The Council of Orange dealt with the Semi-Pelagian doctrine that the human race, though fallen and possessed of a sinful nature, is still "good" enough to able to lay hold of the grace of God through an act of unredeemed human will.
THE CANONS OF THE COUNCIL OF ORANGE (529 AD)
CANON
1.
If anyone denies that it is the whole man, that is, both body and
soul, that was "changed for the worse" through the offense of Adam's sin, but
believes that the freedom of the soul remains unimpaired and that only the body
is subject to corruption, he is deceived by the error of Pelagius and
contradicts the scripture which says, "The soul that sins shall die" (Ezek.
18:20); and, "Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to anyone as
obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one whom you obey?" (Rom. 6:12);
and, "For whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved" (2 Pet. 2:19).
CANON
2.
If anyone asserts that Adam's sin affected him alone and not his
descendants also, or at least if he declares that it is only the death of the
body which is the punishment for sin, and not also that sin, which is the death
of the soul, passed through one man to the whole human race, he does injustice
to God and contradicts the Apostle, who says, "Therefore as sin came into the
world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men
because all men sinned" (Rom. 5:12).
CANON 3.
If anyone says that the grace of God can be conferred as a result of human
prayer, but that it is not grace itself which makes us pray to God, he
contradicts the prophet Isaiah, or the Apostle who says the same thing, "I have
been found by those who did not seek me; I have shown myself to those who did
not ask for me" (Rom 10:20, quoting Isa. 65:1).
CANON
4.
If anyone maintains that God awaits our will to be cleansed from
sin, but does not confess that even our will to be cleansed comes to us through
the infusion and working of the Holy Spirit, he resists the Holy Spirit himself
who says through Solomon, "The will is prepared by the Lord" (Prov. 8:35, LXX),
and the salutary word of the Apostle, "For God is at work in you, both to will
and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).
CANON 5.
If anyone says that not only the increase of faith but also its beginning and
the very desire for faith, by which we believe in Him who justifies the ungodly
and comes to the regeneration of holy baptism -- if anyone says that this
belongs to us by nature and not by a gift of grace, that is, by the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit amending our will and turning it from unbelief to faith and
from godlessness to godliness, it is proof that he is opposed to the teaching
of the Apostles, for blessed Paul says, "And I am sure that he who began a good
work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil.
1:6). And again, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is
not your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). For those who state that
the faith by which we believe in God is natural make all who are separated from
the Church of Christ by definition in some measure believers.
CANON 6.
If anyone says that God has mercy upon us when, apart from his grace, we
believe, will, desire, strive, labor, pray, watch, study, seek, ask, or knock,
but does not confess that it is by the infusion and inspiration of the Holy
Spirit within us that we have the faith, the will, or the strength to do all
these things as we ought; or if anyone makes the assistance of grace depend on
the humility or obedience of man and does not agree that it is a gift of grace
itself that we are obedient and humble, he contradicts the Apostle who says,
"What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7), and, "But by the grace
of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10).
CANON
7.
If anyone affirms that we can form any right opinion or make any
right choice which relates to the salvation of eternal life, as is expedient
for us, or that we can be saved, that is, assent to the preaching of the gospel
through our natural powers without the illumination and inspiration of the Holy
Spirit, who makes all men gladly assent to and believe in the truth, he is led
astray by a heretical spirit, and does not understand the voice of God who says
in the Gospel, "For apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5), and the word
of the Apostle, "Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as
coming from us; our competence is from God" (2 Cor. 3:5).
CANON 8.
If anyone maintains that some are able to come to the grace of baptism by mercy
but others through free will, which has manifestly been corrupted in all those
who have been born after the transgression of the first man, it is proof that
he has no place in the true faith. For he denies that the free will of all men
has been weakened through the sin of the first man, or at least holds that it
has been affected in such a way that they have still the ability to seek the
mystery of eternal salvation by themselves without the revelation of God. The
Lord himself shows how contradictory this is by declaring that no one is able
to come to him "unless the Father who sent me draws him" (John 6:44), as he
also says to Peter, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has
not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven" (Matt. 16:17), and as
the Apostle says, "No one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy Spirit" (1
Cor. 12:3).
CANON
9.
Concerning the succor of God. It is a mark of divine favor when we
are of a right purpose and keep our feet from hypocrisy and unrighteousness;
for as often as we do good, God is at work in us and with us, in order that we
may do so.
CANON
10.
Concerning the succor of God. The succor of God is to be ever
sought by the regenerate and converted also, so that they may be able to come
to a successful end or persevere in good works.
CANON
11.
Concerning the duty to pray. None would make any true prayer to
the Lord had he not received from him the object of his prayer, as it is
written, "Of thy own have we given thee" (1 Chron. 29:14).
CANON
12.
Of what sort we are whom God loves. God loves us for what we
shall be by his gift, and not by our own deserving.
CANON
13.
Concerning the restoration of free will. The freedom of will that
was destroyed in the first man can be restored only by the grace of baptism,
for what is lost can be returned only by the one who was able to give it. Hence
the Truth itself declares: "So if the Son makes you free, you will be free
indeed" (John 8:36).
CANON
14.
No mean wretch is freed from his sorrowful state, however great
it may be, save the one who is anticipated by the mercy of God, as the Psalmist
says, "Let thy compassion come speedily to meet us" (Ps. 79:8), and again, "My
God in his steadfast love will meet me" (Ps. 59:10).
CANON
15.
Adam was changed, but for the worse, through his own iniquity
from what God made him. Through the grace of God the believer is changed, but
for the better, from what his iniquity has done for him. The one, therefore,
was the change brought about by the first sinner; the other, according to the
Psalmist, is the change of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 77:10).
