Following are some of the synergistic deliverances made by Pfeffinger in
his _Five Questions Concerning the Liberty of the Human Will._ Par. 11
reads: "Thirdly, when we inquire concerning the spiritual actions, it is
correct to answer that the human will has not such a liberty as to be
able to effect the spiritual motions without the help of the Holy Spirit
(_humanam voluntatem non habere eiusmodi libertatem, ut motus
spirituales sine auxilio Spiritus Sancti efficere possit_)." Par. 14:
"Therefore some assent or apprehension on our part must concur (_oportet
igitur nostram aliquam assensionem seu apprehensionem concurrere_) when
the Holy Spirit has aroused (_accenderit_) the mind, the will and the
heart. Hence Basil says: Only will, and God anticipates; and Chrysostom:
He who draws, draws him who is willing; and Augustine: He assists those
who have received the gift of the call with becoming piety, and preserve
the gifts of God as far as man is able. Again: When grace precedes, the
will follows--_praeeunte gratia, comitante voluntate._" In Par. 16 we
read: "The will, therefore, is not idle, but assents faintly. _Voluntas
igitur non est otiosa sed languide assentitur._"
Paragraph 17 runs: "If the will were idle or purely passive, there would
be no difference between the pious and the wicked, or between the elect
and the damned, as, between Saul and David, between Judas and Peter. God
would also become a respecter of persons and the author of contumacy in
the wicked and damned; and to God would be ascribed contradictory wills,
--which conflicts with the entire Scripture. Hence it follows that there
is in us a cause why some assent while others do not. _Sequitur ergo in
nobis esse aliquam causam, cur alii assentiantur, alii non
assentiantur_." Par. 24: "Him [the Holy Spirit], therefore, we must not
resist; but on the part of our will, which is certainly not like a stone
or block, some assent must be added--_sed aliquam etiam assensionem
accedere nostrae voluntatis, quam non sicut saxum aut incudem se habere
certum est._" Par. 30: "But apprehension on our part must concur. For,
since the promise of grace is universal, and since we must obey this
promise, some difference between the elect and the rejected must be
inferred from our will (_sequitur, aliquod discrimen inter electos et
reiectos a voluntate nostra sumendum esse_), _viz._, that those who
resist the promise are rejected, while those who embrace the promise are
received.... All this clearly shows that our will is not idle in
conversion or like a stone or block in its conduct. _Ex quibus omnibus
manifestissimum apparet, voluntatem nostram non esse otiosam in
conversione, aut se ut saxum aut incudem habere._"
Par. 34 reads: "Some persons, however, shout that the assistance of the
Holy Spirit is extenuated and diminished if even the least particle be
attributed to the human will. Though this argument may appear specious
and plausible, yet pious minds understand that by our doctrine--
according to which we ascribe some cooperation to our will; _viz._, some
assent and apprehension (_qua tribuimus aliquam SYNERGIAM voluntati
nostrae, videlicet qualemcumque assensionem et apprehensionem_)--
absolutely nothing is taken away from the assistance rendered by the
Holy Spirit. For we affirm that the first acts (_primas partes_) must be
assigned and attributed to Him who first and primarily, through the Word
or the voice of the Gospel, moves our hearts to believe, to which
thereupon we, too, ought to assent as much as we are able (_cui deinde
et NOS, QUANTUM IN NOBIS EST, ASSENTIRI oportet_), and not resist the
Holy Spirit, but submit to the Word, ponder, learn, and hear it, as
Christ says: 'Whosoever hath heard of the Father and learned, cometh to
Me.'" Par. 36: "And although original sin has brought upon our nature a
ruin so sad and horrible that we can hardly imagine it, yet we must not
think that absolutely all the knowledge (_notitiae_) which was found in
the minds of our first parents before the Fall has on that account been
destroyed and extinguished after the Fall, or that the human will does
not in any way differ from a stone or a block; for we are, as St. Paul
has said most seriously, coworkers with God, which coworking, indeed, is
assisted and strengthened by the Holy Spirit--_sumus synergi Dei, quae
quidem synergia adiuvatur a Spiritu Sancto et confirmatur._" Evidently
no comment is necessary to show that the passages cited from Pfeffinger
are conceived, born, and bred in Semi-Pelagianism and rationalism.
