My reply to this question is to say that 1) No, Arminianism is not itself a heresy.  But in saying that, I am defining heresy as something that keeps you from being a Christian at all.  If someone is a heretic, I must refuse him the Lord's Supper in my church and must not regard him as a brother.  I believe that the logical implications of Arminianism are heretical, but that Arminianism itself usually stops short of heretical implications.  In saying this, I am noting that the average Arminian believes on the death of the Lord Jesus for his forgiveness and justification.  Whatever problems I have with their views (and I have a lot of problems) I do not question that a sincere Arminian believes on Jesus Christ for his or her salvation.  Many of them reject the Reformed teachings because they misunderstand what we actually say (people like Chuck Smith, Norman Geisler, and especially Dave Hunt do much to confuse people as to the actual teachings of the Reformed faith).  So often a patient, charitable but clear explanation of the Reformed faith will show a sincere believer that this really is teaching of God's Word.

But, while Arminianism is not necessarily heretical, 2) Arminianism involves serious and harmful error to such an extent that we should not tolerate it within our communions.  I speak as one who serves in a confessional denomination (the PCA), which has a doctrinal standard (the Westminster Standards).  I believe that we should be confessional and that our confessions should repudiate serious errors like those found in Arminianism.  The Synod of Dort is the standard for the Dutch Reformed churches and it rightly rejects the Arminian teachings.  So while one is not a heretic simply for rejecting the Synod of Dort or the Westmister Standards (see the issue of infant baptism, for instance, on which sincere believers disagree), these standards rightly govern those denominations that subscribe to them.  For Baptists, there are other good Reformed confessions, such as the Savoy Confession.

So here is what I am saying: Arminianism involves such serious departure from biblical teaching that it badly warps the gospel so that God's glory is hindered and our Christian experience is hindered.  As Dr. James Boice so helpfully put it in his book, Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?, the Arminian teaching does not uphold any of the five solas.  It denies sola Scriptura (scripture alone), because its essential arguments are non-biblical, but are philosophical ("isn't predestination unfair, etc.").  It denies sola fide (faith alone) by changing the character of faith so that it is basically a work.  It denies sola gratia (grace alone), by centering salvation on us instead of on God.  And it most certainly denies soli deo Gloria (to God alone be glory), since I am saved ultimately because of what I have done.  So it is a serious error.  Essentially, Arminianism is a rationalistic rejection of the Protestant Reformation.

Recommended reading:

James Boice, Whatever Happened to the Gospel of Grace?
James Boice & Philip Ryken, The Doctrines of Grace
Richard Phillips, Chosen in Christ: The Glory of Grace in Ephesians 1
Philip Ryken, What Is a True Calvinist?
R.C. Sproul, Chosen by God

Rev. Richard Phillips is the chair of the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology and senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church Coral Springs, Margate, Florida. 

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