A View from the Via Media: Contrasting Formulas of Christian Theology in the Balance

By Bp. Joseph Boyd (Ancient Church of the West)

"[Anglicanism] has no peculiar thought, practice, creed or confession of its own. It has only the Catholic Faith of the ancient Catholic Church, as preserved in the Catholic Creeds and maintained in the Catholic and Apostolic constitution of Christ's Church from the beginning."  

- Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher

A) The Augustinian/Reformed Thesis: 

St. Augustine of Hippo, Father Theologian of the Western Church

1. A) Biblical = Augustinianism = monergism = biblical actions used to picture this process could be the smearing of sacrificial blood on the people of the covenant = “iustificario” as declarative justification based on Judge’s ability to decide = exterior, imparted grace = no life transformation (sanctification) is absolutely required for salvation because it is based on the authority and activity of an outside agent, God, and anything implying personal choice or cooperation with God is “earning salvation by works.”
2. B) Council of Orange = Ecumenical (even though it was a local council and not ratified by the whole Church)
3. C) Pelagianism = Eastern Theology (Accusing the East of being a refuge for an originally Western heresy)
4. D) Free Will = Illusion of Human Depravity and Pride
5. E) Arminianism = Liberalism 
6. F) Imperfectibility with limits (preventative grace) 
7. G) Scriptural supports that seem to imply application of external grace by God’s sovereign will and the ultimate imperfectibility of the redeemed: 
1. Exodus 10:20 - “But the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, so that he would not let the children of Israel go.” 
2. Psalms 75:7 - “But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”
3. Romans 5:8 - "But God commendeth his love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." 
4. John 1:13 - "Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
5. James 1:18 - "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures."
6. John 15:16 - “Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.” 
7. Proverbs 16:9 - “A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.” 
8. John 6:65 - “And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.” 
9. Romans 2:8 - "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God..."
10. Romans 9:18 - "Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth." 
11. I Corinthians 1:30 - "But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
12. Acts 13:48 - "And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."
13. Romans 8:7  - “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” (regarding man's fallen state)
14. Romans 5:12 - “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned…” 
15. Ephesians 2:1 - “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins…” 
16. Romans 3:10-12 - “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” 
17. Ephesians 2:5 - “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, [for] by grace ye are saved..” 

John Calvin, Reformer, Theologian, Founder of Calvinism 

B) Cappadocian/Palamite Thesis: 

St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory the Great, and St. Gregory the Theologian, the Cappadocian Fathers and "Pillars of Orthodoxy" in the Greek-Speaking East

1. A) Biblical = Cappadocianism (earlier than St. Augustine, Pneumatology enshrined in the Nicene Creed) = Synergism = biblical action used to picture this process is the Eating and Drinking of the New Covenant of Christ’s Body and Blood = “dikaiosis” as impartation of God’s presence and His activities via the sacraments of the Church which take part in Christ’s life and His finished work on the Cross = infused, internal grace = life transformation (sanctification) is required for salvation because it is based upon our submission to God’s will (ceasing from our own will) and manifesting His power in our lives
2. B) Fifth Ecumenical Council (declaration against Monergism) = Ecumenical 
3. C) Manichianism = Western Theology (Accusing the West of being a refuge of an originally Eastern heresy) 
4. D) Free Will = The Imago Dei
5. E) Arminianism = Conservatism/Calvinism-Reformed Theology responsible for the moral failures of Mainline Churches 
6. F) Perfectibility without Limits (Meaning that human life on earth may improve, but never become equal to God in the perfection of holiness here or in the here after, while always approaching it) 
7. G) Scriptural supports that seem to imply human free will, internality of grace, and the perfectibility of the redeemed: 
1. Matthew 5:48 - "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
2. Matthew 7:16-18 - "Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit."
3. 1 Peter 1:15-16 - “but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy.’"
4. 1 John 2:29 - “If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.”
5. Ephesians 5:1 - “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.” (and the rest of the context in Ephesians 4:17-32)
6. Hebrews 10:14 - “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."
7. Philippians 3:12 - “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me."
8. Philippians 1:3-6 - “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ…”
9. Hebrews 6:1 - “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God...”
10. James 1:4 - “But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.”
11. 1 John 4:17-18 - “Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
12. 1 John 2:5 - “But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him."
13. 1 John 3:6 - “Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever [continues in] sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.”
14. 1 John 4:11-12 - “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
15. Philippians 2:12 - “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Jacob Arminius, Pastor, Professor, Theologian and Major Apologist Against Calvinism

C) The Anglican Balance Point Between the Two Systems:

