Perhaps an average evangelical Christian today could be characterized as a “Calminian”—a fuzzy blend of Calvinist and Arminian theology. In a time when emotions often override sustained reflection, and opinion is valued over truth, many believers have settled for a biblically imprecise understanding of God’s radical grace.
In his book Grace Defined and Defended: What a 400-Year-Old Confession Teaches Us about Sin, Salvation, and the Sovereignty of God (Amazon and Christianbook), pastor-theologian Kevin DeYoung states, “Many of us, even Christians, have little patience for rigorous thinking and little interest in careful definition. We emote better than we reason, and we describe our feelings better than we define our words, which is one reason we need to study old confessions written by dead people. Whatever errors of harshness or exaggerated rhetoric may have existed in earlier centuries of theological discourse, this much is wonderfully and refreshingly true: they were relentlessly passionate about doctrinal truth. They cared about biblical fidelity. They cared about definitions. And they cared about precision. Praise God, they cared enough to be careful.”
We love to sing the hymn Amazing Grace; but, how amazing are we prepared to believe is God’s grace? DeYoung notes: “We settle for generalities and ambiguities and wonder why anyone should demand anything more,” adding later, “But what if another analogy is more appropriate? What if the truth we are talking about is not cold and dead, but very much alive?.” DeYoung would not let the precious doctrine of grace be covered with the dust of ignorance.
Additionally, he addresses these key questions. When was the acronym TULIP first used? (Not until 1913!) Is it an adequate summary of Calvinism? (It’s not!) What is the origin of the Arminian controversy and what is the essence of it? Who were the Arminians? What is free will and predestination?
DeYoung takes us into a brief historical journey that dates back 400 years into post-Reformation Europe. After an introduction on the history, he devotes four chapters to the five main points of Dort. The rise of the dissension to traditional Reformed (Calvinist) doctrine was led by Dutch theologian Jacob Arminius, whose followers were called Remonstrants (or Arminians). His teachings, formulated into the Five Articles of Remonstrance, were examined and rejected by the Synod that met in Dort in 1618-19, which then published the Canons of Dort, with five counter-points.
At the heart of the disagreement was whether predestination is based solely on the will of God (traditional Calvinism) or on foreseen knowledge of belief. This book explores and explains what was at stake in the discussion of “free will” and “election” (or “predestination”). The book is not a biblical defense of the five points of Calvinism; rather, in DeYoung’s words, it is “a brief, accessible commentary on the background and theology of Dort itself.”
Why should we care about it? DeYoung writes, “At their very heart, the Canons of Dort are about the nature of grace—supernatural, unilateral, sovereign, effecting, resurrecting grace, with all of its angularity, all of its offense to human pride, all of its comfort for the weary soul. That’s what Dort wanted to settle. That’s what they were jealous to protect. Some words are worth the most careful definitions, just as some truths are too precious not to defend.”
For the enjoyment and glorification of God, who saves us by his grace, we recommend DeYoung’s little, but valuable, volume.