God the Holy Spirit, Mentor's Guide, MG14

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G O D T H E H O L Y S P I R I T

In the questions below you will find the focus is upon mastering the data and the facts associated with the claims made in the first video segment. Concentrate on ensuring that the students understand the answers in light of the lesson aims of the first segment. Make certain that you watch the clock here, covering the questions below and those posed by your students, and watch for any tangents which may lead you from rehearsing the critical facts and main points. The Christian Church has always resisted Pelagianism–the heresy which teaches that human nature is inherently capable of desiring and seeking God and obeying his commands. Pelagius was a British monk who went to Rome to teach theology around AD 380. After studying Roman law and rhetoric and later theology in England and Rome, he eventually moved to North Africa to escape the Goths invasion of Rome in AD 410 where his preaching attracted a number of able followers. His teaching was actively opposed by Augustine, the bishop of Hippo (in modern Algeria). Pelagianism was condemned by the churches at the Council of Carthage in 418 and the Council of Ephesus in 431.

9 Page 61 Student Questions and Response

10 Page 63 Outline Point I-B

What did Pelagius and his followers teach?

There is no original sin

• All people are born free and innocent (neither corrupt or guilty).

• While Adam may have transmitted a “bad example,” each person comes into life only with what is given him by God, not with an inherited sinful nature. • Man has the natural capacity to reject evil, seek God and obey God’s commands. • God’s grace, therefore, is the natural ability given by God that allows human beings to seek and serve him.