Quote from Ruysbroeck

Recently I have been reading Ruysbroeck’s Adornment of the Spiritual Marriage, which I have so far found to be very good. While of course he predates either Calvinism or Arminianism proper, this quote shows pretty clearly which side he would weigh in on.
From Chapter 1 On the Active Life,

“The light of Divine grace is a fruit-bearing shoot, coming forth from the
living paradise of the eternal kingdom; and no deed can bring refreshment or
profit to man if it be not born of this shoot. This shoot of Divine grace,
which makes man pleasing to God, and through which he merits eternal life,
is offered to all men. But it is not grafted into all, because some will not
cut away the wild branches of their trees; that is, unbelief, and a perverse
and disobedient will opposed to the commandments of God.

But if this shoot of God’s grace is to be grafted into our souls, there must
be of necessity three things: the prevenient grace of God, the conversion of
one’s own free will, and the purification of conscience. The prevenient
grace touches all men, God bestowing it upon all men. But not all men give
on their part the conversion of the will and the purification of conscience;
and that is why so many lack the grace of God, through which they should
merit eternal life.

The prevenient grace of God touches a man from without and from within. From
without through sickness; or through the loss of external goods, of kinsmen,
and of friends; or through public disgrace. Or he may be stirred by a
sermon, or by the examples of the saints or of good men, their words, or
their deeds; so that he learns to recognize himself as he is. This is how
God touches a man from without.

Sometimes a man is touched also from within, through remembering the sorrows
and the sufferings of our Lord, and the good which God has bestowed upon him
and upon all other men; or by considering his sins, the shortness of life,
the fear of death and the fear of hell, the eternal torments of hell and the
eternal joy of heaven, and how God has spared him in his sins and has
awaited his conversion. Or he may ponder the marvellous works of God in
heaven and in earth, and in all creatures. Such are the workings of the
prevenient grace of God, stirring men from without and from within, in many
ways. And besides this, man has a natural tendency towards God, because of
the spark of the soul, and because of that highest reason, which always
desires the good and hates the evil. In all these ways God touches all men,
each one according to his need; so that at times a man is smitten, reproved,
alarmed, and stands still within himself to consider himself. And all this
is still prevenient grace, and not yet efficacious grace. Thus does
prevenient grace prepare the soul for the reception of the other grace,
through which eternal life is merited. For when the soul has thus got rid of
evil willing and evil doing, it is perplexed and smitten with fear of what
it should do, considering itself, its wicked works, and God. And from this
there arise a natural repentance of its sins and a natural good-will. Such
is the highest work of prevenient grace.

If a man does all he can, and cannot do more because of his feebleness, it
rests with the infinite goodness of God to finish the work. Then, straight
as a sunbeam, there comes a higher light of Divine grace, and it is shed
into the soul according to its worth, though neither merited nor desired.
For in this light God gives Himself out of free goodness and generosity, the
which never creature can merit before it has received it. And this is an
inward and mysterious working of God in the soul, above time; and it moves
the soul and all its powers. Therewith ends prevenient grace and begins the
other grace, that is to say, the supernatural light.”

To me this all sounds very evangelical and very Arminian, in spite of it being written in the 14th century. Of course I would not agree with all of Ruysbroeck’s doctrine, but from what I have read I do believe that he knew Christ and I do expect to meet him in heaven, along with others from Groenendael and the brethren of the common life.