John and Charles Wesley, Anglican Priests, Founders of the Anglican Holiness Movement (which decoupled from the Anglican Church after their deaths and became Wesleyanism/Methodism) 

A) Biblicism is impossible without the interpretive mechanism of the Church’s synodality and the definitions of the Creeds and Councils, which maintains the "Tradition of the Apostles." (I Corinthians 4:17, 11:12, Philippians 4:9, 4:19, I Thessalonians 2:4, II Thessalonians 2:15, 3:6, II Timothy 2:2) "Comparing Scripture with Scripture" relies on the same principle as comparing Scripture with the Creeds and the Ancient Fathers, as it provides a conciliar baseline upon which all comparative hermeneutics can be done with integrity, not accepting an individual position or interpretation as truth. As it says in 2 Peter 1:20, "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." We only ultimately know the meaning of Scripture by the Power of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 2:10, Ephesians 3:5), and the Holy Spirit was given to the Church in Communion (as it came upon the Apostles at Pentecost in Acts 2), as a group and not individually, imparted by baptism and the laying-on of hands. It is maintained within the process of faithfully passing down apostolicity generation to generation. The Holy Spirit and the correct interpretation of the Scriptures does not come from outside of this process of communal reading and digesting the Holy Scriptures, which can only properly occur within the context of Christian Worship. Therefore, our worship cannot be separated from our doctrine and how we glorify God directly reflects in how we believe. Truth is not manifest primarily through individual understanding, but the understanding of the Church as a Whole, the Apostolic Deposit of the "faith which once was delivered unto the saints." (Jude 3) It is this reflection of the whole which is called "kata holos" in Greek - "Catholic." As such the Apostolic Faith is "the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth." (I Timothy 3:15)

B) Ecumenical Councils are “ecumenical” through their universal reception, not through their proclamation, meaning that some councils are local and not necessary to salvation (adiaphora or phronoma, a pious opinion of the faithful), while others are central to our understanding of the Church. For instance, one can not have been exposed to the Cappadocian Fathers or to St. Augustine, and still be a Christian. One cannot disbelieve in the belief's of the Nicene Creed and still maintain that he is a Christian in the traditional and received sense. (Acts 15:28)  

C) The East and West are both imbalanced without the synodality of the Whole Church. This is why Schism is sinful, debilitating and causes a breakdown in the process of Christian knowledge. The truth of Christianity is found between these poles, and is not defined by the self-assertions of the extremes themselves. (John 17:21, I Corinthians 11:18)

D) God is sovereign, foreknows and predestines based on this foreknoweldge (Romans 8:29-30), but He created man with the ability to chose, in a limited capacity, by the act of creation and the impartation of common grace, which was not lost in the Fall, although severely modified and distorted by sin. God wishes that all be saved, and does not create individuals destined for eternal damnation. (1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9)

E) Both Augustinianism/Calvinism and Arminianism have been plagued with unfaithfulness and heresy, seeing that this is the basic problem of the human condition (Judges 2:11-13, 17:6, 21:25, I Chronicles 10:13, Hosea 8), and from the Old to the New Covenants, the Biblical narrative is about God’s people straying from God’s Will (implying that they could chose to fight it and try to do their own will instead). Puritans became Universalists within two generations of the arrival in Plymouth, Massachusetts, Methodists have become liberals, Presbyterians have embraced mainline cultural views of sexuality, and Anglicans have compromised and disdained the Word of God and its teaching on women’s orders, homosexuality, and the preeminence of Social Justice up and against the Gospel. (Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8)

F) Augustinians are correct in saying that our salvation is initiated by God’s grace, but misidentify the impartation of this grace at some post-creation point in time - God imparts grace through the impartation of Life, an aspect of His Holy Spirit, and this act of creation is also His initiation of a relationship with the individual and the gift of grace, life, that ultimately may lead one to repentance and faith (common grace leading to salvation is what Romans 1:16-21 shows as the knowledge of God present in all creation, for which all humankind will be held responsible and judged accordingly). They are also correct in insisting that no one but Christ is perfect, that God knows everything, that God formed us with our basic propensities, and that we are completely dependent upon God for all good works that we accomplish, not in our own power, but by the presence, the energy, of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Arminian/Cappadocians are correct in affirming that common grace imparted to living creation enables us to make a choice to follow God, the creator, and that it is by God's "energy" (His Presence) that life is imparted and maintained (Acts 17:28, Colossians 1:17). They can also be incorrect in not realizing that God has initiated His relationship with creation through the act of creating and giving life, and therefore may believe that the human will is in some way equal to God’s, which is obviously not the case (Job 38:1-18). To misidentify our relationship of dependence upon the God’s life for our lives leads to a belief that the act of choosing Christ and the activity of following Him afterwards is “earning salvation” or “works-based salvation” (Galatians 3:1-3), when, in biblical and patristic Christianity, it is clear that all “work” is done in the power of God’s Holy Spirit, therefore making our salvation and all good things that we accomplish by God’s grace, gifts of God, manifestations of the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and not our works, lest any man may boast (Ephesians 2:9). This is why the saints cast their crowns before the feet of Christ (Revelation 4:10), who is the origin of all glory and is the rightful recipient of all praise (Revelation 7:12). Arminians are correct in insisting that holiness is the normal state of the Christian, and that we are to grow “more and more into the perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18), because “faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” (James 2:17) And as Peter says, “But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear…” (I Peter 1:15-17)

