Strigel's entire position is based on the error that a remnant of
spiritual ability still remains in natural man. True, he taught that in
consequence of original sin the powers of man and the proper use and
exercise of these powers are greatly impeded, weakened, checked, and
insulated, as it were, and that this impediment can be removed solely by
the operation of the Holy Spirit. "Through the Word the Holy Spirit
restores to the will the power and faculty of believing," Strigel
declared. (Luthardt, 250.) But this restoration, he said, was brought
about by liberating, arousing, inciting, and strengthening the powers
inherent in man rather than by divine impartation of new spiritual
powers or by the creation of a new good volition.
Strigel plainly denied that natural man is truly spiritually dead. He
declared: "The will is so created that it can expel the Holy Spirit and
the Word, or, when assisted by the Holy Spirit, can in some manner will
and obey--to receive is the act of the will; in this I cannot concede
that man is simply _dead--accipere est hominis; in hoc non possum
concedere simpliciter mortuum esse hominem._" (Frank 1, 199.) Natural
man, Strigel explained, is indeed not able to grasp the helping hand of
God with his own hand; yet the latter is not dead, but still retains a
minimum of power. (678.) Again: Man is like a new-born child, whose
powers must first be strengthened with nourishment given it by its
mother, and which, _though able to draw this nourishment out of its
mother's breast,_ is yet unable to lift itself up to it, or to take hold
of the breast, unless it be given it. (Preger 2, 209.)
With special reference to the last illustration, Flacius declared:
"Strigel, accordingly, holds that we have the faculty to desire and
receive the food, _i.e._, the benefits of God. Forsooth, you thereby
attribute to corrupt man a very great power with respect to spiritual
things. Now, then, deny that this opinion is Pelagian." (209.) "Your
statements agree with those of Pelagius, yet I do not simply say that
you are a Pelagian; for a good man may fall into an error which he does
not see." Pelagius held that man, by his natural powers, is able to
begin and complete his own conversion; Cassianus, the Semi-Pelagian
taught that man is able merely to begin this work; Strigel maintained
that man can admit the liberating operation of the Holy Spirit, and that
after such operation of the Spirit he is able to cooperate with his
natural powers. Evidently, then, the verdict of Flacius was not much
beside the mark. Planck though unwilling to relegate Strigel to the
Pelagians, does not hesitate to put him down as a thoroughgoing
Synergist. (Planck 4, 683f.) Synergism, however, always includes at
least an element of Pelagianism.
Strigel illustrated his idea by the following analogy. When garlic-juice
is applied to a magnet, it loses its power of attraction, but remains a
true magnet, and, when goat's blood is applied, immediately regains its
efficaciousness. So the will of man is hindered by original sin from
beginning that which is good; but when the impediment has been removed
through the operation of the Holy Spirit, the native powers of the will
again become efficacious and active. (Tschackert, 524; Planck 4, 672;
Preger 2, 198; Luthardt, 211.) Frank remarks: "The example of the
temporarily impeded power of the magnet, which was repeated also at this
juncture [in the disputation at Weimar], immediately points to the
related papal doctrine, for the Catholic Andradius explains the dogma of
the _Tridentinum_ to this effect: The free will of natural man may be
compared to a chained prisoner who, though still in possession of his
locomotive powers, is nevertheless impeded by his fetters." (1, 136.)
Also the _Formula of Concord,_ evidently with a squint at Strigel,
rejects as a Pelagian error the teaching "that original sin is not a
despoliation or deficiency but only an external impediment to these
spiritual good powers, as when a magnet is smeared with garlic-juice,
whereby its natural power is not removed, but only hindered or that this
stain can be easily washed away as a spot from the face or a pigment
from the wall." (865, 22.)