4D Religious concepts of free will, with reference to the teachings of Pelagius and Arminius

Question 1

Are free will and determinism compatible?

Answer 1

• Yes: the issue = to what extent is this compatibility w/ omnipotence balance/distributed btwn the two parameters of free will and det.?
- ∴ may find that Aug. + Arm. share more in common than Arm. + Pel.

Question 2

Give an introduction to Pelagius.

Answer 2

• Ascetic monk
• “doctrines are the intervention of the human minds, as it tries to penetrate the mystery of God […] scripture itself is the work of human recording the example and teaching of Jesus.”
• “Thus, it is not what you believe (in your head) that matters; it is how you respond with your heart and your actions. It is not believing in Christ that matters, but becoming like him.”

Question 3

What is Pelagius’ view of the role of original sin?

Answer 3

• Humans cannot take credit for their freedom to choose ∵ this is willed by G
- We can only do good ∵ G has allowed us to
• ∴ Adam’s sin only affected Adam - it is not inherited by humanity
- Adam and Eve = mature enough to receive the gift of free will ∴ mature enough to take responsibility for their actions
- Pel. ∴ rejects the doctrine of original sin

Question 4

Explain Pelagius’ view that humans should mature in God’s image and accept the responsibility of free will.

Answer 4

• Gift of free will enabled Adam and Eve to choose whether or not to eat the fruit ∴ allowed the process maturity to begin in eating it
• Humans go through a learning process, and as they do, they grow + mature in wisdom
- Part of this learning process is defiance
• Laws of Moses = a reminder for humans, as a remedy for ignorance to their own nature that had the capacity to choose between good/evil

Question 5

Explain Pelagius’ view of free will as used to follow God’s laws.

Answer 5

• Using free will to follow G’s laws = doing “good works” e.g. following commandments
- “No one knows better the true measure of our strength than He who has given it to us”
• Pel. have examples of ppl from OT who had used their free will in a mature way to follow G’s laws e.g. Abel, Noah, Abraham, Job, etc.

Question 6

What is Pelagius’ view of the role of grace in salvation?

Answer 6

• Humans = able to fulfil the law w/o divine aid ∴ can achieve salvation by freely choosing to do “good works”
• But, all good works = done only w/ G’s grace (“assisted by divine help”)
• ∴ G’s grace = enabling, not determining good works
• G = an agent of empowerment that allows us the freedom to do good works
• However, humans have the capacity to ignore G’s guidance and be sinful
- Ability to sin = good ∵ emphasises goodness when a human does good works - “this very capacity to do evil is also good […] Because it makes the good part better by making it voluntary and independent”
- When ppl freely sin, can seek forgiveness through G’s grace to achieve salvation - universal atonement

Question 7

According to Pelagius, is grace necessary for salvation?

Answer 7

• Only if we have all sinned

Question 8

To avoid Pelagius’ view of grace being accused of being Manichaean, what is the role and nature of the grace?

Answer 8

• It is a ‘light touch’ when compared to the absolute dependence of Aug’s theo.

Question 9

Give a summary of Pelagius’ views.

Answer 9

• Free will allows good works but challenges the nature of salvation
• OS raises question of poss. of sich depraved creatures achieving good
• Aug = terrified of Pel.’s theory ∵ teaches that humans have a decisive role
• OS = aligned w/ Manichaean teaching + an excuse not to strive for a moral life

Question 10

How does Arminius deny predestination?

Answer 10

• Arm. = taught by son-in-law + successor of Calvin, Theodore Beza
• Arm. became dissatisfied w/ Calvinism + rejected his C’s version of pre.d (he does not reject pre.d)
• Made his own pre.d theory, which was grounded in the theo. concept of G’s providence + was compatible w/ notion of free will (but he did not teach the priority of free will)

Question 11

What is Arminius’ revised form of predestination called? Elaborate on it.

Answer 11

• Conditional/middle knowledge predestination
• This refers to foreknowledge w/o determinism
- Closely linked to providence, the idea that G = closely involved in monitoring/guiding the created world - “a solicitous, continued, and universally present supervision of God over the whole world […] without any exception”
• Key to the governance of the world = theo. idea of divine concurrence
- G ‘concurs’ human activity throught being part of it and providing the powers and abilities to act
• Free will cannot be outside the parameter of G’s prov.
• Does not mean that creatures = merely vehicles through which G acts
- G = enabler; not the same as doing the action for the creature
- This is crucially imp. for his idea of free will and how is theology is compatible w/ pre.d

Question 12

According to Arminius, what is the effect of original sin on free will?

Answer 12

• Arm. = opposed to the idea that the origin of sin can be found in G.
• As a result of divine concurrence, G permits sinful act but it does not mean that he approves of sinful behaviour
- ∵ G = omnipotent + omnibenevolent, part of his goodness is to be able to produce goods from evils - this is a superior solution than to not allow evils at all (similar to Aug.)
• Unlike Pel., Arm believes that orig. sin from fall = bad for humankind
- Orig. sin = lack of orig. righteousness + a punishment

Question 13

Explain Arminius’ idea of God’s ‘prevenient’ grace in allowing humans to exercise free will.

