Freedom to refuse, and the ability God gives

The strongest objection to sola gratia comes from the Arminian side, and it is an objection from Scripture. Stephen told the council, "you always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51). Paul tells believers, "do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption" (Ephesians 4:30), and "do not quench the Spirit" (1 Thessalonians 5:19). Jesus says that "the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven … either in this age or in the age to come" (Matthew 12:31–32). If the Spirit can be resisted, grieved and quenched, and if one sin against him is never forgiven, then surely the grace he brings can be refused.

What the texts settle, and what they do not

Every party grants what the texts say. Dort says that believers "grieve the Holy Spirit" (V, article 5); Calvin, on Ephesians 4:30, that "we grieve him when we do not follow his guidance"; the Formula of Concord, that "those who always resist the Holy Ghost … are not converted". So the step from the texts to "the Spirit's work is resisted" is rated consensus, the highest rating: accepted across traditions.

The dispute is the next step, from resistance to the claim that the grace that saves can be finally refused. "Resist" has two senses. A person can resist for a time and be overcome, which the Reformed say happens to the elect before they believe, and to believers when they grieve the Spirit and are brought back. Or a person can refuse to the end. Only the second sense denies sola gratia, and each route to it needs a reading of its own:

  • Acts 7:51, read as resistance to the grace that saves, as the Remonstrants read it. The Reformed say that what Stephen's hearers resisted was the outward call of the preached word.
  • Ephesians 4:30, read with the Formula of Concord: those who obstinately resist "do not receive, but grieve and lose, the Holy Ghost". Dort denies the reading: God "does not wholly withdraw the Holy Spirit from his own people, even in their melancholy falls".
  • Matthew 12:31–32, read with Augustine: the sin never forgiven is impenitence to the end, "the persevering hardness of an impenitent heart". Calvin rejects the reading outright ("Those who define it to be impenitence may be refuted without any difficulty") and takes the sin to be knowing contempt of the Spirit, which the regenerate "cannot possibly fall into". And the step from Augustine's reading to final refusal of saving grace is rated disputed, because Augustine himself holds both that reading and that God is the one "whom no man's will resists when He wills to give salvation".

Grieving the Spirit is Paul's word, and it is addressed to believers. The unforgivable sin is Jesus' word, in the Gospels. They are kept as two texts with two readings, because no reader cited here takes grieving to be the unforgivable sin.

Two positions between Dort and the Remonstrants

The Lutherans of the Formula of Concord (1577) grant the ground of the Reformed case's last step and deny its conclusion. They hold that conversion is "not only in part, but altogether an operation, gift, and present, and work of the Holy Ghost alone", and that in it man "does nothing whatever towards it, but only suffers what God works in him". That is the third part of sola gratia as Dort states it. And they deny that grace cannot be refused: "God does not force man to become godly", and the perverse will "resists the Holy Ghost, who wishes to be efficacious". So the step from "God's work alone" to grace effectual of itself, grace that brings about the consent it seeks and so cannot be finally refused, is rated disputed, and the Formula is why.

Wesley holds that "there is a measure of free-will supernaturally restored to every man", so that each has "power either to resist or yield to the grace of God"; that grace, which "goes before" anything a person does, he calls "preventing grace". Faith itself is God's gift: "Of yourselves cometh neither your faith nor your salvation". And it is received by faith alone: Wesley defends "salvation or justification, by faith only" against the objection that it is preaching against holiness (Sermon 1, III.1).

The third way

The third way, as it was put to this argument: God gives the one who hears the gospel the ability to believe, as Adam and Eve were made able to stand or to fall (Genesis 2:16–17); the offer of grace is real; and it is received by faith alone. The reality of the offer is not encoded as a premise, because no party here denies it. Stated that way, the third way does not decide whether the grace that saves can be finally refused: Dort's reading and Arminius's both satisfy it, and disagree about exactly that (third_way_leaves_resistibility_open).

What decides it is what kind of help the ability is. Augustine drew the distinction. "The aid without which a thing does not come to pass is one thing, and the aid by which a thing comes to pass is another." Adam was given the first, "not that by which it should be brought about that he should persevere, but that without which he could not of free will persevere"; the saints are given the second, "so that by means of this gift they cannot help persevering" (On Rebuke and Grace, ch. 34). Read as Adam's kind of help, the third way is the reading Wesley gives, and it cannot be held together with Dort's position. Read as the saints' kind, it is Dort's reading, and it cannot be held together with Trent's canon 4, nor, by what the claims mean, with the Remonstrants. Each break at a premise comes at a step rated disputed, so neither shows the other side right (whatTheAbilityIs).

