Calvinists are often quick to dismiss Arminians as “Pelagian” or “semi-Pelagian.” Aside from the fact that they need to up their taunt-game, it is a categorically untrue accusation of actual Arminian theology.
Pelagius, the 5th century contemporary of Augustine, taught that we have the natural ability to follow Christ, that our nature is essentially good. Augustine countered with an argument of original sin, that every inclination of the human heart was ultimately self-centered. For Augustine, it is impossible for anyone to do anything that would incline their hearts to God, and only God’s grace could awaken a soul to transformation. The church condemned Pelagius’ teachings as heresy, upholding Augustine’s doctrine of original sin as more true to scripture. Today, a Pelagian is someone who straight up denies the need for God’s grace to do good – that essentially, everybody on their own has the capacity to save themselves by being good people.
The semi-Pelagians sought a middle way between Pelagius and Augustine by emphasizing humanity’s free will enabling us to do enough good to recognize the need for God, but that God’s grace takes us the rest of the way.
Today’s comics tell a story. The first, visually based on M.C. Escher’s woodcut Mobius Strip II, shows a pretty common view of religion…I’m good enough, God helps those who help themselves. Before their heart conversions, John and Charles Wesley did both tend to have this attitude. Charles Wesley himself once wrote, “What! Are not my endeavors a sufficient ground of hope? Would you rob me of my endeavors? I have nothing else to trust to.” You can make a Mobius by taking a strip of paper, giving it one half-twist and taping it into a loop. It now has only one infinitely continuous side, so if an ant started crawling on it, the ant would return to the very same spot it started without ever crossing an edge. When we trust only in our own efforts, we are infinitely climbing a ladder to nowhere.
Sometime after his heart’s conversion, Charles Wesley penned the hymn, I Want a Principle Within, characterizing the human’s inability to recognize our own sin. You don’t have to live this life too long to notice that you, or at least everyone else, have hidden faults and failures that we may not even realize about ourselves. The heart converted by Christ is one that is born in humility, one that recognizes even their best efforts do not undo their failures and faults. John Wesley, as an Arminian Christian, taught that our free will is too self-centered to make that leap on our own, and so God has freely given grace to everyone, grace that enables us to be convicted of our sins and place our trust in God’s love. The transformed heart then transforms the mind and attitude, and then the habits, to be formed more and more into the image of Christ. As we exercise our faith through the works of mercy and the works of piety, we experience deeper and deeper levels of God’s grace. As Arminian Christians, we believe God’s grace is first and last, and everything in between.