Chapter 13 Part 2

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 13, Part 2 of 3 (p. 306-310).

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.
--------------------

As during his life, so after his death, he underwent judgments, on the part of many, of the most conflicting kind. Scarcely had Peter Bertius paid the last honours to him in a funeral oration, when Gomarus broke out against his deceased colleague, and the eulogiser of his virtues; and in a treatise which he published against him, he detracted much from the merits of both. Yea, the very poem in which the honourable Hugh Grotius had celebrated Arminius, was to him a great eyesore; the following verses, in particular, drew from him some bitter remarks:

Indigniore parte fractus et languens,
Meliore sospes, ilia millibus multis
Monstrata per te regna SOLUS arderes.

['Broken and powerless in thy meaner part (the body,) but sound in thy nobler part (the soul,) thou wert all on fire (TOTUS arderes) to gain those heavenly kingdoms to which, to many thousands, thou hadst pointed the way.' Such was the meaning of Grotius. But the blundering substitution, by the printer, of 'SOLUS,' 'alone,' for 'TOTUS,' 'entire,' made him represent Arminius as the only man of his order who cherished those heavenly aspirations. We have given a metrical version of (Grotius's Elegiac poem at the end. The part here quoted will be found in the 19th and 20th stanzas.—TR.]

That word SOLUS had excited much ill-feeling against this most celebrated poet, and also in relation to Arminius himself; the truth being, that owing to the negligence of the compositor, or some other who superintended the publication, that word had crept in, TOTUS being the word which should have occupied its place,—a circumstance of which Grotius himself informed Gomarus in the following letter (now published for the first time), in which he appropriately takes upon himself the defence of his elegiac poem:—

'To that Reverend and most distinguished man, Francis Gomarus, professor of theology in the Leyden Academy:

'I suppose, Reverend Sir, that you have seen my verses on the death of Arminius, in which if there be anything that has pleased you, it will be very gratifying to me. But what has, I understand, proved displeasing to you, is also, I assure you, displeasing to me. I had written to the effect that your colleague, overwhelmed as he was with affliction towards the end, was altogether (totum), meaning as far as in him lay, inflamed with the desire of the better life in heaven. What evil hand it was that out of my word totus (whole) made solus (sole) I do not know; a mistake so foolish, as it appears to me, that it can admit of no good sense. Whoever he is, I marvel at his audacity and stupidity in being so awkwardly officious in regard to the production of another. And even if any emendation had been required, I ought to have been consulted. Immediately after the publication, I uttered the complaint to the most learned Heinsius, and other friends, that my publishers had betrayed in this place a lack of fidelity, as in many other places they had betrayed a lack of diligence.

'At all events, what I proposed to myself in praising Arminius was this, that to the man to whom when living I could refuse no kind of service, (for I knew him, though only as I knew many others, without being on terms of close intimacy,) I should, now that he is dead, render this tribute, — which I was conscious of being able with all sincerity to do, — to that far-from-ordinary cast of genius, and transparent kind of eloquence which I always admired in him. I added that both in those things in which he defended the truth so strenuously against the Pope, and in those other things in which it was more possible for him to err, he did nothing from a hardened impulse contrary to the dictates of conscience. This was a judgment which charity dictated to me; as also that other, namely, that Arminius, particularly as death drew near, had bent his wishes towards the peace of the Church.

'But as to the points of difference between you and Arminius, and between many good men, with these I am neither sufficiently acquainted, nor, if I were, would I rashly intermeddle. That matter has its own appropriate judges. To us, occupied as we are with other things, it is allowable, as I trust, with the kind favour of God, to continue ignorant in respect to many things, and in respect to many others to withhold our assent. But although I do not build on human authority, this nevertheless I am free to avow, that in those points on which I entertain doubt, it is not easy for me to become wrenched from the opinions of those whom the Church has hitherto acknowledged to have been the pioneers of her restored purity. Many precepts, in particular, of Doctor Francis Junius, whose memory I hold sacred, remain indelibly in my mind. But then, in all such controversies I invariably incline to that side which attributes most to divine grace, and least to ourselves. These dissensions grieve me; but the Church has never been long without them, and never will. It remains that we bear one with another, and that, among the many things which human infirmity renders uncertain, we hold those for certain on which rests the hope of our salvation.

'Meanwhile, Reverend Sir, I pray God that he may direct your labours towards that which I doubt not is your aim — the tranquillity of the Church and the confirmation of sound doctrine.

'One who regards your name with the utmost respect,

'H. Grotius.'

But those same adversaries with whom he had so often, on past occasions, come into collision, treading in the footsteps of Gomarus, traduced him as 'a man, indeed, of somewhat practised intellect, but whom nothing pleased except what recommended itself by some appearance of novelty; so much so, that he appeared to loathe many doctrines received in the churches, even on this very ground, that they had been received.' [Praefat. Synodi. Dordac.]. Among strangers, too, were found some who, misled by a certain blind prejudice, and attributing undue importance to the clamours of sundry zealots, characterised him as 'an enemy of God; a man of crafty intellect; who had done all things dexterously; who, Ham-like, had exposed the nakedness of his fathers; and who, in a detestable manner, through the side of the holiest leaders of the Reformation, had dealt a stab at the very body of the Reformed Church.' John Hoornbeck writes that Arminius was much too confident in his own speculations, and showed himself much too eager to demolish all else. And more: appropriating the words of Tacitus, he calls him a covenant-breaker who, forswearing the faith which he had pledged both to God and the Church, had begun, first secretly, then openly, both by himself, and by his disciples and abettors, to disturb and subvert the faith of the churches, and the doctrine of Christ; and not the churches only, but civil politics also, in his nefarious attempt; and that he would have succeeded, had not God interposed his aid at that perilous crisis [Vide Arn. Poelenb. Epist. ad C. H. in qua liber 8. summae controversiarum Hoornbeequii, refellitur Amstelod. 1655. pag. 5.].

Chapter 13 Part 1

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 13, Part 1 of 3 (p. 300-305).

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.
--------------------

CHAPTER XIII.

SKETCH OF THE PERSON AND CHARACTER OF ARMINIUS; WITH A VARIETY OF TESTIMONIES IN REGARD TO HIM BOTH FROM FRIENDS AND FOES. A.D. 1609.

On the day on which Arminius was interred, Peter Bertius, regent of the theological college, and a most accomplished man, publicly conducted the solemnities by a funeral oration in honour of Arminius, in the theological hall. In this oration (from which, in the present little work, we have very freely drawn,) he gives some brief account of the life and excellences of the deceased; adding towards the close, that his blessed memory ought to be embalmed in the Christian Church, with this elogium: 'There lived in Holland a man, whom they that did not know him could not sufficiently esteem; whom they who did not esteem him had never sufficiently known.'

The same kind office which Bertius performed in his prose oration, was also publicly rendered in song by these world-renowned men and consummate poets, Dominic Baud and Hugh Grotius, whose elegiac poems we have subjoined at the close of this memoir. To these we add a distinguished little poem of Daniel Heinsius, omitted in the collection of his poems, — for what reasons, it is not difficult to conjecture, — in which, by means of a comparison which he institutes between Arminius, the champion of the ancient liberty of the Batavians, and our Arminius, he thus celebrates, in a strain of singular elegance, the service rendered by the latter in withstanding the tyranny of the Romanists:—

'In Obitum Rev. D. Jacobi Arminii, Summi Pontificiorum Oppugnatoris.'

'Ingentem Dominum rerum Martisque nepotem
Germanus olim fregit Armini vigor,
Ausus inaccessam Romano opponere gentem,
Nihil timere doctus et fortis mori.
Horruit et nostro Tiberis se subdidit Albi,
Martisque gentem faedus invasit timor.
Quintiliae cecidere acies, terramque momordit
Ferox juventus, unico minor viro.
Nunc alter Batavo de sanguine fortis et acer,
Et veritate armatus, et fandi potens.
Mendacem invasit sublimi pectore Romam,
Sic fuit in fatis: laudem hanc Germinia servas,
Bis Roma nostros non tulisti Arminios.'

[The name of this ancient patriot was Hermann (i.e., chiefman, or chieftain), latinised by Tacitus and other Roman historians into Arminius. He flourished at the very commencement of our era, and withstood the power of imperial Rome in many a hard-fought field. The particular exploit here alluded to was the total destruction, by the hand of Arminius and his German warriors, of three Roman legions under Quintilius Varus, who, with their general, fell almost to a man in the woody pass of the Teutoburger Wald — an event which struck terror into the heart of Rome, the aged Emperor Augustus calling out in his grief for Varus to give him back his legions. This will sufficiently explain the allusions that occur in this little piece, the conception of which was furnished by the coincidence in the two names, and in Rome being in each case the party opposed. The versification is exquisite to a degree which renders translation an uninviting and somewhat perilous task. But for the sake of the English reader, in whose special service we are now engaged, we will adventure the following:—

On the death of the Rev. Doctor James Arminius, a renowned opposer of the Papists.

