1603–1619

Arminius, the Remonstrance (1610) and the Synod of Dort (1618–1619)

Jacob Arminius (1560–1609), a pupil of Beza and a convinced Calvinist, came into conflict at Leiden from 1603 with the supralapsarian Franciscus Gomarus and rejected unconditional election: God elects those whom He foresaw would believe and persevere in faith; prevenient grace is given to all and is sufficient for faith but is not irresistible; Christ died for the whole human race. In 1610 forty-six pastors signed the five-point Remonstrance. The international Synod of Dort rejected it and adopted canons under five heads: unconditional election, an atonement effective only for the elect while Christ's death is sufficient for all, humanity dead in sin and irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints. According to González, by sixteenth-century standards both Arminius and the Remonstrants would have been considered Calvinists, yet in less than a century predestination became the touchstone of Calvinist orthodoxy.