The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Does God force men to sin?

Semi-Pelagianism was officially condemned as a heresy by the Synod of Orange in 529. Afterwards, due to human corruption, certain aspects of Semi-Pelagianism were still incorporated into the theological doctrines of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, such as a rejection of the bondage of the will and the concept that humans could (with God's help) redeem themselves and maintain their just standing before God through repentance and penance. Pope Gregory the Great even said, "The good that we do is both of God and of ourselves; of God by prevenient grace, our own by good will following." Rome, to this day, by continuing to affirm the semi-pelagian view that redeemed humanity must (through good works) maintain its own just standing before God, in essence declares that Jesus' work on the cross is insufficient to save completely ...that men are justified partly by the grace of God in Christ and partly by their own works. So in RCC dogma, Jesus ends up, not as a Savior, but one who helps us save ourselves.


With regard to God's initial grace to sinners, St. Augustine rightly affirms that grace is what makes the will good, "For", he says, "if a good will comes first, there is obviously no longer a heart of stone." In other words, that even the very desire of fallen humanity to believe and obey Christ is wrought in us by the Spirit, and that it is Jesus alone (not the human will) that makes those who believe differ from those who do not. The RCC view, on the contrary, declares that the unregenerate human will has still some power left to choose good ... to either cooperate with or reject God's grace. By contrast again, The Council of Orange (529 AD) affirms the augustinian/Reformation view that it is the Holy Spirit within us that we [even] have the faith, the will, the strength or the desire to do all these things as we ought (Canon 6).

Reformed Protestants affirm with Augustine, Human Nature's Four-Fold State, which declares that fallen humanity will not obey Christ since his will and affections are in bondage to sin (not able not to sin) until regenerated:

1) Pre-Fall Humanity - able to sin; able not to sin
(posse peccare, posse non peccare)

2) Post-Fallen Humanity: not able not to sin (non posse non peccare) i.e. man not free but in bondage to sin

3) Regenerated Humanity: able not to sin (posse non peccare)

4) Glorified Humanity: unable to sin (non posse peccare)

The modern Roman Catholic church clearly embraces a heretical form of Semi-Pelagianism which affirms that man has a need for God's grace (for man is too weak to help himself), but man by his own free will is able to decide whether he wants God's grace. Whereas Pelagius taught that salvation is totally man's own doing, and Augustine taught that salvation is totally from God, Semi-Pelagianism teaches that salvation is a combination of the efforts of both man and God. According to RCC Semi-Pelagianism, salvation is accomplished when man decides to co-operate with God and accepts the grace God offers him. and also must maintain his own just standing before God by merit and good works. This is often viewed as a synergistic concept of salvation. Whereas Reformed Protestants also affirm the necessity of good works, yet they are the inevitable result of salvation, not the cause of it.