By the end of todays lesson you will Understand Pelagius theory on free will in particular Why he denied the doctrine of Original Sin How humans can mature into Gods image by becoming responsible to God for their actions ID: 762641
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "By the end of today’s lesson you will:..." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
By the end of today’s lesson you will: Understand Pelagius’ theory on ‘free will’, in particular:Why he denied the doctrine of Original SinHow humans can mature into God’s image by becoming responsible to God for their actionsUsing free will to follow God’s lawsThe role of grace in salvation. Skills Focus - AO1 – knowledge and understanding - Specialist language and vocabulary
Spec Check – Component 3: Ethics Theme 4: Determinism and Free WillAO1 – Knowledge and Understanding AO2 – Issues for Analysis and Evaluation D) Religious concepts of free will, with reference to the teachings of : Pelagius The role of original sin, humanity maturing in God’s image and accepting the responsibility of free will, free will as used to follow God’s laws, the role of grace in salvation. Arminius Denial of predestination, the effect of original sin on free will, God's 'prevenient' grace (the Holy Spirit) in allowing humans to exercise free will, the Elect and the possibility of rejecting God's grace, the election of believers being conditional on faith. How convincing are religious views on free will?The degree to which free will makes the use of prayer irrelevant.The degree to which beliefs about free will can be reconciled with beliefs about predestination.
What is free will? Free will, in religious terms, is the opposite of the doctrine of predestination.Moral agents have a choice to follow God’s rules or to disobey/reject them (sin).Q: What is the implication of belief in free will in terms of what happens to us after death?
Biblical Support for Free Will Q: What Biblical passages do you know that support free will? If you’re stuck, see p42 of your workbook.
Pelagius 354-420/440 Pelagius was a Christian British ascetic monk. What is an ascetic? Use the picture clues to help. Who else was writing at this time?
Pelagius Name this city visited by Pelagius. Low moral standards, indulgent lifestyles and grandeur of the Church. What did Pelagius find appalling in Rome? What doctrine did Pelagius feel was the reason behind the debauchery he found in Rome? …
Pelagius Pelagius believed that the acceptance of predestination by the Roman Catholic Church and the formulisation of Augustine’s Doctrine of Original Sin was the root cause of the immorality he’d witnessed?Q:Why/How?No moral accountability.People weren’t trying to control their urge to sin, because there was no point without free will.
Pelagius – Free Will Pelagius stood up against the Catholic Church and doctrine of predestination.He argued that humanity has free will.He was declared a heretic by the Catholic Church at the Council of Carthage in 418
Pelagius on the role of Original Sin Explain to your ‘elbow buddy’ what is meant by ‘Original Sin’.Pelagius denied the doctrine of Original Sin. He argued that God is omnibenevolent and would therefore not punish all of humanity for the sins of Adam and Eve.
Pelagius Pelagius supported his belief by quoting from the Bible: “Parents are not to be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their parents; each will die of their own sins.” (Deuteronomy 24:16)Pelagius said, “we may not seem to be forced to do evil through a fault in our nature.”
Pelagius – Humanity maturing in God’s image and accepting the responsibility of free will Read the quote from Pelagius on the next slide which relates to the above aspect of his free will theory.Discuss it with your ‘elbow buddy’ and then work together to summarise his idea into no more than 4 key points.
Pelagius – Humanity maturing in God’s image and accepting the responsibility of free will “When Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge they were exercising their freedom of choice; and as a consequence of the choice they made, they were no longer able to live in the Garden of Eden. When we hear that story we are struck by their disobedience to God; and so we conclude that they were no longer fit to enjoy the perfect happiness of Eden. And we should also be struck by the nature of that tree and its fruit. Before eating the fruit they did not know the difference between good and evil; thus they did not possess the knowledge which enables human beings to exercise freedom of choice. By eating the fruit they acquired this knowledge, and from that moment onwards they were free. Thus the story of their banishment from Eden is in truth the story of how the human race gained its freedom: by eating fruit from the tree of knowledge, Adam and Eve became mature human beings, responsible to God for their actions. How is it possible, then, for an act of disobedience to God to bring such a blessing? When Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden they were like small children: they simply obeyed God’s instructions without considering the moral reasons for those instructions. To become mature they needed to learn the distinction for themselves between right and wrong, good and evil. And God gave them the opportunity to become mature by putting within the garden the tree of knowledge, by which they could learn this distinction. But if God had simply instructed Adam and Eve to eat from the tree, and they had obeyed, they would have been acting like children. So he forbade them from eating the fruit; this meant that they themselves had to make a decision, whether to eat or not to eat. Just as a young person needs to defy his parents in order to grow to maturity, so Adam and Eve needed to defy God in order to share his knowledge of good and evil. By defying God, Adam and Eve grew to maturity in his image.”