The contrary, supposed

Grant the Remonstrants their claim for a moment: the grace that saves can be finally refused. Put that beside the Reformed reading of the Scriptures, and read the claims as they mean, so that a grace which can be finally refused is not a grace that brings believing about. Then nothing can be true all at once. The same is so with Ephesians 2 alone, or Romans 9:16 alone (final_refusal_cannot_be_held_with_the_scriptures). The supposition is not refuted by the bare texts: it is refuted by the texts as the Reformed read them, and at the steps a cited reader disputes, which is where the Remonstrants, the Lutherans and Wesley each part.

Each position, with its own conclusion

Each position below is stated with the conclusion its own sources draw, not with sola gratia, so that it can be weighed against the others.

Final refusal, supposed

What if the Remonstrants are right, and the grace that saves can be finally refused? Suppose it, and set the supposition beside the Scriptures as the Reformed read them.

Each position can be held without contradiction

For each position, a reading is written down that makes every premise true.

How this is checked

The positions, steps and results behind this chapter, each with the formula or the Lean that checks it

graceCase — Romans 11:6 (by grace, so not by works)

What every party holds: salvation is by grace, from Romans 11:6.

  • (1) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}}\) — Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
  • (2) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\)
  • \(\vdash\) \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) — at issue: Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act

Grounded in scripture alone: Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.

tridentinePosition — Trent (Session VI, canon 4, on the Molinist reading)

Trent's position on the Molinist reading of canon 4: salvation by grace, the will not passive, grace not effectual of itself, and not by faith alone. The Thomists, who read the canon as compatible with grace effectual of itself, are cited against its steps and are not a position here.

  • (1) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}}\) — Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
  • (2) \(\href{claims.html#claim-21}{P_{21}}\) — Zechariah 1:3 ("return to me, and I will return to you") with Lamentations 5:21 ("restore us to yourself, O Lord")
  • (3) \(\href{claims.html#claim-26}{P_{26}}\) — The free will, moved by God, cooperates by assenting to God's call
  • (4) \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}}\) — The free will, moved by God, can refuse its assent if it wishes
  • (5) \(\lnot \href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — denied: Grace is received by faith alone
  • (6) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) — would give: Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act
  • (7) \((\href{claims.html#claim-21}{P_{21}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-26}{P_{26}}) \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-31}{P_{31}}\) — would deny: In being made alive the will is passive, and contributes nothing to it
  • (8) \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}} \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) — would deny: The grace that saves brings about the consent it seeks
  • \(\vdash\) \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}} \land \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-31}{P_{31}} \land \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}} \land \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — at issue: \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act; \(\href{claims.html#claim-31}{P_{31}}\) denied: In being made alive the will is passive, and contributes nothing to it; \(\href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) denied: The grace that saves brings about the consent it seeks; \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) denied: Grace is received by faith alone

Grounded in scripture alone: Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works.

remonstrantPosition — Remonstrant (the Five Articles, 1610)

The Remonstrants' position: salvation by grace, and a grace that can be resisted to the end.

  • (1) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}}\) — Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
  • (2) \(\href{claims.html#claim-5}{P_{5}}\) — Acts 7:51 — you always resist the Holy Spirit
  • (3) \(\href{claims.html#claim-6}{P_{6}}\) — Ephesians 4:30 — do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed
  • (4) \(\href{claims.html#claim-7}{P_{7}}\) — 1 Thessalonians 5:19 — do not quench the Spirit
  • (5) \(\href{claims.html#claim-25}{P_{25}}\) — What Stephen's hearers resisted in Acts 7:51 was the grace that saves
  • (6) \(\href{claims.html#claim-1}{P_{1}}\) — Ephesians 2:1–5 — dead in trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ
  • (7) \(\href{claims.html#claim-2}{P_{2}}\) — Ephesians 2:8–9 — by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God
  • (8) \(\href{claims.html#claim-24}{P_{24}}\) — Faith itself is God's gift
  • (9) \(\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}}\) — Romans 9:16 — it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy
  • (10) \(\href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}\) — Romans 9:16 is about God's mercy in saving, not only in choosing a people for history
  • (11) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) — would give: Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act
  • (12) \((\href{claims.html#claim-5}{P_{5}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-6}{P_{6}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-7}{P_{7}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-10}{P_{10}}\) — would give: The Holy Spirit's work is resisted, by unbelievers and by believers
  • (13) \((\href{claims.html#claim-10}{P_{10}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-25}{P_{25}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}}\) — would give: The grace that saves can be finally refused
  • \(\vdash\) \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}}\) — at issue: \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act; \(\href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}}\) The grace that saves can be finally refused

