Heresy of the Week: Gnosticism

This week's heresy, Gnosticism, is actually a branch of heresy, not generally thought of as a heresy itself.  There are many, many Gnostic heresies (I've found about 50 distinct branches), which we shall cover in later weeks.  I wanted to set the stage for it now, however.

Gnosticism (meaning “learned”, from the Greek for “knowledge”) is an early church heresy that actually predates Christianity (dating all the way back to Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion), but became a coherent movement in Christianity during the second century. There are several key ideas in Gnosticism, predominantly a dualistic theology (good creator God who rules the spiritual world and evil god, usually Satan and/or the God of the Old Testament, who rules the material world). Gnosticism runs the gauntlet as far as its dualistic theology goes: Manichaeism (a “radical dualist” movement) and Mandaeism are two common derivatives of Gnosticism, classic Gnosticism, such as Sethianism is considered to be “mitigated dualism”, whereas Valentinianism teaches qualified monism. Mitigated dualism teaches that there are two principal forces, one of whom is inferior to the other. In the case of classical Gnosticism, the material world was created by a lesser being than the spiritual world. Their goal, through obtaining higher or “secret” knowledge to throw off the constraints of the physical world and ascend to a spiritual plane. Nearly all Gnostic believed in Docetism (known as Gnostic-Docets), that there was no incarnation of Christ and denied He existed as a human.

All forms of Gnosticism share the following beliefs (although they are often manifested very differently):

• Dualistic theology (god of good vs. god of evil)
• Layers or multiple heavens/spiritual planes of existence
• Seeking of "secret" knowledge
• Material world = evil; spiritual world = good
• Because the material is bad, Christ could never be a human, though some teach that he "appeared" to be human (like a ghost or spirit)
• In almost all, some form of reincarnation is present
• Bondage of the spirit (good) to the material/body (evil), which can only be overcome through "secret" knowledge

Interestingly, there's a pretty even split on those who are absolute Ascetics (deny all physical pleasures) and those who are absolute heathens (to throw off the physical, one must experience it all--the sooner, the better, especially if it can be in one lifetime).

These groups are from where many of the non-canonical books (most famously, the Gnostic Gospels) come.  As we get into specific Gnostic heresies, we'll talk about the books connected with that sect (if any).

Gnosticism, used sometimes interchangeably with Mysticism in many circles (not identical, but similar enough that it often works), has had heavy influence on many religions throughout history, including several Christian sects today.  Luther calls the Mohammedans (Islam) mystics in the Book of Concord.  Many include Mormonism in this as well, along with folks like the Christian Scientists.  There are even Jewish Mystics, and most Eastern religions were heavily influenced by Mysticism.  Most of the "Christian" Gnostic sects don't deal with those outside religions, but some have had impacts on demonomations today, which will be discussed when we cover individual Gnostic heresies later.

The Church Year and Liturgical Colors

As the church year comes to a close over the next month, I thought it might be of benefit to share the beauty of our church calendar with you.  This will look familiar (probably identical) to many denominations, but to far too many--it will be foreign, which I think is a tragedy, but sadly to be expected with the lack of emphasis on tradition in most protestant churches.  In any liturgical church you attend (Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Episcopalian, Orthodox, etc.), you will likely notice that the colors around the church change at different times of the year as well.  That's included and explained below, from the Lutheran perspective (again, fairly similar in all liturgical churches).

There are three seasons to the church year: the Season of Christmas, the Season of Easter and the Season of the Church.  The LC-MS website has a good summary of these seasons, with details on what all the colors mean here.

Season of Christmas

Advent is the first part of the Church Year.  There are four Sundays in Advent (as we get closer, I will be posting more about each Sunday):

• First Sunday in Advent, or Ad Te Levavi 
• Second Sunday in Advent, or Populus Zion
• Third Sunday in Advent, or Gaudete
• Fourth Sunday in Advent, or Rorate Coeli

The color of Advent is purple (penitence) or blue (hopefulness), with pink (joy) on Gaudete Sunday.

We then have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  White, the color of purity and Christ, is the color of these celebrations.

