Arminianism is a doctrine in Christianity, formulated in the 17th century and named after the Dutch Calvinist Jacobus Arminius, which declares that human free will can exist without limiting God's power or contradicting the Bible. Arminius believed predestination was biblical and true - that God had intended some persons for heaven and others for hell, as indicated by Jesus' reference to ' sheep and goats.' But he focused on God's love more than on God's power in speaking of election, the process by which God chose those intended for heaven. After Arminius died, a group of ministers who sympathised with his views developed a systematic and rational theology based on his teachings. In their declaration, a remonstrance issued in 1610, the Arminians argued that election was conditioned by faith, that grace could be rejected, that the work of Christ was intended for all persons, and that it was possible for believers to fall from grace. At the Synod of Dort, or Dordrecht, the High Calvinists prevailed over the Arminian party and condemned the Remonstrants.
The Synod of Dort declared that Christ's work was meant only for those elect to salvation, that people believing could not fall from grace, and that God's election depended on no conditions. Remonstrants were not tolerated at all in Holland until 1630, and then not fully until 1795. They have, however, continued an Arminian tradition in the Netherlands into the late 20th century. The British theologian John Wesley studied and affirmed the work of Arminius in his Methodist movement during the 18th century in England. American Methodists for the most part have leaned toward the theology of the Remonstrants. In popular expression Arminianism has come to mean that no predestination exists and people are free to follow or reject the gospel. Research Arminianism
In sculpture, a colossus is a statue of enormous magnitude. The Asiatics, the Egyptians, and in particular the Greeks, have excelled in these works. The most celebrated Egyptian colossus was the vocal statue of Memnon in the plain of Thebes, supposed to be identical with the most northerly of two existing colossi (60 feet high) on the west bank of the Nile.
Among the colossi of Greece the most celebrated was the Colossus of Rhodes, a brass statue of Apollo 70 cubits high, esteemed one of the wonders of the world, erected at the port of Rhodes by Chares, 290 or 288 BC. It was knocked down by an earthquake about 224 BC. The statue was in ruins for nearly nine centuries, when the Saracens, taking Rhodes, sold the metal, weighing 720,900 lbs, to a Jew, about 653. There is no authority for the popularly-received statement that it bestrode the harbour mouth, and that the Rhodian vessels could pass under its legs.
Among the colossi of Phidias were the Olympian Zeus and the Athena of the Parthenon; the former 60 feet high and the latter 40 feet.
The most famous of the Roman colossi were the Jupiter of the Capitol, the Apollo of the Palatine Library, and the statue of Nero, 110 or 120 feet high, and from which the contiguous amphitheatre derived its name of Colosseum.
Among modern works of this nature is the colossus of San Carlo Borromeo, at Arona, in the Milanese territory, 60 feet in height; the 'Bavaria' at Munich, 65 feet high; the statue of Hermann or Arminius near Detmold, erected in 1875, 90 feet in height to the point of the upraised sword, which itself is 24 feet in length; the height of the figure to the point of the helmet being 55 feet;
the statue of Germania, erected in 1883 near Rudesheim, a figure 34 feet high, placed on an elaborately-sculptured pedestal over 81 feet high; and Bartholdi's statue of Liberty presented to the United States by the French nation, and which measures 104 feet or to the extremity of the torch in the hand of the figure 138 feet. It is erected at New York harbour on a pedestal 114 feet, is constructed for a lighthouse with what was at one time was one of the most powerful fixed lights in the world, and stands 317 feet above mean tide. Research Colossus
Arminius Vambery was a Hungarian traveller and Oriental scholar. He was born in 1832 and died in 1913. He studied at Vienna and Pest universities, and in 1854 went to Constantinople (Istanbul), where he taught French. After studying Arabic and Persian dialects he went to Turkistan in 1861, disguised as a dervish ; thence to Persia, where he joined a caravan of pilgrims returning from Mecca, and travelled with them to Khiva. Thence he passed to Bokhara and Samarkand, making his way back to Persia via Herat, in 1864. Returning to Budapest, he became professor of Turkish and other Oriental languages. His principal works include The Coming Struggle for India, 1885; and Western Culture in Eastern Lands, 1906. He published his Autobiography in 1884, and The Story of My Struggles in 1904. Research Arminius Vambery
