1 Notes on the Canons of Dort C Bouwman 2 The Historical Background to the Canons of Dort INTRODUCTION The Canons of Dort are "statements of doctrine adopted by the great Reformed Synod of Dort in 1618-1619". (Book of Praise, p. 531). This synod, which took place in the Dutch town of Dort, the Netherlands, commenced on November 13, 1618 and lasted for almost one year. Why is it that in 1997, some 380 years later, we, Australians, find ourselves studying Dutch synodical decisions that date back so many years? What is it about their content that we still find relevant today? Wouldn't it be far more beneficial for us to study today's issues, and seek today's answer for today's questions? Is a study on the centuries old and European Canons of Dort not a misplaced endeavour in our post-modern and technological culture? The Preacher in Ecclesiastes 1:9,10 warned us that "That which has been is what will be, that which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, "See this is new"? It has already been in ancient times before us." The very same issues which demand our attention today in the twentieth century turn out to so similar to issues which kept our fathers busy back in the seventeenth century. Hence the answers our fathers arrived at in addressing these issues can certainly benefit us in seeking answers today. More, given that the answers of the fathers of long ago were based on Scripture, it is for to work today with their answers of yesteryear. The Belgic Confession was completed in 1561, in a context of severe persecution. To be Reformed at that time was not 'cheap', or easy. To choose to be Reformed meant that one was prepared to give up one's life for the sake of one's faith. In 1567, Guido deBres himself was hung because he wanted to be Reformed and refused to renounce his Reformed faith. The Reformed suffered much at the hands of their Roman Catholic oppressors and Spanish overlords. However, it was not only the Reformed who resisted their Catholic oppressors and attempted to overthrow the Spaniards, but so did the Liberals (or Libertines). The latter believed in freedom, not necessarily in a political sense, but specifically in a spiritual sense. They embraced a concept of the self which considers man as being good. As far as sin is concerned they believed that man is not dead in sin even though man commits sin. Sinful is the way one describes some of man's deeds, but not man's nature. Man was good, and had within himself the wherewithall to choose the good on his own accord. In 1572 the Netherlands were freed from Spanish oppression and consequently from persecution. This allowed for growth in Reformed Church life. Believers, individually and collectively, could come out of hiding; churches could be established openly. From this time on one notes a development of the Church Order, and the convening of provincial and national Synods. All in all the following years were a prosperous time for the Reformed Church. However to assume that all who embraced the Reformed faith were of one mind in matters of doctrine is a false assumption. 3 There were, in actual fact, two kinds of Reformed people at the time namely, the Calvinistic Reformed (those who adhered to Calvinism) and the Arminian Reformed (as we understand it today, for at the time Arminius, only a young boy, had not yet influenced people's thinking; the term is used simply to 'tag' the group and give it some colour in our minds). For the second group, the term 'reformed' is hardly a fitting label, for they were at heart not at all 'reformed'. THE CALVINISTIC REFORMED The Calvinists understood the Bible to be the inspired Word of God. Therefore, the Bible is to be believed, and it is to be regarded as the final authority in all aspects of life. Out of respect for the Bible as God's Word, this Bible was not to be challenged (said the Calvinists) but was rather to be accepted and obeyed in humility. If we can believe the Bible, we can also echo what the Bible says (confessions). Because these confessions are based on what the Bible says, one can also hold one to the confession. So these Calvinistic Reformed people demanded that office bearers sign a Form of Subscription, by means of which they promise to adhere to the confessions. THE ARMINIAN REFORMED The Arminian Reformed on the other hand were not so submissive to the absolute authority of Scripture. The reason for their refusal to grant such a high place to Scripture (and by extension to the confession since it echoed the Scripture) was their positive perception of man. They rightly understood that the position of the Calvinistic Reformed implied the notion that man is depraved and so cannot know the truth for himself, nor can he discover for himself what is right and good. To see the self as dead in sin (in the words of Ephesians 2:1) was anathema to these Arminian Reformed people. To have to make such a confession concerning the self was offensive to the Arminian Reformed because it challenged their belief that the mind and heart of man is not dead. Sacrosanct to these people is the notion that man is not depraved and consequently is able to reason things out for himself and so arrive at the truth. Man is able to decide between doing good or bad, to believe or not. The Bible can be of assistance, and one should busy oneself with it, but what is essential is that one uses one's mind and so comes to understand the truth. Admittedly, with everyone thinking things through for themselves there will be many different conclusions as to what constitutes truth, and only tolerance will accommodate this. Here we find two radically different lines of thought which, not surprisingly, brought its own tensions to church life in Holland. For with the Arminian Reformed thinking, the very heart had been cut out of the Reformed faith. What the churches together had confessed in Article 15 of the Belgic Confession was denied by the Arminian Reformed: "We believe that by the disobedience of Adam original sin has spread throughout the whole human race. It is a corruption of the entire nature of man and a hereditary evil which infects even infants in their mother's womb. As a root it produces in man all sorts of sin. It is, therefore, so vile and abominable in the sight of God that it is sufficient to condemn the 4 human race. It is not abolished nor eradicated even by baptism, for sin continually streams forth like water welling up from this woeful source…." But if people were not totally depraved, salvation did not need to depend entirely on God either. So friction arose also on Article 16 of the Belgic Confession: "We believe that, when the entire offspring of Adam plunged into perdition and ruin by the transgression of the first man, God manifested Himself to be as He is: merciful and just. Merciful, in rescuing and saving from this perdition those whom in His eternal and unchangeable counsel He has elected in Jesus Christ our Lord by His pure goodness, without any consideration of their works. Just, in leaving the others in the fall and perdition into which they have plunged themselves." Again, if salvation did not depend entirely on God, if people were not so dead that they could contribute nothing of their own, then the place of Christ's work as confessed in Article 21 was attacked as well: "…He presented Himself in our place before His Father, appeasing God's wrath by His full satisfaction, offering Himself on the tree of the cross, where He poured out His precious blood to purge away our sins…. He was numbered with the transgressors…. He died as the righteous for the unrighteous.…" For those who had learned to love the doctrine of salvation by grace alone, freely given by God to the unworthy, the positions held by the Arminian Reformed constituted an attack upon the very heart of the gospel itself. And an attack it was, a Satanic attack to destroy the gains of the Great Reformation. No wonder the two sides clashed. A CHURCH - POLITICAL STRUGGLE But the struggle was not only related to the question of what one thought about the nature of man, and hence about whether salvation came fully from God or not. The Arminian Reformed embraced a notion of church that destroyed the confession of Article 27 of the Belgic Confession. The Church, says that confession, is made up of "the true Christian believers", that is, the members. Hence from within the membership officebearers are chosen who govern the congregation in the name of Jesus Christ. The Arminian Reformed, on the other hand, maintained that the government of the country should control all matters in the country - including the Church. The government should control the Church by means of the ministers, who are its servants and who are also paid by the government. With the government in control it follows that there is then little room for elders and deacons. Hence, during this period of Holland's church history, one could find many churches but few elders and deacons, and those that were there were just lackeys at that, to be of service to ministers who in turn served the government.