Synergism
Template:Short description Template:For Template:Salvation In Christian theology, synergism refers to the cooperative effort between God and humanity in the process of salvation. Before Augustine of Hippo (354–430), synergism was almost universally endorsed. Later, it came to be reflected in the so-called semi-Pelagian position and the semi-Augustinian stance affirmed by the Second Council of Orange (529). Synergism is affirmed by both the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy. It is also present in various Protestant denominations, such as Anabaptist churches, and is particularly prominent in those influenced by Arminian theology, such as the Methodist churches.
Definition
Synergism comes from the Greek syn (with) and ergon (work) and refers to two or more sources working together.Template:Sfn In Christian theology, it describes the cooperative effort between God and humanity in the process of salvation.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn It implies a free human participation in salvation.Template:Sfn
Theology
Historical developments
Before Augustine (354–430), the synergistic view of salvation was almost universally endorsed.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Pelagius (c. 354–418), however, argued that humans could perfectly obey God by their own will.Template:Sfn The Pelagian view is therefore referred to as "humanistic monergism".Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This view was condemned at the Council of Carthage (418) and Ephesus (431).Template:Sfn
In response, Augustine proposed a view in which God is the ultimate cause of all human actions, a compatibilist form of theological determinism.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Augustinian view is therefore referred to as "divine monergism".Template:Sfn However, Augustinian soteriology implied double predestination,Template:Sfn which was condemned by the Council of Arles (475).Template:Sfn
During this period, a moderate form of Pelagianism emerged, later termed semi-Pelagianism.Template:Sfn This view asserted that human will initiates salvation, rather than divine grace.Template:Sfn The semi-Pelagian view is therefore described as "human-initiated synergism".Template:Sfn
In 529, the Second Council of Orange addressed semi-Pelagianism and declared that even the inception of faith is a result of God’s grace.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn This highlights the role of prevenient grace enabling human belief.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This view, often referred to as "semi-Augustinian," is therefore described as "God-initiated synergism".Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Council also rejected predestination to evil.Template:Sfn
Characterization of the Pelagian–Augustinian salvation framework
The Pelagian–Augustinian framework serves as a key paradigm for understanding contemporary forms of synergism.Template:Sfn Augustine argued that prevenient grace is necessary to prepare the human will for conversion.Template:Sfn He maintained that God predetermined parents to seek baptism for their newborns, linking water baptism to regeneration.Template:Sfn Furthermore, he viewed the divine grace that brings about conversion as unfailing.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn
The semi-Augustinian stance builds upon Augustinian thought, also associating regeneration with water baptism.Template:Sfn However, it rejects predetermination, allowing space for human decision, particularly in the act of faith.Template:Sfn Thus, it maintains that vocation and the gift of faith are divine actions through prevenient grace, while faith itself is a human action, and regeneration remains a divine action.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The semi-Pelagian position holds that vocation and conversion through faith are human actions, while the "increase of faith" bringing regeneration is a divine action.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn In Pelagianism, humans possess the innate capacity to obey God. Consequently, all steps of salvation are voluntary human actions.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
| Framework | Augustinianism | Semi-Augustinianism | Semi-Pelagianism | Pelagianism |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Salvation process type |
Divine monergismTemplate:Sfn | God-initiated synergismTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn | Human-initiated synergismTemplate:Sfn | Humanistic monergismTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn |
| Vocation | God | God | Human | Human |
| Conversion (gift of faith) | God | God | Human | Human |
| Conversion (faith) | God | Human | Human | Human |
| Regeneration | God | God | God | Human |
Views among Christian denominations
Denominations traditionally upholding synergism
Catholic theology
Synergism is an important part of the salvation theology of the Catholic Church.Template:Sfn Following the Second Council of Orange (529),Template:Sfn the Council of Trent (1545–63) reaffirmed the resistibility of prevenient grace and its synergistic nature.Template:Sfn The Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) teaches that the ability of the human will to respond to divine grace is itself conferred by grace.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn This synergistic process applies to both justification and sanctification.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The sacraments of the Catholic Church such as baptism and the Eucharist, are part of God's grace and are thus a vital element in the synergistic process of salvation.Template:Sfn
Eastern Orthodox theology
In Eastern Orthodox theology, God's grace and the human response work together in a "cooperation" or "synergy".Template:Sfn This perspective has historically presented less theological tension on this issue compared to the Christian West.Template:Sfn In the salvation process, divine grace always precedes any human action.Template:Sfn Man possesses libertarian freedom (as implied by the Gnomic will) and must consciously respond to divine grace.Template:Sfn This understanding is similar to the Arminian protestant synergism.Template:Sfn The Orthodox synergistic process of salvation includes baptism as a response to divine grace.Template:Sfn Deification, or theosis, is also an integral part of this process.Template:Sfn
Anabaptist theology
Template:Further Anabaptists hold to synergism,Template:Sfn teaching that "both God and man play real and necessary parts in the reconciling relationship which binds them."Template:Sfn Anabaptists have a high view of the moral capacities of humans when "enlivened by the active agency of the Holy Spirit".Template:Sfn
Arminian theology