G) A scriptural and historical hermeneutic that requires focus on one set of Biblical and Patristic patterns and the rejection of others is an illegitimate process, because it rejects mystery and the basic facts that we cannot know God’s mind and that His works are inscrutable and above our comprehension (Isaiah 55:8-13). All systems of explanation can be used as an excuse not to obey, and in this capacity, they are vanity and iniquity. Our theology must be rooted in obedience to God’s commands and our inquiry and speculation must be confined to what Christ Himself told us to do and say, what the Apostles preached, and what the Church has maintained in every area and every place. We are saved by faith (Ephesians 2:8), and this “faith”, πίστις, means faithfulness and obedience. 

Fr. Luis de Molina, Jesuit Priest, Scholar and Who Taught How God's Foreknowledge Created and Predestined Without Undermining Human Freedom and Moral Responsibility 

The Witness of the Ancient Church:

The following are excerpts from the Church Fathers on the topic of the Free Will, from the Ante-Nicene Fathers Collection, edited by Philip Schaff. As it becomes abundantly clear in these readings, the Augustinian theology has, historically speaking, not been in the majority of Christian theological opinion, and only started to gain favor gradually in the West after the Fifth Century, reaching full fruition amongst Protestant Reformers a thousand years later. 

Clement of Rome (AD30-100) 

“On account of his hospitality and godliness, Lot was saved out of Sodom when all the country round was punished by means of fire and brimstone, the Lord thus making it manifest that He does not forsake those that hope in Him, but gives up such as depart from Him to punishment and torture. For Lot’s wife, who went forth with him, being of a different mind from himself and not continuing in agreement with him [as to the command which had been given them], was made an example of, so as to be a pillar of salt unto this day. This was done that all might know that those who are of a double mind, and who distrust the power of God, bring down judgment on themselves? and become a sign to all succeeding generations.” (Clement, Epistle to the Corinthians, XI)

Ignatius (AD30-107)

“Seeing, then, all things have an end, and there is set before us life upon our observance [of God’s precepts], but death as the result of disobedience, and every one, according to the choice he makes, shall go to his own place, let us flee from death, and make choice of life. For I remark, that two different characters are found among men — the one true coin, the other spurious. The truly devout man is the right kind of coin, stamped by God Himself. The ungodly man, again, is false coin, unlawful, spurious, counterfeit, wrought not by God, but by the devil. I do not mean to say that there are two different human natures, but that there is one humanity, sometimes belonging to God, and sometimes to the devil. If any one is truly religious, he is a man of God; but if he is irreligious, he is a man of the devil, made such, not by nature, but by his own choice. The unbelieving bear the image of the prince of wickedness. The believing possess the image of their Prince, God the Father, and Jesus Christ, through whom, if we are not in readiness to die for the truth into His passion, His life is not in us.” (Ignatius, Epistle to the Magnesians, V)

Barnabas (AD100)

“The Lord will judge the world without respect of persons. Each will receive as he has done: if he is righteous, his righteousness will precede him; if he is wicked, the reward of wickedness is before him. Take heed, lest resting at our ease, as those who are the called [of God], we should fall asleep in our sins, and the wicked prince, acquiring power over us, should thrust us away from the kingdom of the Lord. And all the more attend to this, my brethren, when ye reflect and behold, that after so great signs and wonders were wrought in Israel, they were thus [at length] abandoned. Let us beware lest we be found [fulfilling that saying], as it is written, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” (Epistle of Barnabas, IV)

Justin Martyr (AD 110-165)

