The Evangelical Ecumenism of James Arminius

James Arminius is frequently mischaracterized as a mere opponent of the Reformation. In this historically rigorous and theologically nuanced reappraisal, Thomas Dow offers a sophisticated corrective to this narrative. He presents Arminius as a deliberate bridge-builder committed to the unity of the church. Dow demonstrates that Arminius’s project was built upon a principled evangelical catholicity—one profoundly anchored in the Scripture, the patristic tradition, and the shared doctrinal inheritance of the Western church. Through a close analysis of Arminius’s primary corpus, Dow explains how he sought to harmonize confessional integrity with a charitable ecumenism. Arminius did not seek to dilute theological precision; rather, he endeavoured to establish a framework wherein believers might navigate disagreement without losing their fundamental identity. This volume successfully situates Arminius within the broader ecumenical currents of the post-Reformation era, providing a vital contribution to contemporary discourse on Protestant identity, the nature of dogma, and the theological imperatives of Christian unity.