Rome's lordly legions, sprung of Mars,
Of old the valiant Hermann broke;
Untaught to fear, untamed by wars,
The dauntless Germans spurned the yoke.
Old Tiber, trembling at the shock,
Bowed to our Elbe his crested pride;
Hosts melted under Hermann's stroke.
The flower of Rome in battle died;
And Varus' legions sunk undone,
Crushed by the giant might of one.

Behold another Hermann strong!
A Hermann of Batavian blood;
Begirt with truth, of golden tongue,
And lofty, lion hearted mood;
Apostate Rome he well withstood;
But now in death our hero sleeps,—
So Heaven decreed, all-wise and good,—
And o'er his tomb Germania weeps;
But 'Rome!' she boasts, 'Thou Queen of pride!
Thee have my Hermanns twice defied.'—TR.]

It now remains that we subjoin a brief sketch of Arminius, descriptive at once of his person and his mind. In bodily stature he did not exceed the medium size. His eyes were black and sparkling, indicating acuteness of mind and genius. His countenance was serene. His bodily temperament was sanguineous; his limbs wall compacted, and at the prime of life, somewhat robust. His voice was slender, indeed, but sweet, musical, and sharp. He was eloquent in an admirable degree: if any subject was to be embellished, if any discussed, it was done with distinctness; the pronunciation and intonation of voice being thoroughly adapted to the sense [Baudart Hist.]. As respects his general bearing, he was courteous and affable towards all, respectful to superiors, hospitable, cheerful, — and noway disinclined among his friends to harmless sallies of wit, by way of mental relaxation; but in all that constitutes the man of gravity, the Christian, and the consummate teacher of the church, as far as human infirmity could permit, he was second to none. He adored with profound veneration the supreme and ever-blessed God; and never allowed a day to pass without pious meditation, and perusal of the Sacred Scriptures, making a commencement with fervid prayers; and in order to make the greater progress in the cultivation of piety, and the truth, he occasionally followed up these prayers with fasting. He wished to be, rather than to appear pious; and regarded nothing as of greater moment than to regulate all his actions, not by the opinion of others, but by the dictate of a pure conscience; and to confirm by his own example the truth of his own maxim, in which he pre-eminently delighted: 'Bona Conscientia Paradisus' — 'A Good Conscience is a Paradise.'

As respects the cultivation of piety, and the regard to be paid to conscience, he also acknowledged that much on his part was due to the ecclesiastical function to which, in the very flower of his youth he had already been destined. For this reason, he marked off for special castigation those persons who, — as if they bore universal knowledge about with them locked up in the cabinet of their own breast, — judged themselves entitled, on being asked their opinion on any subject, to speak forth none other than oracular utterances to be received with open ears and obsequious minds. No object, moreover, lay nearer to his heart than to see the brands of discord extinguished, and the convulsed Christian community brought back to an agreement of mutual forbearance as respects controversies which do not shake the foundations of the true soul-saving faith. So intense was this desire, that the intemperate rage of denouncing dissentients, how trivial soever the point of difference, in matters of religious opinion, not unfrequently brought the tears to his eyes. Hence he often repeated, with deep emotion, the lament of Hilary, 'that while one is launching anathemas upon another, and driving him from the communion of the Church, scarcely a single soul is gained to Christ.' [Uitenb. Hist. pag. 483.].

He rarely indulged in rhetorical garniture, and in the fragrant fineries of the Greeks, either because his nature was averse to such artifices, or because he deemed it derogatory to the majesty of divine things to call into requisition those classic names and adscititious embellishments, when the naked truth was sufficient for its own defence. He set a high value, however, as appears from his correspondence with Drusius [Epist. Eccles. pag. 33.], on the knowledge of the Hebrew and Oriental literature, by which not only the phrases of the sacred language, but also the antiquities of the ancient church of the Jews, with their rites, manners, and customs, both sacred and civil, might be discovered and explained. This he judged useful, and necessary to the ideal of a consummate theologian; and with those who attached little importance to these and kindred studies, he was in no small measure displeased. A keen debater on points connected with religion, and expert in using the subtilties of adversaries against themselves, he was in other respects disinclined to controversy, when no necessity for it existed; and he strove to make every doctrine, and all the powers of his mind and genius, subserve the aim of leading a life worthy of a Christian man. There was no air of haughtiness in his teaching; he was a mild and perspicuous interpreter of his thoughts; in argument circumspect; and so little inclined to self-confidence, that he refused to gratify the wishes of his importunate friends when they urged him to publish some work he had composed. On this very account, indeed, he was, wont to tax with no small measure of imprudence his eminent colleague, L. Trelcatius, junior, for having published, in his youthful years, A Body of Christian Theology in which, in his judgment, he had written many things, indeed, well, but many more that were little in harmony with the Sacred Scriptures [Arminii Epist. ad Uitenb. 3 Kal. Septemb. 1604].

Chapter 12 Part 3

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 12, Part 3 of 3 (p. 289-299).

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.
--------------------

But as the shattered health of Arminius, which betrayed itself by too evident symptoms under this very conference, appeared unable to sustain any longer the effort of debate, it pleased the States to break it short. They also ordered the disputants to deliver each his own opinion, drawn up in writing, with the arguments on which it rested, and a refutation of the contrary, within the space of fourteen days; to remain in possession of the States till the Provincial Synod. There were present at the Conference from the city of Amsterdam, the honourable rulers, Jacob Boelius Cornelius P. F. Hoofdius, Cronhout, Sebestian Egberts, Jonas Witzen, and Elb. Verius, Syndic of Amsterdam [Ex Epist. vernacula Jac Arminii ad R. Episcop. 26 Aug. 1609.]. After the conference had thus come to a close, it further seemed good to the States, to summon before them apart, the assessors of each doctor, that they might severally state their opinions, not only in regard to the importance of these controversies, but also as to the remedies by which they might be allayed. On this point, however, there was the utmost diversity of sentiment. Those who stood by Gomarus exaggerated the importance of the controversies, and indicated no remedy other than the convocation, as speedily as possible, of a Provincial or National Synod. On the other hand, the assessors and coadjutors of Arminius, on being heard by themselves, gave it as their opinion, that 'that question concerning justification was either of no importance, or at most of very trivial importance, and could be settled without difficulty, if acrimony and ill-will were but laid aside, and due homage paid to peace and truth. With regard to the opinion of Arminius concerning Predestination, and questions therewith connected, considering that it was in harmony with Sacred Scripture, as well as simple, easily intelligible, and free of subtleties, they thought that it commended itself as much the better adapted of the two for the ends of consolation and instruction. In favour of Arminius was the entire tenor of the gospel; while the opinion of Gomarus transcended the gospel: and he himself, in a certain thesis, had ultroneously confessed that the doctrine of predestination, as he taught it, did not, properly speaking, pertain to the gospel.

The Rev. J. Uitenbogaert next, in name of all the rest, discoursed, in an oration replete with varied erudition and eloquence, concerning the causes of the growing dissensions, and how they were to be remedied; what care in these controversies belonged to the States; and how far in this matter their power extended [Vide Orationem hanc in Uitenbog. His. lib. 3. p. 480.]. But particularly in regard to the Synod, which most believed to be the sheet-anchor of the imperilled Church, he declared 'that it was by no means useless, yea, that it might, according to the state of times and circumstances, be necessary, provided care were taken to prevent, — what the famous Beza elsewhere affirmed of the assemblies of the Ancient Church, — the devil from acting in it as president; to foreclose which danger there did not exist any remedy more effectual, than that the illustrious Rulers, according to the authority which they possessed, should convoke a Synod thoroughly free and just, in which not only Arminius and Gomarus, but all who may happen to have some doubts and strictures on the controversies referred to, may be fully heard, and their reasons duly weighed according to the Sacred Volume. It ought, moreover, to be taken into consideration what was the aim which that Synod should, propose to itself. Under the impulse of that prejudiced sentiment and high tide of excitement by which at this time they were borne along, the greater part had this only as the object of their desire, that the majority should condemn the minority, and pronounce judgment in reference to these controversies in a manner altogether definitive and peremptory; and what sort of evils would thenceforth rush from that fountain, no candid discerner of events could be at a loss to conjecture. This Synod, therefore, ought to be convened for friendly conference between parties opposed to each other on controverted points, and to see whether they might not be able to agree among themselves. But if there seemed nothing to warrant the hope that this matter would be disposed of so promptly, and at one assembly, the safety of the State and Church would be best consulted were the illustrious States, by a formula of mutual forbearance on points that are less essential, to put an end in some measure, if only for a time, to such ecclesiastical contentions.'