“But lest some suppose, from what has been said by us, that we say that whatever happens, happens by a fatal necessity, because it is foretold as known beforehand, this too we explain. We have learned from the prophets, and we hold it to be true, that punishments, and chastisements, and good rewards, are rendered according to the merit of each man’s actions. Since if it be not so, but all things happen by fate, neither is anything at all in our own power. For if it be fated that this man, e.g., be good, and this other evil, neither is the former meritorious nor the latter to be blamed. And again, unless the human race have the power of avoiding evil and choosing good by free choice, they are not accountable for their actions, of whatever kind they be. But that it is by free choice they both walk uprightly and stumble, we thus demonstrate. We see the same man making a transition to opposite things. Now, if it had been fated that he were to be either good or bad, he could never have been capable of both the opposites, nor of so many transitions. But not even would some be good and others bad, since we thus make fate the cause of evil, and exhibit her as acting in opposition to herself; or that which has been already stated would seem to be true, that neither virtue nor vice is anything, but that things are only reckoned good or evil by opinion; which, as the true word shows, is the greatest impiety and wickedness. But this we assert is inevitable fate, that they who choose the good have worthy rewards, and they who choose the opposite have their merited awards. For not like other things, as trees and quadrupeds, which cannot act by choice, did God make man: for neither would he be worthy of reward or praise did he not of himself choose the good, but were created for this end; nor, if he were evil, would he be worthy of punishment, not being evil of himself, but being able to be nothing else than what he was made.” (Justin, First Apology, XLIII)

“For so we say that there will be the conflagration, but not as the Stoics, according to their doctrine of all things being changed into one another, which seems most degrading. But neither do we affirm that it is by fate that men do what they do, or suffer what they suffer, but that each man by free choice acts rightly or sins; and that it is by the influence of the wicked demons that earnest men, such as Socrates and the like, suffer persecution and are in bonds, while Sardanapalus, Epicurus, and the like, seem to be blessed in abundance and glory. The Stoics, not observing this, maintained that all things take place according to the necessity of fate. But since God in the beginning made the race of angels and men with free-will, they will justly suffer in eternal fire the punishment of whatever sins they have committed. and this is the nature of all that is made, to be capable of vice and virtue. For neither would any of them be praiseworthy unless there were power to turn to both (virtue and vice). And this also is shown by those men everywhere who have made laws and philosophized according to right reason, by their prescribing to do some things and refrain from others. Even the Stoic philosophers, in their doctrine of morals, steadily honour the same things, so that it is evident that they are not very felicitious in what they say about principles and incorporeal things. For if they say that human actions come to pass by fate, they will maintain either that God is nothing else than the things which are ever turning, and altering, and dissolving into the same things, and will appear to have had a comprehension only of things that are destructable, and to have looked on God Himself as emerging both in part and in whole in every wickedness; or that neither vice or virtue is anything; which is contrary to every sound idea, reason, and sense.” (Justin Second Apology, VII)

“Could not God have cut off in the beginning the serpent, so that he exist not, rather than have said, ‘And I will put enmity between him and the woman, and between his seed and her seed?’ Could He not have at once created a multitude of men? But yet, since He knew that it would be good, He created both angels and men free to do that which is righteous, and He appointed periods of time during which He knew it would be good for them to have the exercise of free-will; and because He likewise knew it would be good, He made general and particular judgments; each one’s freedom of will, however, being guarded.” (Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, 102)

“I said briefly by anticipation, that God, wishing men and angels to follow His will, resolved to create them free to do righteousness; possessing reason, that they may know by whom they are created, and through whom they, not existing formerly, do now exist; and with a law that they should be judged by Him, if they do anything contrary to right reason: and of ourselves we, men and angels, shall be convicted of having acted sinfully, unless we repent beforehand. But if the word of God foretells that some angels and men shall be certainly punished, it did so because it foreknew that they would be unchangeably [wicked], but not because God had created them so. So that if they repent, all who wish for it can obtain mercy from God: and the Scripture foretells that they shall be blessed, saying, ‘Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputeth not sin;’ that is, having repented of his sins, that he may receive remission of them from God; and not as you deceive yourselves, and some others who resemble you in this, who say, that even though they be sinners, but know God, the Lord will not impute sin to them.” (Justin, Dialogue with Trypho, 141)

“Here, then, is a proof of virtue, and of a mind loving prudence, to recur to the communion of the unity, and to attach one’s self to prudence for salvation, and make choice of the better things according to the free-will placed in man; and not to think that those who are possessed of human passions are lords of all, when they shall not appear to have even equal power with men.” (Justin, On the Sole Government of God, VI)

Irenaeus (AD120-202)

