The Remonstrants (Arminians) charged the orthodox Reformed, i.e., those who confessed the Belgic Confession (1561) and the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) sincerely (without crossed fingers) with being unconcerned about sanctification. The. . . Continue reading
The single most frequent way to corrupt the doctrine of perseverance has been to turn it into a covenant of works. This happens regularly outside the Reformed churches. E.g., the. . . Continue reading
One of the great and persisting differences between the Reformed and Remonstrant (Arminian) confessions is the difference between the Reformed realism about the Christian life as distinct from the latent. . . Continue reading
Under this head of doctrine we have considered the errors that Synod rejected—the Remonstrants turned the perseverance into a covenant of works—so now we turn to what Synod confessed positively. . . Continue reading
In the previous essay we saw that the Reformed Churches defended perseverance by grace alone (sola gratia) against the Remonstrant attempt to deny perseverance by making grace resistible and conditional. . . Continue reading
As Bob Godfrey has well illustrated in his new book on the Canons of Dort, Saving the Reformation, the theology of the Synod of Dort was eminently pastoral. Synod was. . . Continue reading