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Charitably refuting Astro and the belief that predestination after the consideration of merits (post praevisa merita for the ostentatious) is a "Pelagian" anathematization of the Gospel: 🧵🧵🧵
As we must first define terms, "Pelagianism" can be summed up by the propositions below that were condemned by Carthage 418. Notice that beliefs on predestination are wholly absent.
Now, it is true that Augustine declared predestination after the consideration of merits to be a Pelagian error, but this charge is irrelevant insofar as the the formal condemnations of Pelagius do not condemn his views on predestination.
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Furthermore, Astro declares predestination according to foreseen merits to derive its origin from Pelagius, but Augustine, in his earlier life, believed in the selfsame doctrine before he had ever even heard the name of Pelagius:
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The true orthodox view is predestination after the consideration of merits, and I will employ the most holy saints Jerome, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, John Chrysostom, John of Damascus, and even Prosper as support. Know, the amount I could employ is endless.
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Before getting into explicit mentions of predestination, Astro does well to consider Romans 9. But contrary to what is "clearly" taught, consider the readings of these men, including the greatest Scriptural exegete - Saint Jerome.
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Notice how the idea that God's election is "solely dependent on mercy and good-pleasure of the Divine Will" is completely contradicted, demonstrating that Romans 9 is not so clear and straightforward as Astro makes it seems.
Now, I will, by the authority of the holy authors that I invoke, prove that predestination after the consideration of merits, which Astro calls antithetical to the Gospel, is correct.
Starting with the great Saint Jerome. Take notice of how in the last image, Jerome speaks of gnostic heretics who posit diverse natures that are assigned to differing fates. I will speak more on this later. What is important now is Jerome's predestination post praevisa merita.
The foremost scholar on Saint Jerome, Thomas P. Scheck, and others on Jerome's views:
Saint Justin Martyr. Also notice how profusely anti-sola fide this divine saint is:
Donato Ogliari on Saint Justin's teachings:
Saint Irenaeus:
Saint John Chrysostom. Notice how Saint John speaks of free will preceding grace in the second quote. I believe this can easily be understood in an orthodox manner, but it's more important now to understand how this view implicates predestination according to foreseen merits:
Saint Gregory of Nyssa, the Father of Fathers. Carefully consider how this holy man says that God doesn't even will (in a physical premotion sense) that some are saved:
Saint Ambrose of Milan:
This passage from "Hexameron, Paradise, Cain, and Abel" is sometimes used to argue that Ambrose believed in predestination before the consideration of merits. The argument fails because Ambrose is referencing the incarnation of Jesus, which no man merited, and not predestination.
Saint John of Damascus. Perceive how similar some of these statements are with the above passage from Gregory of Nyssa:
Saint Prosper of Aquitaine himself. This sentiment is so unknown in his earlier works that some have thought that this work is misattributed to Prosper, but this is not the case:
Various scholars pointing out that Prosper moderated his once purely Augustinian doctrine on predestination:
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