Grounded in scripture alone: Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, Acts 7:51 — you always resist the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30 — do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed, 1 Thessalonians 5:19 — do not quench the Spirit, Ephesians 2:1–5 — dead in trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ, Ephesians 2:8–9 — by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, Romans 9:16 — it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

lutheranPosition — Lutheran (the Formula of Concord)

The Lutherans' position: salvation by grace, the will passive in conversion, the grace that converts resistible, and faith alone.

  • (1) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}}\) — Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
  • (2) \(\href{claims.html#claim-5}{P_{5}}\) — Acts 7:51 — you always resist the Holy Spirit
  • (3) \(\href{claims.html#claim-6}{P_{6}}\) — Ephesians 4:30 — do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed
  • (4) \(\href{claims.html#claim-7}{P_{7}}\) — 1 Thessalonians 5:19 — do not quench the Spirit
  • (5) \(\href{claims.html#claim-11}{P_{11}}\) — Those who obstinately resist the Spirit can grieve and lose him
  • (6) \(\href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}}\) — Conversion is God's work alone: God regenerates, and the will does nothing to it
  • (7) \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — Grace is received by faith alone
  • (8) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) — would give: Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act
  • (9) \((\href{claims.html#claim-5}{P_{5}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-6}{P_{6}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-7}{P_{7}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-10}{P_{10}}\) — would give: The Holy Spirit's work is resisted, by unbelievers and by believers
  • (10) \((\href{claims.html#claim-10}{P_{10}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-11}{P_{11}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}}\) — would give: The grace that saves can be finally refused
  • (11) \(\href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-31}{P_{31}}\) — would give: In being made alive the will is passive, and contributes nothing to it
  • \(\vdash\) \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-31}{P_{31}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — at issue: \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act; \(\href{claims.html#claim-31}{P_{31}}\) In being made alive the will is passive, and contributes nothing to it; \(\href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}}\) The grace that saves can be finally refused; \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) Grace is received by faith alone

Grounded in scripture alone: Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, Acts 7:51 — you always resist the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30 — do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed, 1 Thessalonians 5:19 — do not quench the Spirit.

wesleyanPosition — Wesleyan (preventing grace)

Wesley's position: salvation by grace, a grace that goes before and can be refused, and faith alone.

  • (1) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}}\) — Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
  • (2) \(\href{claims.html#claim-5}{P_{5}}\) — Acts 7:51 — you always resist the Holy Spirit
  • (3) \(\href{claims.html#claim-6}{P_{6}}\) — Ephesians 4:30 — do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed
  • (4) \(\href{claims.html#claim-7}{P_{7}}\) — 1 Thessalonians 5:19 — do not quench the Spirit
  • (5) \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\) — God gives the ability to believe, as Adam was made able to stand or fall
  • (6) \(\href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}}\) — The grace that saves can be finally refused
  • (7) \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — Grace is received by faith alone
  • (8) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) — would give: Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act
  • (9) \((\href{claims.html#claim-5}{P_{5}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-6}{P_{6}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-7}{P_{7}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-10}{P_{10}}\) — would give: The Holy Spirit's work is resisted, by unbelievers and by believers
  • \(\vdash\) \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — at issue: \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act; \(\href{claims.html#claim-13}{P_{13}}\) The grace that saves can be finally refused; \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) Grace is received by faith alone

Grounded in scripture alone: Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, Acts 7:51 — you always resist the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 4:30 — do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed, 1 Thessalonians 5:19 — do not quench the Spirit.

What each position reaches

graceCase_establishes

What every party holds follows from Romans 11:6.

theorem graceCase_establishes : Establishes graceCase
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

tridentinePosition_establishes

Trent's premises, on the Molinist reading of canon 4, deliver that position.

theorem tridentinePosition_establishes : Establishes tridentinePosition
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

remonstrantPosition_establishes

The Remonstrants' fourth article delivers grace that can be refused.

theorem remonstrantPosition_establishes : Establishes remonstrantPosition
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

lutheranPosition_establishes

The Lutheran premises reach the Lutheran position: the will passive in conversion, and the grace that converts resistible. The Reformed case joins the two; the Formula of Concord holds them apart. This does not show the Lutherans right, only that their premises deliver their position; that it can be held without contradiction is lutheranPosition_is_satisfiable.

