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

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

Pelagius proposed that it is participation in the fallen world that leads to sin and not an inherited tendency. Pelagius argued that to see sin as inherited from Adam and Eve, that is, as human beings we have an inherent element of sin within us, is to fall foul of the doctrine of Manichaeism , which incorporated determinism and dualism. For Pelagius, sin was the ownership of the individual soul; to argue that it was inherited means that it becomes a necessary element of human existence and implies that we are essentially dualistic by nature. As Evans writes, ‘To make sin necessary would be to deny the nature of will, whose only necessity lies in its capacity both to sin and not to sin’. Pelagius: humanity maturing in God’s image

Manichaeism taught that people a dualistic nature battling within, reflecting an elaborate dualistic cosmological struggle between a spiritual world of light and a material world of darkness.

Specification content Religious concepts of free will, with reference to the teachings of Pelagius. Humanity maturing in God’s image and accepting the responsibility of free will.

and accepting the responsibility of free will This idea of participation in the world enabled human beings to engage with their autonomous will and choose their actions carefully. Pelagius then went further by arguing that ‘the fall’ can actually be seen as a good thing for human beings. The gift of free will enabled Adam and Eve to choose whether or not to eat the forbidden fruit; but also in eating the fruit enabled the process of maturity to begin. Pelagius’ reasoning was that humans go through a learning process, and, as they do, they grow and mature in wisdom, learning from their mistakes. Part of this process is defiance – just like Adam and Eve – in order to discover oneself how things are. Therefore, in exercising their free will and making their own decisions, the long-term benefits outweigh the short-term pitfalls. This free will meant that Adam and Eve, and thus all their descendants, became responsible to God for their own actions. Therefore, human beings had gained free will to choose and independently determine either to do good or turn to sin. Pelagius developed this further in relation to the Old Testament where he identified two clear periods of development and maturity in following God’s laws. The first period is from Adam to Moses. This offers examples of men who did live according to the laws and did in fact lead sinless lives. Such men as Abel, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham and Job, Pelagius saw as men who were equipped with and in touch with their own nature, recognising God’s law and enabling them to freely

DRAFT

Key terms Autonomous: self-governing

Manichaeism: a belief in two equally forceful powers of light and darkness in constant battle against each other

Key quote 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 free will 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 grow to maturity in his image. (Pelagius)

choose to act without sin. The laws of Moses were

introduced as a reminder for human beings, as a remedy for ignorance to their own nature that had the capacity to choose between good and evil. By constant application of the laws, ignorance to this is gradually removed, revealing in the words of Evans ‘man’s newly polished nature’ that would ‘stand out again in its pristine brilliance’.

The laws of Moses were there to make human beings aware of their capacity to do good.

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