Arminius on the Assurance of Salvation: The Context, Roots, and Shape of the Leiden Debate, 1603-1609 Book

Preface     xiii
Abbreviations and Frequently Cited Material     xvii
Introduction     1
The State of Arminius Scholarship and the Current Proposal     2
The Importance of Arminius and Assurance     10
Methodology and Outline     11
Background of the Debate
Arminius and His Academic Context     19
Arminius in the Staten College     20
Regent, Sub-regent, and Faculty     20
Working Relationships     23
Arminius and the Leiden Pedagogy     36
Education in General     36
The Disputation     37
Background     37
Structure     40
Repetitiones     41
Importance for the Leiden Debate     44
Authorship     47
Arminius and Theological Method     58
Asking the Right Questions     59
Handling the Right Topics     67
Establishing the Right Order     68
Conclusion     69
The Ontology of Salvation
Grace, Predestination, and The Ordo Salutis     73
The Importance of Soteriology in the Sixteenth Century     73
The Shape of Arminius's Soteriology     76
Human Freedom and DivineGrace     77
Free Choice     77
Grace     79
Facere quod in se est     82
Predestination     83
Conditional Predestination     84
Predestination, Assurance, and the Consistency of Theological System     85
Vocation     93
Repentance     94
Faith     95
Faith as a Gift     96
Fides and Fiducia     98
Intellectualism and Voluntarism     100
Union and Communion with Christ     103
Justification     105
Conclusion     111
The Similarities     111
The Differences and Motivations     112
Sanctification, Perfection, and Apostasy     115
Sanctification in General     115
The Nature of Sanctification     115
The Necessity of Good Works     116
Sanctification as Cooperative and Progressive     119
The Efficacy of Sanctification     120
The State of the Unregenerate     120
The State of the Regenerate     122
The Possibility of Perfection     126
The Duration of Sanctification     130
Perseverance and the Possibility of Apostasy      130
The Conditions of Apostasy     135
Conclusion     140
The Epistemology of Salvation
The Undermining of Assurance     145
The Epistemology of Salvation     145
Arminius's View of the Dialectical Problem of Assurance     149
The Two "Pests of Religion and of Souls"     150
The Dialectic and Its History     152
The New Testament and Patristic Period     153
The Medieval Period     157
Luther and the Continental Reformed Movement     161
The English Reformed Movement     165
Summary of the Preceding Tradition     172
The Dialectic in Arminius and His Colleagues     173
The Dialectic and Reformed Soteriology     180
Desperatio as the Effect of Reformed Soteriology     181
Securitas as the Effect of Reformed Soteriology     187
Implications for Reformed Soteriology     190
Conclusion     192
The Grounding of Assurance     194
Certainty     194
Certainty in General     194
The Nature of the Certainty of Salvation     195
A Posteriori Grounding: Subjective Confirmation of Salvation     198
The Testimonies of Salvation      198
Vocabulary     198
The Inventory of Testimonies     199
Sensus Fidei     201
Testimonium Spiritus Sancti     202
Lucta     202
Bona Opera     203
Syllogismus Practicus     205
Lack of Testimony     209
A Priori Grounding: The Objective Foundation of Salvation     213
The Promise of God     214
The Predestination of God     216
The Will of God     217
Arminius and the Duplex Dei Amor     219
Background of the Duplex Dei Amor     219
Creation and Love     221
Antecedent and Consequent Love     224
Love and the Fundamenta     227
Comparison     232
Implications for Assurance and Doubt     232
Faith and Hope     234
Conclusion     236
Ontology and Epistemology of Salvation     236
Arminius's Soteriology in the Context of Reformed Orthodoxy     237
Assurance as a Principal Point of Departure     243
Fourth Repetition of Theological Disputations at Leiden     245
Arminius, De Bonis Operibus (Hellerus, 1603)     248
Arminius, De Fide (Neraeus, 1605)      254
A Comparison of Causality in Arminius, Kuchlinus, and Gomarus     262
Works Cited     267
Disputations     267
Other Primary Sources     269
Secondary Works     274
Name Index     281
Subject Index     283