‘Elke daad is een werk’. Alexander Comrie (1706-1774) over de verschillen tussen de remonstrantse en de gereformeerde rechtvaardigingsleer

Abstract

The Dutch theologian Alexander Comrie (1706-1774) opposed Amyraldism vehemently. He
downplayed the role of the act of faith in justification, for ‘every act is a work of man.’ However, Comrie offended many of his colleagues by suggesting that anyone who regarded the act of faith as the instrument involved in justification, was dogmatically speaking to be considered an amyraldian or even an arminian. Comrie was, in turn, accused of antinomianism. In this article the dogmatic position of Comrie is analyzed. His view on the material cause and especially on the formal cause of justification is compared with the views by Arminius, Lubbertus and others. It is concluded that Comrie mistakenly regarded the immediacy of the imputation of Christ’s righteousness as fundamental for the Reformed doctrine of justification.