Arminius Vambery was a Hungarian traveller and Oriental scholar. He was born in 1832 and died in 1913. He studied at Vienna and Pest universities, and in 1854 went to Constantinople (Istanbul), where he taught French. After studying Arabic and Persian dialects he went to Turkistan in 1861, disguised as a dervish ; thence to Persia, where he joined a caravan of pilgrims returning from Mecca, and travelled with them to Khiva. Thence he passed to Bokhara and Samarkand, making his way back to Persia via Herat, in 1864. Returning to Budapest, he became professor of Turkish and other Oriental languages. His principal works include The Coming Struggle for India, 1885; and Western Culture in Eastern Lands, 1906. He published his Autobiography in 1884, and The Story of My Struggles in 1904. Research Arminius Vambery
The Arminians are a sect or party of Christians, so called from James Arminius or Harmensen, a Protestant divine of Leyden, who died in 1609. They were called also remonstrants, from their having presented a remonstrance to the States-general in 1610. The Arminian doctrines are: (1) Conditional election and reprobation, in opposition to absolute predestination. (2) Universal redemption, or that the atonement was made by Christ for all mankind, though none but believers can be partakers of the benefit. (3) That man, in order to exercise true faith, must be regenerated and renewed by the operation of the Holy Spirit, which is the gift of God; but that this grace is not irresistible and may be lost, so that men may relapse from a state of grace and die in their sins. These doctrines were vehemently attacked by the Calvinists of Holland, and were condemned by the Synod of Dort in 1619. The Arminians in consequence were treated with great severity; many of them fled to, and spread in, other countries, and though there is no longer any particular sect to which the name is exclusively applied, many bodies are classed as Arminians, as being opposed to the Calvinists on the question of predestination. Research Arminians
Arminius was an ancient German hero celebrated by his fellow-countrymen as their deliverer from the Roman yoke. He was born about 18-16 BC, and died in 19 AD. Having been sent as a hostage to Rome, he served in the Roman army, and was raised to the rank of eques. Returning home he found the Roman governor, Quintilius Varus, making efforts to Romanize the German tribes near the Rhine. Placing himself at the head of the discontented tribes he completely annihilated the army of Yarus, consisting of three legions, in a three days' battle fought in the Teutoburg forest. For some time he baffled the Roman general Germanicus, and after many years' resistance to the vast power of the empire he drew upon himself the hatred of his countrymen by aiming at the regal authority, and was assassinated. A national monument to his memory was inaugurated on the Grotenburg, near Detmold, in 1875. Research Arminius
Arminius Vambery was a Hungarian traveller and orientalist. He was born in 1832 and died in 1913. He travelled through Armenia and Persia between 1861 and 1864 and was the Professor of Oriental languages at the University of Budapest until 1905. Research Arminius Vambery
Ceasar Germanicus was a distinguished Roman. The son of NeroClaudiusDrusus and the younger Antonia, a niece of Augustus, he was born in 15 BC and died in 19 AD. He was adopted by Tiberius, his paternal uncle, and married Agrippina, the granddaughter of Augustus. When Augustus died, in 14 AD, Germanicus was invited by the rebellious legions on the Rhine to assume the sovereignty, but refused, and quelled the revolt. He then crossed the Rhine, surprised and defeated the Marsi with great slaughter. Next year a campaign against the Catti and the Germans, led by Arminius, resulted in a series of victories. The following year he again made his way into Germany, defeated the Cherusci twice, and made an incursion into the country of the Marsi. Tiberius now became jealous of the glory of Germanicus, called him home under pretence of granting him a triumph, then, to get rid of him, sent him into the East to compose the disturbances in Armenia and Cappadocia. This he performed in 18 AD, visited Egypt the following year, and died on his return to Syria under some suspicion of having been poisoned by Cn. Piso, the governor of Syria. Research Caesar Germanicus
The Gomarites or Gomarists were followers of Francis Gomar, a Dutch disciple of Calvin in the 17th century. The sect, otherwise called Dutch Remonstrants, very strongly opposed the doctrines of Arminius, adhering rigidly to those of Calvin. Research Gomarites
Jacobus Arminius (Jacob Harmensen) was a Dutch theologian. He was born in 1560 at Oderwater and died in 1609 following persecution by the clergy. He was the founder of the sect of Arminians or Remonstrants. He studied at Utrecht, in the University of Leyden, and at Geneva, where his chief preceptor in theology was Theodore Beza. On his return to Holland he was appointed minister of one of the churches in Amsterdam, and chosen to undertake the refutation of a work which strongly controverted Beza's doctrine of predestination; but he happened to be convinced by the work which he had undertaken to refute. Elected in 1603 professor of divinity at Leyden, he openly declared his opinions, and was involved in harassing controversies, especially with his fellow professor Gomarus. These contests, with the continual attacks on his reputation, at length impaired his health and brought on a complicated disease, of which he died. Research Jacobus Arminius
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