“This expression [of our Lord], “How often would I have gathered thy children together, and thou wouldest not,” set forth the ancient law of human liberty, because God made man a free [agent] from the beginning, possessing his own power, even as he does his own soul, to obey the behests (ad utendum sententia) of God voluntarily, and not by compulsion of God. For there is no coercion with God, but a good will [towards us] is present with Him continually. And therefore does He give good counsel to all. And in man, as well as in angels, He has placed the power of choice (for angels are rational beings), so that those who had yielded obedience might justly possess what is good, given indeed by God, but preserved by themselves. On the other hand, they who have not obeyed shall, with justice, be not found in possession of the good, and shall receive condign punishment: for God did kindly bestow on them what was good; but they themselves did not diligently keep it, nor deem it something precious, but poured contempt upon His super-eminent goodness. Rejecting therefore the good, and as it were spuing it out, they shall all deservedly incur the just judgment of God, which also the Apostle Paul testifies in his Epistle to the Romans, where he says, “But dost thou despise the riches of His goodness, and patience, and long-suffering, being ignorant that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest to thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” “But glory and honor,” he says, “to every one that doeth good.” God therefore has given that which is good, as the apostle tells us in this Epistle, and they who work it shall receive glory and honor, because they have done that which is good when they had it in their power not to do it; but those who do it not shall receive the just judgment of God, because they did not work good when they had it in their power so to do.

“But if some had been made by nature bad, and others good, these latter would not be deserving of praise for being good, for such were they created; nor would the former be reprehensible, for thus they were made [originally]. But since all men are of the same nature, able both to hold fast and to do what is good; and, on the other hand, having also the power to cast it from them and not to do it, — some do justly receive praise even among men who are under the control of good laws (and much more from God), and obtain deserved testimony of their choice of good in general, and of persevering therein; but the others are blamed, and receive a just condemnation, because of their rejection of what is fair and good. And therefore the prophets used to exhort men to what was good, to act justly and to work righteousness, as I have so largely demonstrated, because it is in our power so to do, and because by excessive negligence we might become forgetful, and thus stand in need of that good counsel which the good God has given us to know by means of the prophets. … No doubt, if any one is unwilling to follow the Gospel itself, it is in his power [to reject it], but it is not expedient. For it is in man’s power to disobey God, and to forfeit what is good; but [such conduct] brings no small amount of injury and mischief. … But because man is possessed of free will from the beginning, and God is possessed of free will, in whose likeness man was created, advice is always given to him to keep fast the good, which thing is done by means of obedience to God.

“And not merely in works, but also in faith, has God preserved the will of man free and under his own control, saying, “According to thy faith be it unto thee; “ thus showing that there is a faith specially belonging to man, since he has an opinion specially his own. And again, “All things are possible to him that believeth;” and, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” Now all such expressions demonstrate that man is in his own power with respect to faith. And for this reason, “he that believeth in Him has eternal life while he who believeth not the Son hath not eternal life, but the wrath of God shall remain upon him.” In the same manner therefore the Lord, both showing His own goodness, and indicating that man is in his own free will and his own power, said to Jerusalem, “How often have I wished to gather thy children together, as a hen [gathereth] her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Wherefore your house shall be left unto you desolate.”” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Bk. IV, 37)

“Has the Word come for the ruin and for the resurrection of many? For the ruin, certainly, of those who do not believe Him, to whom also He has threatened a greater damnation in the judgment-day than that of Sodom and Gomorrah; but for the resurrection of believers, and those who do the will of His Father in heaven. If then the advent of the Son comes indeed alike to all, but is for the purpose of judging, and separating the believing from the unbelieving, since, as those who believe do His will agreeably to their own choice, and as, [also] agreeably to their own choice, the disobedient do not consent to His doctrine; it is manifest that His Father has made all in a like condition, each person having a choice of his own, and a free understanding; and that He has regard to all things, and exercises a providence over all, “making His sun to rise upon the evil and on the good, and sending rain upon the just and unjust.”

