Augustine and the Pelagian Controversy
are written in the "Book of Life," signifying their inheritance of eternal life (Revelation 20:12; Luke 10:20).
Election is not about earthly privileges but eternal blessings. Its purpose includes:
Holiness: God's people are set apart for his glory (Ephesians 1:4).
Adoption: They are made children of God (Ephesians 1:5).
Salvation: They are saved and given eternal life (2 Thessalonians 2:13; Acts 13:48).
Conformity to Christ: They are shaped to be like Jesus (Romans 8:29).
God's Glory: All of this ultimately points back to God's glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12).
Paul's teaching in Romans 9 also contrasts two groups: "the children of the flesh" (those born into Israel physically) and "the children of the promise" (those chosen by God's grace). He describes them as "vessels of honor" and "vessels of dishonor," highlighting the distinction between those who receive God's mercy and those who are hardened.
Augustine and the Pelagian Controversy Throughout history, people have debated predestination (God's sovereign choice) and human free will. Philosophies outside
Christianity have swung between the idea that everything is predetermined (determinism) and the idea that humans have complete freedom. In Jewish thought, even in the state of sin,
humans are seen as free. In Islam, debates about predestination and free will arose as well. Some Muslims argued that God's will controls everything absolutely, while others insisted that humans have real freedom and that God's justice, not just his power, is his defining attribute.
Early Church Perspectives In the early Christian church, faced with pagan fatalism (the belief that everything is unchangeable) and Gnostic ideas, the focus was on human freedom and responsibility. The early church generally taught that humans, though affected by sin, were still free to accept
God's grace. Predestination was seen as God foreknowing who would believe and rewarding or punishing based on that foreknowledge.
Grace was understood as something that worked alongside human will—people could accept or reject it, and their perseverance depended on their cooperation with grace. Those who persevered were seen as foreknown and predestined by God, but only because he foresaw their choice to believe.
Pelagius's Teaching Pelagius, a British monk, took these ideas further. He taught that since God is good and just, everything he creates, including human nature, must also be good. Free will, Pelagius said, is God's greatest gift, enabling humans to choose between good and evil. According to him, sin is always a choice of the will and never changes human nature. Therefore:
1. Adam's sin did not affect humanity's moral condition; we are born just as Adam was created.
2. There is no such thing as original sin, and death is a natural part of life, not a penalty for sin.
3. Sin spreads by example, not inheritance, and humans can live sinless lives by following good examples.
4. Grace is God's help through the moral law and the teachings of Christ, given to those who use their free will rightly.
5. Predestination is simply God's foreknowledge of who will choose to do good.
Pelagius's ideas were further developed by his followers but were ultimately rejected by the church as incompatible with Scripture.
Semi-Pelagianism John Cassian, a later theologian, softened Pelagius's teachings into what is called Semi-Pelagianism. He taught that sin had indeed corrupted human nature, but not entirely. Humans, though spiritually sick, still had the ability to cooperate with God's grace. He compared humanity to a person who has fallen into a well and cannot climb out alone but can grab a rope when it is thrown.
Predestination and reprobation (God's choice to save or not save) were explained as depending on God's foreknowledge of how individuals would respond to grace.
Augustine's Response Long before Pelagius, Augustine had already developed a biblical doctrine of predestination based on his study of Paul's Letter to the Romans. He taught that:
1. Predestination is God's choice, rooted in his grace, not in human merit or foreseen faith. People are chosen to believe, not because they believed beforehand.
2. All humans are born into a "condemned mass" because of sin and are equally deserving of judgment. However, God, in his
mercy, chooses some to be saved.
3. This choice is entirely God's sovereign will. He has the right to make some "vessels of honor" and others "vessels of dishonor"
(Romans 9:21).
4. God's grace ensures that those who are predestined will come to faith, receive baptism, and persevere to the end. Perseverance is the evidence of predestination.