Following Christmas, we have Epiphany, and the several Sundays after Epiphany, leading us into the second church year season.  Epiphany, like Christmas, is white (purity), while the following Sundays are green (growth).  On the first Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate the Baptism of our Lord (also white), and on the final Sunday after Epiphany, we celebrate Transfiguration Sunday (white).  How many Sundays in Epiphany there are depends on when Easter falls.  The earlier in the year, the shorter the Epiphany Season.

Season of Easter

My favorite season of the church year begins with Ash Wednesday and the 40 days of Lent.  The colors of these days are black (sobriety) for Ash Wednesday, and purple (penitence) for Lent.

We then come to Holy Week, beginning with the triumphal entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the institution of the Last Supper and betrayal of Christ on Maundy Thursday, the crucifixion on Good Friday, and the Resurrection of Easter (or Resurrection Sunday).  The colors of Holy Week are scarlet (passion) for Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday, black (sobriety) for Good Friday and white (purity and Christ) and gold (denoting value).

There are seven Sundays following Easter before the final church season, the second to last Sunday being the Ascension of our Lord, all Sundays being white (purity and Christ).

Finally, the last Sunday in this season is Pentecost.  The color of Pentecost is red (power and fire).

Season of the Church

The first Sunday in this season is Trinity Sunday, where the Lutheran Church celebrates our Godhead and the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity with the Athenasian Creed.  The color of this Sunday is white (purity).  We then celebrate up to 25 more weeks of Pentecost, where the color is green (growth), until the final Sunday of the Church Year, then it all starts again.  Like Epiphany, the number of Sundays after Pentecost is determined by when Easter falls--the later in the year, the fewer Sundays after Pentecost there are.

Feast and Festivals, Commemorations

It surprises even some Lutherans I know to realize we have Feasts and Festivals, and Commemoration days in the Lutheran Church Calendar.

The list of Feasts and Festivals below comes from here.  For a list of all Commemoration days in the Lutheran Service Book, check here.  Most Feasts and Festivals are celebrated with red (power and fire).

November (30)
30 - St. Andrew, Apostle

December
21 - St. Thomas, Apostle
26 - St. Stephen, Martyr
27 - St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
28 - The Holy Innocents, Martyrs
31 - Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus

January
18 - The Confession of St. Peter
24 - St. Timothy, Pastor and Confessor
25 - The Conversion of St. Paul
26 - St. Titus, Pastor and Confessor

February
2 - The Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Our Lord
24 - St. Matthias, Apostle

March
19 - St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus
25 - The Annunciation of Our Lord

April
25 - St. Mark, Evangelist

May
1 - St. Philip and St. James, Apostles
31 - The Visitation (Three-Year Lectionary)

June
11 - St. Barnabas, Apostle
24 - The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
29 - St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles

July
2 - The Visitation (One-Year Lectionary)
22 - St. Mary Magdalene
25 - St. James the Elder, Apostle

August
15 - St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord
24 - St. Bartholomew, Apostle
29 - The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist

September
14 - Holy Cross Day
21 - St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
29 - St. Michael and All Angels

October
18 - St. Luke, Evangelist
23 - St. James of Jerusalem, Brother of Jesus and Martyr
28 - St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles
31 - Reformation Day

November (1-29)
1 - All Saints' Day

Sermon Notes: "It's more important for us to love each other, we shouldn't worry about Doctrine..."

Reformation Sunday
"God for Us"
Text: Matthew 11:12-15

We so often here something to the effect of, "It's more important for us to love each other, we shouldn't worry about Doctrine..." today in modern Christianity.  The problem?  That's Satan speaking.

DOCTRINE IS IMPORTANT!

It is the Devil's hobby to tempt humans to sin.  His real work is in false doctrine.  He aims for the heart of the church--our doctrine, our Gospel.

Modern Christianity (especially non-denominational and/or mega-churches) often forget about doctrine and teachings--sometimes even saying that it is bad to be so divisive.  They want to focus on "deeds, not creeds".  Sadly, these are age-old heresies that Satan has used since the death of Christ to drive others away from the Gospel (which saves) and into the Law (which condemns).  If Satan takes our Gospel, he has won and he has us in his grasp.

