from the complaints of several citizens, that they were not at peace among themselves. Dissensions of that kind must be checked in the bud, lest they should issue in results disastrous to the Church, and even to the Republic itself. Tho honourable senators, therefore, in consideration of the office with which they were entrusted, wished and enjoined that the ministers would diligently apply themselves henceforth to the cultivation of peace and harmony, of which they had hitherto stood forth as an example to other Churches; and avoid giving any one occasion, by their declamatory statements, to suspect that some serious contentions were fostered amongst them. But if they did happen to differ on some points, it was lawful for them to institute amongst themselves private and friendly conferences on such topics; only, they must see to it that these differences do not find their way from the Ecclesiastical Court into the pulpit, and thence to the public. Should they fail in this duty, they (the senators) would be obliged to have recourse to other remedies, that no harm might accrue to the Church and the Republic.'

To these counsels, after having retired a little for deliberation, the ministers replied, through the Rev. J. Ambrosius, 'That they were in the highest degree grateful to the honourable senators for their care of the Amsterdam Church. For themselves, they were actuated by a most intense desire to preserve peace, which they had now cultivated for thirteen years, and had never afforded ground to any one for thinking otherwise of them. But if any one of their number felt himself to be chargeable with the above-named delinquency, his duty it was to rid himself of it. Hitherto it had been their strenuous endeavour to adjust, if possible by friendly conferences, the difference that had arisen between Arminius and the classis; and to that matter, and consequently to the restoration of peace, they would forthwith give their best attention.' [Ex schedul. MS. Arminii.].

Arminius, having obtained leave to speak, then addressed himself to the senators, and solemnly protested, 'That in expounding the seventh chapter of the Romans, in a way different from that adopted by many of the Reformed, he had not taught, nor did he wish to teach, anything whatever that was in any respect at variance with the Confession and Palatine Catechism. He had not entertained a doubt that it would be free to him, in the exercise of that liberty to discuss sacred subjects which belonged to all Christians and Christian teachers whatsoever, to expound this or that passage of Scripture according to the dictates of conscience. Further, since the hinge of the existing difference turned mainly on this point, that some thought his opinion of that passage opposed to the received ecclesiastical formularies, and that this was a charge of which he could be easily convicted, he, for his part, held himself in readiness, for the vindication of his name, to enter into a conference with his compeers; but he earnestly entreated that such conference should take place in the presence of the senators themselves, or their delegates; for he anticipated that the issue of this case would be more satisfactory were these influential men to be present, not as witnesses merely, but as moderators and righteous arbiters in respect to all that might be advanced on either side.'

The Rev. J. Kuchlinus, on hearing this, instantly arose, and after some prefatory reference to the fidelity with which he himself had discharged his duty for thirteen years, begged, in opposition to Arminius, that the conference in question, of which many were so solicitous, might, according to the usage of the Church, be entered into in presence of the classis alone. At length both sides having been heard with the utmost attention, the ministers were ordered to retire for a little; and after gravely deliberating on the matter, the honourable Cant intimated to them, in name of the whole of that august body, 'That it was the opinion and decree of the honourable senators, that the Church Court should allow this whole matter to rest, and permit whatever discussions had arisen out of it up to this time to be consigned to oblivion. A fresh conference upon it did not appear to them to be suitable, or likely to do good. They (the ministers) must henceforth be on their guard lest any of them should give vent to new doctrines from the pulpit. Should any of them have opinions in which they differed from other divines, and on which they boasted a profounder knowledge, it would be incumbent on them to reserve these to themselves, and to talk them over in a friendly manner with their compeers. Meanwhile, those who think differently, and who cannot be convinced of error, must be calmly forborne with until the points in dispute be decided by the authority of some council.' This decree of the chief rulers was followed up by a very grave and serious admonition from Cant himself, and W. Bardes, to cultivate that fraternal harmony and peace by which they were wont to be distinguished; after listening to which, the ministers expressed their acknowledgements and withdrew.

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