Christians who adhere to Arminian theology, such as Methodists, believe that salvation is synergistic.Template:Sfn Jacobus Arminius first emphasized the role of prevenient grace, which involves a monergistic act of God, followed by "subsequent" act involving a synergistic work.Template:Sfn Thus, for Arminians, prevenient grace involves a synergistic process.Template:Sfn Similarly, John Wesley held that salvation begins with divine initiative.Template:Sfn Additionally, Wesleyan-Arminian theology teaches that both justification and sanctification are synergistic.Template:Sfn The Arminian perspective on salvation is often described as "God-initiated synergism".Template:Sfn This perspective aligns closely with the main characteristic of the early semi-Augustinian thought.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Semi-Pelagian view
Semi-Pelagianism is present in many current evangelical denominations.Template:Sfn It holds that a person can initiate faith independently, without prevenient grace, while its continuation through regeneration depends on God’s grace.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn This has led to its characterization as "human-initiated synergism".Template:Sfn After the Reformation, Reformed theologians used the term "semi-Pelagianism" to describe both "semi-Pelagianism" and "semi-Augustinianism," the latter being a divine-initiated synergism.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
Denominations traditionally upholding monergism
Lutheran theology
Martin Luther (1483-1546) limited monergism strictly to soteriological aspects.Template:Sfn He asserted that monergism applied to both election (to salvation) and reprobation.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Philip Melanchthon (1497-1560), however, rejected monergism after Luther's death in favor of synergism.Template:Sfn Melanchthon's stance influenced many Lutherans of his time throughout Europe to adopt synergism.Template:Sfn The "synergistic controversy" arose when Gnesio-Lutherans, citing Luther's monergistic stance, opposed John Pfeffinger's synergistic views on the role of human will in conversion.Template:Sfn
By 1580, Melanchthon's view had lost prominence, and the Book of Concord (1580) affirmed soteriological monergism in relation to election (to salvation), but explicitly rejected its application to reprobation.Template:Sfn Accordingly, the contemporary Lutheran Church continues to uphold this view.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn While monergism remains the official stance, Lutheran history includes both monergist and synergist views.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
The Lutheran Churches generally teach monergism with regard to the doctrine of justification; the Small Catechism states that “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.”<ref name="Frahm2017">Template:Cite web</ref>
With regard to sanctification, Lutheran scholar Gerhard Forde explained that "a key tenet of the Lutheran view of sanctification is that cooperation must not ignore grace."<ref name="Kettenring2007"/> Forde said, with regard to sanctifiation, that "There is a kind of growth and progress, it is to be hoped, but it is growth in grace—a growth in coming to be captivated ore and more, if we can so speak, by the totality, the unconditionality of the grace of God."<ref name="Kettenring2007">Template:Cite book</ref> Lutheran theologian Mark Ellingsen states that there is an "openness to Synergism one finds affirmed in official Lutheran documents. With warnings, the synergistic joining of our will with God’s grace is not rejected (Formula of Concord, SD II.90). Of course this openness is endorsed along with the strong Lutheran commitment to prevenient grace (the belief that grace precedes any synergistic cooperation), for the Holy Spirit is given credit for our faith and for the surrender of the will to God (Romans 3:21-28; Galatians 3:10-14; Luther’s Works, Vo.26, p.106; Small Catechism, II.6)."<ref name="Ellingsen2021"/> The Formula of Concord teaches "But the intellect and will of the unregenerate man are nothing else than subiectum convertendum, that is, that which is to be converted, it being the intellect and will of a spiritually dead man, in whom the Holy Ghost works conversion and renewal, towards which work man’s will that is to be converted does nothing, but suffers God alone to work in him, until he is regenerate; and then he works also with the Holy Ghost [cooperates] that which is pleasing to God in other good works that follow, in the way and to the extent fully set forth above" (SD II.90).<ref name="Ellingsen2021">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Reformed theology
In orthodox Reformed theology, divine monergism is understood as operating through an exhaustive divine providence.Template:Sfn For example, Huldrych Zwingli (1484–1531) viewed that everything, including human salvation and reprobation, was determined by God.Template:Sfn In contrast, "libertarian Calvinism", a revision described by Oliver D. Crisp in his book Deviant Calvinism (2014), is a soteriological monergism.Template:Sfn Historically, this perspective has remained a minority view within Calvinism.Template:Sfn
Anglican theology
Anglicanism originally inclined toward monergism due to its Lutheran and Calvinist heritage, but it eventually accommodated both monergistic and synergistic interpretations.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, finalized in 1571, serve as the confession of faith for the Anglican tradition.Template:Sfn They reflect a complex interplay of Calvinist influence, Catholic practice, and intentional ambiguity within individual articles.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Today, in some Anglican denominations, clergy are required to acknowledge the Articles, while in others, they are not.Template:Sfn
Anglicanism has historically leaned more toward monergism, particularly in its early phases.Template:Sfn Early Anglican leaders such as Thomas Cranmer (1489–1556) held Reformed views that significantly shaped the Church’s initial doctrinal direction.Template:Sfn However, following the Stuart Restoration (1660) through the mid-18th century, Calvinist theology became less prominent within Anglicanism.Template:Sfn Afterward, the Evangelical movement within Anglicanism revived and emphasized its Reformed roots.Template:Sfn Related groups like the Church Society tend to interpret Article 10 of the Thirty-nine Articles in a monergistic sense.Template:Sfn
Conversely, high church and Anglo-Catholic traditions have tended toward synergism, drawing on the theology of the early Church Fathers and emphasizing the sacramental life, human free will, and cooperation with divine grace. Proto-Arminian figures like Lancelot Andrewes (1555–1626) and Jeremy Taylor (1613–1667) upheld the importance of the human response to God’s call.Template:Sfn In the 18th and 19th centuries, theologians such as George Pretyman Tomline (1750–1827) and Harold Browne (1811–1891) also interpreted Article 10 in a synergistic light.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn
See also
Notes and references
Citations
Sources
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