works, but to the sole grace of God in Jesus Christ our Saviour; that we
have not merited it; that God has created no man to damn him; that God
has not laid us under a necessity of sinning, and that he invites no man
to be saved, to whom he has resolved to deny salvation. And, though in
the universities, in conversation, and in those places where the
Scriptures are expounded, passages may be treated of which relate to
predestination and what depends on it, and it may come to pass, as hath
happened formerly, and in our own times, to learned and good men, that
persons may give into these extremes and absurdities which we disapprove
and have forbidden; our will is, that they be not proposed publicly from
the pulpit to the people. But as to those who in relation to such
passages only believe and teach that God hath from all eternity chosen
to salvation, from the mere motion of his will, through Jesus Christ our
Saviour and Redeemer, those who by grace which they have not merited,
and by the operation of the Holy Spirit, believe in Jesus Christ our
Lord, and by free grace given them persevere in the faith to the end, we
will that they be not molested on that account, nor pressed to embrace
other sentiments, or teach other doctrine; for we judge these truths
sufficient for salvation; and proper for the instruction of Christians.
We moreover ordain, that all Pastors, in expounding the other articles
of the Christian faith, make use of explanations agreeable to the word
of God, to what is commonly received in the reformed churches, and what
has been taught in those of this country, which we have maintained and
protected, and now maintain and protect; that they exercise Christian
charity; and that they avoid greater divisions: for in this manner, we
judge, they ought to act for the good of the State and the Church, and
the restoration of her tranquility."

This Edict was too favourable to the Arminians not to give great offence
to the Contra-Remonstrants. They complained that it misrepresented their