The Canons of Dort (1619) are too frequently described as dry or even scholastic. One wonders if those who speak thus have ever actually read them? The word canons simply means rulings or decisions and these decisions by the Synod of Dort are expressed in vigorous, practical, pastoral language. There is much confusion about the Canons of Dort in part because, since the late 19th century or early 20th century, they have often been reduced to the misleading acronym TULIP. Far too many think they know and understand the so-called “Five Points of Calvinism” simply because they know the acronym. This has led people to speak ridiculously of “four-point” Calvinism and so forth. In fact, the Canons were the product of an international ecclesiastical synod that was held in the Netherlands, in the midst of the Republic’s long-running struggle for independence from Spain. As Synod met they were helping to form a national identity as well as to preserve the Protestant Reformation in face of an attractive but spiritually and theologically deadly alternative: the Remonstrance. The Synod of Dort (1618–19) met 180 times from November of 1618 until late May, 1619 and addressed many topics and questions beyond the five points of the Remonstrance. Below is a collection of sources, commentaries, articles, and podcasts on the Synod and Canons of Dort.

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