As to Grace, it is all Common

According to Carl Bangs, Arminius held that

free will in man as sinner is "addicted to evil, and "it will not be bent to good except by grace."  Grace is as a form which brings into actuality the potentiality of the free will to goodness.  In a sinful man the free will is sufficient for only evil choices.  Thus Arminius says that "grace is present with all men [as a result of the work of Christ], by which their free will may be actually bent to good; but there is in all men such a will as is flexible to either side upon accession of grace."

That grace of which Arminius speaks is common grace, common to all, not "peculiar grace" or "special grace," as it might be applied to and limited to those whom God has predestined to receive it.  Arminius rejects a distinction between common and peculiar grace.  There is only common grace.  All men have the free will to accept Christ or not, free will in that respect only.

Predestination, as Arminius sees it, is simply this: God predestines those who have faith in Jesus Christ, those who have made the choice to believe, to constitute his elect.  This common grace of Arminius, then, sometimes referred to as "prevenient grace" (Bangs does not use that term), is available to everyone.  However, not everyone will exercise the will, now liberated by grace, to choose the good, that is to have faith in Christ.  Some will decide not to believe.  God has predestined those who choose not to have faith not to be among his elect.  We have then, conditional election.  Being part of the elect is conditioned on one deciding to believe.

Calvinists (Bangs would say "later" Calvinists), on the other hand, will not admit of any flexibility in the will bent to evil.  We are totally depraved.  (The "T" in Tulip.)  God's election, then, is not and cannot be conditioned on one's will, made free to choose by grace, making the choice of faith.  God's election is unconditional.  (The "U" in Tulip.)  Christ did not die to put everyone in a position to make a faith choice - or not.  Christ's atonement was limited to the unconditionally elect.  (The "L" in Tulip.)  Even to think about choosing requires God's grace, much less actually to make the choice to believe.  Furthermore, God's grace is irresistible as far as particular, chosen people are concerned.  (The "I" in Tulip.) Once grace is set upon us, like some hound of heaven it will get us, and we are as unable to resist it as we were to obtain it before God set loose his hound.  We cannot be just a little bit graced, graced just enough to make a choice.  It is all or it is nothing.  Because our will is not involved in our election, it cannot, after our being saved, be bent away from Christ.  As God's chosen we shall persevere in our blessed position.  (The "P" in Tulip.)

Hmmm.

Arminius and Good Works

Carl Bangs writes that in 1593, the enemies of Arminius accused him before the Consistory of Amsterdam  (something like our session) of three errors.  One of the alleged errors concerned Arminius' view of “works.”  He was accused of teaching that

too much could not be ascribed to good works, nor could they be sufficiently commended, provided no merit were attributed to them. 

At a hearing on the accusations, Arminius simply stood by that teaching.  The consistory cleared him of all three charges.  Bangs, Arminius - a Study in the Dutch Reformation, p. 143.

Johannes Cuchlinus: a Tough Man, during Tough Times, with a Tough Faith

Carl Bangs writes that Arminius

was ordained on Saturday evening August 27, 1588, in the Old Church, which was the center of church life in Amsterdam.  .  .  .  The long process of preparation was now at an end, and he was about to enter into the full exercise of his pastoral ministry in Amsterdam, a ministry that would run for fifteen years.

Arminius joined a staff of five other ministers, and Bangs gives us a profile of each of them.  One of them was Johannes Cuchlinus. 

He was the first pastor from the time of the Alteration [of Amsterdam, the Alterie, when in 1578 Reformed Services first began in that city], and he was the only German minister.  Three of his wives had died, and in 1587, he married an Amsterdam widow.  In another nine years he would marry his fifth and last wife, the sister of Arminius’ father, thus becoming Arminius uncle by marriage.  He was a Calvinist, but not of the new sort that would make so much trouble in later decades.  The Belgic Confession and Heidelberg Catechism defined his faith, and he was not one to speculate on the order of decrees.  He was only forty-two years old, but in that time forty-two was a ripe old age, and Cuchlinus functioned as the senior minister of Amsterdam.

