Theological Term of the Week: Canons of Dort

Canons of Dort
The doctrinal statements adopted by the Synod of Dordt (1618-1619), consisting of the judicial decisions on disputed doctrinal points from the Arminian controversy.    

• From the Canons of Dort:

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 12. And this is that regeneration so highly extolled in Scripture, that renewal, new creation, resurrection from the dead, making alive, which God works in us without out aid.  But this is in no wise effected merely by the external preaching of the gospel, by moral suasion, or such a mode of operation that, after God has performed His part, it still remains in the power of man to be regenerated or not, to be converted or to continue unconverted; but it is evidently a supernatural work, most powerful, and at the same time most delightful, astonishing, mysterious, and ineffable; not inferior in efficacy to creation or the resurrection from the dead, as the Scripture inspired by the Author of this work declares; so that all in whose heart God works in this marvelous manner are certainly, infallibly, and effectually regenerated, and do actually believe.  Whereupon the will thus renewed is not only actuated and influenced by God, but in consequence of this influence becomes itself active.  Wherefore also man himself is rightly said to believe and repent by virtue of that grace received.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 13. The manner of this operation cannot be fully comprehended by believers in this life.  Nevertheless, they are satisfied to know and experience that by this grace of God they are enabled to believe with the heart and to love their Savior.

THIRD AND FOURTH HEAD: ARTICLE 14. Faith is therefore to be considered as the gift of God, not on account of its being offered by God to man, to be accepted or rejected at his pleasure, but because it is in reality conferred upon him, breathed and infused into him; nor even because God bestows the power or ability to believe, and then expects that man should by the exercise of his own free will consent to the terms of salvation and actually believe in Christ, but because He who works in man both to will and to work, and indeed all things in all, produces both the will to believe and the act of believing also

• From From Reformed Confessions Harmonized edited by Joel R. Beeke and Sinclair B. Ferguson, page xi:

The Synod of Dordt was held to settle a serious controversy in the Dutch churches initiated by the rise of Arminianism. Jacob Arminius (1560-1609), a theological professor at Leiden University, differed from the Reformed faith on a number of important points. After Arminius’s death, forty-three of his ministerial followers presented their heretical views to the States General of the Netherlands on five of these points in the Remonstrance of 1610. In this doc- ument and even more explicitly in later writings, the Arminians, who came to be called “Remonstrants,” taught (1) election based on foreseen faith; (2) the universality of Christ’s atonement; (3) the free will and partial depravity of man; (4) the resistibility of grace; and (5) the possibility of a lapse from grace. They asked for the revision of the Reformed church’s doctrinal standards and for government protection of Arminian views. The Arminian-Calvinism conflict became so severe that it led the Netherlands to the brink of civil war. Finally in 1617 the States General voted four to three to call a national Synod to address the problem of Arminianism. 

The synod held 154 formal sessions over a period of seven months (November 1618 to May 1619). Thirteen Arminian theologians, led by Simon Episcopius, tried to delay the work of the synod and divide the delegates. Their efforts proved unsuccessful. Under the leadership of Johannes Bogerman, the Arminians were dismissed. The synod then developed the Canons which thoroughly rejected the Remonstrance of 1610 and scripturally set forth the Reformed doctrine on these debated points. These points, known as the five points of Calvinism are: unconditional election, limited atonement, total depravity, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of saints. Though these points do not embrace the full scope of Calvinism and are better regarded as Calvinism’s five answers to the five errors of Arminianism, they certainly lie at the heart of the Reformed faith, particularly of Reformed soteriology, for they flow out of the principle of absolute divine sovereignty in saving sinners. They may be summarized as follows: (1) Unconditional election and faith are sovereign gifts of God. (2) While the death of Christ is abundantly sufficient to expiate the sins of the whole world, its saving efficacy is limited to the elect. (3, 4) All people are so totally depraved and corrupted by sin that they cannot exercise free will toward, nor effect any part of, their salvation. In sovereign grace God irresistibly calls and regenerates the elect to new- ness of life. (5) God graciously preserves the redeemed so that they persevere until the end, even though they may be troubled by many infirmities as they seek to make their calling and election sure. 

