I will follow up about salvation, but admiral akbar warns me its a trap.
That being said, what I am even grappling with is the fact there is clearly a free will. Some people's wills are more inclined towards God than others. But, then I have these clear statements of Scripture that say God essentially begins the work.
I can get into more detail, but it is my contention that the church fathers taught this:
"The Divine protection then is inseparably present with us, and so great is the kindness of the Creator towards His creatures, that His Providence not only accompanies it, but actually constantly precedes it...And when He sees in us some beginnings of a good will, He at once enlightens it and strengthens it and urges it on towards salvation, increasing that which He Himself implanted or which He sees to have arisen from our own efforts." (St. John of Cassian, Conference 13, Chap 8)
So, is it objectionable that God gets the "ball rolling" so to say? Can God essentially be the one who plants the seed and as it starts to grow on its own, waters it, and as it grows some more, sends sunlight onto it? Would these metaphors be untrue?
Thanks for bringing this up. I'm actually surprised, in fact shocked, that you have quoted St. John Cassian as voicing what you contend was normative among the Church Fathers. And you will find that the Orthodox probably could not agree more. Cassian has long been revered as a Saint in Orthodoxy, and his Conferences are very much a nearly definitive set of works on what could generally be considered Eastern Orthodox theology.
First let me address your quote from St. John Cassian in context, and provide some interaction with it. Then let me address your last point about "getting the ball rolling."
You quoted from Conference 13, Ch. 8. And yes, the dialogue at that point--and all others--very clearly establishes that God's grace precedes all human activity, whether of willing or of doing. It establishes that man can do nothing on his own volition to save himself, or to orient himself toward God. In
a sense God gets the ball rolling, and when man responds with even the slightest inclination toward God, this small spark is fanned into a flame. So yes, Cassian quite agrees that God's grace is absolutely necessary for man to even begin to respond to God. He wrote strongly against Pelagian ideas to the contrary.
He writes such things as what you quoted, as well as:
And therefore though in many things, indeed in everything, it can be shown that men always have need of God's help, and that human weakness cannot accomplish anything that has to do with salvation by itself alone, i.e., without the aid of God, yet in nothing is this more clearly shown than in the acquisition and preservation of chastity. (Ch. 6)
By this very instance which you bring forward we can still more clearly prove that the exertions of the worker can do nothing without God's aid. For neither can the husbandman, when he has spent the utmost pains in cultivating the ground, immediately ascribe the produce of the crops and the rich fruits to his own exertions, as he finds that these are often in vain unless opportune rains and a quiet and calm winter aids them, so that we have often seen fruits already ripe and set and thoroughly matured snatched as it were from the hands of those who were grasping them; and their continuous and earnest efforts were of no use to the workers because they were not under the guidance of the Lord's assistance. As then the Divine goodness does not grant these rich crops to idle husbandmen who do not till their fields by frequent ploughing, so also toil all night long is of no use to the workers unless the mercy of the Lord prospers it. (Ch. 3)
But notice what else Cassian writes in this dialogue, and notice that he is perfectly capable of holding God's sovereign grace and sovereign initiative, in tension with man's free response, and without anything like what would later be known as "unconditional election" or "limited atonement." Note specifically:
For the purpose of God whereby He made man not to perish but to live for ever, stands immovable. And when His goodness sees in us even the very smallest spark of good will shining forth, which He Himself has struck as it were out of the hard flints of our hearts, He fans and fosters it and nurses it with His breath, as He wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, for as He says, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish, and again it says: Neither will God have a soul to perish, but recalls, meaning that he that is cast off should not altogether perish. For He is true, and lies not when He lays down with an oath: As I live, says the Lord God, for I will not the death of a sinner, but that he should turn from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11 For if He wills not that one of His little ones should perish, how can we imagine without grievous blasphemy that He does not generally will all men, but only some instead of all to be saved? Those then who perish, perish against His will, as He testifies against each one of them day by day: Turn from your evil ways, and why will you die, O house of Israel? Ib And again: How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not; and: Wherefore is this people in Jerusalem turned away with a stubborn revolting? They have hardened their faces and refused to return. The grace of Christ then is at hand every day, which, while it wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth, calls all without any exception, saying: Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Matthew 11:28 But if He calls not all generally but only some, it follows that not all are heavy laden either with original or actual sin, and that this saying is not a true one: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; nor can we believe that death passed on all men. And so far do all who perish, perish against the will of God, that God cannot be said to have made death, as Scripture itself testifies: For God made not death, neither rejoices in the destruction of the living. Wisdom 1:13 And hence it comes that for the most part when instead of good things we ask for the opposite, our prayer is either heard but tardily or not at all; and again the Lord vouchsafes to bring upon us even against our will, like some most beneficent physician, for our good what we think is opposed to it, and sometimes He delays and hinders our injurious purposes and deadly attempts from having their horrible effects, and, while we are rushing headlong towards death, draws us back to salvation, and rescues us without our knowing it from the jaws of hell. (Ch. 7)
What? Here he flatly contradicts the reading given to the verse from 2 Peter (debated ad nauseum just the other day on the Soteriology forum!) by Reformed interpreters. Indeed, he (remember, the same guy you've quoted as representing your views as supported by the Fathers) labels it impious and blasphemous to imagine that God limits his call of salvation, to only a select few.
