Never said man has no will. And I agree God turns all things to His purposes. But the free willer doesn’t believe this. And yes, the root of Arminianism is pelagianism. Whether sinful man doesn’t need God’s grace, or the actions of mans will prompts Gods grace, or “prevenient” grace is a help, is all the same and rooted in that heresy of pelagianism. The false teaching of prevenient grace is nothing more than a diversion and smokescreen to hide its true origin. What they see as prevenient grace is no grace at all, when mans will is ultimately the determining factor in salvation. Not Gods gracious will! This grace doesn’t save! Just a help, as papist say. Any form of synergistic soteriology has its roots in pelagianism.
I don't mind someone being a Calvinist and representing their views on the matter. But I do mind when someone is spreading misinformation.
I will reply in terms of Classical Arminianism, as that is my position.
a. Of course the "free willer" (a horrible term to describe an Arminian) believes God turns all things together for his good purposes. We have it a little easier to believe this because
we don't claim that part of God's good purposes is to deliberately damn people into hell for eternity, against their wishes or choice. Instead, what it means that God turns things according to his purpose, is that he can bring good things even out of evil things. He can turn sorrow into a moment where people grow into compassion towards others, even though he didn't cause or want anyone to experience sorrow.
b. No, the root of Arminianism is not Pelagianism. This is historically and factually incorrect. Especially if you're speaking about Classical Arminianism.
Classical Arminianism teaches that God does the saving through the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit which provides the faith to believe in Christ. It is the Spirit which frees the will to believe.
Man is not saved by his free will but by Christ and faith in Christ. Salvation is conditioned on faith, which is what the Bible says everywhere.
The Calvinist is in the position where they ground salvation on predestination. In other words, salvation is effectively conditioned on God's choosing, which you would call Unconditional Grace. However, the
bulk of the Biblical passages condition salvation on faith in Christ, not on God's hidden will or predetermined choosing. And this is a faith that God Himself supplies when people hear the Word. (Romans 10:17.)
It is simply good exegesis to take the easier to understand passages at face value, and work on the more difficult passages in light of the easier ones. Since predestination is mentioned far less in the scriptures than faith in Christ, I think it's clear that the condition of salvation is faith in Christ and not predestination.
This is why salvation is God's work from end to end. Jesus died for us all, and I didn't. God supplied the faith for me to believe, and I didn't. God poured out His grace over me, and I had nothing to do with that. Saying that my receiving of the gift of salvation gives me glory is ridiculous. Did I come up with salvation? No. Did I die for my own sins? No. Did I have faith to believe? No, it was given to me. Did I pour grace on myself? No. Did I free my own will up from sin so I could believe? No, the Holy Spirit did that. Did I enlighten my own mind and heart with the Truth? No. Did I come to believe on my own, with no one telling me the gospel? No. Did I make up the gospel? No. So where possibly could I attain glory? For simply saying, "Yes, I'll take it."? A "Yes" that could only be said because of the Spirit Himself freeing my will up in that moment to do so? That's like saying that if I was the perfect husband, my wife gets some glory for saying "yes" to my proposal to be married. There is no glory for man in salvation except the glory that God graciously gives us when He will at last glorify us, as the scriptures say. It is grace from start to finish -
and it is grace for all.
c.
They deny the depravity of man which in turn denies original sin.
Absolutely untrue. Here's a quote from Arminius himself:
"In this state [he is speaking of the fallen state], the free will of man towards the true good is not only wounded, maimed, infirm, bent, and weakened; but it is also imprisoned, destroyed, and lost. And its powers are not only debilitated and useless unless they be assisted by grace, but it has no powers whatever except such as are excited by Divine grace.
"... in his lapsed and sinful state, man is not capable, of and by himself, either to think, to will, or to do that which is really good; but it is necessary for him to be regenerated and renewed in his intellect, affections or will, and in all his powers, by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, that he may be qualified rightly to understand, esteem, consider, will, and perform whatever is truly good. When he is made a partaker of this regeneration or renovation, I consider that, since he is delivered from sin, he is capable of thinking, willing and doing that which is good, but yet not without the continued aids of Divine Grace."
Roger Olson, a well-known Arminian, describes it as such:
"ARMINIANS together with Calvinists affirm total depravity because of the fall of humanity in Adam and its inherited consequence of a corrupted nature in bondage to sin. A common myth about Arminianism is that it promotes an optimistic anthropology.”
As a Classical Arminian I can categorically state that I believe in the total depravity of man and the bondage of the will to sin. The only way the will is freed is by the grace of God and the work of the Holy Spirit. What is meant by 'prevenient grace' is that
the Word of God, the gospel, is the power of salvation. (Romans 1:16,17.) When a person hears this gospel, it gives faith to those who encounter it, because the Spirit works through it, and that faith is enough to believe on Christ and be saved. This is all the work of God.
Please do not misrepresent Arminianism. Study it and get to know its intricacies, otherwise you will not be effective. Please stop re-iterating the myth that Arminianism is Pelagian. Pelagius taught none of this. He believed man's will was perfectly unscathed through the fall, and people could live moral, upright lives without the aid of the Spirit or of grace. Jesus, then, becomes an example to follow and not a saviour to believe in.
I'll grant you that there are many forms of Arminianism today, or that many (even heretical) ideas tend to fall under the umbrella of "Arminianism", but at the same time there are a lot of heresies and weird forms of Calvinism out there. But go look at Classical Arminianism. You'll be surprised by what you find.
