On the Articles: Article X

The Third Sunday after Easter
ALMIGHTY God, who showest to them that it be in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness: Grant unto all them that are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s religion, that they may forsake those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

X. Of Free-Will
The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith, and calling upon God: Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.

Much like Article IX, Article X builds on the issue of sin and how it affects our nature and our lives. God created mankind in his image and granted us free will, but owing to the effects of Adam’s sin, there are limits on that free will. Our nature is far from what it was intended to be, as we continue to bear the consequences of Adam’s sin.

This is not to suggest we no longer have free will, but rather that in our existing circumstances there are limits on what our will might permit us to do. Like a dog on a leash, we have freedom of action and movement within particular limits. As the Article suggests, that our free will does not in and of itself grant us the ability to return to a state of grace, but rather it is by God’s grace acting within us that we may return to God. It should be noted that the word “preventing” in this Article uses the archaic meaning of “to go before” rather than the more common modern use of stopping. So it does not mean Christ stops us, but rather Christ goes before us offering grace.

The concept of prevenient grace, using that same root, speaks to this topic. It is the grace infused into us that begins the call to return, even before we ever make a conscious decision to accept Christ’s offer of atonement, to be baptised and to submit ourselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The Article also speaks of the idea that nothing we do, of ourselves, is pleasant to God. To clarify, the Article is saying that apart from receiving Christ’s offer of salvation, we cannot earn favour with God. Until we receive salvation in Christ, we remain slaves to sin, and thus our actions reflect our servitude, no matter our desires. Similarly, until we have that freedom in Christ, we cannot truly choose to do anything pleasing to God, because what is truly pleasing to God remains outside of the range of our “free-will” because until we accept salvation and freedom in Christ, our will is not truly free.

Gerald Bray, in his reflections on the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, likens this concept to that of Alcoholics Anonymous. Alcoholics have a degree of Free Will and can even choose to come to an alcoholics anonymous gathering, but the first step towards recovery is always to admit to having a problem that they cannot resolve by their own strength.

It should be noted that there is a further doctrine of great importance towards the end of the Article where it notes that God’s grace works with us. This was an objection to many of the contienental reformers who denied any form of co-operation with God, even in a regenerated state, and agrees more closely to the Roman Catholic position on co-operation, articulated in the Council of Trent.

This again ties into the previous Article, and in spite of the main contradiction there, tends to distance the fully Augustinian notion which was adopted by Protestants of no room for co-operation with God and a much more limited free will. Instead it introduces a more semi-Pelagian notion (which the Eastern Orthodox would refer to as synergy). This view has been popularised in the Roman Catholic Church as well since Trent, with St Augustine’s views similarly being minimized. Essentially, it is by God’s grace that we are given the ncessary freedom within our free-will in order to choose what God desires, but upon our regeneration, it is not true that we have no free-will to turn from God or to displease him. God calls us to return, and offers us the opportunity to walk with him. Apart from that offer and apart from our accepting it, we do nothing to please God.

It is interesting to note that while there are superficial similarities to this Article and Article 18 of the Augsburg Confession, the similarities truly are superficial with different language and different doctrines being expounded. The use of the Augsburg Confession as the framing of some of the first Catholic articles leads some to presumptuously assume undue influence by the Confession over Anglican doctrine, but this Article illustrates that while there was a recognition of the existence of the Augsburg Confession (and other continental reformation doctrines and confessional statements) their mere existence and influence does not necessarily mean that the Thirty-Nine Articles adopted Protestant doctrines.