Episode 84 - Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals: Jacobus Arminius - Part 03

This episode concludes our three part look at Jacobus Arminius as part of the larger series of episodes taken from Inter-Varsity Press' Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals. In this episode we're discussing Arminianism today. If you haven't listened to the preceding two episodes you should go do that now. 

Transcript

Welcome back to the Giants of the Faith podcast where we explore the people, the doctrines, and the movements that have shaped Christianity through the centuries. I’m your host Robert Daniels, and today we’re concluding our three part look at Jacobus Arminius as part of the larger series of episodes taken from Inter-Varsity Press' Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals. In this episode we're discussing Arminianism today. If you haven't listened to the preceding two episodes you should go do that now. 

Now, if you’ve been around evangelical churches in the West, you’ve almost certainly felt the influence of Arminianism - whether you knew it or not. It’s in the altar calls, the evangelistic crusades, the language of “making a decision for Christ.” It’s in the belief that every person can be saved if only they want to be, and that Jesus died for the world without exception.

But is this theological system the pure gospel, or has it led to excesses that have weakened the church’s witness? That’s what we’re going to consider today. And I’ll warn you up front: while I’ll give credit where it’s due, we’ll be taking a slightly critical view of how Arminianism has played out in the modern era.

Arminianism began with Jacobus Arminius, a Dutch theologian born in 1560. He was trained in the Reformed tradition but came to question some of its key doctrines, especially the Calvinistic understanding of predestination. Arminius and his followers, known as the Remonstrants, emphasized that God’s grace was given to all people, and that humans retained the ability to accept or reject it.

Where Calvinism stressed the total sovereignty of God in salvation - that He elects some to eternal life and passes over others - Arminius argued that election was conditional on faith, not unconditional. God, he said, foreknows who will believe, and those are the elect. The Synod of Dort in 1618 famously rejected these teachings, issuing the Canons of Dort, which we know today as the five points of Calvinism: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints.

And yet, Arminianism didn’t fade. In fact it flourished. Through the preaching of John Wesley and the Methodist movement, Arminian ideas spread throughout England, America, and eventually the global church.

Before we dive into the problems, let’s give credit where it’s due. One of the most appealing features of Arminianism is its insistence that Christ died for all people. No one is outside the reach of God’s saving love. This has given Arminian preachers great confidence to say to every person: “Christ died for you.” That’s a powerful evangelistic message.

Think of John Wesley, tirelessly traveling on horseback across England to preach to miners, prisoners, and farmers. His message was simple: salvation is available to you. That passion for universal salvation drove the Methodist revivals and fueled the Great Awakening in America.

Later, Billy Graham would stand in stadiums filled with tens of thousands and echo that same Arminian confidence: “God loves you. Christ died for you. You can choose to receive Him today.” That clarity, that simplicity, has led to countless conversions. Because Arminianism insists that every person has the ability to respond to grace, it has energized missionary work. Why go to the nations if some are predestined to be excluded, they say? But if salvation is open to all, then every tribe and tongue is a mission field. Of course, the answer to their question is 'because some are predestined to hear and believe'. I heard Jeff Durbin one time say that the reason the Calvinist evangelizes is because of guaranteed results.

The modern missionary movement - from William Carey in India to the Wesleyan Holiness movement in Africa and Asia - was carried forward by this Arminian impulse. Even today, many Pentecostal and charismatic movements, which are overwhelmingly Arminian, are spreading rapidly in the Global South.

Arminianism has also brought comfort to believers. Calvinism can sometimes leave people wrestling with difficult questions: “Am I elect? How can I know?” Arminian theology often sidesteps that by saying, “If you’ve believed, then you are saved. It’s that simple.” That straightforward assurance has been a lifeline for many ordinary Christians.

But we can’t stop there. Because Arminianism, especially as it has filtered down into popular evangelical culture, has shown a darker side. At its best, Arminianism maintains a tension between God’s initiative and human response. But in practice, it often slides into a man-centered theology where human choice is the decisive factor, and God’s sovereignty is pushed to the margins. Instead of God being the one who powerfully saves, He becomes a bystander, hoping, pleading, waiting for us to make the right choice. That’s not the God of the Bible, who declares the end from the beginning and works all things according to His will.

Think of the 19 and 20th-century phenomenon of the altar call. It became the centerpiece of revival meetings, youth rallies, and Sunday services. And while God has undoubtedly worked through these invitations, they often encouraged people to see salvation as a one-time decision rather than a lifelong discipleship. Raise your hand, walk an aisle, repeat a prayer - and you’re in. No need for repentance, no call to obedience, no emphasis on sanctification. Just “make your decision” and move on.

Not to mention that altar calls play on emotions with soft, endearing music and, often, the pleading call of the minister. The result? Churches filled with people who think they are Christians because they had an emotional moment years ago, but whose lives show no fruit.

Another excess has been the way Arminian frameworks have enabled prosperity preachers. If salvation ultimately depends on our faith-response, then it’s a short leap to say that blessings, healings, and even wealth also depend on our level of faith. This is how we end up with televangelists promising, “God has done His part, now you must claim your blessing.” It’s a distortion of biblical faith, but one rooted in an exaggerated Arminian emphasis on human agency.

Finally, in extreme forms of Arminianism, God’s sovereignty is all but denied. Some versions of Open Theism, for example, argue that God doesn’t even know the future exhaustively, because that would limit human freedom. That’s not just an error; it’s heresy. And while not all Arminians go there, the trajectory of putting human choice at the center has opened the door for these dangerous departures.

So what does Arminianism look like today? Mainline Methodism still carries Wesley’s theology, though often diluted by liberal theology. Pentecostalism and Charismatic movements are overwhelmingly Arminian, emphasizing the availability of salvation and the empowerment of the Spirit. Many in this movement believe that since man makes the decision for Christ, he can also later make the decision to reject Christ. And then maybe accept him again and reject him again in a vicious cycle of a saved / not-saved state.

American evangelicalism has been shaped by Arminian preaching styles, altar calls, and decision-focused evangelism. On the positive side, this has led to massive global growth, especially in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. But on the negative, it has often led to shallow discipleship, consumeristic churches, and a gospel of self-fulfillment rather than cross-bearing.

So where do we go from here? We can acknowledge that Arminianism has preserved important truths:

That God loves the world.

That Christ’s death is sufficient for all.

That humans are truly responsible for their choices.

But we must also resist its excesses. We need the Reformed reminder that God is sovereign, that salvation is His work from beginning to end, and that discipleship is more than a momentary decision. If we can hold those truths together - God’s sovereign grace and man’s genuine responsibility - we’ll find a healthier middle ground based on Biblical principals.

Arminianism today is both a blessing, if you're feeling charitable, and a cautionary tale. It has fueled missions, spread the gospel, and comforted believers. But it has also led to shallow faith, man-centered theology, and dangerous distortions. As always, the challenge for the church is to return to Scripture - to let God’s Word, not human systems, define our theology. When we do that, we can honor the strengths of Arminianism while guarding against its weaknesses.

Thanks for joining me on this episode of Giants of the Faith. Next time we will again return to the Biographical Dictionary of Evanagelicals and find our next subject. Thanks very much for listening. Until then, God bless.