Sadly, we live in an age of doctrinal indifference in all church bodies--Lutheranism is not exempt from this.  It is the same old struggle, the church's struggle.  Our fight for the Gospel--our fight for truth and salvation--is the history of the church.  In fact, every book of the Bible (some more obviously than others) was written to correct doctrinal error.

None of this is special to our modern times or even the Reformation.  The church has had false teachers from the beginning.  The church has had many "reformers" along the way.  So what made Luther different?  While other "reformers" were crying out against the sins of individuals in Rome, Luther was focused on false doctrine and false teaching.  While others were grasping at mere feathers, Luther grabbed "the goose by the neck, and set a knife to the throat." (from Table Talk)

The Reformation was a time of great theological controversy.  The chief question of the day was, "How is a man to gain salvation?"  Luther's answer was in Christ alone, through no work of our own, through Faith Alone given to us by Grace Alone as given to us in Scripture Alone.  Works are a mere result of faith, not what give us faith, nor can they earn us any form of merit.

Luther stood not only against Rome, but all false teaching in all churches (especially Arminian, Calvinist, Radical Reformed and Zwinglian).  Those divisions were largely (at the time) over the Lord's Supper.  Luther wrote more about the Lord's Supper than any other doctrinal topic because he knew that the Lord's Supper is the Gospel.

The Reformation was not about Luther, but about Jesus, about restoring the Gospel to primacy in the church.

There are probably more false teachings  and teachers now than ever before.  The sum total of modern theology seems to be: "God is a nice guy who wants us to be happy."  But the Scriptures say more--much, much more.  The Scriptures teach Christ crucified.  The Scriptures teach the Gospel.

At the end, Pastor read a beautifully dramatic rendition of "A Mighty Fortress", a hymn we had already sung in the service.  The words are truly incredible.

1 A mighty fortress is our God,
A trusty shield and weapon;
He helps us free from ev'ry need
That hath us now o'ertaken.
The old evil foe
Now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.

2 With might of ours can naught be done,
Soon were our loss effected;
But for us fights the Valiant One,
Whom God Himself elected.
Ask ye, Who is this?
Jesus Christ it is.
Of Sabaoth Lord,
And there's none other God;
He holds the field forever.

3 Though devils all the world should fill,
All eager to devour us.
We tremble not, we fear no ill,
They shall not overpow'r us.
This world's prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none,
He's judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.

4 The Word they still shall let remain
Nor any thanks have for it;
He's by our side upon the plain
With His good gifts and Spirit.
And take they our life,
Goods, fame, child, and wife,
Let these all be gone,
Our vict'ry has been won;
The Kingdom ours remaineth.

(My favorite part of Reformation Sunday are all the wonderful hymns we get to sing, including one of my all-time favorites, "Thy Strong Word".)

Heresy of the Week: Millerism

This week's heresy is one of the eschatology vein.  It is what happens you don't take God at His Word ("But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come." Mark 13:32-33) and instead trust on your own cleverness to "know" or "divine" or "prophesy" about God and predict His return.

Millerism is an eschatological heresy of the 19th and 20th centuries. The founder of Millerism, William Miller, a Baptist lay minister, believed he could know through prophetic interpretation the date of the Second Coming (he guessed 1843, then 1844, clearly neither being correct, an event which was called "The Great Disappointment"). He initially kept this analysis to himself, but after sharing with a few skeptical acquaintances, he decided to start preaching and writing about this publicly. His articles were published all over America and even into other countries (such as Great Britain, Australia and Canada) and had a wide readership. After "The Great Disappointment", many left the Millerite movement, returning to their old denominations (most were originally Baptist, Presbyterian or Methodist), while a significant number became Quakers. Still others in the Millerite movement became the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and also significantly influenced the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Bahá’í also credits Millerism for the analysis of Christ’s return and said the timing was right, but the location was incorrect.

William Miller is just one in a long line of those who claimed to prophesy the return of Christ (for a long, but incomplete list, read here).  Since the time of Christ, there have been those who have claimed to know when He would come again, and perhaps more disturbing--many who claimed to be Christ who had returned.

Millerism is important, however, because it caused the founding of one denomination (Seventh-day Adventist), and heavily influenced another (Jehovah's Witness).  More than most false prophets of the end times, William Miller has had a lasting impact on many today, continuing to lead them astray and to put their faith in the false prophecies of men rather than the Word of God.

