Dort, Synod of

Assembly of the Dutch Reformed Church convened at Dordrecht, near Rotterdam, from Nov. 1618 to May 1619, to deal with the Arminian Controversy. The Arminians (Remonstrants) opposed the Calvinist doctrine of absolute predestination. The synod was strongly biased in favor of the strict Calvinist position from the beginning. The Arminians were treated as defendants on trial and were not admitted to the sessions of the first weeks of the synod. They were found guilty of heresy by the synod. The synod made a positive statement of its Calvinistic views through its canons. These canons are based on the principle of the absolute sovereignty of God and the basis for the five points of Calvinism: 1) total depravity, 2) unconditional election, 3) limited atonement, 4) irresistibility of grace, and 5) the perseverance of the saints. See Protestantism.