The Heretics: Pelagius

The details of the Pelagian heresy are very involved, but I will try to walk through his arguments first. Afterwards, I will present the Augustinian rebuttal. Finally, we will look at the differences between Full Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism, and the presence of both in the modern church. Pelagius was a fifth century monk. He had many detractors, but history records the debate between Pelagius and Augustine of Hippo. The main issues are original sin, free will and salvation.

Let me begin by saying that any argument that is not from scripture will be categorically dismissed by Troll. In order to understand reformed doctrine, the five solas must be considered. To refute any doctrinal position, it is most effective to do so within the hermeneutic of the system that holds the position in question. Does the doctrine stand up to its own internal hermeneutic? The corollary to this statement is that any argument that begins with the supposition that Paul’s writings do not belong in the canon as a defense of Pelagius have been categorically discarded. If the integrity of scripture is your argument against Christian doctrine, then you cannot consider yourself Christian. At least have the honesty to admit this basic assumption: to be Christian has to be based upon something, and we hold the integrity of scripture to be that something.

Original Sin. Pelagius viewed Adam in a much different light than Augustine. Pelagius contended that Adam would have died whether or not he sinned. The argument is that the natural characteristic of man is to die. Genesis does not specifically state that Adam was created immortal. Therefore, death was not the result of original sin, but a natural part of creation.

Pelagius also believed that Adam’s sin convicted only him, not all of mankind. Pelagius denied the federal headship of Adam. The argument is that the OT is full of examples of sin being unique to an individual with no inheritance of sin in any direction of the family. It is said that Jesus never mentions Adam specifically, or speaks of the fall. Therefore, the federal relationship between Adam and mankind is not specifically Biblical in Pelagius’ mind. He goes so far to say that infants are born untarnished by sin, in the same condition as Adam at creation. Therefore, mankind is essentially good, not evil. Adam becomes nothing more than a bad example.

Grace. The role of Grace in Pelagius mind was different than that of Augustine. There is a Roman Catholic term that owes its origin to this debate. This concept is called prevenient grace. The point is that man has a fallen will until God intervenes with Grace that truly frees the will of man allowing him the ability to choose to follow Jesus. This prevenient grace was bestowed on all of mankind by Jesus. This was the action of Jesus on the cross, to make man able to exercise free will in a way to follow Christ.

Free Will. Logically, then, free will begins uncorrupted by Adam. Jesus buys for mankind the ability to have uncorrupted free will once again. Therefore, all people are born with uncorrupted free will and may choose to follow Christ as they will.

Salvation. Following through to his logical conclusion, Pelagius argues that salvation is based upon the meritorious efforts of the individual. Morality and the following of the Law is the key to salvation. After bestowing prevenient grace on the free will of mankind, the role of Jesus is the example of perfection to which man is to aspire. The Law is the pathway to salvation.

Augustine and the Reformers. Going point by point through these arguments again, let’s look at the doctrine as spelled out by Augustine, and later, the reformers.

Original Sin. Pelagius’ argument from silence concerning the term original sin in Genesis is a paper tiger. As always, one needs to be careful when arguing from silence. To say that Genesis failing to specify man’s condition concerning death prior to Adam’s sin necessarily proves that man was created with a shelf life ignores the obvious. Genesis also fails to point out a shelf life for man existing prior to Adam’s sin. An argument from silence only works if the same argument cannot be used against your argument. What Genesis does say is that Adam sinned. The doctrine of original sin is spelled out through many OT and NT passages and is given the label original sin. The word Christian appears nowhere in the Bible either, and yet we accept that the Bible describes what it is to follow Christ. This is a hollow argument that ignores vast amounts of scripture (for instance Psalms 14 and 53, Isaiah 28, 53 and 59, Jeremiah 6, and Exodus 6,) which I will develop in detail in a Building Blocks post in the near future.

The federal headship of Adam is an argument heavily steeped in covenant theology. It is interesting that all groups that hold to the doctrine of original sin will accept this federal relationship of Adam to mankind, but then many will fail to follow through with the covenantal relationship of the rest of the OT to redemptive history. Nonetheless, concerning original sin and Adam’s representation of mankind, Jeremiah, Isaiah and Paul in Romans 3 are the key starting points. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but rather this is a starting point for reading about the condition of man and in particular the inner qualities of the heart of a fallen mankind.