Even now, we have those saying it will be on 21 December this year (2012)--funny how that's the same day the Mayan calendar supposedly predicts the end of the world (it doesn't, it is just the end of one calendar and the beginning of another but that's a totally different story).  Sounds to me like someone just got lazy with that one.  But they have celebrity endorsements!  So it must be true... *sigh*

Attempting to predict the return of Christ when we are told very clearly in God's Word that the time is unknowable makes an utter mockery of our faith.  It makes other Christians look bad--guilt by association, because it seems the loudest are also the nuttiest.

Lutheran vs. "Lutheran"

As much as I tend to be harsh on other sects and denominations, I would be remiss if I did not discuss the conflict within the name "Lutheran".  Not all who claim that name share our Evangelical Catholic faith.

The way I see it, there are two kinds of Lutherans:

• Evangelical Catholics (Confessional, Quia Lutherans)
• Variata Lutherans (Pietist, Quanteus Lutherans)

Luther's Seal

What is a Lutheran?

Lutherans (Evangelical Catholics) believe in Sola Fida, Sola Gratia and Sola Scriptora: Faith Alone through Grace Alone as revealed to us in Scripture Alone.

Book of Concord

Lutherans subscribe to the Book of Concord, which clearly states our Orthodox doctrine and Biblical teachings on any theological topic of which you may think.  However, exactly how a Lutheran subscribes to the Book of Concord is very important, and this is where the "division" begins to appear.  A Quia subscriber says we subscribe to the Book of Concord because it is wholly faithful to Scripture.  A Quanteus subscriber says we subscribe to the Book of Concord only insofaras it is faithful to Scripture.

Augsburg Confession

We also have to understand the difference between the Unaltered Augsburg Confession (UAC) and the Variata.  

At the Diet of Augsburg in 1530, Lutheran princes presented the Augsburg Confession as our cornerstone declaration of faith.  That document, as presented at the Diet of Augsburg, is the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.  

The primary author of the Augsburg Confession, Philipp Melanchthon, decided to make changes to this document in 1540 and 1542 in an attempt to reconcile the Lutheran Church with the Geneva Church (John Calvin) by entirely changing the Orthodox "real presence" teaching of Holy Communion to the heretical "remembrance" teaching of John Calvin.  This is known as the Variata.

While I don't know if this is a strict rule of thumb, I do not know any Quia subscribers who subscribe to the Variata, nor do I know any Quanteus subscribers who subscribe to the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.

Pietism

This "creeping Calvinism" in the Variata is only the beginning, however, of the "liberalizing" of some who claim the name Lutheran.  In the late 17th century, the Pietism movement began with Philipp Jakob Spener. It was not only influential in Lutheranism, but also inspired the Methodist denomination (John Wesley) and the Brethren movement within Anabaptism (Alexander Mack).  Eventually, Pietism even influenced the Holiness Movement and Pentecostal churches.  This movement further confused and "protestantized" portions of the Lutheran church.

In the Pia desideria, written by Spener, six proposals as to how best to restore the life of the church were made (from Wikipedia):

1. the earnest and thorough study of the Bible in private meetings, ecclesiolae in ecclesia ("little churches within the church");
2. the Christian priesthood being universal, the laity should share in the spiritual government of the Church;
3. a knowledge of Christianity must be attended by the practice of it as its indispensable sign and supplement;
4. instead of merely didactic, and often bitter, attacks on the heterodox and unbelievers, a sympathetic and kindly treatment of them;
5. a reorganization of the theological training of the universities, giving more prominence to the devotional life; and
6. a different style of preaching, namely, in the place of pleasing rhetoric, the implanting of Christianity in the inner or new man, the soul of which is faith, and its effects the fruits of life.

Strangely, this sounds much like today's non-denominational Christianity, and more importantly, the mega-churches that have invaded and degraded the catholic Christianity in America.  Pietism also placed a significant emphasis on "simple" Christianity--reducing it to the lowest common denominator in an attempt to re-unify the Church (which, as we can see today, has not worked).

Who are American Lutherans?