“And to as many as continue in their love towards God, does He grant communion with Him. But communion with God is life and light, and the enjoyment of all the benefits which He has in store. But on as many as, according to their own choice, depart from God, He inflicts that separation from Himself which they have chosen of their own accord. But separation from God is death, and separation from light is darkness; and separation from God consists in the loss of all the benefits which He has in store. Those, therefore, who cast away by apostasy these forementioned things, being in fact destitute of all good, do experience every kind of punishment. God, however, does not punish them immediately of Himself, but that punishment falls upon them because they are destitute of all that is good. Now, good things are eternal and without end with God, and therefore the loss of these is also eternal and never-ending. It is in this matter just as occurs in the case of a flood of light: those who have blinded themselves, or have been blinded by others, are for ever deprived of the enjoyment of light. It is not, [however], that the light has inflicted upon them the penalty of blindness, but it is that the blindness itself has brought calamity upon them: and therefore the Lord declared, “He that believeth in Me is not condemned,” that is, is not separated from God, for he is united to God through faith. On the other hand, He says, “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God;” that is, he separated himself from God of his own accord. “For this is the condemnation, that light is come into this world, and men have loved darkness rather than light. For every one who doeth evil hateth the light, and cometh not to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that he has wrought them in God.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Bk. V, XXVII)

Tatian (AD110-172)

“Why are you fated to grasp at things often, and often to die? Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God, and by apprehending Him lay aside your old nature. We were not created to die, but we die by our own fault. Our free-will has destroyed us; we who were free have become slaves; we have been sold through sin. Nothing evil has been created by God; we Ourselves have manifested wickedness; but we, who have manifested it, are able again to reject it.” (Tatian, Address to the Greeks, XI)

Tertullian (AD145-220)

“Moreover, man thus constituted will be protected by both the goodness of God and by His purpose, both of which are always found in concert in our God. For His purpose is no purpose without goodness; nor is His goodness without a purpose, except forsooth in the case of Marcion’s God, who is purposelessly good, as we have shown. Well, then, it was proper that God should be known; it was no doubt a good and reasonable thing. Proper also was it that there should be something worthy of knowing God. What could be found so worthy as the image and likeness of God? This also was undoubtedly good and reasonable. Therefore it was proper that (he who is) the image and likeness of God should be formed with a free will and a mastery of himself; so that this very thing — namely, freedom of will and self-command — might be reckoned as the image and likeness of God in him. For this purpose such an essence was adapted to man as suited this character, even the afflatus of the Deity, Himself free and uncontrolled. But if you will take some other view of the case, how came it to pass that man, when in possession of the whole world, did not above all things reign in self-possession — a master over others, a slave to himself? The goodness of God, then, you can learn from His gracious gift to man, and His purpose from His disposal of all things. At present, let God’s goodness alone occupy our attention, that which gave so large a gift to man, even the liberty of his will. God’s purpose claims some other opportunity of treatment, offering as it does instruction of like import. Now, God alone is good by nature. For He, who has that which is without beginning, has it not by creation, but by nature. Man, however, who exists entirely by creation, having a beginning, along with that beginning obtained the form in which he exists; and thus he is not by nature disposed to good, but by creation, not having it as his own attribute to be good, because, (as we have said,) it is not by nature, but by creation, that he is disposed to good, according to the appointment of his good Creator, even the Author of all good. In order, therefore, that man might have a goodness of his own, bestowed on him by God, and there might be henceforth in man a property, and in a certain sense a natural attribute of goodness, there was assigned to him in the constitution of his nature, as a formal witness of the goodness which God bestowed upon him, freedom and power of the will, such as should cause good to be performed spontaneously by man, as a property of his own, on the ground that no less than this would be required in the matter of a goodness which was to be voluntarily exercised by him, that is to say, by the liberty of his will, without either favor or servility to the constitution of his nature, so that man should be good just up to this point, if he should display his goodness in accordance with his natural constitution indeed, but still as the result of his will, as a property of his nature; and, by a similar exercise of volition, should show himself to be too strong in defense against evil also (for even this God, of course, foresaw), being free, and master of himself; because, if he were wanting in this prerogative of self-mastery, so as to perform even good by necessity and not will, he would, in the helplessness of his servitude, become subject to the usurpation of evil, a slave as much to evil as to good. Entire freedom of will, therefore, was conferred upon him in both tendencies; so that, as master of himself, he might constantly encounter good by spontaneous observance of it, and evil by its spontaneous avoidance; because, were man even otherwise circumstanced, it was yet his bounden duty, in the judgment of God, to do justice according to the motions of his will regarded, of course, as free. But the reward neither of good nor of evil could be paid to the man who should be found to have been either good or evil through necessity and not choice. In this really lay the law which did not exclude, but rather prove, human liberty by a spontaneous rendering of obedience, or a spontaneous commission of iniquity; so patent was the liberty of man’s will for either issue. Since, therefore, both the goodness and purpose of God are discovered in the gift to man of freedom in his will, it is not right, after ignoring the original definition of goodness and purpose which it was necessary to determine previous to any discussion of the subject, on subsequent facts to presume to say that God ought not in such a way to have formed man, because the issue was other than what was assumed to be proper for God. We ought rather, after duly considering that it behooved God so to create man, to leave this consideration unimpaired, and to survey the other aspects of the case. It is, no doubt, an easy process for persons who take offence at the fall of man, before they have looked into the facts of his creation, to impute the blame of what happened to the Creator, without any examination of His purpose. To conclude: the goodness of God, then fully considered from the beginning of His works, will be enough to convince us that nothing evil could possibly have come forth from God; and the liberty of man will, after a second thought, show us that it alone is chargeable with the fault which itself committed.” (Tertullian, Against Marcion, Bk. II, ch. vi) 