Shortly after these transactions, Gomarus transmitted in writing, within the time prescribed by the States, those opinions which he had orally defended before their assembly [Prefat. Act. Synod.]. Arminius, however, on being conveyed home from the Hague, had scarcely composed himself to the task of obeying the mandates of the rulers, when the disease in its malignant form again attacked him anew, and that with an aggravated severity proportioned to the increased intensity it had gained from a harassed mind and debilitated energies. But he in the highest degree consoled himself, according to God and the testimony of his conscience, with this one reflection, that in the supreme Assembly of all Holland he had been patiently listened to by his most clement lords, to whose prudence he attributed so much as to encourage the hope that, in the event of his death, there would not be wanting among them those who, once satisfied of the justice of his cause, would throw around it the protective influence of their wisdom and favour. He sent, however, by letter, on the 12th September, a modest excuse to the States as to his inability to fulfil their commands by the appointed day; in which he stated, 'that he was confined to a sick-bed, after having already drawn up a considerable part of the prescribed document, which now, — such being the will of the Divine Disposer, — he was obliged to break off. His having been heard on a previous occasion, and the whole case at that time having been exhibited in writing, might be accepted in discharge of the present necessity. If, however, they at all desired the portion he had executed, he would take care either that, in the event of his being by the grace of Christ restored to health, they should have the whole perfect and entire, or that, in the event of his decease, they should have it in its abrupt and imperfect form. With regard, however, to the Confession he had given forth, so far was he from entertaining any doubt respecting it, that, on the contrary, he stedfastly believed it to be throughout in accordance with Scripture; he therefore persisted in it, being prepared with this very faith to appear, even at that very moment, before the tribunal of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Judge of the living and of the dead.' [Uitenbog. Hist. pag. 470.—Bertii Oratio pag. 36.].

Meanwhile, his disease gathered strength every day, in spite of every effort to arrest it by those most eminent and practised physicians, Doctors Pavius, Sebastian Egberts, Henry Saelius, and Reyner Bontius. The virulence of the malady, moreover, too deeply seated for medical art and appliance to eradicate it, daily developed new symptoms — fever, cough, enlargement of the hypochondria, difficulty of respiration, oppression from food, broken sleep, atrophy, and arthritis, which allowed the sufferer no rest. In complication with these were intestinal pains, — in the ilium and colon; together with affection of the left optic nerve, and dimness of the left eye. When this last affection became known, there were some who, abating nothing even then of their wonted rancour against him, did not scruple to interpret it as one of the judgments dealt out to the contemners of the Divine Majesty. To give some speciousness to this outrage, they bandied about, with application to Arminius, these words of the inspired prophet Zechariah [Chap. xiv. 12.], in which he speaks of the wasting away of the eyes and of the whole body: 'This shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.' To this passage, they appended another from the same prophetic book [Chap. xi. 17.]. 'Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.' ['And yet,' says Bertius, in allusion to this barbarous diversion, 'it was not "his right eye" that was affected, but his left; nor was it "utter darkness," but only a dimness; nor was his arm "clean dried up," but it was swollen. His tongue, too, articulately fulfilled its office to the very last. In this manner things above, and things below, on the right and the left, divine and human, are alike made to subserve the will of these wretched oracular expounders of the mysteries of Providence! '—Orat. in obit. Arminii.—TR.].

There were some also who, by a play on the name James Armimus (Jacobus Arminius) made him out to be a friend of this vain world. (Vani Orbis Amicus.) While others, subsequently, with the view of pouring ridicule upon this anagram, worked up another from the same name, with the addition of a single letter [The letter h, which occurs in his original name Hermanns.], in which he is himself introduced as saying, I have had a care for Sion. (habui Curam Sionis.) Meanwhile Arminius, though day by day the violence of the disease shook his frame more and more, preserved unshaken his constancy of mind and placidity of temper, and retained his power of articulate utterance to the very close of life. Nor did he betray the least abatement of his wonted cheerfulness of aspect, and kindliness of disposition; charging his afflicted and anguish-stricken wife to be resigned in spirit, and very often exhorting her to put her trust in the God of the widow.

Very frequently, too, and with the utmost fervour, did he pour out his supplications unto God, both for himself, and for the prosperity and peace of the church; and in all his conversations he testified his unmoved confidence, and thoroughly unshaken hope in Christ the Saviour. And if his brethren addressed themselves to prayer on his behalf, and he happened at the time to be overpowered by pain, he would request them now and then to pause, until he had recovered himself, and become able along with them to go through this solemn exercise.

Among many forms of prayer which he specially enjoyed, and frequently used, the following were prominent: 'O Lord Jesus, thou faithful and merciful High Priest, who consentedst to be in all things tempted like as we are, yet without sin, that, taught by this experience how hard it is to obey God in sufferings, thou mightest be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, have compassion on me, succour me, thy servant prostrate, and pressed with so many maladies. O God of my salvation, make my soul fit for thy heavenly kingdom, and my body for the resurrection. Great Shepherd of the sheep, who, through the blood of the everlasting covenant hast been brought again from the dead, O Lord and Saviour Jesus, be present with me, an infirm and afflicted sheep of thine.' [Vide Bertii Orat. Funebr. in obitum J. Arminii pag. 40.]. Very often to the friends at his bedside did he repeat the twentieth and following verse of the 13th chapter of Hebrews, from which he had drawn this last form of prayer; and this passage of Holy Writ he used to utter with such ardour of mind and overflowing fervour of spirit, that the Rev. Bartholomew Praevostius, a disciple most worthy of such a preceptor, and who was afterwards pastor of the Remonstrant church in Amsterdam, was wont to declare that it remained ever after indelibly fixed in his memory, and vividly present to his mind.

About the same time, also, from a desire to pay the last offices of piety to his preceptor, the very learned Simon Episcopius hastened from Franeker to Holland, and for several days and nights kept close by his bedside, interchanging much conversation with him on the subject of religion, the state of the Church, the knowledge of the Saviour, and the efficacy of his death and resurrection [Vide vitam Episcop. a Ph. Limburg. concionibus ejus praefixam.].

Moreover, on being admonished by his physicians, as his strength declined, of the urgent propriety, considering the uncertain issues of life, of setting his house in order, and embodying in a last will whatever charges he might wish to leave, so little did he dread the approach of the fatal hour, that he resigned himself to death with truly admirable composure of mind, and set himself to transact whatever duty required of a Christian teacher and head of a family. At this solemn season, accordingly, he drew up a testament, truly Christian in its character; and dictated in it a brief statement of his aims and manner of life. Mark the following confession of the dying man, as a signal index and evidence of his piety.

'First of all, I commend my soul, when it quits the body, into the hands of God its creator, and faithful preserver, in whose presence I testify that in simplicity and sincerity I have walked with a good conscience in my office and calling; very anxiously and scrupulously on my guard not to propound or teach aught which, by diligent application to the study of the Sacred Scriptures, I had not previously found to be in strictest harmony with these writings:— whatsoever things might prove conducive to the propagation and extension of the truth of the Christian religion, of the worship of the true God, of piety in general, and holy conversation among men, — in fine, to the tranquillity and peace, according to the Word of God, which becomes the Christian name; excluding the Papacy, with which no unity of faith, no bond of piety or Christian peace, can be maintained.'

These things having been transacted, and all his affairs set in order, the few days that yet remained were spent in the invocation of Christ the Saviour, and in meditation on the better life. During this period, his reverend brethren, J. Uitenbogaert and Adrian Borrius, who were each closely knit to him in the bonds of a most intimate friendship contracted many years before, and by a community of vicissitudes of a varied and critical kind, excelled all others in their assiduous attentions, which were to him most grateful, and refreshed his spirit by their much relished conversations and prayers. But at length, on the 19th of October, about noon, amidst the prayers of his friends, with his eyes upturned towards heaven, he peacefully yielded up to his creator God, his soul, brimful of this world's woes, already longing for release, and enjoying a foretaste of celestial bliss; several present exclaiming, as he breathed out his spirit, 'O my soul, let me die the death of the righteous!' [Bertii Oratio Funebr. pag. 43.—Et Uitenb. Hist. pag. 483.].