In America, we have three predominant denominations of "Lutherans" (there are others, but smaller in membership):

• Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA, or as I prefer, E?CA--I'll explain below)
• Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod (LCMS, of which I am a member)
• Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS, often considered the most "conservative", but not the most "confessional")

What's the difference?

The ELCA is by far the most liberal of the three American "Lutheran" denominations.  They practice the ordination of women and homosexuals (if they are in a committed relationship--not necessarily even married).  They practice open communion (allowing anyone to commune, regardless of their belief on Holy Communion).  They claim on their official website to subscribe to the UAC, but I have never met an ELCA member or Pastor who does not subscribe to the Variata.  They are Quanteus subscribers to the Book of Concord.  They value social justice and heavily promote it on their official website.  The ELCA was formed after liberal members of the LCMS walked out of Seminary during the SeminEx (Seminary in Exile) starting in 1974.  These were seminarians, Pastors and Professors who wanted to "Calvinize" and liberalize the pure teaching of the Gospel.  I call them "E?CA" because they aren't Lutheran, but I'm not exactly sure what they are.  I don't even like them using the word "Evangelical", for that matter.

The LCMS is the most confessional of the three American "Lutheran" denominations.  They are Quia subscribers to the Book of Concord, and hold fast to the UAC.  While there is some creeping liberalism in this Synod, the current leadership (President Pr. Matthew Harrison) and a number of solidly confessional Pastors are helping to stamp out that trend and ensure that Evangelical Catholicism is synonymous with the LCMS in America.  There are remnants of thought from those who left in the 1970s to form the ELCA who want to transform the LCMS into another liberal synod, which, since they already have that option available in the ELCA, is absolutely silly to me.  Thanks to good leadership and a more confessional massing of Pastors than we've had in awhile, I am very hopeful that trend entirely goes away.

While WELS is certainly more conservative than the ELCA, they aren't quite the same as the LCMS.  From what I can tell, they are also Quia subscribers to the Book of Concord, and subscribe to the UAC.  The three main areas of difference between WELS and LCMS are over fellowship, the role of women in the church and the Doctrine of the Ministry.  Largely, though, they are a conservative and fairly confessional Synod (but much smaller in membership than the ELCA or LCMS).

What does this mean?

A meet and right Lutheran question, clearly I am of the opinion that the ELCA (E?CA) should not be considered Lutheran.  They do not hold to proper Lutheran or Evangelical teaching, nor do they seem to value basic Christian tenets in their faith.  I would even dare to say they are clearly a Pietist remnant, once that is dangerous to the name Lutheran in specific and to catholic Christianity in general.

On the other hand, both the LCMS and WELS (while slightly different) are much more conservative, confessional and in the vein of proper, Orthodox, Evangelical Catholic Lutheranism.

Lutheranism defined

The "cover photo" from my Facebook Page, taken from another solidly confessional Lutheran.

When I speak of Lutherans, I mean a Quia-subscribing, UAC-confessing, Evangelical Catholic, thoroughly catechized, confessional, orthodox, Christ-centered, cross-focused, catholic and apostolic, Word and Sacrament, Law and Gospel, traditional and liturgical Lutheran church.

Others who claim the name Lutheran, but are not even some of the above, are nothing more than Pietists, and I do not consider them to be Lutheran, no matter how frequently they use that name.  They are a blight on the name Lutheran and they do not represent our Evangelical Catholic faith.

The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church

A brief post on this topic.  As I have been researching for my book (tentatively titled "Here I (Still) Stand" -- more about it later), I came across an excellent resource by Heinrich Schmid called "The Doctrinal Theology of the Evangelical Lutheran Church".  Using source texts (Lutheran theologians closest to the time of the Reformation and not more than a generation or two removed from Luther), Heinrich assembled an incredibly thorough and well-documented Biblical defense of Lutheran teachings and excellent apologetics resource in the mid 19th century.

For those interest, it is available for free online in several places, including Project Wittenberg and Google Books.  It is rather lengthy (over 700 pages), but well worth having on hand, especially as a Lutheran, should someone ask a question that you don't always know how to answer.  Someone far more studied, learned and coherent than I has already done much of the work in compiling all the necessary resources into one easy-to-use source.

Heresies of the Week: Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism

Semi-Pelagianism is my "favorite" heresy, not because it is good, but because it is so darn entrenched today in Christendom.

