Remonstrants - History

History

The five articles include:

• that the divine decree of predestination is conditional, not absolute;
• that the Atonement is in intention universal;
• that man cannot of himself exercise a saving faith;
• that though the grace of God is a necessary condition of human effort it does not act irresistibly in man; and
• that believers are able to resist sin but are not beyond the possibility of falling from grace.

Their adversaries, inspired by Franciscus Gomarus, became known as Gomarists or Counter-Remonstrants. Although the States-General issued an edict tolerating both parties and forbidding further dispute, the conflict continued and became linked to political conflicts in the Dutch Republic. The Remonstrants were assailed both by personal enemies and by the political weapons of Maurice of Orange. Their foremost ally, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, was executed, and other leaders were imprisoned.

In 1618–19 the Synod of Dordrecht, after expelling the thirteen Arminian pastors headed by Simon Episcopius, established the victory of the Calvinist school. It drew up ninety-three canonical rules, and confirmed the authority of the Belgic Confession and the Heidelberg Catechism. The judgement of the synod was enforced through the deposition and in some cases banishment of Remonstrant ministers. An exile community was founded in Antwerp in 1619. In 1621 they were allowed to settle in Schleswig, where they built the town of Friedrichstadt.

The doctrine of the Remonstrants was embodied in 1621 in a confessio written by Episcopius, their major theologian, while Jan Uytenbogaert gave them a catechism and regulated their church order. Their seminary in Amsterdam had distinguished pupils, including Curcellaeus, Limborch, Wetstein, and Le Clerc. Their school of theology, which grew more liberal and even rationalistic, forcefully debated the official Dutch Reformed state church and other Christian denominations.

After the death of Maurice of Orange in 1625 some exiles returned. The government became convinced that they posed no danger to the state, and in 1630 they were formally allowed to reside again in all parts of the Republic. They were not, however, officially allowed to build churches until the establishment of the Batavian Republic in 1795. Until then they held their services in so-called Schuilkerken (house churches).