Thus died James Arminius, having completed a period of six years in the professorship, and in the 49th year of his age — a truly mournful loss, not only to the Academy and the Christian community, but also, and most of all, to his widow and nine children, of whom the eldest at that time had little more than attained the 17th year of his age. Among these were two little daughters, Gertrude and Angelica; the rest were males — Hermann, Peter, John, Lawrence, James, William, and Daniel; of whom, Lawrence, on reaching manhood, became a merchant in the city of Amsterdam, while Daniel prosecuted the medical art with the highest reputation. The remaining sons, after the decease of their beloved father, died in the very flower of their youth.

Chapter 12 Part 2

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 12, Part 2 of 3 (p. 283-289).

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.
--------------------

Meanwhile, as the rising controversies, which had now for some time been transferred from the schools to the pulpit, — yea and to the market-places, the streets, and the porticos, — engaged the minds of men alike of the highest and of the lowest rank; and while many, through ignorance, were assigning to Arminius the opinion of Gomarus, and to Gomarus the opinion of Arminius, some person, in the course of this year (1609), with the view of enabling every one to understand more accurately the state of this controversy, published a translation from the Latin into the vernacular tongue of the Theses of both the professors on the subject of Predestination, as they had been defended by them respectively a few years before (viz. in 1604). These were followed by a Dialogue from the pen of R. Donteklok, minister of Delft, in which he asserted that the opinion of Arminius was altogether opposed to the Reformed doctrine as received in the Low Countries, and was such as could not be tolerated in any divine; while the opinion of Gomarus, on the other hand, although in his judgment it soared beyond the prevailing opinion, was nevertheless fairly reconcileable therewith. This Dialogue was promptly refuted, and the fame of Arminius vindicated, by J. Arnold Corvinus, minister of the church at Leyden, in a pamphlet he published under the title of A Christian and Serious Admonition to Christian Peace. To this pamphlet not long after, Donteklok replied. The friends of Arminius, too, with the view of dissipating the very sinister rumours with which he had been assailed, translated about this time from the Latin, and submitted to the judgment of the public, his Theses on The Providence of God concerning Evil; On Man's Free Will and its Efficacy; and also those On Indulgences and Purgatory, which were put out against the Papists. But these minor publications so far from promoting the peace of the Church, operated, as the discord daily increased, like oil poured upon the flame.

Taking this into consideration, it pleased the States of Holland and Westfriesland that a friendly conference should be held anew before their assembly betwixt Gomarus and Arminius, in regard to the articles controverted between them, in which either professor for himself might choose four ministers of whose counsels it should be competent to him to avail himself. Arminius made choice of John Uitenbogaert of the Hague, Adrian Borrius of Leyden, Nicolas Grevinkovius of Rotterdam, and Adolphus Venator of Alkmaar. Gomarus, on the other hand, chose R. Acronius of Schiedam, James Eoland of Amsterdam, John Bogard of Haarlem, and Festus Hommius of Leyden.

The first and second days were consumed by various wranglings and tergiversations. In particular, Gomarus thought that Adolphus Venator was not worthy to take part in the convention, inasmuch as he had been ordered by the Classis of Alkmaar to desist for the time being from the discharge of ecclesiastical functions, on the ground of impure doctrine, and of his refusal to subscribe to the Confession and Catechism; for which reasons he demanded that another should be substituted in his place. The States rejoined that the censure thus inflicted by the Classis contravened the decree which they (the States) had issued with respect to the revisal of these formularies of agreement; and this censure, having thus been rendered by them null and void, availed nothing against Adolphus in any respect.

A lengthened discussion then ensued on the subject of this revisal; the States demanding that this point should be handled first, as the hinge on which their own decree turned as to the holding of a Synod. After the two professors had debated the matter at full length, Uitenbogaert took occasion, in a weighty speech, to expound his mind also on this same point.

At last, when about to enter upon the real question, Gomarus appealed from this political to an ecclesiastical tribunal, before which he was prepared to discuss the controverted points in the presence of delegates from the States [Vid. Uitenbog. Hist. pag. 462.].

The States, on the other hand, refused to sustain any such appeal; told him to break off these tergiversations; and added, 'that if he prolonged his pertinacious opposition they would see to what, in the circumstances, it was their duty to do.' This brought Gomarus to dismiss his quibbles; and on the day following he declared his readiness to obey the mandate of the rulers, but on these conditions:—

I. That this conference be conducted in writing, to be handed in on both sides.

II. That these writings be delivered to the National Synod for their inspection and adjudication, in order that the right of judgment, in an ecclesiastical cause, might be reserved entire to the churches.

III. That the conference commence with the subject of Justification [Praefet. Act. Synod.].

After some discussion as to the order in which the various articles ought to be considered, Arminius at length gave his consent that the one to be first handled should be Justification. The States, however, ruled that the conference should be conducted viva voce; yet not to the exclusion of Writing, when used as an aid to the memory. They further engaged, in a public letter pledging themselves to that effect, that the cause, after they had investigated it in that conference, should be reserved to the judgment of a Provincial Synod, and that, for this end, all things that might there be transacted viva voce, should subsequently be committed to writing, and that these documents would in due course be handed over to the Synod.

Among the first articles treated of at this conference, the controversy concerning Justification led the way; just as, on a previous occasion, it had also been discussed before the Supreme Court. This turned mainly on the sense of the apostle's phrase, that 'faith is imputed for righteousness' [Rom. iv. 5.]. Both doctors agreed in holding that the passage referred to treated of faith properly so called, but differed on the question, whether faith was the instrument of justification? Gomarus held the affirmative. Arminius held the negative; maintaining that faith could not properly be called an instrument, seeing it was an action; or, if the name instrument must be claimed for it, it would then be the instrument, not of justification, which is an act of the Divine mind, but of the apprehension or reception of Christ as our Redeemer, which is a human act: and that faith is graciously regarded by God, in the act of justifying, as having already fulfilled its function [Rom. iv. 5. Ex Epist. A Borrii ad G. Liv. non dum edita. 29 Septemb. 1609. Vide et Uitenb. Hist. pag. 469.].

In the second place they treated of Predestination, and first of all, of the object of election and reprobation: whether God in electing and reprobating, in one and the same act, regarded his creatures as not yet created, — as in the void of nothing, — or, on the other hand, as created: further, if he regarded them as created, whether he regarded them as sinners, or otherwise; if, as sinners, whether as sinners solely by the sin of Adam, or on the other hand, as sinners defiled by other sins also: finally, and as the crowning point, whether he contemplated those to be chosen as also believing and penitent, and those to be reprobated as unbelieving and impenitent. Arminius maintained this, Gomarus the opposite; a variety of arguments being adduced on either side.

The third place was occupied with the controversy concerning the grace of God and the free will of man. Each acknowledged that man of himself, and by his own powers, could accomplish nothing whatever in the shape of saving good; nay, Arminius declared, 'that he admitted all the operations of divine grace whatsoever, which could be maintained as present in the conversion of man, provided that no grace were maintained which was irresistible.' [Praefat. Act. Synod.]. This Gomarus disputed; maintaining that, in the regeneration of man, a certain grace of the Holy Spirit was needed which should operate so efficaciously 'that, the resistance of the flesh being thereby overcome, as many as became partakers of this grace would be certainly and infallibly converted.' He added that a great ambiguity lurked in the word irresistible, and that the opinion, formerly condemned, of the Semi-pelagians and Synergists lay wrapped up in it.

The last topic of discussion was the Perseverance of true believers; and here the question was stirred, not indeed, whether the children of God can fall away from salvation, but whether a man who has once believed cannot, by any possibility, fall away from faith. This was a doctrine which Arminius declared he had by no means opposed, or meant to oppose; but he intimated that his mind was perplexed by several difficulties on this subject, and he adduced various reasons for the doubts he entertained. To these Gomarus replied; after which the disputants were asked whether any articles yet remained on which they mutually differed. Gomarus rejoined that there were several; namely, concerning Original Sin, concerning the providence of God, concerning the authority of the Holy Scriptures, concerning the certainty of Salvation, concerning the perfection of man in this life, and various others, in regard to which he left it to the discretion of the illustrious States whether they should be discussed in this place, especially as they must again come under discussion in the Synod [Praefat. Act. Synod.].

Chapter 12 Part 1

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 12, Part 1 of 3 (p. 278-283).

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.
--------------------

CHAPTER XII.

