What is the main issue that divides Arminians and Calvinists?  To many the issue is the issue of free will.  Calvinists often assert that this is the main issue for Arminians.  For some Arminians the main issue is predestination.  They see the issue of God's predestining some to salvation and others to damnation as the main issue that separates them from Calvinists.

In all honesty, I believe the heart of the issue for Arminius was the character of God.  Does the Bible teach that God is sovereign to the point that He predetermines all things including the "free will" decisions of men?  For Arminius the issue of salvation that God had wrought in Christ Jesus was the heart of the issue for him.  Arminius insisted that God had chosen to reveal Himself as a loving Savior who sent His Son to reconcile the world unto Himself through faith (2 Corinthians 5:18-21).  Arminius insisted that God had revealed His character in His Son (John 14:9; Colossians 1:15-20; 2:9) and that was seen in Jesus' death on the cross for our sins (John 1:29; cf. Matthew 26:28; Mark 10:45; Luke 19:10; 1 John 2:2).  The Calvinists asserts that the main focus of the Bible is the sovereignty of God in all things (Psalm 115:3; Romans 9:18). Since God is sovereign, He causes all things to come to pass according to His purposes (Ephesians 1:11).  Arminius implies that while God is sovereign, by virtue of His love He has chosen to allow people to be free to truly love Him but not out coercion but a genuine loving relationship through faith (Romans 5:1-11).

Some want to take the character of God too far.  For instance, some open theists want to make the free will of man so libertarian that even God does not know all free will decisions made by people since this would violate free will.  They insist that God is infinite in His wisdom (that He knows all things) but they insist that He is limited in His foreknowledge of all events.  Some so called "Christian universalists" want to insist that the major focus of the Bible is on the love of God for all people to the point that they exclude any emphasis on man's sin (Romans 6:23) or God's holiness (Psalm 7:11 KJV).  We must then be careful how we view God and His character.  We are finite in our knowledge of God (Romans 11:33-36) and God's ways are simply beyond our own (Isaiah 55:8).  We often try to reason about God but none of us, from the least to the greatest minds, can fathom the depths of God.  None of us!

I do believe that God is love (1 John 4:7-9).  Because of God's great love for humanity, He sent His one and only Son to die for our sins (John 3:16-18).  Through faith in Jesus Christ we can be reconciled to God (Romans 5:17-18).  Through faith we are saved (Ephesians 2:8-9).  We can debate the issue of faith, whether it is given to the elect only but in the end, that God is love is a main focus of Arminius and his theology.  This focus from Arminius led him to be a loving man toward people.  While some Calvinists were heavily persecuting the Anabaptists for their views on immersion, Arminius, despite disagreeing with the Anabaptists, felt they should be allowed to worship in freedom.  When a plague hit the city Arminius was working in, he often visited the sick and prayed for them despite his danger to being infected with the plague.  He loved because he was loved by God.  This attitude drove him.

Perhaps I have been rambling here but let me end by agreeing with John Wesley who said that what we so often need is a baptism of love.  This is the heart of God.  It was love that sent Jesus to Calvary.  It was love that moved Jesus to heal the sick.  It is love that should compel us to preach the gospel.  The love of God is great and how we need it to fill our soul.