“God put the question [to Adam – “where art thou”] with an appearance of uncertainty, in order that even here He might prove man to be the subject of a free will in the alternative of either a denial or a confession, and give to him the opportunity of freely acknowledging his transgression, and, so far, of lightening it. In like manner He inquires of Cain where his brother was, just as if He had not yet heard the blood of Abel crying from the ground, in order that he too might have the opportunity from the same power of the will of spontaneously denying, and to this degree aggravating, his crime; and that thus there might be supplied to us examples of confessing sins rather than of denying them: so that even then was initiated the evangelic doctrine, “By thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.”(Tertullian, Against Marcion, Bk. II, xxv)

“That rich man did go his way who had not “received” the precept of dividing his substance to the needy, and was abandoned by the Lord to his own opinion. Nor will “harshness” be on this account imputed to Christ, the Found of the vicious action of each individual free-will. “Behold,” saith He, “I have set before thee good and evil.” Choose that which is good: if you cannot, because you will not — for that you can if you will He has shown, because He has proposed each to your free-will — you ought to depart from Him whose will you do not.”(Tertullian, On Monogamy, XIV)

Clement of Alexandria (AD153-217)

“God, then, is good. And the Lord speaks many a time and oft before He proceeds to act. … For the Divine Being is not angry in the way that some think; but often restrains, and always exhorts humanity, and shows what ought to be done. And this is a good device, to terrify lest we sin. “For the fear of the Lord drives away sins, and he that is without fear cannot be justified,” says the Scripture. And God does not inflict punishment from wrath, but for the ends of justice; since it is not expedient that justice should be neglected on our account. Each one of us, who sins, with his own free-will chooses punishment, and the blame lies with him who chooses. God is without blame. “But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous, who taketh vengeance? God forbid.” … It is clear, then, that those who are not at enmity with the truth, and do not hate the Word, will not hate their own salvation, but will escape the punishment of enmity. “The crown of wisdom,” then as the book of Wisdom says, “is the fear of the Lord.” Very clearly, therefore, by the prophet Amos has the Lord unfolded His method of dealing, saying, “I have overthrown you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah; and ye shall be as a brand plucked from the fire: and yet ye have not returned unto me, saith the LORD.” See how God, through His love of goodness, seeks repentance; and by means of the plan He pursues of threatening silently, shows His own love for man. “I will avert,” He says, “My face from them, and show what shall happen to them.” For where the face of the Lord looks, there is peace and rejoicing; but where it is averted, there is the introduction of evil. The Lord, accordingly, does not wish to look on evil things; for He is good. But on His looking away, evil arises spontaneously through human unbelief. “Behold, therefore,” says Paul, “the goodness and severity of God: on them that fell severity; but upon thee, goodness, if thou continue in His goodness,” that is, in faith in Christ.” (Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor, Bk. I, viii)

Origen (AD185-254)

“This also is clearly defined in the teaching of the Church, that every rational soul is possessed of free-will and volition; that it has a stuggle to maintain with the devil and his angels, and opposing influences, because they strive to burden it with sins; but if we live rightly and wisely, we should endeavor to shake ourselves free of a burden of that kind. From which it follows, also, that we understand ourselves not to be subject to necessity, so as to be compelled by all means, even against our will, to do either good or evil. For if we are our own masters, some influences perhaps may impel us to sin, and others help us to salvation; we are not forced, however, by any necessity either to act rightly or wrongly, which those persons think is the case who say that the courses and movements of the stars are the cause of human actions, not only of those which take place beyond the influence of the freedom of the will, but also of those which are placed within our own power.” (Origen, De Principis, Preface)

