When the impediment caused by original sin has been removed, and the
will liberated and aroused to activity, man, according to Strigel, is
able also to cooperate in his conversion. At Weimar he formulated the
point at issue as follows: "The question is whether [in conversion] the
will is present idle, as an inactive, indolent subject, or, as the
common saying is, in a purely passive way; or whether, when grace
precedes, the will follows the efficacy of the Holy Spirit, and in some
manner assents--_an vero praeeunte gratia voluntas comitetur
efficaciam Spiritus Sancti et aliquo modo annuat_." (Luthardt, 222.)
Following are some of his answers to this question: When incited by the
Spirit, the will is able to assent somewhat and to pray for assistance.
_Inter trepidationem utcumque assentitur, simul petens auxilium._
Contrition and faith, as well as other virtues, are gifts of God, "but
they are given to those only who hear and contemplate God's Word,
embrace it by assenting to it, strive against their doubts and in this
conflict pray for the help of God." (230.) The Holy Ghost converts
those "who hear the Word of God and do not resist stubbornly, but
consent," and God assists such only "as follow His call and pray for
assistance." (229.) "The will and heart do not resist altogether, but
desire divine consolation, when, indeed, they are assisted by the Holy
Ghost." "The will is neither idle nor contumacious; but, in a manner,
desires to obey." (Planck 4, 682.) "Man is dead [spiritually] in as far
as he is not able to heal his wounds with his own powers; but when the
remedy is offered him by the Holy Spirit and the Word, then he, at
least in receiving the benefit, is not altogether dead; for otherwise a
conversion could not occur. For I cannot conceive a conversion where
the process is that of the flame consuming straw (_denn ich kann mir
keine Bekehrung vorstellen, bei der es zugeht, wie wenn die Flamme das
Stroh ergreift_). The nature of the will is such that it can reject the
Holy Spirit and the Word; or, being supported by the Holy Spirit, can
in a manner will and obey. The remedy is heavenly and divine, but the
will--not the will alone, but the will supported by the Holy Spirit--is
able to accept it. One must ascribe at least a feeble consent and an
'Aye' to the will, which is already supported by the Holy Spirit."
(Preger 2, 208.) "In a betrothal, consent is necessary; conversion is a
betrothal of Christ to the Church and its individual members; hence
consent is required," which the will is able to give when assisted by
the Holy Spirit. (Luthardt, 224.)
It is, however, only a languid, wavering, and weak consent which man is
able to render (_qualiscumque assensio languida, trepida et imbecilla_).
"Compared with the divine operation," Flacius reports Strigel as having
said, "the cooperation of our powers in conversion is something
extremely small (_quiddam pertenue prorsus_). If, after drinking with a
rich man, he paying a _taler_ and I a _heller,_ I would afterwards boast
that I had been drinking and paying with him--such is cooperation,
_talis est synergia._" (Planck 4, 677; Luthardt, 220. 222.) According to
Strigel, therefore, man is not purely passive, but plays an active part
in his conversion. With Melanchthon and Pfeffinger he maintained: "These
three concur in conversion: the Holy Spirit, who moves the hearts; the
voice of God; the will of man, which assents to the divine voice.
_Concurrunt in conversione haec tria: Spiritus Sanctus movens corda, vox
Dei, voluntas hominis, quae voci divinae assentitur._" (Tschackert,
524.)
Flacius declared with respect to the issue formulated by Strigel: "I
explain my entire view as follows: Man is purely passive (_homo se habet
pure passive_). If you consider the native faculty of the will, its
willing and its powers, then he is purely passive when he receives (_in
accipiendo_). But if that divinely bestowed willing or spark of faith
kindled by the Spirit is considered, then this imparted willing and this
spark is not purely passive. But the Adamic will does not only not
operate or cooperate, but, according to the inborn malice of the heart,
even operates contrarily (_verum etiam pro nativa malitia cordis sui
contra operatur_)." (Planck 4, 697.) Thus Flacius clearly distinguished
between cooperation _before_ conversion (which he rejected absolutely)
and cooperation _after_ conversion (which he allowed). And pressing this
point, he said to Strigel: "I ask whether you say that the will
cooperates _before_ the gift of faith or _after_ faith has been received
whether you say that the will cooperates from natural powers, or in so
far as the good volition has been bestowed by the renovation of the Holy
Spirit. _Quaero, an dicas, voluntatem cooperari ante donum fidei aut
post acceptam fidem; an dicas, cooperari ex naturalibus viribus aut
quatenus ex renovatione Spiritus Sancti datum est bene velle._" (Seeberg
4, 492.) Again: I shall withdraw the charge of Pelagianism if you will
declare it as your opinion "that only the regenerated, sanctified,
renewed will cooperates, and not the other human, carnal, natural will."
"Confess openly and expressly and say clearly: 'I affirm that man
cooperates from faith and the good will bestowed by God, not from the
will he brings with him from his natural Adam--_quod homo cooperetur ex
fide et bono velle divinitus donato, non ex eo, quod attulit ex suo
naturali Adamo.'_" "We say, Only the regenerate will cooperates; if you
[Strigel] say the same, the controversy is at an end." Strigel, however,
who, to use a phrase of Luther (St. L. 18, 1673), was just as hard to
catch as Proteus of old, did not reply with a definite yes or no, but
repeated that it was only a weak assent (_qualiscumque assensio languida
trepida et imbecilla_) which man was able to render when his will was
incited and supported by the prevenient grace of the Holy Spirit.
(Preger 2, 217; Luthardt, 217. 222. 227; Frank 1, 115.)