EVER-INCREASING CONTENTIONS, AMID WHICH THE HEALTH OF ARMINIUS GIVES WAY; FINAL CONFERENCE AT THE HAGUE IN AUGUST 1609: HIS LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. A.D. 1609.

Meanwhile Arminius, by reason of incessant labours, assiduous studies, protracted sitting, and contests recurring without any intermission, had contracted hypochondriacal affections, which ripened at length into obstinate disease. This distemper, which had very long been latent in his internal parts, broke out with special violence on the 7th of February, in the following year. His members were affected by internal languor, and his stomach utterly debilitated; so much so, that his medical attendants at once saw it to be necessary to subject him to slow and cautious treatment. But although, at the commencement of the attack, the sufferer could scarcely drag his body along, nevertheless, afterwards, during some favourable intervals, he regained his vigour of mind, and intermitted nothing, as far as his infirm health would permit, of his readings, disputations, and other duties of his calling; nor was he ever neglectful of his own cause. Of this he gave brilliant evidence in a certain disputation which he publicly held a few months after, on the 25th July, Concerning the Call of Man to Salvation. On this occasion, Arminius acted a very spirited part; and in eloquent terms not only denied that irresistible and necessitating force which some of the Reformed represent God as exerting in the conversion of men, but further proceeded to prove that the Divine call turns on this, either that God supplies, or is ready to bestow, the power to perform that to which, in his call, he invites mankind. He further added, 'that he neither could, nor dared, to define the mode which the Holy Spirit employs in the conversion and regeneration of men. If any one will venture to do so, on him devolves the burden of proof. For himself, he could say in what manner conversion did not take place, but he could not say in what manner it did; for this only He knows who searches the deep things of God.' To this it was objected that there was a certain kind of grace by which men are infallibly converted, and from this it was directly argued that conversion was necessitated; in answer to which, Arminius took occasion to discourse at some length on what the schoolmen call, though very improperly, the necessity of infallibility; and added, 'that the scholastics were not to him the standard of speech, or of faith, seeing that they began to exist only when Antichrist was in course of being revealed, and that their theology had not made way until the true and apostolic theology had been driven into exile.'

After a period of nearly two whole hours had been lengthened out by two opponents, a certain Papist, who passed off his name as Adrian Smetius, and whom some took for a priest, others for a Jesuit, boldly descended into the arena against Arminius, and assailed his opinion on the point in question with a variety of arguments. While Arminius was ever and anon replying to these with prompt and collected mind, Gomarus assumed various colours on the occasion; and that he might not present the appearance of a merely passive listener, he varied his gestures now and then; at one time taking notes; at another whispering something into the ear of Everard Vorstius, Professor of medicine, who sat next him; now casting his eyes over the audience, which was very large; and now muttering something between his lips. Nay, he looked as if he felt an intense desire to contradict the things advanced in the course of the disputation, but repressed himself; — after such a fashion, however, that these, or similar words, fell from him in the overflow of his indignation, — What impudence is this? Moreover, after the disputation had come to a close, he had scarcely reached the hall door, when he broke out in the words: The reins have been remarkably well loosened for the Papacy this day. Directly after, in like manner, making up to Arminius, he exclaimed in the presence and hearing of the Jesuit, 'that he had never, in the Academy, listened to such statements and disputations, by which the door was thrown so widely open to Popery.' Arminius replied, 'that he had given satisfaction to his own conscience, and denied that what he had advanced made anything at all in favour of Popery.' Gomarus forthwith rejoined 'that he would refute these things, and that too in public.' Arminius: 'If anything be said which is opposed to my conscience, I promise you that I, in my turn, will openly gainsay it.' Gomarus: 'I shall not be wanting in my duty to the cause.' Arminius: 'Neither shall I be wanting, I confidently trust. But let us test each other in due time, and to me it is certain that the opinion of an irresistible force will be found repugnant alike to the Sacred Scripture, to antiquity, and to our Confession and Catechism.' [Vide his de hac disput. Epist. Borrii ad Epist. 30 Julii script. inter Epist. Eccles.].

After holding this disputation, he repaired to Oudewater with the view of recruiting his health; and there, on the very night which followed the debate just narrated, he was seized with a most violent paroxysm, which once more shattered his strength, and struck alarm into the minds of all who enjoyed his care and his intimacy. Simon Episcopius, in particular, who had by this time gone to Franeker, mainly for the sake of hearing the lectures of Drusius, felt very deeply affected by the adverse health of his great Preceptor (whom he was wont to address by the name of father), as these words to Arminius abundantly testify:—

'Reverend Doctor and esteemed Father:— Although I have not written you since my departure, I trust you will attribute this, not to any forgetfulness of you, or supine and ungrateful indifference to your claims, but partly to my assurance of the peculiar affection which I have very forcibly and confidently flattered myself you cherish towards me, and partly, and very principally, to my desire not to be officiously troublesome to you, already too much harassed; especially considering that over and above your serious and grave occupations, which, by a universal and simultaneous rush, are now, I well know, accumulating upon your head, you are ever and anon distracted by the oft-recurring agonies of an obstinate disease. In these circumstances, not having the boldness to address you, nor the ability to cheer and refresh you, I deemed it enough to convey to you my grateful remembrance, and the frequent expression of my affection, through those to whom I occasionally wrote. How I wish, Reverend Sir!— and O that God might grant,—that it may be permitted us to have a joyous remembrance of you in this truly abandoned age, to which God appears to have given promise of some remedy through your instrumentality. Would that it may not prove to have been promise merely! For how stands the case? Alas! amid our anxious longings, and repeated attempts to brace up our minds to the confidence of hope, the only intelligence we receive is that your disease has not yet abated, but holds obstinately on, and that it is irritated by the malignant and choleric conduct of certain parties which causes it to relapse with increased severity. For my part, if you will only concede to me the capability of weighing your circumstances with some measure of justice, and estimating, in some sort, at once the utility and the necessity of your prelections, you need be at no loss to imagine how deeply I am distressed by the present visitation. Ungrateful should I be were any day to pass over my head which did not, at frequent intervals, remind and admonish me of your disease, — a consideration, in truth, which so afflicts me from day to day, that, along with it, a sort of sympathetic participation of your malady ever affects and invades me. Would to God this went so far, that some alleviation or solace might thence redound to you! But perhaps it may not seem good to our God to bless any longer through your instrumentality this unwilling, ungrateful, and refractory world, which does not choose to know the things that make for its peace, or to recognise the tune of its visitation.' [Epist. Eccles. pag. 298.].

Chapter 11 Part 3

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 11, Part 3 of 3 (p. 266-277).

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.
--------------------

Arminius finding himself in this manner contending from day to day against the slanders of adversaries, used to complain to himself that he was set down by his brethren as a sort of mere 'filth and offscourings;' while by those who at this time enjoyed his intimacy, he was heard on several occasions uttering with a groan, and adapting to his own infelicitous lot, these words of the prophet Jeremiah: 'Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast born me a man of strife, and a man of contention to the whole earth! I have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on usury; yet every one of them doth curse me.' [Jer. xv. 10.].

