Theological Ramblings

Just so you know it may be some time before I get to the Limited Atonement post because I want to be careful with this one. Limited Atonement is the one doctrine of the five points that I am least sure of. Don’t think that means that I deny it. I believe in Limited Atonement, but I have the problem of not understanding it quite as well as I do the others. So I’m going to take some time to research it a little deeper than I’ve researched the others. I’m going to look at this one from both sides, so who knows we may all be surprised by the results.

This is probably the best time of any to mention that I am not writing this blog, and these posts on Calvinism, as a categorical systematic eisegetical defense of my unwavering belief in hardcore 5-point Calvinism. I believe in 5-point Calvinism, but I do not do so without trying to consider and reconcile the objections raised by skeptics. I also do not care if I disagree with any Calvinists on the particulars (most of it is equivocation anyway). I don’t even care if I disagree with Calvin himself. I care only that I represent soteriology accurately as it is in the Bible. I only care that I agree with Christ and his apostles.

That said, I’m going to address another side issue that’s not one of the 5 points, but is one of those fallout issues that comes from the discussion. RC Sproul actually talked about this recently in his Renewing Your Mind podcast. I don’t intend to give this issue a fully detailed treatment, because I haven’t really researched it much, but I want to at least address my initial thoughts, and open it up for discussion. Please give me your thoughts on this, because I want to inform my thinking.

The issue is this: Is salvation a monergistic act or a synergistic act? What the heck does that mean? I’m sure you’ve heard the term synergy, right? (especially if you’ve been a Red’s fan longer than 8 years because they played at ‘Cinergy Field’). Anyway, the term ’synergism’ is defined1 as follows:

1. the interaction of elements that when combined produce a total effect that is greater than the sum of the individual elements, contributions, etc.
2. the joint action of agents, as drugs, that when taken together increase each other’s effectiveness (contrasted with antagonism).
3. Theology. the doctrine that the human will cooperates with the Holy Ghost in the work of regeneration.

Synergism has to do with many areas of interest other than theology. Science often deals with the idea of synergy. Managers tend to talk about it at team building seminars. Monergism, on the contrary, seems to be a term limited solely to theology. It is defined2 as follows:

the doctrine that the Holy Ghost acts independently of the human will in the work of regeneration.

So, I’ll synthesize this for our discussion. Syngergistic soteriology suggests that God works with the human will in bringing about salvation. On the other hand monergistic soteriology suggests that God does not work with the human will in bringing about salvation

Critique of Monergism:

I have two basic problems with monergism:

1. It appears to come from the assumption of ‘hardcore’ Calvinists which denies the existence of a human will. If you read my previous post, you will know that I disagree with this estimation. Man does have a will. What does that mean? I’m still exploring that one!
2. It seems to ignore passages that speak of us choosing to follow Christ. It seems to work against the examples of conversion in the Bible where it always seems that the new believer uses his will to believe.

I don’t think this is a silver bullet, but I don’t know… hmmm…

Critique of Syngergism

My major critique of synergism is simply the observation that in our state of Total Depravity, we are helpless to will our own righteousness or salvation. How far does this extend? I don’t know…. It’s a pretty weak critique I suppose.

My Thoughts So Far

I suppose where I stand right now would be to say synergism, but a very monergistic leaning synergism, if that makes sense. In other words, I would lean toward saying that our will does come into play, and we do choose with our will to accept the gift of salvation. I would say two things though:

1. God does at least 99% of the willing and working. We only come in to do our part at the very end. We have one line in the whole thing. It’s like a wedding. The bride does everything - arranges the church, the cake, the reception, etc - and the groom just has to show up and say, ‘I do’. So it’s a synergistic event, but the groom does next to nothing. Good example? Bad example? Give me your thoughts
2. In my estimation the offer God gives us is such a greatly compelling offer that even though someone might have the option of rejecting it, nobody who has been illuminated will reject. It’s like The Godfather: ‘I’m gonna make you and offer you can’t refuse’.

I’ll probably revisit this subject when I get to Irresistible Grace, because that seems to be where this issue comes up, so we’ll see. In the meantime, give me your thoughts. I want discussion!

References:

1. Dictionary.com definition
2. Dictionary.com definition