What is Semipaginism?

According to the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church,

Semipaginism, quote, maintained that the first steps toward the Christian life were ordinarily taken by the human will, and that grace supervened only later.

The Evangelical Dictionary of Theology explains that the term semi-Pelagianism first appeared in 1577 to describe the fifth century view which

rejected Pelagian theology and respected Augustine but rejected some of the

implications of his views. Fifth century semi-Pelagians affirmed that the

unaided will performed the initial act of faith. the pivotal issue in semi-Pelagian theology

is the priority of the human will over the grace of God in the initial work of salvation.

Volume 1 of Integrative Theology states that the Semipalagians claimed sinners make the first move towards salvation by

choosing to repent and believe also quote the semi-palagian scheme of salvation thus may

be described by the statement quote I started to come and God helped me end quote

one more definition this one from a reform perspective, will be provided in order to

reinforce the argument that there is a broad consensus on the term semi-Pelagianism.

The Westminster Dictionary of Christian theology defines semi-Pelagianism as follows, quote,

a term which has been used to describe several

theories, which were thought to imply the first movement toward God is made by human efforts,

unaided by grace, end quote. Traditional Southern Baptist sometimes referred to as provisionism,

outright deny this perspective. We teach that God created mankind as responders, and God is always the initiator in the process leading up to our salvation.

God's gracious initiative always precedes man's response on provisionism.

Always.

Dr. Adam Harwood in the Journal of Baptist Theology and Ministry wrote the traditional statement

in no way prioritizes the human will over the grace of God in the initial work of salvation.

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