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

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

Key quote Nothing in life occurs fortuitously or by chance. Both the will and the actions of rational beings are subject to divine providence, so that nothing can be done outside God’s control. There is, however, a distinction between the good which God both wills and performs and the evil which he only permits. (Skevington-Wood) The key to the governance of the world is the theological idea of divine concurrence . Divine concurrence, in the words of Stranglin and McCall, ‘is meant to give an account of divine activity in relation to the contingent agency of finite

We’ve highlighted ‘divine concurrence’ here. We hope that we’ve done correctly – design

Providence means God preserves and governs the world throughout time.

creatures’. God ‘concurs’ human activity through being part of it and providing the powers and abilities to act. Free will then, nor the actions of any creature, can be outside the parameter of God’s providence. However, this does not mean that creatures are merely vehicles through which God acts. Arminius writes: ‘The concurrence of God is not his immediate influx into a second or inferior cause, but it is an action of God immediately flowing into the effect of the creature, so that the same effect in one and the same entire action may be produced simultaneously by God and the creature.’ God is the enabler, or one that empowers, but this is not the same as actually performing or doing the action for the creature. This is crucially important for Arminius’ idea of free will and his overall theology of how this is compatible with predestination. Key quote No creature acts in complete independence of God; without God’s preserving activity they would pass from existence, and without God’s concurrence they would be unable to do anything at all. At the same time that he preserves, God also gives creatures the ability to perform actions and concurs with their effects. (Stranglin and McCall) Arminius: original sin and God’s ‘prevenient’ grace (the Holy Spirit) in allowing humans to exercise free will In regard to sin, Arminius rejected any idea that it is an illusion; however, he was also definitely and resolutely opposed to any suggestion that the origin of sin can be found in God. In line with concurrence, God permits sins and allows sinful acts to occur, rather than making them impossible, but this does not at all mean that God approves of sinful behaviour. Stranglin and McCall state, ‘some things happen because God does them, but others because he allows them to be done’. Arminius’ argument is very much in line with Augustine here: that because God is omnipotent and omnibenevolent, part of God’s omnipotent goodness is to be able to produce goods from evils and that this is a far superior solution than to not allow evils at all.

Key term Divine concurrence: God ‘concurs’ human activity through being part of it and providing the powers and abilities to act but does not necessarily approve

DRAFT

Specification content Arminius: The effect of original sin on free will and God’s ‘prevenient’ grace (the Holy Spirit) in allowing humans to exercise free will.

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