Learn more:

1. Kim Riddlebarger: Introduction — Canons of Dort
2. R. Scott Clark: The Canons of Dordt
3. Daniel R. Hyde: How Did We Get the Canons of Dort?
4. Kevin DeYoung: The Canons of Dort and the Gift of Grace

Related terms:

• Belgic Confession
• five points of Calvinism
• Heidelberg Catechism
• Second Helvetic Confession
• Westminster Confession of Faith

Filed under Creeds and Confessions

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Sunday Hymn: I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

I heard the voice of Je­sus say,
Come un­to Me and rest;
Lay down, thou wea­ry one, lay down
Thy head up­on My breast.
I came to Je­sus as I was,
Weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a rest­ing place,
And He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Je­sus say,
Behold, I free­ly give
The liv­ing wa­ter; thirs­ty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.
I came to Je­sus, and I drank
Of that life giv­ing stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul re­vived,
And now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Je­sus say,
I am this dark world’s light;
Look un­to Me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.
I looked to Je­sus, and I found
In Him my star, my sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk,
Till tra­vel­ing days are done.

I heard the voice of Je­sus say,
My Fa­ther’s house ab­ove
Has ma­ny man­sions; I’ve a place
Prepared for you in love.
I trust in Je­sus—in that house,
According to His word,
Redeemed by grace, my soul shall live
Forever with the Lord.

—Horatius Bonar

Theological Term of the Week: Belgic Confession

Belgic Confession
The oldest of the doctrinal standards of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands, written mainly by Guido de Bres, a preacher of the Reformed churches of the Netherlands, in 1561.      

• From the Belgic Confession:

Article XIX. The Union and Distinction of the Two Natures in the Person of Christ

We believe that by this conception the person of the Son is inseparably united and connected with the human nature; so that there are not two Sons of God, nor two persons, but two natures united in one single person; yet each nature retains its own distinct properties. As, then, the divine nature has always remained uncreated, without beginning of days or end of life, filling heaven and earth, so also has the human nature not lost its properties but remained a creature, having beginning of days, being a finite nature, and retaining all the properties of a real body. And though He has by His resurrection given immortality to the same, nevertheless He has not changed the reality of His human nature; forasmuch as our salvation and resurrection also depend on the reality of His body. But these two natures are so closely united in one person that they were not separated even by His death. Therefore that which He, when dying, commended into the hands of His Father, was a real human spirit, departing from His body. But in the meantime the divine nature always remained united with the human, even when He lay in the grave; and the Godhead did not cease to be in Him, any more than it did when He was an infant, though it did not so clearly manifest itself for a while. Wherefore we confess that He is very God and very man: very God by His power to conquer death; and very man that He might die for us according to the infirmity of His flesh.

• From Living for God’s Glory by Joel Beeke, page 21:

The Belgic Confession’s chief author was Guido de Bres (1522-1567), an itenerant Reformed pastor. During the sixteenth century, the Reformed churches in the Netherlands experienced severe persecution at the hands of King Philip II of Spain, an ally of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1561, de Bres, likely assisted by fellow pastors, wrote the confession to prove that the adherents of the Reformed faith were not rebels but law-abiding citizens who professed biblical doctrines.

The year after it was written, a copy of the confession was sent to Philip II, along with a statement that the petitioners were ready to obey the government in all things lawful, but would “offer their backs to stripes, their tongues to knives, their mouths to gags, and their whole bodies to the fire, well knowing that those who follow Christ must take up His cross and deny themselves” rather than deny the truth expressed in the confession. Neither the confession nor the petition persuaded Spanish authorities to be more tolerant of the Protestants, however. In 1567, de Bres became one martyr among hundreds who sealed their faith with blood. Nevertheless, his work has endured as a convincing statement of Reformed doctrine.

Learn more:

1. Got Questions: What is the Belgic Confession?
2. The Gospel Coalition: The Belgic Confession
3. Cornelius Venema: The Belgic Confession
4. Joel Beeke: The Belgic Confession of Faith and the Canons of Dordt
5. Kim Riddlebarger: A Commentary on the Belgic Confession
6. Kevin DeYoung: The Belgic Confession and the Hero No One Remembers

Related terms:

• Augsburg Confession
• London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689
• Second Helvetic Confession
• Westminster Confession of Faith

Filed under Creeds and Confessions

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Do you have a a theological term you’d like to see featured as a Theological Term of the Week? Email your suggestion using the contact button in the navigation bar above. 

Clicking on the Theological Terms button above the header will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.