Pelagius' free will defense

what does it mean to have free will?

To be able to decide from more than one possible course of behaviour and having the capacity to choose differently

what do believers attempt to do?

Balance human moral responsibility with God’s omnipotence and omniscience for God to be blameless for human sin

who was Pelagius?

a contemporary of Augustine - most of his writings are only accessible to us via Augustine and so this may lead Pelagius to be misinterpreted at times

what was the disagreement between Pelagius and Augustine?

Focused on how a human gains salvation - soteriology - through faith or works

what is the concept of soteriology?

The study of religious doctrines about salvation, including the beliefs about what salvation is and how it is attained

What did Pelagius argue?

Adam’s sin only affected Adam. Adam’s sin is a bad example, not an act that condemned the whole of humanity

what does human tendency to sinfulness results from what?

Results from an ignorance of the good due to participation in a fallen world, not a fundamentally degraded human nature

what are humans born as?

They are born as innocent not sinful. A person could die blameless if they led a sinfulness life and infant baptism is not necessary to cleanse original sin

What did Pelagius claim?

The doctrine of original sin was false - claimed that humans are born ‘without virtue or vice’ with no innate morally good nor bad inclination in our nature, which means that we have free will

what is the Bible full of? What is difficult to understand?

Cases of God commanding humans to do morally good actions and avoid morally bad actions. It’s difficult to see why God would make these demands if original sin meant that humans didn’t have the ability to obey those commands

what is it hard to see?

What the point of even trying to be good is, if we are so corrupted that we are unable, which Pelagius thought led to a fatalistic and lazy attitude towards morality

what did Pelagius say regarding us unable to follow commandments?

Due to our fallen nature amounts to accusing God of ignorance as if God were ‘unmindful of human frailty’ such that he ‘imposed commands upon man which man is not able to bear’

What does the fact that God commands moral action therefore presupposes what?

That we have the free will to do them which means that original sin does not inhibit us

What did Pelagius say?

‘‘That we are able to do good is of God but that we actually do it is of ourselves’

What did God give us, what does this mean?

Free will and thereby gave us the ability to do good but our actual doing of a good action is thus the result of our free choice

what did Pelagius conclude?

That humans are ‘to be praised for their willing and doing a good work’

What does Pelagius argue?

If we have original sin and are thus completely unable to avoid doing evil, it would surely be unjust for God to punish us for our sinful behaviour

what does this suggest?

An indefensible view of moral responsibility - that people can be responsible for actions committed by others which is a special absurdity in this case since the action occurred before they were even born

what is Pelagius’ conclusion?

Only our having free will and thus being without coercion ffrom original sin makes sense of the prevalent theme in the Bible of God's judgement and Punishment

what did Pelagius believe about predestination?

• Did not enitely deny predestination but understood it differently compared to Augustine

• For Pelagius, he believed that that it was interwoven with God’s foreknowledge of future human decisions: God is omniscient and has foreknowledge of who will be saved through their own free choices

• Those who are saved are not chosen independtly of their own will; they choose for themselves, but God already knows what they will choose

what did both Augustine and Pelagius agree on?

Humans are sinful and require salvation

what did Pelagius believe about the state we are born in?

Argued that humans are born in a sinless state and when they sin, they do so from free choice and are therefore responsible for their actions

what did he argue about God?

He does not expect humans to obey laws that are impossible to obey, so it is possible for humans to make good choices

what is a quote from Pelagius’ letter to Demetrias?

‘In fact, man is truly good for the very reason that these people say he is not: that he has freedom to choose good or evil. Within the heart of man there is no overwhelming compulsion to act in one way or another’

What did Pelagius argue that was possible in theory?

For a person to live a sinless life, even before Jesus was born. He named biblical figures, including Abraham, Isaac and Mary as examples of people who lived lives without sin

what is a quote that exemplifies Pelagius’ point of view, that a person can live a sinless life? Where is it quoted from?

‘I once more repeat my posiiton: I say that it is possible for a man to be without sin’ - Pelagius as quoted in Augustine, On Nature and Grace

what did Pelagius promote?

Ascetic ism as the ideal lifestyle for Christians, in contrast to Augustine’s approach, which allowed sinful behaviour in Christians to be accepted as an unfortunate tendency that was outside a person’s control

What did Pelagius teach?

That only morally upright people should be allowed to become part of the Catholic Church

what is the expectation for people?