CANON
16.
No man shall be honored by his seeming attainment, as though it
were not a gift, or suppose that he has received it because a missive from
without stated it in writing or in speech. For the Apostle speaks thus, "For if
justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose" (Gal.
2:21); and "When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave
gifts to men" (Eph. 4:8, quoting Ps. 68:18). It is from this source that any
man has what he does; but whoever denies that he has it from this source either
does not truly have it, or else "even what he has will be taken away" (Matt.
25:29).
CANON
17.
Concerning Christian courage. The courage of the Gentiles is
produced by simple greed, but the courage of Christians by the love of God
which "has been poured into our hearts" not by freedom of will from our own
side but "through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Rom. 5:5).
CANON
18.
That grace is not preceded by merit. Recompense is due to good
works if they are performed; but grace, to which we have no claim, precedes
them, to enable them to be done.
CANON
19.
That a man can be saved only when God shows mercy. Human nature,
even though it remained in that sound state in which it was created, could be
no means save itself, without the assistance of the Creator; hence since man
cannot safe- guard his salvation without the grace of God, which is a gift, how
will he be able to restore what he has lost without the grace of God?
CANON
20.
That a man can do no good without God. God does much that is good
in a man that the man does not do; but a man does nothing good for which God is
not responsible, so as to let him do it.
CANON
21.
Concerning nature and grace. As the Apostle most truly says to
those who would be justified by the law and have fallen from grace, "If
justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose" (Gal.
2:21), so it is most truly declared to those who imagine that grace, which
faith in Christ advocates and lays hold of, is nature: "If justification were
through nature, then Christ died to no purpose." Now there was indeed the law,
but it did not justify, and there was indeed nature, but it did not justify.
Not in vain did Christ therefore die, so that the law might be fulfilled by him
who said, "I have come not to abolish them <the law and prophets> but to
fulfil them" (Matt. 5:17), and that the nature which had been destroyed by Adam
might be restored by him who said that he had come "to seek and to save the
lost" (Luke 19:10).
CANON
22.
Concerning those things that belong to man. No man has anything
of his own but untruth and sin. But if a man has any truth or righteousness, it
from that fountain for which we must thirst in this desert, so that we may be
refreshed from it as by drops of water and not faint on the way.
CANON
23.
Concerning the will of God and of man. Men do their own will and
not the will of God when they do what displeases him; but when they follow
their own will and comply with the will of God, however willingly they do so,
yet it is his will by which what they will is both prepared and instructed.
CANON
24.
Concerning the branches of the vine. The branches on the vine do
not give life to the vine, but receive life from it; thus the vine is related
to its branches in such a way that it supplies them with what they need to
live, and does not take this from them. Thus it is to the advantage of the
disciples, not Christ, both to have Christ abiding in them and to abide in
Christ. For if the vine is cut down another can shoot up from the live root;
but one who is cut off from the vine cannot live without the root (John
15:5ff).
CANON
25.
Concerning the love with which we love God. It is wholly a gift
of God to love God. He who loves, even though he is not loved, allowed himself
to be loved. We are loved, even when we displease him, so that we might have
means to please him. For the Spirit, whom we love with the Father and the Son,
has poured into our hearts the love of the Father and the Son (Rom. 5:5).
CONCLUSION.
And thus
according to the passages of holy scripture quoted above or the interpretations
of the ancient Fathers we must, under the blessing of God, preach and believe
as follows. The sin of the first man has so impaired and weakened free will
that no one thereafter can either love God as he ought or believe in God or do
good for God's sake, unless the grace of divine mercy has preceded him. We
therefore believe that the glorious faith which was given to Abel the
righteous, and Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and to all the saints
of old, and which the Apostle Paul <sic> commends in extolling them (Heb.
11), was not given through natural goodness as it was before to Adam, but was
bestowed by the grace of God. And we know and also believe that even after the
coming of our Lord this grace is not to be found in the free will of all who
desire to be baptized, but is bestowed by the kindness of Christ, as has
already been frequently stated and as the Apostle Paul declares, "For it has
been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in
him but also suffer for his sake" (Phil. 1:29). And again, "He who began a good
work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ" (Phil.
1:6). And again, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and it is not
your own doing, it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8). And as the Apostle says of
himself, "I have obtained mercy to be faithful" (1 Cor. 7:25, cf. 1 Tim. 1:13).
He did not say, "because I was faithful," but "to be faithful." And again,
"What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7). And again, "Every good
endowment and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of
lights" (Jas. 1:17). And again, "No one can receive anything except what is
given him from heaven" (John 3:27). There are innumerable passages of holy
scripture which can be quoted to prove the case for grace, but they have been
omitted for the sake of brevity, because further examples will not really be of
use where few are deemed sufficient.
According to the catholic faith we
also believe that after grace has been received through baptism, all baptized
persons have the ability and responsibility, if they desire to labor
faithfully, to perform with the aid and cooperation of Christ what is of
essential importance in regard to the salvation of their soul. We not only do
not believe that any are foreordained to evil by the power of God, but even
state with utter abhorrence that if there are those who want to believe so evil
a thing, they are anathema. We also believe and confess to our benefit that in
every good work it is not we who take the initiative and are then assisted
through the mercy of God, but God himself first inspires in us both faith in
him and love for him without any previous good works of our own that deserve
reward, so that we may both faithfully seek the sacrament of baptism, and after
baptism be able by his help to do what is pleasing to him. We must therefore
most evidently believe that the praiseworthy faith of the thief whom the Lord
called to his home in paradise, and of Cornelius the centurion, to whom the
angel of the Lord was sent, and of Zacchaeus, who was worthy to receive the
Lord himself, was not a natural endowment but a gift of God's kindness.