2. Synergism Prevents Conversion and Undermines Faith.
for those who have already believed through the sola gratia, as much as it is in him, he throws himself out of the faith. It does not allow conversion to take place because it prevents man from despairing before God completely in his own actions and abilities. But where this despair is not (terrores conscientiae), faith in the grace of God in Christ cannot arise either. Luther describes the situation quite correctly when he says that man remains in trust in himself (fiducia sui) as long as he thinks he can do even the slightest thing (vel tantulum) for his salvation. '° And if man, dominated by the synergistic opinion, at the moment feels himself unable to do what he claims is necessary for his conversion, he hopes to be able later to reduce his guilt before God, to be able to behave in a way that is quite contrary to grace and to make the correct choice of self-determination (locum, tempus, opus aliquod sibi praesumit, vel sperat vel optat saltem, quo tandem perveniat ad salute [St. L. XVIII: 1715 He presumes upon himself a place, a time, a work, or at least hopes or wishes, by which he may finally arrive at salvation ]). With regard to his conversion, he hopes for better times, but they never come. Thus, synergism prevents conversion. And those who have already become believers are thrown out of faith, because faith, as it arises from sola gratia, only exists vis-a-vis sola gratia. If faith lets go the "by grace alone"
as its object, it leaves its anchor basis. The saddest example in this regard is Peter, whose case was caused by the opinion that he could behave better than the other disciples: Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended.!°) In short, synergism is a mortal enemy of both the origin of faith in grace and of remaining in faith in grace. The Catholic Moehler seeks to save "Orthodox Protestantism" from semi-pelagianism and synergism by admitting that man must certainly not believe that "because of fine seeking and will, divine grace is due to him". But this did not exclude the possibility that God might put "honest seeking and willing" into action.
Provided that God really does bring man's honest seeking and willing into action, man must also believe. Now Scripture says two things: a. that the assumed honest seeking and willing is a non-ens, because the grace of God in Christ is not sought and willed by men, but is foolishness and offence to them; b. that it is not someone's will or desire, but God's mercy. The Protestant Mead '° seeks to prove that the synergism and the faith of a Christian are tolerably compatible. Mead says: "Since he " (the synergist) holds that without God's assisting grace he never would have come to repentance, he may properly thank God for having thus led him into the way of salvation." So Mead thinks of a faith by which man, in order to obtain grace, believes partly in grace and partly in himself. That this is an impossible faith is already indicated by Mead himself when he adds "But in so far as he" (the synergist) "compares himself with those who have resisted the divine influences, he must, if consistent with his theory, take credit to himself for the difference—for having, of his own free will, yielded to the monitions of the Spirit. But then Mead actually admits that this "giving oneself credit for the difference" is not compatible with the Christian
p. 156 ff. faith. He says: "A disclaimer of all dependence on Him [God] would sound like something little short of downright blasphemy" and: "When addressing God, men are little inclined to assert their freedom and ability" and: "The most ardent champion of the doctrine of free will may be found supplicating the Lord to give him these graces, which, according to his theory, he ought to obtain and cultivate for himself. Thus, it comes to the same conclusion as Apology (114, 33 [Zrigl. 166, Apol., Il, 33]): "If anyone thinks that faith can rely on God and on his own work at the same time, he certainly does not understand what faith is", and (97, 56 [Zvig/. 137, ibid., 56]): "Whenever Scripture speaks of faith, it means faith based on pure grace.