theorem lutheranPosition_establishes : Establishes lutheranPosition
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

wesleyanPosition_establishes

Wesley's premises reach grace that goes before, can be refused, and is received by faith alone.

theorem wesleyanPosition_establishes : Establishes wesleyanPosition
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

thirdWay_establishes

The third way's premises reach salvation by grace, received by faith alone.

theorem thirdWay_establishes : Establishes thirdWay
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

objection_establishes

The objection from the Spirit's resistance is valid on its own grounds. Grant the texts of resistance and any one of its three readings, and the grace that saves is not effectual of itself.

theorem objection_establishes : Establishes objection
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

third_way_leaves_resistibility_open

The third way leaves resistibility open. Grant everything it says: Adam made able to stand or fall, the ability to believe given by God, faith alone, and that grace which can be finally refused is not effectual of itself. Whether the grace that saves is effectual of itself neither follows nor fails. Arminius's reading satisfies every premise and denies it; Dort's satisfies every premise and holds it. So the third way, as stated, neither blocks sola gratia nor establishes it.

theorem third_way_leaves_resistibility_open : Independent thirdWay.premises (p
    Claim.graceIsEffectualOfItself)
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

final_refusal_cannot_be_held_with_the_scriptures

Granted the Scriptures as the Reformed read them, final refusal has no place. Suppose the grace that saves can be finally refused. Add that supposition to the Reformed premises: Romans 11:6; Ephesians 2, with "this" pointing to the whole of being saved by grace through faith; Romans 9:16, read as being about salvation; the texts of resistance; and the steps from each to God's work alone. Read the claims as they mean, so that grace which can be finally refused is not grace that brings believing about. Then no reading makes everything true at once. The same holds of either strand alone, Ephesians 2 or Romans 9:16, so either text carries it.

What this claims is conditional, as every result here is: on the Reformed readings and on the steps from them, four of which are rated disputed, each on a reader who grants its grounds and denies its conclusion. A reader who holds that the grace of God can be finally refused denies one of those steps or readings, and the chapters say which: Robertson and Calvin at the step from Ephesians 2:8 to faith as a gift, Arminius at the steps to God's work alone, and the Lutherans at the step from God's work alone to grace effectual of itself. It does not claim the supposition is refuted by the texts alone, without those readings.

theorem final_refusal_cannot_be_held_with_the_scriptures : ¬Satisfiable
    (reformed.held ++ [p Claim.savingGraceCanBeFinallyRefused]) ∧ ¬Satisfiable
    (ephesiansStrand.held ++ [p Claim.savingGraceCanBeFinallyRefused]) ∧
    ¬Satisfiable (romansStrand.held ++ [p
    Claim.savingGraceCanBeFinallyRefused])
-- axioms: propext, Classical.choice, Quot.sound

thirdWay_is_satisfiable

The third way has a model: Dort's reading.

theorem thirdWay_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable thirdWay.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

objection_is_satisfiable

The objection has a model: Arminius's reading.

theorem objection_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable objection.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

lutheranReading

The Lutheran reading: conversion is God's work alone and the will passive, and the grace that does it can be resisted and lost.

def lutheranReading : Valuation Claim :=
  fun a =>
    match a with
    | Claim.graceIsEffectualOfItself => False
    | x => True

lutheranPosition_is_satisfiable

The Lutheran position has a model.

theorem lutheranPosition_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable
    lutheranPosition.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

tridentinePosition_is_satisfiable

Trent's position has a model: Trent's reading.

theorem tridentinePosition_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable
    tridentinePosition.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

remonstrantPosition_is_satisfiable

The Remonstrants' position has a model: Arminius's reading.

theorem remonstrantPosition_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable
    remonstrantPosition.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

wesleyanPosition_is_satisfiable

Wesley's position has a model.

theorem wesleyanPosition_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable
    wesleyanPosition.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

graceCase_is_satisfiable

What every party holds has a model.

theorem graceCase_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable graceCase.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

What kind of help the ability is

asAidWithoutWhich

The ability read as Adam's kind of help, "not that by which it should be brought about" that a person believes, "but that without which" they could not: so the grace that gives it is not effectual of itself. Wesley's reading.

def asAidWithoutWhich : Reading Claim :=
  { name := "as the help without which a person cannot believe, Adam's kind",
    commits := notP Claim.graceIsEffectualOfItself,
    source := asAidWithoutWhichSource }

asAidByWhich

The ability read as the saints' kind of help: the grace that gives it brings believing about. Augustine's reading of the grace given to the saints, and Dort's.

def asAidByWhich : Reading Claim :=
  { name := "as the help by which a person believes, the saints' kind",
    commits := p Claim.graceIsEffectualOfItself,
    source := asAidByWhichSource }

thirdWayAsAidWithoutWhich — The third way (an ability given, received by faith), read as the help without which a person cannot believe, Adam's kind

The third way, with the ability read as Adam's kind of help.