Meanwhile, consulting at once for his reputation and for the tranquillity of the church, it pleased the Rulers of Holland to summon Arminius before their Assembly on the 30th of October, and to order him, in fulfilment of the pledge he had lately given, to deliver to them, briefly and perspicuously, orally, and in writing, his own opinion on all the heads of doctrine in reference to which he stood somewhat in doubt. Joyfully obedient to this mandate, on the day appointed he repaired to the Hague, and before that august assembly of the Illustrious Fathers of his country, he expounded, in a lengthened oration, his opinions respecting Divine Predestination, the Grace of God, Free Will, the Perseverance of the Saints, the Certainty of Salvation, the Perfection of Man in this life, the Deity of the Son, Justification, and the Reformation of the Confession and Catechism. The subject, however, on which he deemed it of special importance to insist, was that of Predestination; and therefore, besides fortifying hie own opinion on this point by a variety of reasons, he also asserted, at great length, the magnitude of the difficulties which beset the doctrine that was delivered by many divines of the Reformed Church. He showed and proved that a sentiment was propounded by some which conflicted with the nature of God, and his wisdom, justice, and goodness — with the nature of man and his free will — with the work of creation — with the nature of eternal life and death — and, finally, with the nature of sin; that it was subversive of divine grace, opposed to the glory of God, and obstructive to the salvation of men; that it made God the author of sin, hindered sorrow on account of sin, did away with all pious solicitude, diminished the desire of piety, quenched the ardour of prayer, generated despair, inverted the gospel, impeded the ministry of the divine word, and, in fine, shook the foundations not of the Christian religion only, but of all religion whatsoever [Vid. Declar. Arm. coram Ord.]. After expounding these particulars in a manly tone, and in succinct order, he at length brought his oration to a close in these striking words, so indicative of a mind devoted to the maintenance of Christian peace:— 'Such, my most noble, most potent, most wise, and most prudent Lords, is what I have thought it dutiful to lay before your Highnesses. At the same time, also, I give thanks to this most noble and potent Assembly (to which, after God, I acknowledge myself bound to render an account of all my actions,) that it has vouchsafed to listen to me with clemency and patience. Still further, I solemnly declare that from my inmost soul I am prepared to enter into friendly and fraternal conference on these and all other points, respecting which any controversy may exist or ever occur, with my reverend brethren, at whatever time, in whatever place, and on whatever occasion shall to this illustrious Assembly seem good. Moreover, I promise to maintain in all these conferences a bearing flexible and fair, prepared alike to learn and to teach. Besides, when, on all the doctrines which may fall to be discussed, it comes to be inquired, in the first place, whether that which is the subject of debate be true, and the next place whether the belief of it ought to be regarded as necessary to salvation, I, for my part, solemnly promise and vow that no article, however I may prove it by the most solid arguments to be agreeable to the Word of God, shall by me be obtruded on my brethren who think differently as a thing to be believed, unless I clearly prove from the Divine Word, and that quite as clearly as I have proved its truth, that it is also necessary to salvation that every Christian should so believe it. If my brethren shall be ready to do the same, it will be no easy matter, in my judgment, for any controversy or schism to exist amongst us. To these things I add — in order that all apprehension, so far as I am concerned, may be removed from this noble convention, now occupied and oppressed with weighty affairs, as those on whom the safety of our country, and of the Reformed Churches, in the highest degree depends — that the errors must needs be very many and grievous which I will not forbear with in my ministerial brethren; for I am not one who would lord it over another's faith, but one who would merely be a servant to those believing, that in them may increase the knowledge of the truth, together with piety, peace, and joy in Jesus Christ our Lord. But if my brethren be of another mind, and think that I ought not to be borne with, and that no place should be allowed to me among them, I nevertheless hope that no division will arise by reason of me, seeing that too many divisions, alas, already abound among Christians, and it becomes every one rather to strive with all his might to get these same diminished and extinguished. But in this event, I will in patience possess my soul; and though it shall still be my aim to live for the good of our common Christianity, as long as the ever-blessed God may be pleased to prolong my life, I will cheerfully resign my office, mindful of this: Sat Ecclesiae, sat Patriae Datum: For the Church, and for my Country, my part has been discharged.'

Here ended Arminius. His oration, though listened to with great admiration and applause, from the modesty of the speaker, gave rise nevertheless to a diversity of judgments; some being of opinion that he had spoken nothing but what the exigency of just defence had demanded, while others accused him of over-much confidence, and of having used the sword rather than the shield.

At that time, and in the very month in which Arminius had delivered this declaration, in writing, into the hands of the States, the Synod of South Holland, held at Dort, decided that it should forthwith be sternly insisted on, that those pastors who had a leaning to Arminius should disclose whatever scruples or strictures they might have, relative to the Confession and Catechism, within the space of the month following that on which they received intimation, on pain of ecclesiastical censure to be inflicted on the contumacious [Praefat. Act. Synod Dordr.—Trigl. Hist. p. 416, 417.]. They further resolved that the same demand 'should in like manner be made of the Professors of Sacred Literature in the Leyden Academy, and of Peter Bertius, the moderator of the Theological College. The affair was pushed with great vehemence at the time, some breaking out very intemperately against those of their brethren who differed from them in opinion; so much so, indeed, that Ruard Acronius, pastor of the church at Schiedam was not afraid to call Francis Lansberg, who was simply striving to direct the counsels of this Assembly towards peace, a sink of dissensions [Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. p. 446.]. The States, however, apprehensive lest, by this ecclesiastical statute, their own decree to have the above-named writings revised in a National or Provincial Synod, should be eluded, and all but set at nought, gave orders in a letter addressed to the several Classes, dated Nov. 23, that whatever observations any one might have, were to be transmitted to them sealed, and entrusted to their custody against a Provincial Synod. By this step an end was forthwith put, in South Holland at least, to these hasty and ill-timed altercations, about subjecting those writings to a re-examination. Notwithstanding these things, however, the churches of North Holland did not abate one jot of their zeal. For new forms of subscription were coined by them, which every Classis drew up according to its own mind; and that, too, so craftily that neither copy nor form of the subscription was granted, nor the day indicated to him who demanded the day. In other places, also, new tests were proposed, and promises exacted to explain the Catechism as it had been explained in the Church during the time of the Spanish persecution [Vid. Press. Declar. Rem. p. 63.]. And that statutes of this description might not pass for spent thunderbolts, they actually went the length, in the Classis of Alkmaar, of interdicting the pulpit, and a seat in the Classis, to four ministers — Adrian Van Raepherst, Arnold Folkartson, John Evertson Van Velsen, and William Lomannus, who were favourable to Arminius, and refused to subscribe these new formularies:— a stretch of authority of which the supreme magistracy in the first instance had not been made aware, and which they straightway, withal, disapproved and contravened [Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. p 454.].

In addition to all this, the deputies of both Synods further resolved to convey by letter an urgent request to Gomarus that he would come to the aid of the afflicted Church (we may be permitted here to use their own words), and not shrink from assaulting, in open conflict, Arminius himself, who in the public Assembly of the rulers had uttered so many things against the common opinion of the Church. This divine thought that the request was one which ought on no account to be refused; and having previously obtained liberty to speak, on the 12th of December he presented himself before the Assembly of the States of Holland and West Friesland, and delivered himself of a vehement oration against Arminius. He accused him of 'various heresies and gross errors under which he laboured in reference to the received doctrine concerning the grace of God and the free will of man; concerning the justification of man in the sight of God; concerning the perfection of man in this life; concerning predestination; concerning original sin, and other points connected with the forenamed doctrines; how well in certain things he agreed with the Pelagians and Jesuits, while in others his views were worse and still more corrupt than theirs; what just grounds he had moreover given for the suspicion that he also cherished corrupt opinions concerning the authority of the Sacred Scriptures; concerning the Holy Trinity; concerning the incarnation and satisfaction of Christ; concerning the Church; concerning faith, regeneration, and good works, and other subjects of great importance. By what arts, still further, did he disseminate his opinions! When publicly asked, for example, and adjured by the churches to lay open his doubts, he had nevertheless to that hour concealed his own sentiments, but had diligently inculcated them in private to such pastors as he hoped to be able to gain over to them, as well as to his students; the principal arguments by which the orthodox doctrine is usually built up he set himself to invalidate; but to those of Jesuits, and other adversaries with which they attack the doctrine of the Reformed Churches, he lent his support; he struck into the minds of his disciples a variety of doubts respecting the truth of the received doctrine, and first suspended it, along with the heterodox doctrine, as if in aequilibrio, and then utterly rejected it; after having called the Pope of the Romanists antichrist and an idol, straightway, to please the Jesuits, he further calls him his brother, and a member of that church which is the mother of the faithful; that he shunned the light, — never to this hour having consented to give forth any declaration of his soundness and agreement in doctrine, although very often affectionately and fraternally urged by the churches to do so; that he had laboured hard to prevent his errors, which had been detected before the Supreme Court, from becoming known to the churches; that, spurning the judgment and decrees of Synods, Classes, and Consistories, he had leaped at the first emergency to the tribunal of the Supreme Magistrate, and studied by courtly arts to conciliate favour for himself, but procure hatred for the churches. He (Gomarus) was not insensible how very difficult it was, and how hazardous a task, to encounter those who, while studying innovations, were in blushing honour at the Court, and rejoiced in a courtly trumpeter [Alluding to Uitenbogaert.] of his innocence and virtue; and that Constantine himself, in olden time, had attached such importance to the eloquence and surreptitious arts of that courtly preacher, Eusebius, as to be influenced by his vote in the Council of Nice to acquit Arius after he had been condemned. Still, however, trusting to the goodness of his cause, he hoped better things of the constancy of the States; and inasmuch as the students of theology in the Leyden Academy, and many pastors up and down, were daily swerving from the orthodox doctrine, strifes and contentions prevailed, the churches were disturbed, and the citizens were split up into parties, he abjured them as speedily as possible to convoke the promised National Synod, in which, after a legitimate investigation into the causes of the evils, an appropriate remedy might at length be applied to the same.' [E Praefat. Act. Synod. Dordr.—Uitenb. Hist. Eccles. p. 455. et seqq.].

