THE SYNOD OF DORT 1608

The Synod Of Dort 1608

The Synod Of Dort 1608

Introduction

Life is full of many contradictions, and the basis of the Puritan religion is no exception. The Puritans believed that they were God's chosen people, as mentioned in the Bible. They saw themselves on a level above the average man, but in reality, their religion was full of inconsistencies. The Puritans believed in something known as the 'Doctrine of Elect,' hinted at in Romans 8:28-30, 9:6-24, and later at the Synod of Dort.. The doctrine contradicted the more widely held belief of Pelagianism, the belief that man could redeem himself through acts of charity, piety, and by living an unselfish life. It came to be one of the greatest theological discrepancies of all time. Evidently, the Puritan beliefs were almost entirely contradictory.(Gonzalez,1975)

Discussion

The Synod of Dort refers to a national religious conference of the Netherlands Reformed Church held in Dordrecht (Dort), the Netherlands, from Nov. 13, 1618 to May 25, 1619. The conference was called to deal primarily with three problems confronting the Church: 1) Erastianism, the control of the church by the state; 2) anticonfessional humanism they deemed more Hellenistic than biblical, whose two leading proponents were Erasmus and Coornheert (or Koornheert); and 3) the positions of the Arminians as outlined in The Remonstrance of 1610. For the purpose of this overview, we will focus only on the third subject.

No charge has been used more often or to greater effect to stifle theological discussion and disagreement then the charge of "unorthodox," or even worse, "heretical." Before one succumbs to the emotional pressure of these termes it is instructive to be aware of the history of theological disputes. Theological discourse through the centuries often changes from principled reasoning, or even disagreement, to emotional demagoguery and ad hominem attacks. Moral Government Theology has been attacked in recent years as both "unorthodox" and "heretical." But Moral Government Theology finds its roots squarely in the theological system known as Arminianism, a system and tradition fully encompassing millions upon millions of Christians today. While those who have attacked Moral Government Theology purport to recognize Arminianism as a legitimate alternative perspective on the Christian faith, Arminians as a whole have had to defend themselves from the charges of the "reformed" wing of the Church of "unorthodoxy" and "heresy" since its inception. The debate is an historic, and indeed pivotal one, summed up and defined early on in a conference called the Synod of Dort.

Some of the Puritan beliefs were both simple and believable. Others would seem outrageous today. Puritanism was founded on the principles and beliefs of John Calvin, and one of the major ideals they focused on was the doctrine of predestination. Calvin believed that the grace of God was the ticket into Heaven and that his grace could not be earned. God's grace was bestowed upon a select few regardless of what they did to earn it. This 'doctrine' stated that God determines a mans' destiny, whether it be redemption or condemnation, regardless ...