Th 4D - Free Will; Pelagius and Arminius

Who was Pelagius’ contemporary rival?

St Augustine

What is the weakness in our knowledge of Pelagius?

Most of the sources are responses to his work, so they are possibly hyperbolised or paraphrased in an inaccurate way

Describe Pelagius’ beliefs regarding original sin

• Humans are born sinless

• We are sinful creatures, but not born with sin

• Adam’s original sin only affected him

• Babies who die before baptism do not go to hell, as they have not tainted their souls with sin yet

• Sin is not a substance but an action

• We are able to obey laws, as God would not expect us to do the impossible

• It has always been possible to live a life without sin, even before Jesus - Abraham, Mary

Describe Pelagius’ views on maturing into God’s image

• Before the Fall, Adam and Eve were like little children, who didn’t understand what good or evil was

• Had God told them to eat the fruit they would have obeyed, knowing no different

• Because he forbade it, and they disobeyed him, they acted like teenagers

• With the knowledge of good and evil we are able to be held accountable for our actions

• “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”

• Our moral duty is to use our free will to act according to God’s laws, aiming to behave like him

• Augustine rejected this because he thought it was heretical to suggest humans could be perfect like God

• We can become more like God by building good habits (preferably through asceticism)

Describe Pelagius’ views on free will being used to follow God’s laws

• We have complete freedom to accept or reject God’s laws

• There is no need for divine intervention for good acts

• Augustine and Calvin think this undermines God’s omnipotence

Describe Pelagius’ views on the role of grace in salvation

• 3 forms of grace

• Original / natural grace - our God-given free will

• Grace of Revelation - God’s law revealed through scripture, which demonstrates how to do good actions and avoid sin

• Grace of Pardon - Christ’s sacrifice on the cross allows us to be forgiven, if we ask for forgiveness

• Salvation is available to all, but not all will accept it

Describe Arminius’ views on conditional election

• Salvation is available to all who have faith. It is conditional upon having faith.

• God does not force anyone to believe or be elected, it is our free choice

• This is clarified in Article 1 of the Five articles of remonstrance, collated by his followers

What is the name of the document collated by Arminius’ followers?

5 Articles of Remonstrance

Describe Arminius’ views on original sin and free will

• God gave Adam freedom to sin, while disapproving of his choice

• Original sin deprived us physically and spiritually

• We are tainted and cannot reject sin ourselves

• God’s grace allows us to choose to reject it

• We are not coerced by His grace, but allowed the freedom to choose

Describe Arminius’ views on grace

• Prevenient grace is gifted to all of humanity

• It gives us the freedom to choose God and to do good

• It can be rejected

• It precedes the act of a sinner choosing God

• Arminius likens it to the Christ, through the Holy Spirit, knocking on a door

• Subsequent grace helps sinners to accept faith

• It is the cooperation of the Holy Spirit within a person and their own will

• Subsequent grace is the Holy Spirit assisting the person to open the door and let Christ in

Describe Arminius’ views on the elect and rejecting God

• Apostacy is possible

• One can fall away from God because we have complete free will

• The Holy Spirit is not coercive

• The elect are those who freely choose to maintain their faith in God

Describe Arminius’ views on God’s knowledge

• God has middle knowledge

• He knows all the possible outcomes of every situation, and how each person will act in each circumstance

• He gives each person the perfect amount of grace to be able to freely accept or reject Him

• He knows who will freely accept or reject this offer

• He predestines humanity based on this knowledge

• But he does not determine the outcome - our actions are purely based in and controlled by our own free will and choices

How does Arminius view the relationship between free will and predestination?

They are compatible, provided predestination is based on God’s middle knowledge of how we will choose to use our free will.