WJEC/Eduqas RS for A2/Yr2: Religion and Ethics (DRAFT)

WJEC / Eduqas Religious Studies for A Level Year 2 and A2 Religion and Ethics

Despite this ‘bad boy’ image, the theology of Pelagius on free will and salvation has constantly been the underlying irritant for the doctrine of original sin, Augustine’s theology and the theologies within traditional Christianity. Despite its rejection as heresy, Pelagius’ theology does still attract curiosity and have a sense of earthy honesty to it for some Christians today. Indeed, the delicate conflict between faith and works is not a new dilemma. Even early Christians did ask if salvation was through faith alone then what do we make of good works? It is well known that James considers this dilemma when he writes in James 2:14–18, 24: ‘What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith… You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.’ Indeed, for some Christians the idea of heresy is not as bad as it may sound; it does not necessarily mean that one is a bad person. After all, Pelagius advocated an open-to-all approach to the gospel and the inclusion of women in reading scripture. In addition, considering Pelagius’ opening quotation, theology is the human mind attempting to make sense of the divine and thus is not infallible. There are two possible approaches to the study of Pelagius; namely, a theological approach and a historical approach. Evans chooses a historical approach to understanding Pelagius over against the theological approach. A theological approach, for Evans, may well ignore the hostilities and distortions of historical context; however, abstraction inevitably brings with it its own measure of distortion. For example, a theological analysis does not differentiate between what Pelagius actually said and what people say he said. It also does not differentiate between Pelagius’ statements and that doctrine which later became known as Pelagianism. For example, Sicilian Pelagianism does not always sit neatly with what Pelagius actually taught. Religious concept of free will: Pelagius For philosophers, free will may be seen as the opposite of determinism. However, free will in a religious context is not necessarily the opposite of the doctrine of predestination. That is because theology is operating within the context of an omnipotent deity, whilst in philosophy, all events are the result of the will of the human being per se. For theology, free will means that God has given human beings freedom, particularly when making moral decisions on whether to do good works based on the word of God or to rebel by rejecting the word of God. The outcome of free will for theology is that human beings are responsible for their own actions but not necessarily for their eternal life with God, i.e. to gain salvation or to be separated from God. In contrast, philosophy is only focused on human beings being ultimately responsible for their actions. A religious concept of free will, therefore, can be considered a form of religious libertarianism, that is, a theologically refined form of philosophical libertarianism. Pelagius was deeply concerned with what he viewed as the low moral standards he found in Rome, the centre of the Western church tradition. Pelagius blamed the debauchery he found in Rome on the predestination theology, later formalised by Augustine’s doctrine of original sin, that was prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church. According to Pelagius, predestination suggested that human beings were unable to control their moral conduct. As a result, original sin was seen as an

Key quote May it not be appropriate now to insist that Augustine and Pelagius trade places as heretic and orthodox on the commanding mystery of sin and evil? (Bishop Sims)

DRAFT

Specification content Religious concepts of free will, with reference to the teachings of Pelagius.

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