Grace. The role of Grace in Salvation is a look at the five solas of the Reformation as well as the five points of Calvinism. The work of Jesus on the Cross has to accomplish something for mankind, or else God is a cruel and unjust God. The question is for whom did Christ die, and for whom has He risen. Once we establish this, we can discuss who gets the Grace and what does it do. The concept of Jesus’ remnant or elect runs all through the OT and NT. There is clearly an indication that not all people will be saved. So, did Christ die to give us a choice? Is Grace resistable? Or instead, is God sovereign, the Almighty, who decides who will be His. If you accept the idea of Original Sin, then all men are already dead in their sin. Therefore, God in His mercy selects a vast number, too numerous to count, to be His people. Grace is then God through the Holy Spirit opening the minds and hearts of His elect so that they will hear His call. If you are called, it is the demonstration of the Grace of God. In this perspective, Grace cannot be resisted, nor is Grace revocable. Both of those possibilities would damage the sovereignty of God. Therefore, the Resurrection was for all of Christ’s people, but not for all people.

Free Will. Free will is another term that does not appear in the Bible except in the OT context of freewill offerings. There is a large difference between that concept and the idea of free will enabling man to participate in his own salvation. Everyone recognizes that we make decisions every day. If you consider the world in which we live in a horizontal plane, and the Kingdom of God a higher horizontal plane, and interactions with God in a vertical line between them, then it is clear that we exercise free will within the horizontal plane of this world, but vertical interactions between these two planes are the issue. The tower of Babel is a good example of our vertical efforts: futile. Our attempts to fulfill the Law: futile. Our efforts at works: futile. Jesus provides the vertical connection between the planes. He condescends to our plane and He is the ladder between the planes. But only through Him can we ascend. As it turns out, Jesus has better technology in the New Covenant than Jacob. It isn’t a ladder, it is actually an escalator. We don’t even step onto the escalator. The Holy Spirit places us on the escalator. That is how effective our free will is without Grace.

Salvation. Pelagius would have man building the ladder, climbing the ladder and reaching the top, using the blue print of Moses and the example of Christ. We know the futility of building towers and ladders to God from the OT. We need Christ to provide the means, the motive, the Grace, the power, the whole enchilada. Salvation is by Faith alone, in Christ alone, by Grace alone to the Glory of God alone as testified to us in Scripture alone, the five solas of the Reformation.

Semi-Pelagianism vs Full Pelagianism.

The Semi-Pelagian viewpoint is neither Pelagian nor Augustinian on the issue of original sin.  People are born neither good nor bad, but neutral.  Adam damaged the condition of mankind, but did not corrupt it, as Augustine would argue.  The Semi-Pelagian viewpoint of salvation is different in that the resurrection provides the possibility for salvation for all of mankind. It is not an irresistible Grace as in Augustinian or Calvinist thought. There is still a synergism or cooperation between God and man, rather than the monergism of Augustine or Calvin. If man takes one step or half the steps, it is still synergism. Free will is intact in this system. Faith, rather than being a gift, actually becomes a work of man in the exercise of free will. Election, then, becomes a matter of God knowing in advance how each person is going to respond with their free will to the offer of Salvation from Christ. There are similarities between Semi-Pelagianism and Arminianism, the contribution of man being a matter of degree.

Modern Protestant Liberalism and Evangelicalism

If you have ever attended these types of churches, there is a lot of the following language. There are altar calls in which people are asked to make a decision for Christ. Ask God into your life. Make Jesus your Lord and Savior. All of these notions are Pelagian in nature, whether semi or full Pelagian depends upon the means of sanctification. It is striking just how Roman Catholic these so called Protestant denominations have become. When the addition of spirituality and mysticism is added to the brew, you have moralistic churches with leaders who invent scripture on the fly without even the scholarship and theology of the Roman Catholic church. There is no one in the church to point out the obvious to the Emperor. This is the logical outcome of this unbiblical theology. Paul, who wrote about half of the New Testament, is either discredited, disregarded or twisted. Law passages get plucked out of context without the indicatives that ground the imperatives. This is the state of the American church.

Summary. It is easy to say that Pelagius lost the battle, but won the war. Augustine, Luther and Calvin would not recognize most of our American churches today, but would consider the vast majority to be either pagan or heretical. The American culture is so rooted in individual rights, freedom and the “can do” attitude, that the Gospel is completely scandalous and offensive. Romans 3 and 9 are so completely foreign to us that we end up shouting that God is unfair. We actually believe that somewhere deep down inside of every person, there is a good and righteous person, and that God will see that goodness and the sincerity of that person’s belief. Belief is no longer in something specific, you just have to belief in something, and that’s good enough. Pelagius was a better Christian theologian than most of the modern liberal thinkers, but he still got it wrong. Pelagianism is the scourge of the American church today.

--Ogre--