Answer 13

• G’s providence gives the grace to freely choose the righteous path in life - humans are not predestined to continually sin ∵ of G’s loving grace
• G’s grace = ass. w/ HS; this ass. = called ‘prevenient grace’ ∵ it precedes each moral decision; it is ever-present to assist
• G has placed his HS within all humans; HS encourages good works
• The HS will “fight against Satan, sin, the world, and their own flesh”

Question 14

What does Rustin Brian say that Arminius’ “fundamental impulse” is?

Answer 14

• that “all are elect in Christ, and thus have the real possibility of salvation. God does not will that anyone should perish or be damned”

Question 15

Explain Arminius’ ideas of the elect, the possibility of rejecting God’s grace, and the election of believers being conditional on faith.

Answer 15

• Despite G’s providence and middle knowledge, salvation is available to all
• Arm.: “election to salvation and reprobation to condemnation are conditional. God chooses those who are foreknown to be penitent believers, and he condemns those he knows to be impenitent unbelievers”
• Through m.k., G knows who will reject his prevenient grace and then persevere in G’s subsequent grace to salvation
• Arm.: God has limited his control in correspondence with man’s freedom.
• ∴ G has provided poss. of salvation for all humanity, but it only becomes available/effective for those who, of their free will, choose to accept G’s offer of grace and cooperate w/ the HS

Question 16

At the Synod of Dort in 1619, how did Arminius’ supporters (known as the ‘Remonstrants’), summarise his free will theory?

Answer 16

1) Salvation and condemnation = conditioned by belief/unbelief
2) Atonement = available to all but limited to those who trust Christ
3) Humankind cannot resist sin by their own will, they need HS
4) Grace of G can be resisted
5) Humans can resist sin freely by following G’s grace

Question 17

Give a conclusion to Arminius.

Answer 17

• Arm.’s theo. ideas were never meant to spearhead his thinking
- His notions = set within context of G’s providence
• Overall framework of providence holds that G does nothing w/o purpose
• G’s prov. = eternal - logical rather than temporal
• Whether a believer could commit apostasy required further study

Question 18

What did Pelagius blame the abundance of sin he found in Rome on?

Answer 18

• C.ch’s pre.d. theo.
- Bishop Sims: the C.ch’s obsession w/ original sin reflects their underlying aim of control - “the smokescreen of the control mechanism derived from Augustine’s doctrine of original sin.”

Question 19

How do Augustine and Pelagius differ on their view of the role of original sin?

Answer 19

• The force of sin does not result from degraded human nature (as it does for Aug.) but from corruption and ignorance of righteousness that results from the long-term habit of sin
• Both Aug. + Pel. accept free will, but Aug. = wary that G’s sovereign nature = upheld; it is a restrictive free will that is demonstrably within the control of the Almighty God, otherwise, it would imply that humans have achieved their own salvation

Question 20

Give an Old Testament quote that supports Pelagius’ view of the role of original sin.

Answer 20

• Deuteronomy 24:16 - “Parents are not to be put to death for their children […] each will die for their own sins” - humans should not be punished through no direct fault of their own
- Pel: “we may not seem to be forced to do evil through a fault in our nature”

Question 21

How does Pelagius accept the Fall, but not accept original sin?

Answer 21

• Participation in the fallen world leads to sin, not an inherited tendency

• To see sin as inherited is to fall foul of the doctrine of Manichaeism, which incorporated determinism and dualism
• To argue that sin = inherited means that it becomes a necessary element of human existence and implies that we are dualistic by nature

Question 22

How do Augustine and Pelagius differ on their view of the role of grace in salvation?

Answer 22

• Aug: orig. sin ensured that humans could never be worthy of their own salvation ∴ grace = essential
• Pel: grace plays a “deficient” role in comparison to Aug’s role

Question 23

Finish the sentence and then elaborate: Arminius considered whether, spiritually, original sin meant _ or _.

Answer 23

• Deprivation or depravation:

• Deprivation = deprived of the original spiritual likeness to G
• Depravation = idea that a certain state was “infused” into humanity ∵ of orig. sin
• Arm. tends to favour the former: deprived of “original righteousness” and of primaeval holiness

Question 24

Give a quote from Wood about Arminius’ view of the elect.

Answer 24

• Wood: “For Calvinists, election is unconditional. For Arminius, it is conditional, based on God’s foreknowledge-middle knowledge”

Question 25

Give a sharp distinction between Pelagius’ and Arminius’ teachings regarding grace.

Answer 25

• Arm.: “grace must still precede the human will to enable any turn toward God”
- Pel. did not est. how grace worked in relation to free will

Question 26

Despite the encasement of divine providence and notion of concurrence, what did Arminius hold?

Answer 26

• That free will = poss. within the divine plan
- By free will, Arm. meant a clear, obvious choice not based upon det. of causality/context - a real choice btwn unconstrained alternatives, made poss. through the notion of conditional pre.d based upon middle knowledge

Question 27

What was Arminius’ view of the role of the Holy Spirit in a person’s impulse to sin?

Answer 27

• A human’s impulse to sin = balanced by work of G’s HS

• HS balances impulse rather than overriding it
• HS does not force itself on to a human; only acts as a moral guide