Pelagius – Free will as used to follow God’s laws Pelagius believed that moral agents can use their free will to fulfil God’s moral law – e.g. follow God’s commandments.Pelagius called this doing ‘good works’.God created us and therefore knows our capabilities.God would not create commandments we could not follow.“No one knows better the true measure of our strength than He who has given it to us nor does anyone understand better how much we are able to do than He who has given us this very capacity of ours to be able.”
Pelagius – The role of grace in salvation Pelagius said that to follow God’s law (to do ‘good works’), we need God’s grace to help and guide us.Humans have free will, so can choose to ignore God’s guidance and be sinful.Pelagius believed that this ability to sin is a good thing: “This very capacity to do evil is also good … because it makes the good part better by making it voluntary and independent.”Whenever a moral agent chooses to do good works, it is through the guiding grace of God.
Pelagius – The role of grace in salvation Pelagius also believed that, through God’s grace, moral agents could seek forgiveness of their sins and achieve salvation.God’s atonement, Jesus’ death, was for all humanity. Thus, all can achieve salvation.It is not enough for the moral agent to simply ask God for forgiveness. The moral agent needs to make an effort, through their free will and with the grace of God, to try not to sin again.
Pelagius versus Augustine Complete this table to show the differences between the beliefs of Pelagius and Augustine. Pelagius Augustine Free will Original Sin God’s grace Salvation
AO1 Write Up Explain Pelagius’ concept of free will. [20 marks] PEEL P oint – make a point E xplain – explain that point Evidence /examples – provide evidence / examples to support the point. (Scholars ideas/quotes/analogies are good to use here)Link – link to the question and the paragraph which follows You must mention: The doctrine of original sin. Humanity maturing into the image of God and accepting the responsibility of free will. Free will being used to follow God’s laws. The role of grace in salvation.
Learning Check … By the end of today’s lesson you willUnderstand Pelagius’ theory on ‘free will’, in particular:Why he denied the doctrine of Original SinHow humans can mature into God’s image by becoming responsible to God for their actionsUsing free will to follow God’s lawsThe role of grace in salvation. Skills Focus - AO1 – knowledge and understanding - Specialist language and vocabulary
By the end of today’s lesson you will: Know Arminius’ view on free will.Know the Five Articles of Remonstrance.Have compared the Arminians’ Five Articles with the Five Points of belief of Calvinism.Have reinforced your understanding of key vocabulary on religious beliefs on predestination and free will. Skills Focus - AO1 – knowledge and understanding - Specialist language and vocabulary
Spec Check – Component 3: Ethics Theme 4: Determinism and Free WillAO1 – Knowledge and Understanding AO2 – Issues for Analysis and Evaluation D) Religious concepts of free will, with reference to the teachings of : Pelagius The role of original sin, humanity maturing in God’s image and accepting the responsibility of free will, free will as used to follow God’s laws, the role of grace in salvation. Arminius Denial of predestination, the effect of original sin on free will, God's 'prevenient' grace (the Holy Spirit) in allowing humans to exercise free will, the Elect and the possibility of rejecting God's grace, the election of believers being conditional on faith. How convincing are religious views on free will?The degree to which free will makes the use of prayer irrelevant.The degree to which beliefs about free will can be reconciled with beliefs about predestination.
Jacobus Arminius Read the information about Arminius in your workbook and fill in the blanks. Calvin Predestination The Fall Elect Apostasy Atonement Grace Holy Spirit Resist Salvation Original sin 1560-1609
The Five Articles of Remonstrance Q: Who were the remonstrants?A: Followers of Arminius.Remonstrate = to oppose / to protestQ: What were Arminius’ followers protesting against? A: The Calvinist doctrine of predestination.The ‘Five Articles of Remonstrance’ were a protest against the ‘Five Points of Belief’ of Calvinism. Q: Can you recall the 5 beliefs of Calvinism? (Clue: TULIP)A: Total depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace, Perseverance of the Saints. The ‘Five Articles of Remonstrance’ was condemned as heresy by the Reformed Churches at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619).
