Is man free or is God sovereign? Articulate and analyze the positions of Augustine and Pelagius.

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Is man free or is God sovereign? Articulate and analyze the positions of Augustine and Pelagius. Man is free but it is only by divine intervention. God planned for it to come to pass this way. God wished for man to exercise his will. Augustine and Pelagius both agreed on some of the basic tenets of the faith like whether or not man has a free will. However, they had differing views on things like original sin and the power of sin over our free will. Human Sin You can overcome sin but how? Augustine Augustine believed you could overcome sin only by relying on faith and receiving salvation through Jesus Christ. Before the Fall, we were free both to sin and not sin. Between the Fall and Redemption the only freedom we have left to us is freedom to sin. After the Fall, man now has the Grace of God working in us after redemption. We are free to sin and not to sin. (Gonzalez p.214) Pelagius Pelagius believed you could overcome sin by a constant effort of doing good deeds. There is no such thing as original sin separating us from God. He claimed that we came in to the world with complete freedom to sin, or not to sin. We are not separated from God and we are not separated because of a process of sin. The Fall Yes Adam fell, but who was affected? Augustine Augustine believed that The Fall affected all mankind. All mankind had a physical and spiritual death. Adam would have never died if it weren’t for the fall. Adam was capable of being immortal. Death resulted because of sin. Pelagius Pelagius believed the fall affected only Adam. Adam would have died nevertheless because all humans will die. Only Adam suffered a physical and spiritual death. Evil There is evil but are we born with it? Augustine Augustine believes evil is found outside and inside of us. We are born with this capacity to do
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