  • (1) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}}\) — Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
  • (2) \(\href{claims.html#claim-9}{P_{9}}\) — Genesis 2:16–17 — of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat
  • (3) \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\) — God gives the ability to believe, as Adam was made able to stand or fall
  • (4) \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — Grace is received by faith alone
  • (5) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) — would give: Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act
  • (6) \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}} \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) — would deny: The grace that saves brings about the consent it seeks
  • \(\vdash\) \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — at issue: \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act; \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) Grace is received by faith alone

Grounded in scripture alone: Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, Genesis 2:16–17 — of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.

thirdWayAsAidByWhich — The third way (an ability given, received by faith), read as the help by which a person believes, the saints' kind

The third way, with the ability read as the saints' kind of help.

  • (1) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}}\) — Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works
  • (2) \(\href{claims.html#claim-9}{P_{9}}\) — Genesis 2:16–17 — of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat
  • (3) \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\) — God gives the ability to believe, as Adam was made able to stand or fall
  • (4) \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — Grace is received by faith alone
  • (5) \(\href{claims.html#claim-4}{P_{4}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) — would give: Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act
  • (6) \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) — would give: The grace that saves brings about the consent it seeks
  • \(\vdash\) \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) — at issue: \(\href{claims.html#claim-29}{P_{29}}\) Salvation is by grace and not earned: grace goes before every saving act; \(\href{claims.html#claim-15}{P_{15}}\) Grace is received by faith alone

Grounded in scripture alone: Romans 11:6 — if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, Genesis 2:16–17 — of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat.

thirdWayAsAidWithoutWhich_is_satisfiable

The third way, read as giving Adam's kind of help, can be held without contradiction: Arminius's reading satisfies it, and it is the reading Wesley gives.

theorem thirdWayAsAidWithoutWhich_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable
    thirdWayAsAidWithoutWhich.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

thirdWayAsAidByWhich_is_satisfiable

The third way, read as giving the saints' kind of help, can be held without contradiction: Dort's reading satisfies it, and it is the reading Dort gives.

theorem thirdWayAsAidByWhich_is_satisfiable : Satisfiable
    thirdWayAsAidByWhich.premises
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

remonstrants_do_not_reach_adams_kind

The Remonstrants hold together with the first reading: Arminius's reading satisfies both.

theorem remonstrants_do_not_reach_adams_kind : Satisfiable
    (remonstrantPosition.premises ++ thirdWayAsAidWithoutWhich.premises)
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

dort_does_not_reach_the_saints_kind

Dort holds together with the second reading: Dort's reading satisfies both.

theorem dort_does_not_reach_the_saints_kind : Satisfiable (reformed.premises
    ++ thirdWayAsAidByWhich.premises)
-- axioms: propext, Quot.sound

whereAdamsKindFalls

Why Dort stands against the third way, read as Adam's kind of help. The crux is Dort's step from God's work alone to grace effectual of itself, that is, grace that brings about the consent it seeks and so cannot be finally refused; the Lutherans dispute it. With the Romans strand granted, the reading of Romans 9:16 as being about God's mercy in saving, the crux breaks the third way at two of its premises: the ability given, and the reading of it as a help that does not bring believing about.

Why Reformed (the Canons of Dort) stands against The third way (an ability given, received by faith), read as the help without which a person cannot believe, Adam's kind.

  • The crux: \(\href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\), a premise of Reformed (the Canons of Dort).
  • What it does: its conclusion does not follow without it.
  • Granted: \(\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}}\), \(\href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}\), \((\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}}\), which the break also needs.
  • Where the rival breaks: \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\), \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}} \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) cannot be held together with \(\href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) and \(\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}}\), \(\href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}\), \((\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}}\); each is needed for the break, and without the crux they stand.
  • What this rests on:

whereTheSaintsKindFalls

Why Trent stands against the third way, read as the saints' kind of help. The crux is the second half of Trent's canon 4: the will, moved by God, can refuse its consent if it would, so grace is not effectual of itself. With that power to refuse granted, it breaks the third way at two of its premises: the ability given, and the reading of it as a help that brings believing about. The crux is rated disputed, because Aquinas grants that the will moved by God could, taken simply, refuse, and holds that the man God moves to grace "will infallibly attain to it".

