It has always bothered me that most Christians I know treat Christianity as a hobby or some other low priority in their lives. When it comes to obeying the Word of God, most Christians use God’s Word as if they have options. We can measure this by what comes out of their mouth and what they actually do. I notice that most Christian’s are extremely committed to their jobs and will not miss a day of work even if it conflicts with prayer, bible study or Sunday worship. This is a measure of which commitment gets the highest priority. Another conflict is evidenced by the preachers of the gospel on radio and television. Many, if not most, act as though their ministries are part of the Hollywood scene, based on the “user friendly” church of show business.

My purpose is not to condemn but rather to sound the alarm on this brand of Christianity and attempt to answer the question of ”Why is this the state of things in the Christian world?”

In order to answer this question, it is important to go back to the 4th century. At that time there was a pervasive heresy that had a profound effect on Christianity. This perversion is still very much alive today. A British monk by the name of Pelagius introduced the concept that had two major tenets of error that are heretical. The first error states that the fall of Adam has no direct bearing on man’s ability to do that which is good. This concept says that man does not inherit from Adam the sin nature (which is the bent to do evil continuously.) In other words, Pelagius threw original sin out of the window. The second error states that grace is available equally to all persons and it consists of man’s free will to choose or apprehend God.

Pelagius was saying that man, based on his own merit, could choose God, thus making God’s predestination based entirely on His foreseeing goodness in the individual’s life, and knowing this, God would choose that individual as a candidate for salvation. The early church father Augustine fought this heresy, which ultimately led to the condemnation and demise of the doctrine by the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. This, however, was not the end of Pelagianism. It continued to prevail in a semi-Pelagian mode, whereby some have called it a doctrine of “synergism,” which holds that man must help God in his salvation. This semi-Pelagian system acknowledges that Adam’s fall caused man to inherit his sinful nature, but man still can make good choices. Semi-Pelagianism puts original sin back, yet it majors on man’s free will.

This semi-Pelagian system is predominating contemporary Christianity. Most of the present day Pentecostals, Charismatics, Evangelicals, Free Will Baptists and various other smaller groups hold to some form of freewill doctrine. This freewill doctrine is no longer called “Semi-Pelagian,” but has evolved into “Arminianism,” which comes from the teachings of Jacob Arminius, a Dutch reformed pastor. Jacob Arminius (1560-1609) was a Dutch theologian who studied, taught, and eventually broke with Calvinism. He was particularly at odds with John Calvin’s emphasis on unconditional election and irresistible grace. (This was not just a Calvinistic theology, Saint Augustine a few hundred years before Calvin taught the same doctrine, which is also consistent with the writings of Paul the Apostle as taught in the Bible). The Synod of Dort (1618-19) strongly reaffirmed ultra-Calvinism in reaction to Arminius’ growing influence. As a result, hundreds of Arminians – also know as Remonstrants – were removed from their pulpits. Nevertheless, Arminianism was not to be conquered. This method of salvic belief was condemned as heretical (the Synod of Dort 1618-19) yet it continues to be a major belief form for many born again believers. Its strong emphasis on freewill, salvation for all, and resistible grace, continued to be influential, finding perhaps its strongest proponent in John Wesley. The theme of this book, and my contention, is that Pelagian, Semi-Pelagian, and Arminian theologies have brought in the “works salvation” ethic, which in turn has caused this humanistic, pragmatic gospel that we see in a large portion of Christianity.