But, to better understand Semi-Pelagianism, we must first look at Pelagianism, so you actually get two heresies this week.

Pelagianism is a 4^th century heresy that denies that Original Sin tainted human nature (humanity is considered inherently good rather than fallen) and teaches that human will is able to choose good or evil without Divine aid.  It is also known as Limited Depravity.  In essence, they taught that while Adam’s sin sets a bad example, that action does not have consequences on his progeny.  The role of Jesus is to set the good example in contrast to Adam as well as providing atonement for sin.  Thus, every human has full control and responsibility for obeying the Gospel as well as for each sin.  Humans are sinners by choice; not victims of Original Sin, but criminals who need pardoning.  Mormonism is considered by some to be Pelagianist.  Pelagianism is the only heresy to also be condemned by every major sect of Protestantism as well as the Anglicans.  The Catholic Church condemned it on several occasions: Councils of Carthage (412, 416 and 418), the 431 Council of Ephesus, the 529 Council of Orange, and the 1546 Council of Trent.

In contrast, Semi-Pelagianism is a modified Pelagianism heresy which teaches that the beginning of faith is an act of free will, with grace interceding later to help grow faith (as opposed to full Pelagianism, which teaches all of faith is an act of man)—but grace is not fully needed, as man can choose to keep faith and choose good on his own.  The Roman Catholic Church’s teachings on faith (that the initiative comes from God, but man works in synergy with God through free will to come to faith) is a Semi-Pelagian teaching.  Because of their extreme emphasis on free will, Arminianism is also borderline Semi-Pelagianist (although the emphasis in Synergism is in a different order than Semi-Pelagianism).  It was originally thought to be the bridge between Augustinianism (emphasis on grace as taught by St. Augustine) and Pelagianism (emphasis on free will), but was condemned as heretical in 529 by the Second Council of Orange.  The 1577 Lutheran Epitome of the Formula of Concord also rejects Semi-Pelagianism.  

As mentioned in the description, both Roman Catholicism and Arminianism (the largest of the protestant sects as discussed in a previous post--comprising most of American protestantism, although I don't know anyone who would admit to being an Arminianist, even if they are) are at least partially Semi-Pelagian (which I will explain in further detail below).  

Before that, though, a little more about Pelagius, the heretic whose name was given to Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism.  Rev. Alex Klages wrote up a summary of Pelagius in two parts, found here and here.  Interestingly (probably because he is a Lutheran minister), he begins his post with this:

"I figured it was about time to dredge up one of the more major heretics, if for no other reason than the debate in which he and St. Augustine were engaged is still very much alive today. There are few true Pelagians, but I would assert that semi-Pelagianism is essentially the default theological position of North American culture." (emphasis mine)

Briefly, Pelagius...

• was an Irish preacher in the late 4th and early 5th centuries.
• was, by all accounts, a well-educated and pleasant man.
• wrote a well-received position on the Trinity, and was largely respect until his position on man's fallen (or lack thereof) state and his teaching that man can choose to stop sinning became known.
• made theological enemies with one of the greatest theologians, St. Augustine, over his heretical doctrine of Original Sin and the state of man.

Thank you, Google, for awesome image searches.  This appears to be the most common picture of Pelagius floating around the internet (sans the commentary on the side, which someone obviously added).  According to Wikipedia (the only source I could quickly find--and don't judge, I have several studies from my speech and debate days that say Wiki is by and large more accurate than any other encyclopaedia) this is a "17th century Calvinist print depicting Pelagius."

The controversy Pelagius started was in his answer to the following questions: 

• Can man not sin? 
• Is man inherently good or fallen?
• What is man's role in his faith and salvation?

There are essentially three positions in response to these questions: Pelagianism (1), Semi-Pelagianism (2) and Augustinianism (3) (paraphrasing Rev. Klages from his first part on Pelagius, since he so succinctly summarized this).

