The definitive edition of the works of James Arminius, "founder" of Arminian theology. First published in 1875. Translated into English by James and William Nicholes.
Dutch theologian Jacobus Arminius, originally Jakob Harmenszoon founded Arminianism.
In the theology, followers of Jacobus Arminius rejected the Calvinist doctrines of predestination and election and believed in compatible human free will with sovereignty of God.
Reading Arminus' "Works," I really wish he live long enough to write a systematic theology or, at least, his other theological views on subjects with especial reference to the Calvinism of his day, e.g. original sin, security of the believer, and the controversial portions of Biblical texts, e.g. Rom 9-11. His volume 1, under "Orations" in the page of contents starts off like a systematic theology discussing subjects like: – The Object of Theology – The Author and End of Theology – The Certainty of Sacred Theology
The first volume also gives a little bit of history on Arminius and his historical context.
Although the English translation of Arminius may be a little difficult for one who is new to Arminius, nevertheless, the subjects he covers, mainly in defending the Bible's view of salvation in contradiction to Calvinism, it is well worth the reading and rereading until one comes to understand what he is saying (I've read it 3 times before posting this review!). The interesting thing is, once you come to get the gist of the point(s) he's making, you surprisingly find it's just makes plain common sense.
I would highly recommend anyone interested in the Arminian theology and who wants to get a good handle on just what it was Arminius taught, which will be different from the "Arminian" views espoused today (Arminius was much closer to Calvinism in certain areas of theology that surprised me!) or in Arminian-Calvinist debate, or if your a Calvinist wanting to know how to defend against Arminianism, to read the 3 volumes of Arminius' "Works."