Planck furthermore quotes from Pfeffinger's _Answer to Amsdorf,_ 1558:
"And there is no other reason why some are saved and some are damned
than this one alone, that some, when incited by the Holy Spirit, do not
resist, but obey Him and accept the grace and salvation offered, while
others will not accept it, but resist the Holy Spirit, and despise the
grace." (4, 578.) Again: "Although the will cannot awaken or incite
itself to spiritually good works, but must be awakened and incited
thereto by the Holy Ghost, yet man is not altogether excluded from such
works of the Holy Ghost, as if he were not engaged in it and were not to
contribute his share to it--_dass er nicht auch dabei sein und das Seine
nicht auch dabei tun muesse._" (576.) Again: In the hands of the Holy
Spirit man is not like a block or stone in the hands of a sculptor,
which do not and cannot "know, understand, or feel what is done with
them, nor in the least further or hinder what the artist endeavors to
make of them." (576.) "But when the heart of man is touched, awakened,
and moved by the Holy Ghost, man must not be like a dead stone or block,
... but must obey and follow Him. And although he perceives his great
weakness, and, on the other hand, how powerfully sin in his flesh
opposes, he must nevertheless not desist, but ask and pray God for grace
and assistance against sin and flesh." (577.) Planck remarks: According
to Pfeffinger, the powers for all this are still found in natural man,
and the only thing required is, not to recreate them, but merely to
incite them to action. (579.)
In 1558, in an appendix to his disputation of 1555, Pfeffinger explained
and illustrated his position, in substance, as follows: I was to prove
nothing else than that some use of the will [in spiritual matters] was
left, and that our nature is not annihilated or extinguished, but
corrupted and marvelously depraved after the Fall. Now, to be sure, free
will cannot by its own natural powers regain its integrity nor rise
after being ruined, yet as the doctrine [the Gospel] can be understood
by paying attention to it, so it can also in a manner (_aliquo modo_) be
obeyed by assenting to it. But it is necessary for all who would dwell
in the splendor of the eternal light and in the sight of God to look up
to and not turn away from, the light. Schluesselburg adds: "_Haec certe
est synergia_--This is certainly synergism." (_Catalogus_ 5, 161.)
Tschackert summarizes Pfeffinger's doctrine as follows: "When the Holy
Spirit, through the Word of God, influences a man, then the assenting
will becomes operative as a factor of conversion. The reason why some
assent while others do not must be in themselves.... Evidently
Pfeffinger's opinion was that not only the regenerate, but even the
natural will of man possesses the ability either to obey the divine
Spirit or to resist Him." (521.) According to W. Preger, Pfeffinger
taught "that the Holy Spirit must awaken and incite our nature that it
may understand, think, will and do what is right and pleasing to God,"
but that natural free will is able "to obey and follow" the motions of
the Spirit. (2, 192. 195.)
No doubt, Pfeffinger advocated, and was a candid exponent and champion
of, nothing but the three-concurring-causes doctrine of Melanchthon,
according to which God never fails to do His share in conversion, while
we must beware (_sed nos viderimus, C. R._ 21, 658) lest we fail to do
our share. Pfeffinger himself made it a special point to cite
Melanchthon as his authority in this matter. The last (41st) paragraph
in his _Five Questions_ begins as follows: "We have briefly set forth
the doctrine concerning the liberty of the human will, agreeing with the
testimonies of the prophetic and apostolic Scriptures, a fuller
explanation of which students may find in the writings of our preceptor,
Mr. Philip (_prolisciorem explicationem requirant studiosi in scriptis
D. Philippi, praeceptoris nostri_)." And when, in the subsequent
controversy Pfeffinger was publicly assailed by Amsdorf, Flacius, and
others, everybody knew that their real target was none other than--
Master Philip. Melanchthon, too, was well aware of this fact. In his
_Opinion on the Weimar Confutation,_ of March 9, 1559, in which the
synergism of the Philippists is extensively treated, he said: "As to
free will, it is apparent that they attack me, Philip, in particular."
(_C. R._ 9, 763.)