1. It is possible to not sin (posse non peccare).  Man is inherently good or neutral.  Man has free will in all situations to choose the spiritual correct thing.
2. It is possible to not sin (posse non peccare).  While man is inherently sinful (Original Sin), he isn't entirely fallen and still has the opportunity to choose good (more neutral).  Man has free will to "choose" and "initiate" faith apart from grace, but needs God's grace to intercede for it to grow (however, man can "choose" to keep faith apart from grace).
3. It is not possible not to sin (non posse non peccare).  Man is inherently sinful (Original Sin).  Apart from God's grace, man is unable to ever desire the spiritually correct thing.

Or, put another way (from Rev. Klages' Part Two on Pelagius):

Perhaps the best way of distinguishing between the three possible positions has to do with God’s grace vs. our part in salvation:

• Pelagian: one can be saved apart from God’s grace if one tries hard enough, although belief in Jesus makes it easier.
• Semi-Pelagian: God’s grace does most of the work, but there is always something left to the believer to “seal the deal,” whether that be personal preparation beforehand or good works after the moment of salvation.
• Augustinian: God’s grace does it all. The human will is not the determinant of salvation.

Lutheranism teaches, in line with Augustinianism, that:

• It is not possible not to sin (non posse non peccare).
• Man is inherently sinful (Original Sin).
• Apart from God's grace, man is unable to ever desire the spiritually correct thing (Isaiah 64:6).
• Because man is tainted by Original Sin and unable to desire the spiritually correct thing apart from God's grace, man has a passive rather than active role in receiving salvation.
• Man's "role" in salvation, if it may be called that, is to reject faith, not to receive it--because man can only desire spiritual evil apart from the grace of God; so no matter how much we think we would want it on our own, we cannot "choose" faith because of Original Sin... it is simply impossible to do this.

This teaching is also known as Monergism.

Conversely, Arminianism teaches, in line with Semi-Pelagianism, that:

• It is possible to not sin (posse non peccare).
• While man is inherently sinful (Original Sin), he isn't entirely fallen and still has the opportunity to choose good (and, indeed, must choose good because God can only offer faith, man must "receive" it).  
• God offers faith, but man has to "choose" to "accept" faith on their own, through "prevenient grace", which God gives to all sinners.
• Man's "role" in salvation, as a "response" to "prevenient grace", is to freely "choose" to "accept" faith in God
• Once man "accepts" faith, God justifies man and continues to give further grace to sanctify man.

The primary difference between Synergism and Semi-Pelagianism is that in the latter, man can choose to have faith without grace, whereas in the previous, man can only have choose to have faith as a "response" to "prevenient grace".  Synergism is a heresy that will be covered in further detail in a later week.

Roman Catholicism, too, teaches a modified Semi-Pelagianism, that:

• It is not possible not to sin (non posse non peccare).  
• Man is inherently sinful (Original Sin).
• Grace is the gift of God in Baptism.
• Grace overcomes the taint of Original Sin, and then, with the aid of that grace, man can choose to do the spiritually correct thing and earn a storehouse of merit sufficient to overcome the punishment for sin (i.e. one can willingly do spiritually correct things if they continue to build their storehouse of merit through penance and Communion).

Lutherans would consider this Semi-Pelagianism because it asserts that man's works help in their salvation, when, as Isaiah 64:6 says, our best works are but filthy rags.  The teachings of Purgatory and Indulgences further this Semi-Pelagian idea that we can "work off" our sins or "buy" merit that is freely given in faith and already sufficient from Christ.

Calvinism is usually considered to teach Monergism, which is largely correct (although an incorrect form of Monergism), but many Calvinist/Reformed churches are extremely Legalistic.  Legalism is another form of Semi-Pelagianism, because it teaches that you must keep the Law in order to be "good enough" for salvation.  This form of works-righteousness is certainly in the vein of Semi-Pelagianism, even if they correctly teach of man's total depravity (in their case, before salvation).

Rev. Klages' Second Part on Pelagius has other good examples of the prevalence of Semi-Pelagianism in the modern church (and has been an excellent resource for my post, thanks to Pr. Snyder for suggesting that blog!).  To assemble my initial summaries, I used largely the writings of Early Church Fathers (specifically, St. Augustine in this case) and New Advent, which while Catholic, is an excellent resource overall on heresies.

While there is nothing new under the sun, most heresies have died out by now and future "Heresy of the Week" posts will likely be shorter and from a more historic perspective (rather than tying them into the modern church).