God’s Grace Vs.Free Will

By the beginning of the fifth century, the rate of growth for Christianity was increasing exponentially. However, there was a negative result of this rapid growth. What might have simply been a different interpretation of one person, spawned into indifference among the entire population of Christian followers. The Church wished for elimination of these indifferences to maintain the strength of true worship. However, they saw it essential to put down the beliefs of one man in particular, Pelagius. His views were observed as a true threat to Christianity’s entire existence . With the very foundation of Christianity in jeopardy, Saint Augustine aggressively disputed, with the support of his own past religious struggles, the arguments of Pelagius concerning God’s grace and human free will.

The dispute between Augustine and Pelagius regarding God’s grace and free will stemmed from their differentiating views of the original sin of Adam and Eve. Pelagius believed that human nature was left unaffected by original sin . He could not see how infant children, generations later, would be burdened with a sin that they had no part in. Instead, according to Pelagius, children were born into life with total purity and innocence.

The birth of a child is seen as the miraculous beginning of a new life. Because there is no evil attached to this new life, Pelagius saw it as perfectly reasonable for a person to continue life free of sin. Referring to sin, Pelagius quoted, “Whether we will or whether we will not, we have the capacity of not sinning.” Pelagius recognizes the fact that not everyone will be psychologically strong enough to avoid the temptation of sin. Because sin surrounds us everyday, surrendering actually becomes easier than eluding. Pelagius argued that when faced with a confrontation between evil and virtue, if a man should choose sin opposed to righteousness, his own free will is what allowed him to make that decision .

Pelagius’ entire concept of free will is man’s ability to do as he pleases because he is in absolute control of his own actions. However, with this freedom of choice comes the sole responsibility for the corresponding repercussions. Whether man chooses evil opposed to virtue or vice versa, the according fault or praise would lie within himself and none other.

Though, man does not always think of these consequences or commendations beforehand. With every moment, people unconsciously act out of habit instead of calculated thinking because they have become so accustomed to these actions. Pelagius explains that performing a good deed became so difficult for some because “the long custom of sin which begins from childhood and gradually brings us more and more under its power until it seems to have in some degree the force of nature.” This quote explains Pelagius’ notion of how sin can become a habit which is done unconsciously without a second thought.

Not surprisingly, many of those who knowingly commit sin are quick to develop excuses for their actions. Pelagius eventually became irate of the assortment of excuses he would hear: “It is hard!” “It is difficult!” “I am not able!” In particular, the excuse, “I am not able!” created outrage within Pelagius. He took this as a criticism of God, as the Creator, to beget men who were “insufficient for the keeping of His law.” He felt that “God could teach us the true way; God could set us a holy example; but God could not touch us to enable us to will the good.” Pelagius saw these conscious sinners as being insufficient within themselves; as they were expecting more from God than what was needed.

The basis of Augustine’s rebuttal to Pelagius’ views began with his opposing beliefs of original sin. Augustine argued that if children were born free of any sin, why were newborn infants baptized? He concluded that this common practice was to purge the child of what must have been the original sin inherited from birth. This conclusion would, according to Augustine, eliminate any possibility for man to live an entire lifetime in the absence of sin. With the quote, “No one is not sick, no one is not healed without God’s grace” , Augustine conveys the effect of original sin upon human nature; and thus, the necessity it creates for God’s intervention. Augustine viewed this intervention