Predestination and Reprobation For Augustine, predestination also implied reprobation—the idea that some are not chosen for salvation. This is not unjust because
God owes salvation to no one. Reprobation reveals God's justice, while predestination reveals his grace. Both display his divine glory.
God includes some who are not elect in the church to humble the elect and remind them of their dependence on grace.
Ultimately, why God saves some and not others is a mystery known only to him. He is not unjust, for he owes nothing to anyone.
Predestination is an act of mercy, and reprobation is an act of justice, both of which demonstrate God's holiness and wisdom.
The Condemnation of Pelagianism and Its Aftermath Pelagianism, which denied humanity's total dependence on God's grace, was officially condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
However, debates about predestination and free will continued for centuries, particularly between followers of Augustine and advocates of Semi-Pelagianism. Augustine's supporters emphasized humanity's total corruption due to sin and the absolute necessity of grace for salvation. Semi-Pelagians, while recognizing the need for grace, argued that human free will played a significant role in salvation.
The Synod of Orange (529) sought to clarify these issues. It affirmed:
1. Human Corruption: Sin affects the entire person, leaving humanity incapable of true goodness apart from grace.
2. The Role of Grace: Faith begins and grows solely through the work of God's Spirit, not human effort or free will.
3. Free Will and Responsibility: Although weakened by sin, free will is restored through grace. With Christ's help, baptized believers are obligated to cooperate with grace to achieve salvation.
However, the Synod avoided addressing doctrines like absolute predestination, irresistible grace, or the particularity of grace (that grace is given only to some). This ambiguity led to future controversies.
The Predestinarian Controversy A major debate over predestination arose later, centered on Gottschalk, who argued for a "double predestination":
1. Predestination to Glory: God chooses some for eternal life based solely on his sovereign will, not on foreseen faith or merits.
2. Reprobation to Damnation: God permits others to remain in their sin, but this is not the same as causing their sin.
Gottschalk's opponents, including figures like Hincmar and Erigena, rejected these views, favoring a Semi-Pelagian perspective. This position gained the upper hand at the Synod of Quierzy in 853.
Despite this, many theologians defended Gottschalk's ideas, maintaining that salvation is entirely dependent on God's sovereign choice, not human effort.
Ongoing Divergences The Synod of Valence (855) and later scholastic theologians carefully distinguished between predestination and reprobation:
Predestination to Glory: An act of God's grace, independent of human merit.
Reprobation: Often divided into two types:
Negative Reprobation: God's sovereign decision not to grant saving grace to some, made without reference to foreseen sin.
Positive Reprobation: God's decision to permit sin and its consequences, based on his foreknowledge.
In this context, passages like 1 Timothy 2:4 ("God desires all people to be saved") were interpreted narrowly, as referring to "all kinds of people" rather than every individual. Similarly, the idea that Christ's atonement was universal was rejected, particularly in relation to those who never heard of Christ or who actively opposed him.
The Roman Catholic Shift Over time, Roman Catholic theology moved further from Augustine's emphasis on grace and predestination. Influenced by nominalism
(which focused on human choices) and Jesuit theology, the Roman church adopted positions more aligned with Semi-Pelagianism. At the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church officially formalized its doctrines, further distancing itself from Augustine and the teachings of Paul.
The Council of Trent, held by the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century, addressed critical issues like human sin, grace, free will, and predestination. Its teachings reflect a careful balance between
emphasizing divine grace and human responsibility. Here are the main points:
1. Human Nature After Sin: While sin has weakened humanity, free will is not entirely lost. Before being justified (made right with God), humans can still perform naturally good actions that are not sinful. However, these actions are not enough to achieve salvation.
2. The Need for Grace: Because of original sin, humans are incapable of pleasing God in a supernatural sense, such as having faith, hope, or love, or attaining eternal life. To be saved, they require divine grace—grace that comes from the Holy
Spirit's work in their hearts.