They are responsible for their own moral destiny and are expected to work towards moral perfection

Define asceticism.

Self-disciplined avoidance of sensual pleasure

what did Pelagius reason?

If sin is impossible to resist then it could not be called sin - sin is only sin when someone deliberately turns against God of their own free will not when they perform an action that they are compelled to perform

what did Pelagius argue about infants?

Infants who die without being baptised are not dawned because they have not yet sinned - to suggest that God holds infants responsible for the sins of someone else is completely inconsistent with the all-loving merciful nature of God

what is a quote from Pelagius regarding Adam name and Eve?

‘Thus , the story of their banishment from Eden is in truth the story of how the human race gained it’s freedom: by eating fruit from the tree of knowledge Adam and Eve became mature human beings , responsible for their actions’

What idea did Pelagius uphold?

Christians should steadily advance towards perfection by adopting the ascetic life and ridding themselves of excess - Augustine found this teaching offensive since it implies that humans can become perfect just as God is perfect

Augustine believed that people have free will but it is limited by sin - what did Pelagius think in contrast to this belief?

People possess complete freedom of willpower and are totally responsible for their own sinful actions - human nature is not compromised by weakness; such imperfection would reflect negatively on God

what is a quote from Pelagius regarding goodness?

‘If only Christians were good then God would not be good, because he would have denied the rest of humanity the freedom to choose goodness. The goodness we see in pagas is proof of the goodness of God. He has granted every persom, regardless of race or religion, the freedom to choose good or evil’

What did Pelagius emphasise in his letter to Demetrias?

Commands from God are meant to be obeyed. He did not accept human frailty as an excuse for failing to do God's will. He claimed din contrast to Ausgutine, that it is possible to freely chose to obey God. God created humanity in full awareness of their capabilities and did not place any obligation on them to do what is impossible

what does this mean? How did Augustine refute this?

It is possible to gain salvation through good behaviour and means that it is freely chosen obedience to God's commands. This teaching prompted Augustine to accuse Pelagius of rendering Christ's death on the cross as pointless if salvation can be gained by good works alone

What did Augustine believe about the role of grace in salvation? in contrast, what did Pelagius believe?

Augustine believed that God's grace was irresistible, in that our free will must be liberated by grace if we are to develop the desire to do good. Pelagius believed that humans have freedom and responsibility

What did Pelagius not deny?

Grace. He understood it differently compared to Augustine, as the way that God supports humans to make good decisions

Pelagius understood grace in 3 different ways, what is the first way?

Pelagius suggests that humanity has been created with natural grace (also known as original grace). This is the grace given to people by God as a gift at birth. Natural grace concerns the abilities that humans are born with that makes them human, such as reason and free will to choose to avoid sin. This is the capability that distinguishes humans from rest of animal kingdom

define the term natural grace.

The gifts of reason and free will that are as essential part of the human nature created by God

What is a quote from Pelagius, regarding God and his creation?

‘God made man in his own image; and so he intends each of us to be like him. God has made many animals stronger and faster than human beings… but he has given man intelligence and freedom. We alone are able to recognise god as our maker, and thence to undertand the goodness of his creation’

What is the second way that Pelagius has described grace?

Appears to understand grace as including God's gift of revelation. This is both the revelation of God's commands and the example of Jesus’ life on earth as revealed by scripture. God has provided us with all the guidance we need to understand our moral obligations and it is up to the individual to decide what to do.

who are the ones saved?

Those who choose to follow God's commands and Jesus’ example

what is a quote from Pelagius that describes the revelation?

‘In the person of Jesus Christ, the inner spiritual law is made fully manifest for us. His words explain the spiritual law and his life and death exemplify it. Through him we are reborn as new men and women, because we can see clearly how we should live’

Define the term revelation

The gift of God's law and the example of Jesus life on earth, given to humanity through scripture

What is the third description of grace?

Understands that humanity is not yet perfect. Therefore. God gives us a pardon. This is the gift of forgiveness, goven tot hose who work to act correctly and repair any evil that they have done. The grace of pardon is forgiveness for sin that is offered through the death of Christ.

while Augustine accused Pelagius of making Christ's death on the cross pointless, what idea did Pelagius retain?

The idea that human beings require God's forgiveness for sin and that the death of Jesus was essential to that forgiveness

define the term pardon.

The forgiveness of sins offered by God to human beings when they repent