This is a summary of that oration which was delivered by Gomarus; and by most of the magnates it was regarded as abundantly stinging, containing, as it did, many things that were offensively spoken, and of which Arminius, on more occasions than one, had, by arguments the most solid, cleared himself of all suspicion, — particularly in regard to those things that were advanced respecting the Pope of Rome. For this reason the States resolved that this oration should be kept under the seal of silence, and that no copy of it should be handed to Arminius, lest occasion might be furnished for further alienation of spirit. Nay, on accurately weighing the whole affair, they began to shrink more and more from, the idea of convoking a Synod, and to decline convoking it at this time as useless to the Church and to the country. For they happened to be perplexed by very serious disputes concerning the truce, in which the Grand Pensionary of Holland, Oldenbarneveldt, and the illustrious Commander of the Army and Prefect of Military Affairs, Prince Maurice, were far from being at one. A further obstacle presented itself in the disposition evinced by so many ministers of religion to trample under foot and set at nought the authority of the Supreme Powers in relation to sacred things, assailing with special virulence the primary decree already mentioned, in terms of which it had been agreed that a Synod of the kind contemplated might be held with advantage. Besides, they had reason to fear that the minds of the ecclesiastics were too much exasperated by these very serious discussions respecting matters of faith, to warrant the hope, now that things had reached such a pass, of any remedy being applied by a formal convention of that kind to the contagion that rioted throughout the Church. Nay more, considering that the blasts of contention were increasing in violence, and that in various quarters some, in an attitude of open hostility, were doing their utmost to compass the ejection of their fellow-pastors from the Church, the most of those who sat at the helm of the State thought it very hard indeed to expose to the rage of a few the reputation and worldly prospects of those who had amply approved themselves as citizens most obedient to their mandates; as pastors most acceptable to their churches; and as leaders of the Reformed religion, by no means inactive, even at the time when the destiny of the Low Countries quivered on the point of the sword. When at this time, therefore, the pastors sent by the Classes of Holland importuned them to convoke a Provincial Synod, the rulers, perceiving that they were goaded on by a most inordinate desire for the condemnation of Arminius and his followers, rejected their petition, adding, 'that they had no objection to give their sanction to a Synod at any time, provided it would abstain from the rash and precipitate condemnation of brethren, and yield to the wish of the rulers that they would not molest their fellow-pastors on account of these controversies until the matter should be more fully investigated and examined in a National Synod, and an agreement come to by which the churches might regain their common tranquillity and concord.' [Resp. ad Epist. Wal. p. 18. 19.]. Reverting to this circumstance at a subsequent period, H. Grotius, that brilliant star and prodigy of the Low Countries, remarked, — and apparently with truth, — that the States had the same reason for dreading the Synod as that which formerly led the very sagacious Philip, Prince of Hesse, when invited to a Synod by Flacius Illyricus and other theologians of Jena, to reply, 'that as long as there existed that violence of spirit, and that rage for condemning those who differed from them in opinion, even in the least degree, — a disposition which every day exemplified, — no good could be expected from such conventions.' [Grot. pietas Ord. p. 51.].

Chapter 11 Part 2

The Life of James Arminius
Chapter 11, Part 2 of 3 (p. 255-266).

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.
--------------------

This being done, and the conference brought to a close, the Council reported to the States of Holland 'that they, indeed, as far as they had been able to perceive from this conference, were of opinion that the controversies which had arisen between these two professors were not after all of such great importance, and had to do for the most part with certain more subtle reasonings on the subject of Predestination, which might either be omitted, or tolerated in a spirit of mutual forbearance.' On this report being made, it pleased the States forthwith to summon before them, in the Council-hall, both the professors, and the rest of the ministers concerned [Praefat. Act. Synod. Dord.]; when the Most Honourable, the Grand Pensionary (Oldenbarneveldt), addressing himself to them, among other things declared 'that it was to him matter of gratitude to God that on the great heads of Christian doctrine no controversy existed.' [Ex Declarat. Arm. coram Ord.]. And then, after having, in name of that honourable assembly, given thanks to each for this renewed and faithful endeavour, he enjoined upon them, 'to keep to themselves what had been transacted in that meeting; to advance nothing whatever that was opposed either to the Sacred Scriptures, or to the Confession and Catechism; and to direct all their counsels henceforward for the peace of the Academy and the Church;' adding, 'that the States would do their endeavour to get these controversies determined either in a National, or (if that could not be convened in time,) in a Provincial Synod.'

But Gomarus, thinking that much greater importance ought to be attached to the growing controversies, begged permission to speak, and did not scruple on that occasion to declare, 'that the opinions of his colleague on the points in dispute between them were of such a nature as would make him shrink, if he himself entertained them, from the thought of standing before God, his judge; and that unless a remedy were promptly applied, it was to be feared that there would be a mutual embroilment of one province against another, church against church, city against city, and burgher against burgher.' [Grot. Epist. ad K. Reigersb.—Praefat. Act. Synod.]. While to some these statements seemed unwarrantably harsh, others viewed them as the testimony of an unshackled and fearless conscience, and this the rather, that for several days, and most of all at that time, he had maintained some moderation of look and tone. On the other hand, to this declaration of Gomarus, which he was greatly astonished to hear, Arminius spiritedly rejoined, 'that he for his part, was by no means conscious of holding any religious sentiment of so atrocious a character; that the controversies were not so serious as all this, but chiefly concerned Predestination; and that he always adhered to the Confession of the Church in Holland, and meant still to adhere to it. That in opposition to the particular opinions of some, he had occasionally spoken, as necessity demanded; but that he had never given utterance to anything that militated against the general sentiments of the Reformed Church. That he would furnish no cause for any schism either in the Church or State. That he was, moreover, prepared to declare openly and in good faith his opinion and his aims in regard to the entire subject of religion as soon as he was commanded by his Sovereign Lords to do so; yea even now, before withdrawing from this hall.' [Ex. Declar. Arm. coram Ord.].

Many who were sincerely attached to Arminius, and to the cause of ecclesiastical peace, had anticipated from this conference a happier issue, and threw the blame of the protracted dissension upon Gomarus, who here, if ever, had scorned to yield [This is an allusion to the words, 'cedere nescius cuiquam,' which the poet Heinsius applies to Gomarus in certain verses prefixed to the collected works of the latter.]. Yea, and others, too, whose feelings rose against Gomarus in still smarter revolt, did not hesitate to declare, 'that they would rather appear before the divine tribunal with the faith of Arminius, than with the charity of Gomarus.' Hugh Grotius, for one, a man of great name, alluding to the above-mentioned conference, writes in a letter to his kinsman Reigersberg, that he had found Uitenbogaert about this time more sad ['And Gomarus more jocund,'— adds Gerard Brandt. Hist. Ref. Low Countries.—TR.] than usual — giving vent to these among other expressions: 'that although the Provincial Synod should take place, nevertheless, considering the weight of prejudice under which the affair was driven, and that the particular opinions of divines, — stealing insensibly into the minds of their disciples, and by lapse of time, and neglect of profounder inquiry, received with the tacit consent of the churches, — smothered by their authority the ardour of great intellects; and considering that in churches, not less than in other assemblies, the greater could prevail over the better part, he anticipated for the prospects of Arminius no happier issue than befell Castellio, who was so pressed by the violence of his adversaries as to "be reduced to the necessity of seeking a livelihood by labouring as a woodman.' [Origo et progress, dissens. Eccles. in Belg. p. 22.—Vid. (Grot. Epist. opus p. 3.].

