Orthodox vs. Catholic understandings of salvation

[Rohzek]

Yes CatholicC, I was addressing your post. First, I wasn’t trying to vindicate Pelagianism itself, which whatever it was is a matter of historical debate. However, I was trying to say that Pelagius wasn’t really Pelagian. And yes, I am saying that Augustine and the councils were unfair to Pelagius the person, perhaps not so to Pelagianism. And I was simply pointing out that the author of this article had his understanding of Pelagius correct more or less, which you took issue with. Pelagius did in fact consider and argue that the grace he believed in was supernatural, mostly based upon the verse in Genesis of God breathing life into man. He believed that the act of inspiravit constituted God sharing his divine energies with mankind. This is most certainly supernatural. Additionally, he argued that this remained after the Fall because we continue to live.

This isn’t probably the way John Cassian would have framed any of this, but nevertheless it is unfair to think that Pelagius didn’t think further aid from God was necessary. In short, I really don’t see the significant difference between this framework and John Cassian’s, who is regarded as a saint.

While some Orthodox websites might still hold the outdated view of Pelagius (before his works were uncovered and studied in depth), I’m really just basing this off of: Torgny Bohlin, Die Theologie des Pelagius und ihre Genesis (Uppsala, Denmark: Universitets Årsskrift 1957). Bonner provides a brief English summary of this work in the collection of essays that I previous mentioned in an earlier post, in case you do not know German. I highly recommend it. It is titled: “How Pelagian was Pelagius?”

 

[steve_b]

Part 1

I’m not particularly interested in what he says about scholasticism, mainly because I find very little use for scholasticism and have a slight disdain for it myself.

Bp Kalistos Ware addresses scholasticism in his book and why Orthodox have problems with it.

Once a majority of the East was conquered by Islam, education was very difficult for easterners to acquire, even about their own faith… This prejudice towards scholasticism still carries over till today as a byproduct of Muslim rule.

Ware’s book “Orthodox Church” intratext.com/x/eng0804.htm

Be sure and read the following sections (for easier reading click on hide the links)

The Church under Islam

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Excerpt:

“Greeks who wished for a higher education were obliged to travel to the non-Orthodox world, to Italy and Germany, to Paris, and even as far as Oxford. Among the distinguished Greek theologians of the Turkish period, a few were self-taught, but the overwhelming majority had been trained in the west under Roman Catholic or Protestant masters. Inevitably this had an effect upon the way in which they interpreted Orthodox theology. Certainly Greek students in the west read the Fathers, but they only became acquainted with such of the Fathers as were held in esteem by their non-Orthodox professors.”