The Remonstrants stand against this reading too, but not at a premise either side states: their premises deliver that the grace that saves can be finally refused, and that excludes grace which brings believing about by what the two claims mean. The meanings hold that join, and every dispute over the argument holds it; a break at a premise, which is what this records, is Trent's.

Why Trent (Session VI, canon 4, on the Molinist reading) stands against The third way (an ability given, received by faith), read as the help by which a person believes, the saints' kind.

  • The crux: \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}} \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\), a premise of Trent (Session VI, canon 4, on the Molinist reading).
  • What it does: its conclusion does not follow without it.
  • Granted: \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}}\), which the break also needs.
  • Where the rival breaks: \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\), \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) cannot be held together with \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}} \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) and \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}}\); each is needed for the break, and without the crux they stand.
  • What this rests on:

whatTheAbilityIs

What the ability God gives is, read both ways. The claim is the third way's: God gives the one who hears the gospel the ability to believe, as Adam was made able to stand or to fall.

Read as Adam's kind of help, the help "without which" a person cannot believe, it is the reading Wesley gives, and the Remonstrants can hold it without contradiction. It cannot be held together with Dort's position. The break comes at Dort's step from God's work alone to grace effectual of itself, and that step is rated disputed, because the Lutherans grant its ground and deny its conclusion; so the break does not show Dort right.

Read as the saints' kind, the help "by which" a person believes, it is Dort's reading, and Dort can hold it without contradiction. It cannot be held together with Trent's canon 4, at the step from the will's power to refuse, which is rated disputed too: Aquinas grants the power and holds grace effectual all the same. Nor can it be held with the Remonstrants, though there the break is in what the claims mean rather than at a premise either side states.

Each reading is fair: the third way read either way can be held without contradiction. Which reading its holder means is not something the dilemma decides. What it shows is that the third way takes a side the moment it says which kind of help God gives, and which side depends on the answer.

Every reading of \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\), answered. The third way (an ability given, received by faith) holds \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\). It is read 2 ways here, and each reading is checked; none can be left out.

1. Read as the help without which a person cannot believe, Adam's kind. The claim commits The third way (an ability given, received by faith) to \(\lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) — so read by Wesley 1827, p. 397; Schaff 1887, p. 485 (disputed).

Against Reformed (the Canons of Dort), it cannot be held. Where it breaks:

Why Reformed (the Canons of Dort) stands against The third way (an ability given, received by faith), read as the help without which a person cannot believe, Adam's kind.

  • The crux: \(\href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\), a premise of Reformed (the Canons of Dort).
  • What it does: its conclusion does not follow without it.
  • Granted: \(\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}}\), \(\href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}\), \((\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}}\), which the break also needs.
  • Where the rival breaks: \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\), \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}} \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) cannot be held together with \(\href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) and \(\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}}\), \(\href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}\), \((\href{claims.html#claim-3}{P_{3}} \land \href{claims.html#claim-23}{P_{23}}) \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-28}{P_{28}}\); each is needed for the break, and without the crux they stand.
  • What this rests on:

Against Remonstrant (the Five Articles, 1610), it is not reached: Remonstrant (the Five Articles, 1610) holds, and can be held together with it.

2. Read as the help by which a person believes, the saints' kind. The claim commits The third way (an ability given, received by faith) to \(\href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) — so read by Schaff 1887, p. 485; Schaff 1977, p. 591 (disputed).

Against Trent (Session VI, canon 4, on the Molinist reading), it cannot be held. Where it breaks:

Why Trent (Session VI, canon 4, on the Molinist reading) stands against The third way (an ability given, received by faith), read as the help by which a person believes, the saints' kind.

  • The crux: \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}} \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\), a premise of Trent (Session VI, canon 4, on the Molinist reading).
  • What it does: its conclusion does not follow without it.
  • Granted: \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}}\), which the break also needs.
  • Where the rival breaks: \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}}\), \(\href{claims.html#claim-14}{P_{14}} \rightarrow \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) cannot be held together with \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}} \rightarrow \lnot \href{claims.html#claim-30}{P_{30}}\) and \(\href{claims.html#claim-27}{P_{27}}\); each is needed for the break, and without the crux they stand.
  • What this rests on:

Against Reformed (the Canons of Dort), it is not reached: Reformed (the Canons of Dort) holds, and can be held together with it.