That this was no chimerical fear which haunted the mind of Uitenbogaert in regard to his friend Arminius, might be too well augured from the foul lies and insults with which, more and more every day, detraction assaulted the name of the latter. For this end, there were put in circulation, at this very time, twenty, and eleven, theological articles, ascribed [That is, two series of articles consisting respectively of twenty and eleven. See the opening statements of his Apologia adv. art. xxxi., Opera p. 134.—TR.] partly to him, partly to Adrian Borrius, one of the ministers of Leyden, and partly to both; in the dissemination of which his adversaries had this sole object in view, to stir up against these two men, thus branded with the black mark of heresy, the hatred, not only of the unlettered public, but also of those who held high positions both in the Church and in the State. Of these articles, sixteen, couched in the self-same words, had already, two years before, reached the hands of Arminius. These being alike destitute of truth both as respected historical narration and theological import, Arminius thought that they would die in the bud, and might therefore pass unnoticed at the time; but when, contrary to his expectation, he perceived that they were still, and increasingly, in circulation, and were, moreover, augmented by new articles, he judged it expedient, lest the rage of calumny should gather strength from delay, and protracted silence on his part be construed as confession, to meet them with a temperate and succinct reply. The task accomplished, he showed this apologetic treatise to the very persons themselves, (men of wisdom and of great authority) by whose aid he succeeded in laying his hands on the above-named articles; but they dissuaded him from publishing it, lest the too thorough confutation of calumny should so engender ignominy to the authors of it as to influence more and more their zeal in maligning him [Ex Ep. Arm. ad S. Egb. 10. Octob. 1608.]. I cannot allow myself, in this connexion, to omit the striking words, worthy to be held in remembrance, in which, after having explained his own opinion on the articles in detail, he thus replies to a certain principal objection by way of corollary:

'There will be those, perhaps, who will twit me with appearing to answer at tunes in a tone of hesitation, when it is incumbent on a doctor and professor of theology to be sure of those things which he is to teach to others, and not to fluctuate in his opinions. To such I would answer: 1. That even a man the most learned, and the most versed in the sacred writings, is ignorant of many things, and is always a learner in the school of Christ and the Scriptures. But it is not possible for the man who is ignorant of many things, to give an unhesitating reply on all the points in regard to which an occasion or necessity of pronouncing may be presented to him, either by adversaries, or by others who wish to inquire and ascertain his mind by conversation and discussion, in private or in public. For it is better, on points respecting which he has not certain knowledge, for such a man to pronounce doubtfully rather than positively, and to intimate that he himself requires to make daily progress, and along with those inquirers to seek instruction; for no one, I trow, has advanced to such a stage of boldness as to call himself a master who is ignorant of no one thing, and who entertains a doubt on no subject whatsoever. 2. All things that come under controversy are not of equal importance. Some doctrines are such that no one may doubt concerning them who wishes to be ranged under the name of Christian; but there are others which are not of the same dignity, and in regard to which those who have treated of the Catholic doctrine have differed among themselves without detriment to the Christian truth and peace. Of what description the points are which are here treated, and respecting which I have seemed to give a dubious answer, and whether they are points of absolute necessity, will fall to be considered at the proper time. 3. If this, my reply, is not peremptory, it is not because I have advanced anything in it contrary to my conscience, but because I have not thought proper to bring out, at the first moment, all the things which I could say. I have judged my reply sufficient, and more than sufficient, for those imputations which are grounded on no reasons whatever; neither on this, that they can in truth be fastened on me, nor that they militate against the truth of the Scriptures. In reference to most of them, a simple denial, and demand for proof, would have been a discharge in full of all that they could justly claim at my hands. I have proceeded beyond this, in order to give some measure of satisfaction; and further, to stimulate them to a conference, should my brethren think it needful. This I will never refuse, provided it be proceeded with in due form, and in such a manner that fruit may be expected to result from it.'

Meanwhile that calumny which we have mentioned above, as to his strenuous efforts to promote the interests of the Papal kingdom, was also resuscitated about this same time, and was urged against him in a manner the most offensive. With the view of neutralising this falsehood, a year had scarcely elapsed since he had drawn up very learned theses concerning idolatry; adding, by way of corollary, 'that the Roman Pontiff is an idol, and that those who take him for that which he vaunts himself to be, are, for that very reason, idolaters.' Besides these he had published other theses, in which he maintained 'that the Reformed Churches had not made a secession from that of Rome, and that these churches did well in refusing to hold and profess communion with it in faith and divine worship.' Nor was this all. The more effectually even yet to seal the lips of his detractors, Arminius, shortly after the conference held in the presence of the Grand Council, got up a public disputation concerning the Roman Pontiff, maintaining that he is 'an adulterer, and the pander of the Church, the false prophet and tail of the dragon, the adversary of God and of Christ, the antichrist, the wicked servant who beats his fellow-servants, having no title to the name of bishop, the destroyer and waster of the Church.'

Yet not even by this declaration did he succeed in satisfying the suspicious tempers of some. An individual was found who, in a letter he sent to Germany, put in a mutilated form the title of his theses respecting secession from the Church of Rome, by which foreigners, and those who were unacquainted with the facts, might be led to believe that Arminius had an undue leaning to the Papal Church. Yea, a certain minister of Amsterdam, carried away by the popular clamour against him, made a public assault upon Arminius as a divine who was most unsound, and who held the Roman Pontiff to be a member of the body of Christ— 'a doctrine this,' he exclaimed, 'so exceedingly hateful to God, that it had been observed by discerning men not a few, that from the time at which certain persons had begun to maintain it, public affairs had declined, and some of our most strongly fortified cities had come to be occupied by the enemy.' This calumny was followed up by another, namely, that he was instigating many to go over to the Papacy, and furnishing occasion to some politicians to deny less stoutly the exercise of the Popish religion to those who demanded it.

But though Arminius saw no remedy for dissipating these clouds of detraction to be preferable to that of innocence and patience, still he lost no time in addressing to wise and eminent men, and in particular to the magistrates of Amsterdam, in whose city at that time the most unbridled rage of evil-speaking prevailed, his complaint of the injury thereby inflicted upon him; and he protested by letter how utterly these clamours were at variance with truth. Mark his brief declaration on this subject in a letter to the honourable Sebastian Egberts:— 'I openly profess that I do not hold the Roman Pontiff to be a member of Christ's body, but to be an enemy, a traitor, sacrilegious, a blasphemer, a tyrant, and most violent usurper of a most unjust domination over the Church; as the man of sin, as the son of perdition, as that most notorious outlaw, &c. I understand, however, by the Pope one who exercises the Pontificate in the usual manner. But if some Adrian of Utrecht, supposing him to be elevated without dishonourable artifices to the Pontifical chair, were actively to set about the reformation of the Church, making a commencement with himself the Pope, and with the Pontificate, and with the Court at Rome, and assuming nothing more than the name and authority of Bishop, — though holding the pre-eminence over all other bishops, by virtue of ancient statutes of the Church, — him I should not dare to call by the above appellations; for the man whom the minions of Antichristianism, and whom the Court at Rome hold in such hatred as to take his very life, such a one I cannot persuade myself to regard as the worst of men. Now it is believed that this man was dispatched by poison, administered by those who feared that he was about to effect a reformation in the Church, and in the Roman Court. I apprehend, however — and I think it can be established out of the Scriptures with great probability — that from him who is elevated to the Roman Pontificate, no reformation is to be expected; and if any one allows himself to be moved by that hope to make the attempt, he incurs the certain danger of death or of exile — the issue being so arranged even by God himself: for the Pontificate will be abolished by the glorious advent of Christ, and the predicted reformation is destined to take place through the separation of peoples from Babylon, which Babylon, at the time, will not be destitute of its head. But if that preacher supposes that from this opinion which I entertain, — namely, that a bill of divorcement has not yet been delivered by God to the church in which the Roman Pontiff sits enthroned, — it follows that I acknowledge even the Pope himself to be a member of the church, he blazons his own ignorance of the distinction between those who are seduced, and suffer the tyranny, on the one hand, and the False Prophet and tyrant himself on the other, who himself abnegates the name, member of the church, seeing he audaciously pronounces himself head of the church, and excommunicates all those, or holds them as excommunicated, who are not prepared to acknowledge him as head.' [Epist. Eccles. p. 212.].

Feeling persuaded that by this answer he had abundantly refuted the forementioned accusation, Arminius reckoned it a matter of no great difficulty to reply to those who at the same time affirmed of him that he had pronounced 'the fourth volume of Bellarmin to be irrefutable.' It is indeed true that though he had never employed these very words, he yet confessed that he sometimes cherished the wish that he could have seen more solidly refuted the arguments of that celebrated champion of the Romish Church, in which he strove to elicit from the opinion of certain of the Reformed, that they made the ever-blessed God the author of all sin. Nay, even the celebrated Conrad Vortius himself, who, on account of the strenuous service he rendered against the Papists, had at this time earned a high reputation, failed, in the judgment of Arminius, to do sufficient justice to the cause of the Reformed in his reply to the 'Theses of the Jesuits concerning the faith of the Calvinists.' For this reason, he deemed it the safer course to decline the authority of certain divines of the Protestant Church, and openly to declare that peculiar opinions ought not to be fastened upon the Reformed Churches; and moreover, that it might be retorted on Bellarmin that there were some also among the scholastics, and other popish divines, from whose writings the selfsame consequences might be deduced [Vid. ep. Arm. ad C. Vorst. 25. Aug. 1607. item. Ep. prid. Kal. April 1609.].