Note the Spectrum of Beliefs with the truth in the center:
Atheism - Epicureanism - Pelagianism - Gospel - Islam - Stoicism - Pantheism
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Pantheism taught that God exists in all things and matter is eternal.
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Stoicism taught that God is so sovereign that He is removed from His creation (no miracles, no revelations, no second causes, fatalism, and apathy).
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Islam taught that God (Allah) is sovereign and cruel (no love, no mercy, no grace).
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Atheism taught that God does not exist. Not much is said about Atheist in the Bible. Can you think of any that are mentioned? They are just called fools.
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Epicureanism taught that God is not completely in control of all things, but life is lived by chance and choices in pursuit of happiness and pleasure. Thomas Jefferson claimed to be an Epicurean. (Deism is an product of the Epicurean philosophy of life.) This philosophy of life has also led to Secularism, that man is his own sovereign and tries to improve his life by material means, science, and smart choices in pursuit of happiness.
Paul found both sides of the spectrum among the philosophers of Greece in Acts 17:18. But when these secular philosophies try to re-define the true Gospel, the heart of Christianity is removed. For example, Pelagius of the Fifth Century tried to take an Epicurean approach to Christianity by viewing man’s salvation as being based on man’s choices, intellect, and morals.
When you whittle it all down to the essence of the debate here is the question — does man have any part in his salvation? Augustine said no, man is dead. Pelagius said yes, man is alive and morally neutral.
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Pelagius |
Augustine |
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Adam would have died whether he sinned or not. |
Sin brought death into the world. |
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Adam’s sin injured only himself. |
All men fell in Adam. |
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Children are born in the state in which Adam was before his fall. |
Children are born guilty and depraved. |
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The law and the gospel both lead to the kingdom of heaven. |
No man can enter the kingdom except through Christ. |
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Even before the coming of the Lord there were men without sin |
There is none righteous, except Jesus. |
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Neither by the death and sin of Adam does the whole race die, nor by the resurrection of Christ does the whole race rise. |
Just as all men died in Adam, men can be raised to life in Christ. |
The Apostle Paul said to the Ephesians that we are “dead in our sins”, and Augustine affirmed this spiritual truth of our depravity. Pelagius disagreed saying that we are “alive” and capable of choosing salvation. Then there are men who compromisingly try to find a middle ground between life and death.
John Cassian = Semi-Pelagianism = The grace of God and the will of man work together in salvation, in which man must take the initiative. Cassian said that a man is neither alive or dead spiritually, but sick. But I ask the semi-pelagians, “Does a sick man have more in common with the living or the dead? Is a sick man alive?” I must side with the Apostle Paul and Augustine.
Caesarius of Arles = Semi-Augustinianism = The grace of God comes to all, enabling a person to choose and perform what is necessary for salvation. But I ask the semi-augustinians, “Why do some get saved and others do not? Is the grace of God less effective in some? Or do you believe that some do something with that grace that merits salvation that others do not?”
The truth is, when dealing with life or death, one finds that there is no middle ground. Either one is dead spiritually and needs an outside source by grace to resurrect him, or one is alive spiritually and has the capability of “epicureously” meriting one’s own salvation (ultimate happiness).
May the grace of God be praised!
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Jason Robertson is a husband and a father and a pastor. He is dedicated to leading and equipping his the Church with God’s word and biblical theology for life ministry, using a combination of pastoral, church planting and evangelism experience. He holds a Master of Divinity from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He is experienced in church planting, evangelism, missions, and the training of pastors and Bible teachers.
Jason has been preaching the gospel since 1985, serving the first ten years of ministry as a Southern Baptist itinerant evangelist out of Milldale Baptist Church in Zachary, LA which ordained him in 1993. He has preached in hundreds of churches in over 30 States and 4 countries. He planted churches in Siberia, Russia in the summers of 1993 and 1994. He founded Murrieta Valley Church in California, which he planted in cooperation with the SBC NAMB in 2001. He also teaches ministry students at California Baptist University.
You can hear his sermons and read his manuscripts on sermonaudio.com. Just follow the link to "sermons" at the top of this page.
I’m a Semi-Augustinian. I wouldn’t use “enablement” language to describe God’s grace though–Augustine didn’t. I would see grace through a relational lens, and the Holy Spirit as the personification of grace shed abroad in the heart of man (Rom 5:5)enflaming a heart ready to respond back in love to God’s love (cf. I Jn 4:19).
Why am I semi-Augustinian vs. semi-Pelagian? Because I believe that Augustine is the most faithful interpreter of the Pauline corpus relative to the notion of “original sin” vs. the Pelagius’ neutrality of the will–and his logical teaching of creationism relative to this understanding. I’m semi-Aug, because I believe that God enflames the hearts of all men–giving each the opportunity, once enlivened to respond positively or negatively to His self-disclosure of love. This avoids semi-Pelagianism by not attributing anything meritorious towards anything that I do–in other words, I simply receive the love of the Lord; or I do not.
Bobby, thanks for your honesty. This issue is of utmost importance and I am glad you are willing to discuss it.
Now we believe that the Bible teaches that a man is made alive by God. And part of being made alive is to be given all that one needs to live eternally in Christ such as faith. At what point is a man, once made alive, able to surcease the life of God that has been shed abroad in his heart that he may be dead again in his sin?
Or do you believe that dead men can make choices?
No, thats not a fair question. I don’t wish to put words in your mouth. You would probably not say that a dead man makes choices. So the only person who can make choices is one who is alive. And we agree that it is as you say the Holy Spirit as the personification of grace shed abroad in the heart of man, enflaming a heart ready to respond back in love to God’s love. So you would agree that regeneration proceeds faith or else faith would be impossible. So before a man can respond to God, God first makes him alive. Now, how is it that the make refuses to stay alive and goes back into spiritual deadness?
Bobby, could you imagine Jesus saying, “Lazarus, come forth”, Lazarus wakes up but refuses the Lord and commits suicide? No, of course not. And Jesus said at that tomb, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Hello Jason,
Thnx for the response. Obviously I don’t believe a “dead man” can respond to God–thus my statement on the need for the enflaming of the man’s heart. I didn’t say regenerate before response, you did
–I’m going to try and frame my view with my own language; hopefully capturing scriptures teaching.
Indeed there is “logical” tension (i.e. not contradiction–necessarily) in my view, but I’m comfortable with that (as a Christian Humanist–historically understood–contra scholastic). From my perspective man is not made alive, spiritually, rather his heart is warmed and thus given the opportunity to respond God’s love or not.
Jason, I really do understand the typical Calvinist’s responses–and indeed this construct has a nice and neat self-referentially consistent framework to respond from–I currently do not–I’m working on that via media. But I believe there is a fundamental flaw, anthropologically speaking, in the Calvinist framework. I just posted a rather lengthy article at my site outlining, at an introductory level, the origin of this flaw. I’m not so sure, historically, your apparent position (I assuming you’re a Calvinist)is as theocentric as one might suppose.
I’ll be back