The Five Articles of Remonstrance Task 1: Match each article with the correct heading and write it at the top of the ‘meaning’ column:Total depravityEvil can be resistedConditional electionUnlimited atonementResistible grace Task 2: Summarise what each article means.Task 3: How does each article compare to Calvin’s views? CUTRE
Article 1: Conditional Election Before the foundation of the world, God chose who would receive salvation (be the ‘Elect’) based on those he foresaw would, of their own free will , choose to respond to and believe in him. God’s choice for election is conditioned upon our free choice to have faith in Jesus. God, being omniscient, knows what we will choose, but he doesn’t cause it.John3:36 – “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
Article 2: Unlimited AtonementJesus died for the sins all people. All who believe will be saved.“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)“And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)
Article 3: Total DepravityHuman nature is totally depraved (inherently corrupt) due to Original Sin, and we cannot achieve salvation by ourselves.Through the help of God’s Holy Spirit, we can use our free will and choose to come to Jesus for salvation and to be ‘born again’.
Article 4: Resistible GraceGod’s grace is prevenient, available to everyone and needed for salvation. Prevenient grace is a divine grace that precedes human decisions.However, we can resist it. “You stiff-necked people with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are always resisting the Holy Spirit; as your ancestors did, so do you .” (Acts 7:51) We have free will and can choose whether to respond.
Article 5: Evil can be resistedApostasy can be committed and humans have an impulse to sin due to their inherited original sin. Therefore, salvation can be lost.However, through the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit and God’s prevenient grace, evil can be resisted.Arminius said that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, humans can, “strive against Satan, sin, the world and their own flesh …”
Learning Check … By the end of today’s lesson you willKnow Arminius’ view on free will.Know the Five Articles of Remonstrance.Have compared the Arminians’ Five Articles with the Five Points of belief of Calvinism.Have reinforced your understanding of key vocabulary on religious beliefs on predestination and free will. Skills Focus - AO1 – knowledge and understanding - Specialist language and vocabulary
Key Vocabulary - Competition On your whiteboard, write the correct key term for the definition you’re given.The first team with ALL its members holding up the correct answer wins a point.Make a note of any key words that you need to revise.
Original Sin The sin of Adam and Eve that is passed on through each generation and that humans are born with.
Concupiscence A strong desire for earthly pleasures, rather than a desire to know and love God.
Salvation Deliverance from sin and its consequences (brought about by faith in Jesus).
Apostasy To give up one’s faith.
The Elect Those chosen by God for salvation.
Atonement Pay the price / repair the damage. To make amends for doing wrong. In Christianity, Jesus atoned (paid the price) for the sins of humans by dying on the cross for us.
Predestination The belief that God has already decided what will happen in all things, including human actions. God has already selected some for salvation and others for damnation.
Ascetic One who has a strict disciplined life of self-denial. One who abstains from indulgences.
Remonstrants Followers of Arminius. They protested against the Calvinist doctrine of predestination.
Grace Undeserved favour of God towards humanity.
Depravity Humans are inherently corrupt.
Sovereign Supreme authority. God is in charge.
Prevenient Grace Divine grace that precedes human actions. God’s grace existing prior to and without reference to anything humans have done.
Heresy A view that is against the accepted view.
The Fall Humanity’s fall away from God’s grace (in Genesis 3) when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit.
AO1 Write Up Explain Arminus’ concept of free will. [20 marks] PEEL P oint – make a point E xplain – explain that point Evidence /examples – provide evidence / examples to support the point. (Scholars ideas/quotes/analogies are good to use here)Link – link to the question and the paragraph which follows You must mention: His denial of predestination. The effect of original sin on free will. God’s prevenient grace (the Holy Spirit) in allowing humans to exercise free will. The Elect and the possibility of rejecting God’s grace. The election of believers being conditional on faith.
Learning Check … By the end of today’s lesson you willKnow Arminius’ view on free will.Know the Five Articles of Remonstrance.Have compared the Arminians’ Five Articles with the Five Points of belief of Calvinism.Have reinforced your understanding of key vocabulary on religious beliefs on predestination and free will. Skills Focus - AO1 – knowledge and understanding - Specialist language and vocabulary