Ch. 9 is even more astonishing, in that he both shows that God directs and rules our wills and desires, and yet that our wills and desires are active in salvation:
Whence human reason cannot easily decide how the Lord gives to those that ask, is found by those that seek, and opens to those that knock, and on the other hand is found by those that sought Him not, appears openly among those who asked not for Him, and all the day long stretches forth His hands to an unbelieving and gainsaying people, calls those who resist and stand afar off, draws men against their will to salvation, takes away from those who want to sin the faculty of carrying out their desire, in His goodness stands in the way of those who are rushing into wickedness. But who can easily see how it is that the completion of our salvation is assigned to our own will, of which it is said: If you be willing, and hearken unto Me, you shall eat the good things of the land, Isaiah 1:19 and how it is not of him that wills or runs, but of God that has mercy? Romans 9:16 What too is this, that God will render to every man according to his works; Romans 2:6 and it is God who works in you both to will and to do, of His good pleasure; Philippians 2:13 and this is not of yourselves but it is the gift of God: not of works, that no man may boast? Ephesians 2:8-9 What is this too which is said: Draw near to the Lord, and He will draw near to you, James 4:8 and what He says elsewhere: No man comes unto Me except the Father who sent Me draw Him? John 6:44
I won't quote the entirety of Chapters 11 or 12. I will only say to read them, reread them, and reread them yet again. You will notice that in his dialogue, he basically plays both sides of the tennis court, almost volleying the ball back and forth with himself. No sooner does one side raise a good point in favor of God's grace preceding our free will, then the other side raises a good point in favor of God's grace assisting the movement of our free will. And you'll notice this:
Cassian never actually resolves the question. And in this is great wisdom. He doesn't resolve it, because he cannot resolve it, and neither can we.
He just fairly well concludes and summarizes it in Ch. 13:
And so the grace of God always co-operates with our will for its advantage, and in all things assists, protects, and defends it, in such a way as sometimes even to require and look for some efforts of good will from it that it may not appear to confer its gifts on one who is asleep or relaxed in sluggish ease, as it seeks opportunities to show that as the torpor of man's sluggishness is shaken off its bounty is not unreasonable, when it bestows it on account of some desire and efforts to gain it. And none the less does God's grace continue to be free grace while in return for some small and trivial efforts it bestows with priceless bounty such glory of immortality, and such gifts of eternal bliss. For because the faith of the thief on the cross came as the first thing, no one would say that therefore the blessed abode of Paradise was not promised to him as a free gift, nor could we hold that it was the penitence of King David's single word which he uttered: I have sinned against the Lord, and not rather the mercy of God which removed those two grievous sins of his, so that it was vouchsafed to him to hear from the prophet Nathan: The Lord also has put away your iniquity: you shall not die. 2 Samuel 12:13 The fact then that he added murder to adultery, was certainly due to free will: but that he was reproved by the prophet, this was the grace of Divine Compassion. Again it was his own doing that he was humbled and acknowledged his guilt; but that in a very short interval of time he was granted pardon for such sins, this was the gift of the merciful Lord.
Cassian simply accepts the tension between two seemingly irreconcilable poles, and worships God in the mystery of his own salvation. This is the Orthodox position. This is what we believe now. I will say you will find some Orthodox writers who are so opposed to one pole or the other, that they seem to teeter on the brink of abandoning the balance. But over thousands of years and millions of Christians, it's to be expected.
So together with St. John Cassian, Orthodoxy acknowledges God's divine providence and his foreordained plans, that include the salvation of men. It also acknowledges with him, that this plan is to call
every man to the salvation announced in the Gospel. Salvation is an accomplished fact. Humanity is set free, satan is overthrown, death is swallowed up in victory, all things are being set right again, Christ reigns even now as sovereign over all creation, the Law is abolished, God's "Divine Dilemma" (as defined by St. Athanasius) is resolved, and all is right. Now, the messengers are to spread that good news far and wide, and tell all the liberated men and women that they no longer have to live in darkness, sin and fear of death.
Thus God's sovereign activity precedes all of this. And when the preaching of the Gospel is understood as
sacramental, we understand that Christ is actually present even in the preaching of his Word! When one tells the gospel to another, it isn't just Bob preaching to Sue. It's
Christ in Bob preaching to Sue. And when that small spark begins to glow, it is
Christ in Sue responding in faith. This is synergism. Not "God does this much, and I finish it off with the rest." God does all, and we are active in that. Care to explain that? I don't. I stand in awe of it.
Think of it like this. The Gospel is a light. When we shine that light onto someone still lost in darkness, he begins to see around him. He begins to see that he does have a choice, to leave the prison he's been standing in. He also sees all the worldly junk he's built up, and all the dirt that's stuck to him, and realizes he has to leave that behind to follow the light that leads out of the prison. Thus is born the conflict between Spirit and Flesh that St. Paul describes so eloquently. The warfare of, by a later term, the
gnomic will of man.
I will leave it at that, for now. If you believe that John Cassian's writings are normative for how we should understand God's sovereignty, and man's freedom, and the Scriptures' teaching on salvation, then we have no argument after all.
