The Evangelical revival of the eighteenth-century had a variety of soteriological emphases but initially had one point in common: Salvation occurs by a work of the Spirit.
The Reformed wing of the movement was firmly planted in the Augustinian perspective through its Calvinistic participants. The Arminian wing began in the Semi-Augustinian position as a reflection of the classic Arminian doctrine through the preaching of John Wesley.
Is it proper to say that the Arminian doctrine allowed for a Semi-Augustinian position? Arminius himself taught that man could only act toward God in response to God and by the assistance of Divine Grace. He said, “But in his lapsed and sinful state, man is not capable, of and by himself, either to think, to will, or to do that which is really good; but it is necessary for him to be regenerated and renewed in his intellect, affections or will, and in all his powers, by God in Christ through the Holy Spirit, that he may be qualified rightly to understand, esteem, consider, will, and perform whatever is truly good. When he is made a partaker of this regeneration or renovation, I consider that, since he is delivered from sin, he is capable of thinking, willing and doing that which is good, but yet not without the continued aids of Divine Grace.” John Wesley, the chief proponent of classic Arminianism also taught that it was only through the work of prevenient grace that man could respond to God. Neither man taught that we had the capacity to act toward God or choose God apart from grace.
Yet eighteenth-century Arminianism shifted away from the classical Arminian concept toward an emphasis on free-will. Revivalism only further moved in a Semi-Pelagian direction.
Modern evangelism often teaches mental ascent as the way to salvation. The concept of “accepting Christ” is a new one. It is officially known as Semi-Pelagianism, but also is what one could call “Evangelical Pelagianism.” As Chris Bounds said, “This is the view of most generic evangelicals, or this is how most evangelicals function pragmatically.
This paper proposes to view the descent toward Semi-Pelagianism as a move toward heresy and offer answers to a reversal from the works of James Arminius himself.