Introduction

The Canons of Dort are one of official standards of the Reformed churches. They were written in the early 1600s, when the young Reformed Church in the Netherlands had to deal with the threat of Arminian theology. But are they relevant for today? Many Reformed people are unfamiliar with the Canons and their content. Some think of them as nitpicky theology, unimportant for everyday Christian living. Others dislike the Canons because their strong focus on topics like election only seems to alienate us from the broader evangelical community.

On the other hand there are zealous Christians who are very focused on the “Five Points of Calvinism,” as they summarize the Canons. Their thinking about God and his salvation is solidly based on TULIP—Total Depravity, Unconditional Election, Limited Atonement, Irresistible Grace, and Perseverance of the Saints. For them these five doctrines of grace are as important as the twelve articles of the Apostle’s Creed, or the five “solas” of the Reformation.

In these articles I want to emphasize the importance of the Canons of Dort as a standard for the church today. It not only summarizes important Biblical doctrine about God’s grace, but also outlines how this doctrine must be taught. The Canons are not merely dogma, but deal with questions of evangelism, catechism, and pastoral care. Their concern is much broader than many people realize. At the same time, the Canons of Dort are also much more nuanced than is often thought. Summarizing the Canons in the acronym TULIP easily leads to a distortion of their doctrine, and produces a radical “Calvinism” that the Synod of Dort did not intend.

This first article addresses the nature of the Canons in general. This involves some discussion of what happened at the Synod of Dort. The second and third installments are a survey of the five main sections of the Canons, intended especially to bring out their evangelical, pedagogical, and pastoral character.