One of the most interesting letters of James Arminius to read is his interaction with Calvinist theologian Francis Junius.  Junius, unlike some others who criticized Arminius, held Arminius in high regard, respected him as a brother and felt that Arminius was a very skilled theologian.  Arminius, of course, was a student of John Calvin's successor, Theodore Beza, and was perhaps Beza's top student before he begin to preach through the book of Romans and came to Romans 7 where Arminius separated himself from Beza and the common interpretation of Arminius' day that the man of Romans 7 was a regenerated man.  When Arminius begin to question the common view of Romans 7 in his day, other theologians begin to respond.  This lead Arminius to begin to debate with other "Calvinist" theologians (keep in mind that Arminius was a Calvinist!) over Romans 7 and eventually he preached his way to Romans 9 and he begin to question Beza' interpretation of unconditional election.

Francis Junius was one of the Calvinist theologians that Arminius begin to exchange letters over unconditional election.  You can imagine that these letters would often travel very slowly in those days so this debate between Arminius and Junius covered a good deal of time.

What is striking about the letters is the grace that both of these men showed to one another even while disagreeing.  In the end, the letters covered 27 propositions proposed by Arminius and Junius and cover nearly every major passage of Scripture concerning predestination and election.  Being an Arminian, I admit that I believe that Arminius was the better theologian in this case and I am amazed at Arminius' ability to exegete the Scriptures with clear, reasonable defenses for his views.  Arminius was not a man of prone to anger nor did he argue from rage toward Calvinists but he loved them, respected them, and held them in high regard.

There is much that we can learn from Arminius and Junius and their exchanges.  Certainly we can learn from their exegesis and debates of the major Scriptures on the subject of predestination and election.  But even more than that, we can learn how to debate in love.  The respect these men show for one another should speak volumes to us.  Jesus said that one of the chief hallmarks of being His disciple is our love for one another (John 13:34-35).  Paul said that love binds us together in perfect harmony (Colossians 3:14 NKJV).  Over and over again in 1 John, John exhorts us to be loving toward one another and that love is an expression of God abiding in us (1 John 3:23; 4:7-21).

I occasionally receive e-mails and comments from Calvinists that seem to be written with much bitterness and hatred toward me.  I have seen a few Arminians express rage toward Calvinists.  But my advice is that we should be loving toward one another.  We could learn from Arminius and Junius and learn that there are proper ways to disagree and debate.  I understand that some Calvinists view us Arminians as not even saved and perhaps some Arminians feel this way toward Calvinists but I believe that we should be loving toward others even if we disagree and even if they are not saved (Matthew 5:43-48).  Whether Calvinists, Catholics, Mormons, or Muslims, we should love others and allow the Holy Spirit to work through us to express His love for them.