SEMI-PELAGIANISM

Semipelagianism
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Semipelagianism is a Christian theological understanding about salvation; that is, the means by which humanity and God are restored to a right relationship. Semipelagian thought stands in contrast to the earlier Pelagian teaching about salvation (in which man is seen as effecting his own salvation), which had been dismissed as heresy. Semipelagianism in its original form was developed as a compromise between Pelagianism and the teaching of Church Fathers such as Augustine of Hippo, who taught that man cannot come to God without the grace of God. In Semipelagian thought, therefore, a distinction is made between the beginning of faith and the increase of faith. Semipelagian thought teaches that the latter half - growing in faith - is the work of God, while the beginning of faith is an act of free will. It too was labeled heresy by the Western Church in the Second Council of Orange in 529.

No group has ever described itself as Semipelagian; the term is used retrospectively by theologians to refer to the original formulation. It has since been used as an accusation in theological disputes over salvation, divine grace and free will.

Contents [hide]
1 Pelagian and Semipelagian theology
2 Semipelagianism in the patristic era
3 Development of the term and subsequent use
3.1 Molina
3.2 Eastern Orthodox Church
3.3 Reformation
3.4 Jesuits and Jansenists
3.5 Enlightenment and Modernism
4 Notes
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Pelagian and Semipelagian theology
Main article: Pelagianism
Pelagianism is the teaching that man has the capacity to seek God in and of himself apart from any movement of God or the Holy Spirit, and therefore that salvation is effected by man's efforts. The doctrine takes its name from Pelagius, a British monk who was accused of developing the doctrine (he himself appears to have claimed that man does not do good apart from grace in his letters, claiming only that all men have free will by God's gift); it was opposed especially by Augustine of Hippo and was declared a heresy by Pope Zosimus in 418. Denying the existence of original sin, it teaches that man is in himself and by nature capable of choosing good.[1]

In Semipelagian thought, man doesn’t have such an unrestrained capacity, but man and God could cooperate to a certain degree in this salvation effort: man can (unaided by grace) make the first move toward God, and God then increases and guards that faith, completing the work of salvation.[2] This teaching is distinct from the traditional patristic doctrine of synergeia, in which the process of salvation is cooperation between God and man from start to finish.

[edit] Semipelagianism in the patristic era
After this confusion had been deemed an error, the term Semipelagianism was retained in learned circles as a designation for the heresy advocated by monks of Southern Gaul at and around Marseille after 428. It aimed at a compromise between the two extremes of Pelagianism and Augustinism, and was condemned as heresy at the local Councils of Orange in 529 after disputes extending over more than a hundred years; the term Semipelagianism itself was unknown in antiquity.

[edit] Development of the term and subsequent use
[edit] Molina
The word appears to have been coined between 1590 and 1600 in connexion with Luis Molina's doctrine of grace, in which the opponents of this theologian believed they saw a close resemblance to the heresy of the monks of Marseille (cf. Revue des sciences philosophiques et théologiques, 1907, pp. 506 sqq.).

[Actually the term "semi-pelagian" can be found somewhat before 1590/1600 in the Lutheran Formula of Concord, Epitome, Art. 2, 10, which was written in 1577. (Rev. Paul R. Williams)]

[edit] Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church generally adheres to the doctrine of theosis in its conception of salvation. Theosis closely links the ideas of sanctification and justification: salvation is achieved by the divinisation of man. This doctrine is sometimes labeled Semipelagian by Protestant theologians on the grounds that it suggests that man contributes to his own salvation.[3] John Cassian, known particularly for his teachings on theosis, is considered to be a Saint in the Eastern Church; Augustine of Hippo, who was closely identified with anti-Pelagianism and whose teaching is very much centered on God's action in salvation, while considered to be a Saint, is not as highly regarded in the Eastern Church as he is in the West.

[edit] Reformation
In more recent times, the word has been used in the Reformed Protestant camp to designate anyone who deviates from the Augustinian or Calvinist doctrines of sin and grace, most notably Arminians and Roman Catholics.

Many Arminians disagree with this generalization and believe it is libelous to Jacobus Arminius, John Wesley, and the many other Arminians who maintain original sin and the total depravity of the human race. Likewise, Latin Catholics will refer to the Church Magisterium's long-time support and defense of Augustine since the Council of Orange.

[edit] Jesuits and Jansenists
In the 18th century, Jesuits and Jansenists accused each other of Semipelagianism. The papal bull Unigenitus, in declaring Jansenism a heresy, upheld the Jesuits' argument.

[edit] Enlightenment and Modernism
An issue in the modernist controversy was the role of divine grace in the development of human reason. In this regard, Rousseau and others were accused of being at least Semipelagian, if not wholly Pelagian, because the philosophy of that era held that grace could purely and simply be substituted for human reason.

It was during this period that the dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated, and at the time it was best understood as a solid reaction against all forms of Semipelagianism and Pelagianism, which minimized the role of grace and sin.

The pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes is seen by its critics as Semipelagian. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) accused parts of it of using "downright Pelagian terminology" in its discussion of free will.[4]

[edit] Notes
1.^ Adams, Nicholas (2007). "Pelagianism: Can people be saved by their own efforts?". in Quash, Ben; Ward, Michael. Heresies and How to Avoid Them. London: SPCK Publishing. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-281-05843-3.
2.^ "Semipelagianism". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/Semipelagianism.
3.^ Horton, Michael (2004). "Are Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism compatible? No". in James Stamoolis. Three Views on Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. pp. 139–140. ISBN 0310235391.
4.^ Allen, John L. (2005). Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger. London: Continuum. p. 81. ISBN 0826417868.
[edit] See also
Christian heresy
Charles Finney