The Bitter and the Sweet of Learning

1633 portrait of Johannes Wtenbogaert by Rembrandt.

Arminius as a youth may have attended St. Jerome School [Sint Hieronymusschool] in Utrecht.  Carl Bangs connects him to that school because of his friendship with Johaness Uitenbogaert [Wtenbogaert], “who was to become a lifelong, intimate friend of Arminius.”  Bangs is certain Uitenbogaert attended that school.  Bangs writes:

Of his teacher [Cornelius] Lauerman, Uitenbogaert later said, “I still remember that the teacher often said to me and my fellow students that the root of study is very bitter to bite into but that the fruit is very sweet.”

-from Carl Bangs, Arminius– A Study in the Dutch Reformation, Second Edition (Frances Asbury Press 1985) p. 35

The Bangs, Father and Son, the Dutch Reformation, the Pilgrims, and Jacobus Arminius.

The November - December edition of The University of Chicago Magazine, presents a profile of Jeremy Bangs, X'67, entitled "Going Dutch."  It not only introduces me to that gifted scholar,  but also to Leiden in the Netherlands, the Reformation as it took place in that country, and reintroduces me to the Pilgrims, "yes, those Pilgrims" as Lydialyle Gibson, the article's author, writes.  (What a beautiful name, Lydialyle.)

The article also introduces me to Jeremy's dad, Carl Bangs, PhD'58,

a church historian and theology professor, and an expert of the 16th-century Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius.  Carl Bang's biography, Arminius: A Study in the Dutch Reformation (Abingdon Press), is a definitive text. 
 
Arminius!  But he was so wrong!  Isn't that just like a UChi scholar, picking such a subject to write about?

But over to Amazon, to look at that book.  Here's a great review:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique, Enlightening, and Rewarding Study (Especially for a Calvinist)., June 18, 2006

By 

Nelson Banuchi "atdCross" (Concord, NC USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Arminius: A study in the Dutch Reformation (Paperback)

Mr. Bangs presents a very systematic and, sometimes, personally affective account of James Arminius. Not only does he present Arminius objectively as a pastor, theologian,and professor but also a few yet essential insights of a man who has had his share of sorrow.

I was warned many years ago not to read this book. I was told by Calvinist-leaning individuals that it would upset my faith and cause me to fall away. I have read this book 5 times and filled it with highlighting and notations. Apparently, the one who warned me never read the book. And I think that is a big problem with those who adhere to Calvinism when discussing issues regarding election and predestination. I would encourage every Calvinists to read this book not for the purpose of changing their view but to understand what Arminius really taught as, it seems, many books by Calvinist theologians misrepresent terribly the teachings Arminius espoused. To call him a heretic is to be wholy misinformed or uninformed about the man Arminius and his teachings.

Reading "Arminius" has helped me to understand the significance of Arminianism, it's value and importance in Christian theology, the essential issues that divide two camps of believers (one, Calvinism, and the other, Arminianism), and it has provided me with an alternative (and better, in my estimation) understanding of certain "problem" texts in the Bible.

Most important of all, to me, it has brought me closer to a man after my own heart; a man who knows the pain of lose, still trusts in God, and seeks to present God in a way that makes Him available for all sinners to embrace in repentance and faith.

I highly recommend reading this book. If you do not, you will miss a very important phase in Christian history. It has gotten to a point that when I'm going to my study to read this book and his "Works", I tell my wife I'm going to spend some time with my best friend.

Buy it, read it, you won't regret it.

Also, read "The Works of James Arminius", London Edition, 3 vols. So far, I've read all volumes three times. It is a little difficult to read at first, but once you get use to how it is written, you'll find it very rewarding.

Now, over to half.com, to find a $6.00 "Acceptable" copy on sale (although,you never know just what you are going to get with "Acceptable" - other than a real bargain).  Can't wait to read it.

The reviewer quoted above, Mr. Banuchi, writes that he "read 'The Works of James [Jacobus] Arminius', London Edition, 3 vols.  .  .  . three times"!  There are editions of those works at Amazon in Kindle Editions.  Here is volume 1 of the edition published by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library ("CCEL").  CCEL's website is worth exploring.