{"id":248,"date":"2009-03-02T09:23:30","date_gmt":"2009-03-02T09:23:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/2009\/03\/comment-of-the-weekend-7.html"},"modified":"2009-03-02T09:23:30","modified_gmt":"2009-03-02T09:23:30","slug":"comment-of-the-weekend-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/03\/comment-of-the-weekend-7.html","title":{"rendered":"Comment of the Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

stormtrooper #274.52 objects to Brian’s apologia for Pelagius<\/a>:<\/p>\n

wow. I can’t express how strongly I disagree with Brian’s support
\nfor Pelagius’ teachings. I find such theology to be soul-crushing,
\ngospel-destroying, and faith-squelching. In my eyes, it truly amount to
\nno less than a “different Gospel” – just as Paul calls the legalistic
\ntendencies of the Galatians.<\/p>\n

\nHere’s a punch list of disagreements:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \nI find no biblical support for “prevenient grace” – does Pelagius make this point from the Bible or simply experience?<\/li>\n
  2. \nThe Bible presents our sin-problem as a nature problem, not just a habit problem. (Eph 2:3)<\/li>\n
  3. \nIt seems to create a doctrine of works – like American
    \nindividual-self-improvement of the worst ilk. For those who do well at
    \nthis project, it would seem to necessarily lead to pride; and for those
    \nwho feel they continually fail, it would seem to lead to great despair.<\/li>\n
  4. \nIt diminishes the work and power of God, and particularly the efficacy of Christ’s work on the cross.<\/li>\n
  5. \nAugustine never claimed to “relinquish human responsibility.” He saw
    \nhis theology clearly as affirming the completeness of God’s grace for
    \nsinners while also affirming man’s responsibility. One famous phrase
    \nwas “Give me what you command, and command what you will” indicating
    \nhis perceived compatibility between these two ideas of God’s
    \nsovereignty and human responsibility.<\/li>\n
  6. \nAugustine clearly confronted the institutionalization of the Church as well – he wrote the classic work, “The City of God.”<\/li>\n
  7. \nPelagius was denounced as a heretic by his contemporaries and every
    \northodox theologian since. Sure, some folks in history were rail-roaded
    \nunjustly by those in power, but others are dismissed for good reason.<\/li>\n
  8. \nAugustine’s theology clearly “demanded change” in the believer – and
    \nhis life surely showed this. Do any of the Reformation folks NOT speak
    \nabout the necessity of obedience in a believer’s life???<\/li>\n
  9. \nOne may think that the freeness of God’s grace would produce
    \nlicentiousness (which Paul clearly confronts as a possible objection in
    \nboth Romans and Galatians) but this potential misapplication doesn’t
    \ninvalidate the message. In fact, in my experience, being daily amazed
    \nby God’s free grace to such a sinner as I provides the strongest,
    \npurest love for God and love for others that I have ever experienced
    \nand ever seen displayed by others.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    <\/p>\n

    It’s for good reason that defending Pelagius would be “unthinkable”
    \nto Tony. Humbly but truthfully I confess that Pelagius’ teaching makes
    \nme sick. It seems to utterly erode the beauty, freedom and abounding
    \ngrace of the Gospel that excites my heart, builds up our church, and
    \ngives me a great hope in God. It was this same understanding of the
    \nGospel that led Charles Wesley (an Arminian, but certainly no Pelagian)
    \nto compose these beautiful lines from “And Can It Be”:<\/p>\n

    Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
    \nFast bound in sin and nature’s night;
    \nThine eye diffused a quickening ray–
    \nI woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
    \nMy chains fell off, my heart was free,
    \nI rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
    \nMy chains fell off, my heart was free,
    \nI rose, went forth, and followed Thee.<\/p>\n

    No condemnation now I dread;
    \nJesus, and all in Him, is mine;
    \nAlive in Him, my living Head,
    \nAnd clothed in righteousness divine,
    \nBold I approach th’eternal throne,
    \nAnd claim the crown, through Christ my own.
    \nBold I approach th’eternal throne,
    \nAnd claim the crown, through Christ my own.<\/p>\n

    This clearly affirms man’s bondage to original sin, the necessary
    \nprimacy of God’s grace, the resulting life-change and obedience of a
    \nredeemed person, a righteousness found in Christ’s atonement and the
    \nconfidence secured in Christ’s sufficient work. One does NOT need to
    \nresort to Pelagianism to affirm man’s responsibility, the necessity for
    \nholiness, and the great value of human beings before God. All these
    \nhave been affirmed by Augustine and other orthodox theologians
    \nthroughout church history.<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    stormtrooper #274.52 objects to Brian’s apologia for Pelagius: wow. I can’t express how strongly I disagree with Brian’s support for Pelagius’ teachings. I find such theology to be soul-crushing, gospel-destroying, and faith-squelching. In my eyes, it truly amount to no less than a “different Gospel” – just as Paul calls the legalistic tendencies of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,25,12,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-church-history","category-comment-of-the-day","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nComment of the Weekend - The New Christians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/03\/comment-of-the-weekend-7.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Comment of the Weekend - The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"stormtrooper #274.52 objects to Brian’s apologia for Pelagius: wow. I can’t express how strongly I disagree with Brian’s support for Pelagius’ teachings. I find such theology to be soul-crushing, gospel-destroying, and faith-squelching. In my eyes, it truly amount to no less than a “different Gospel” – just as Paul calls the legalistic tendencies of the…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/03\/comment-of-the-weekend-7.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-03-02T09:23:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Comment of the Weekend - The New Christians","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/03\/comment-of-the-weekend-7.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Comment of the Weekend - The New Christians","og_description":"stormtrooper #274.52 objects to Brian’s apologia for Pelagius: wow. I can’t express how strongly I disagree with Brian’s support for Pelagius’ teachings. I find such theology to be soul-crushing, gospel-destroying, and faith-squelching. 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