3. Grace Given Through Baptism and the Gospel: For children, this grace is received through baptism. For adults, it begins with God calling them through the gospel and the illumination of the Holy Spirit. This grace is a gift from God, given freely and without human merit.
4. Grace Can Be Resisted: Although God's grace works to stir and assist humans, it does not compel them. People remain free to accept or reject it. If they accept and cooperate with grace, they can prepare themselves for justification (being made right with God) and receive it through baptism.
5. Maintaining Justification: Once justified, grace can still be lost through sin. However, if it is preserved, it enables people to do good works, which contribute to their eternal reward.
6. Rejection of Absolute Predestination: Trent rejected Augustine's teaching of absolute predestination (the idea that
God unconditionally chooses some for salvation and others for condemnation). The council emphasized that Christ's atonement was made for all people, and salvation is offered to all who accept it. Predestination, in this view, is based on God's foreknowledge of who will freely accept his grace.
Theological Tensions on Predestination The Catholic Church has historically struggled to harmonize two seemingly contradictory ideas:
1. God desires the salvation of all people and offers grace universally.
2. Salvation ultimately depends on how individuals respond to God's grace, with some choosing to reject it.
Over time, a distinction emerged in Catholic theology:
Predestination to Grace: This refers to God's provision of grace to individuals, enabling them to believe and live righteously.
Predestination to Glory: This refers to the ultimate salvation of individuals who persevere in grace.
These two types of predestination are not necessarily connected.
Someone might receive the grace of justification but later lose it through sin, failing to reach eternal glory. This separation was not recognized by early theologians like Anselm and Thomas Aquinas but has become more common in Catholic teaching.
Summary of the Council's Approach The Council of Trent emphasized:
Grace is essential for salvation, but humans retain the freedom to cooperate with or resist it.
Predestination is rooted in God's foreknowledge of how individuals will use their free will and respond to grace.
Salvation is made possible for all, but it is not guaranteed for anyone unless they persevere in grace.
This teaching reflects a deliberate rejection of the more deterministic views of predestination associated with Augustine and later
Protestant reformers.
Predestination to Grace All Christians agree, in contrast to Pelagianism (which claims humans can earn salvation), that God's grace is unmerited.
Predestination to receive grace does not depend on any foreseen merits or good deeds. This grace comes before human will and action
—it is what theologians call "prevenient grace," meaning grace that comes first to prepare the way (Romans 9:16; John 6:44). Since predestination to grace is the starting point of salvation, it can rightly be said that the entire process of predestination is an act of grace, freely given by God.
However, this grace follows a certain order. According to some (like the Molinists, followers of theologian Luis de Molina), God foresees that some people will use this repeatedly offered grace well, and he decides to give them more grace as a result. They also believe that saints, through their prayers and merits, can obtain grace for others.
Christ, above all, is the ultimate cause of our predestination.
In contrast, Augustinians and Thomists (followers of Augustine and Thomas Aquinas) teach that God's predestination to glory (eternal
salvation) is absolute. God chooses some for salvation purely by his sovereign will, apart from their merits. After choosing them, he works in their hearts through grace so they can live in a way that leads to salvation.
Predestination to Glory The Molinists argue that predestination to glory is based on God's foreknowledge of who will do good and respond to his grace. In other words, God predestines individuals to eternal life because he foresees their future merits and faith.
Reprobation (God's Choice Not to Save Some) Theologians differ on the nature of reprobation, which refers to God's decision to withhold salvation from some people. Here are the key views:
1. Augustinians and Thomists:
Some teach that reprobation comes after the fall into sin. In this view, God justly leaves sinners in their fallen state because of their sin.
Others distinguish between two parts of reprobation:
A negative decree, where God sovereignly decides not to save some people.
A positive decree, where God allows sin to occur and punishes it justly.
2. Molinists:
The Molinists reject the idea that God decrees reprobation apart from sin. They argue that God desires the salvation of all people and only punishes those whose sin and unbelief