When you hear “Canons of Dort” mentioned, do you ask yourself, “What is a Dort, and why are people shooting cannons there?” Those questions may be followed with, “And why exactly should I care about it?”
What is a Dort, and why are people shooting cannons there?
The Canons of Dort do not refer to any sort of military battle but actually refer to the official rulings and judgments of a church assembly. The word canon (with one “n”) refers to something that is authoritative, coming from the Greek word for “measuring rod”; it is the rule against which we would measure beliefs and practices for accuracy. The gathering (also called a Synod) of church leaders that rendered these canons took place in the Dutch town of Dordrecht (rendered in English either as Dordt or Dort) in 1618-19 to help resolve a dispute that was happening in churches in the land. This controversy started around 1591 with the teachings of a man named Jacob Arminius (1560-1609), who was a pastor and a professor. In the course of his teaching, Arminius called into question teachings found in Article 16 of the Belgic Confession (written in 1561), which was the statement of belief for the Dutch church (for a refresher on that article, see my post from last year on this article). While Ariminus died in 1609, his ideas did not die with him, as he attracted a following of other pastors and professors, often called the Remonstrants. This group published a statement in 1610 with five points of disagreement with the church, believing that the teaching of the Bible differed from the teaching of the confession in these areas. This debate was not something confined to the academy or something only discussed by theologians, but it divided the church in the country, as there would be secret assemblies or alternative churches when a great number of the people of the town differed on these points from the town’s pastor. After debating about whether there should be a Synod to settle this dispute, it was finally called for in 1618. While the dispute was primarily occurring within the Dutch churches, 27 Christians from other lands (France, England, and locations in modern-day Switzerland and modern-day Germany) also came to this gathering and participated in the deliberations alongside of the 58 gathered from the Dutch churches. The Synod ruled that the teachings of Arminius and the Remonstrants was out of accord with the confession of the church and, more importantly, out of accord with the teaching of Scriptures. The Canons lay out the biblical teaching and also the pastoral significance of each of the five points in dispute, with a section at the end of each point explicitly rejecting teachings of the Remonstrants based upon particular biblical passages. As a result of the Synod, those teaching the doctrines of the Remonstrants were not allowed to be pastors or professors in the Dutch Church.
Why Exactly Do I Care?
That answers the questions of “What is a Dort and why were people firing cannons?” (they weren’t!), but that question of “Why should I care?” still remains. One reason to care is that these judgments stand as one of the doctrinal statements of the Reformed Church, so they are part of what our church believes; it is alway good to know what one’s church believes and teaches. While it is one of the church’s statements of belief, it is not cited or referred to as often as the Belgic Confession or the Heidelberg Catechism. I have often said that the Holy Spirit is the overlooked member of the Trinity (something Francis Chan echoed in his book, Forgotten God), and the same could be said about the Canons of Dort among the Reformed Church’s historic Three Forms of Unity; it is the “forgotten confession.” There are probably a couple of reasons for why this is the case.
Why People Don’t Look at the Canons of Dort That Much
A major reason it is cited less than these other statements is that it is not as comprehensive of a document as those works; it really focuses on a few issues rather than a summary of Christian belief and practice like the other works do. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Canons of Dort is discussed less, as one is only likely to cite it when discussing a few doctrines (and these doctrines are covered in part in the other statements).
Another reason it is often overlooked or ignored is the content of it, as it focused on ideas like election, predestination, total depravity, atonement, and perseverance; the so-called “5 Points of Calvinism” are found in this statement as a response to the five points disputed by the Remonstrants. These topics can be controversial (I know I did not like them when I first heard them), but the Canons show that they come from Scripture and have significance for various aspects of the Christian life. When we dig into them and understand what they are and are not saying, I think we will have a greater appreciation for them. In fact, the Canons of Dort were written in part to correct misunderstandings and misrepresentations of the doctrines.
2018 Series: Digging into Dort
In light of the way that the Canons of Dort can be ignored or dismissed even among Reformed Christians and the fact that the Synod that wrote these statements started 400 years ago this November, I thought a good way to begin this year would be to journey through this statement, similar to what I did last year with the Belgic Confession. (Since Dort clarifies and defends the Belgic Confession, a series on Dort also seems to be a fitting sequel to the Belgic series as well.) Hopefully, this will give us greater understanding of the teachings found in this statement but also the way that these truths can aid and transform our lives as followers of Christ. So, stay tuned as we go “Digging into Dort.”
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