“And for this reason we think that God, the Father of all things, in order to ensure the salvation of all His creatures through the ineffable plan of His word and wisdom, so arranged each of these, that every spirit, whether soul or rational existence, however called, should not be compelled by force, against the liberty of his own will, to any other course than that to which the motives of his own mind led him (lest by so doing the power of exercising free-will should seem to be taken away, which certainly would produce a change in the nature of the being itself); and that the varying purposes of these would be suitably and usefully adapted to the harmony of one world, by some of them requiring help, and others being able to give it, and others again being the cause of struggle and contest to those who are making progress, amongst whom their diligence would be deemed more worthy of approval, and the place of rank obtained after victory be held with greater certainty, which should be established by the difficulties of the contest.” (Origen, Bk. II ch. I)

Hippolytus (AD170-236)

“But man, from the fact of his possessing a capacity of self-determination, brings forth what is evil, that is, accidentally; which evil is not consummated except you actually commit some piece of wickedness. For it is in regard of our desiring anything that is wicked, or our meditating upon it, that what is evil is so denominated. Evil had no existence from the beginning, but came into being subsequently. Since man has free will, a law has been defined for his guidance by the Deity, not without answering a good purpose. For if man did not possess the power to will and not to will, why should a law be established? For a law will not be laid down for an animal devoid of reason, but a bridle and a whip; whereas to man has been given a precept and penalty to perform, or for not carrying into execution what has been enjoined. For man thus constituted has a law been enacted by just men in primitive ages.”(Hippolytus, Against all Heresies, Bk. X, ch. xxix)

Novatian (AD210-280)

“And lest, again, an unbounded freedom should fall into peril, He laid down a command, in which man was taught that there was no evil in the fruit of the tree; but he was forewarned that evil would arise if perchance he should exercise his free will, in the contempt of the law that was given. For, on the one hand, it had behooved him to be free, lest the image of God should, unfittingly be in bondage; and on the other, the law was to be added, so that an unbridled liberty might not break forth even to a contempt of the Giver. So that he might receive as a consequence both worthy rewards and a deserved punishment, having in his own power that which he might choose to do, by the tendency of his mind in either direction: whence, therefore, by envy, mortality comes back upon him; seeing that, although he might escape it by obedience, he rushes into it by hurrying to be God under the influence of perverse counsel.”(Novatian, Trinity, ch. I)

Archelaus (AD277)

“This account also indicates that rational creatures have been entrusted with free-will, in virtue of which they also admit of conversions.” … “For all the creatures that God made, He made very good; and He gave to every individual the sense of free-will, in accordance with which standard He also instituted the law of judgment. To sin is ours, and that we sin not is God’s gift, as our will is constituted to choose either to sin or not to sin. … The judges said: He has given demonstration enough of the origin of the devil. And as both sides admit that there will be a judgment, it is necessarily involved in that admission that every individual is shown to have free-will; and since this is brought clearly out, there can be no doubt that every individual, in the exercise of his own proper power of will, may shape his course in whatever direction he pleases.” (Archelaus, The Acts of the Disputation)

Alexander of Alexandria (AD273-326)

“I will endeavor, with your assistance and favor, to examine carefully the position of those who are offended, and deny that we speak the truth, when we say that man is possessed of free-will, and prove that “They perish self-destroyed, By their own fault,” choosing the pleasant in preference to the expedient.” (Alexander, Banquet of the Ten Virgins, Discourse VIII, ch. xii)

Lactantius (AD260-330)

“When, therefore, the number of men had begun to increase, God in His forethought, lest the devil, to whom from the beginning He had given power over the earth, should by his subtilty either corrupt or destroy men, as he had done at first, sent angels for the protection and improvement of the human race; and inasmuch as He had given these a free will, He enjoined them above all things not to defile themselves with contamination from the earth, and thus lose the dignity of their heavenly nature.”(Lactantius, Divine Institutes, Bk. II, ch. xv)

Summary:

With this patristic evidence clearly set forth, it must be maintained that it is illegitimate for Reformed Christians (and especially Anglicans of this disposition) to accuse the ancient orthodoxy of internally transformative grace, human perfectibility and synergistic soteriology of being "Pelagianism" or "Semi-Palegianism." These ancient teachings have nothing to do with the heresy of Palegius or his belief in the sufficiency of human nature to discern righteousness, seek God or carry out God's commandments in its own strength. Humankind can accomplish nothing good without God, and even our choice to follow God is accomplished by God's grace. But, the orthodox insistence on our involvement and choice to receive God's salvation, repenting of our own works, and ceasing from self by submitting to the life-giving activities of the Holy Spirit, is actually faithful to an earlier exposition of the Gospel and clearly advocated by Scripture and the Fathers of the Church, in both the East and West.