Who was James Arminius?
James (Jacob) Arminius was uneasy with some of the teachings that had come to be identified with Calvinism . Did God really choose some men to be damned before he created them? Was Christ's death only intended for those who would finally be saved? Does God exercise his sovereignty so fully that man has no choice in his own salvation ? Does regeneration come first and then repentance? As the professor of theology at Leyden, James had promised to teach only those things which conformed to the confessions of faith of the state church of the Netherlands . These were Calvinist. In his public teaching, Arminius kept his word, but he laid out Scripture readings in such a way as to cast doubt on Calvin's theology (which was heavily indebted to Augustine of Hippo). Arminius believed there was an island of goodness in everybody that could should freely Christ. Nobody believes this anymore if you take sin seriously. In private, James offered a different interpretation of Scripture t