Which doctrine of regeneration gives God more glory---"monergistic" or "synergistic"?

Question

"Monergistic regeneration" - the doctrine that the Holy Spirit acts independently of the human will in the work of regeneration.

"Synergistic regeneration" - the doctrine that the human will cooperates with the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration.

Answer 1

Hi there Kid- great question!
The doctrine of regeneration as explained in the Bible is absolutely monergistic-and God rightly gets ALL the glory.
The notion of "synergistic" regeneration leaves the door open for self glorification, pride, and a false salvation based on "works" or "choice".
How does one dead in trespasses and sins and full of enmity towards God make a righteous choice in and of themselves?
Thinking one can "choose" to be born spiritually is as foolish as thinking one can "choose" to be born physically.
One must be brought to spiritual life by a gracious miracle of God, and then they will, without a doubt,choose Christ- but only because He first chose them.
I for one am so very grateful that salvation doesn't depend on me in any way, or I would most certainly be doomed.
To God ALONE be the glory!

Answer 2

I think this question brings out the other side of the coin, and how people feel about Man and his worthiness of Heaven. Calvinists will give no worth to Man at all, relying totally on God's grace. Arminians will place Man in a neutral position before the Lord, and you can see what happens in the "all you have to do" answers. God is supposedly more grace-giving in bestowing Free Will on Man, but carry the thought through and Man must take away from God's glory in order for this to happen. I believe you are correct, and Arminians can and must overlook this. Added: "mlcros" understands hyper Calvinism, not Calvinism. And "all you have to do" theology reappears as being "better." Not so.

Answer 3

Synergistic. Although the two concepts are not entirely opposites.
Monergism is the heresy that the Incarnate Christ only had one energy. And not only does it imply monergistic regeneration, it also opposes the Chalcedonian definition and denies the incarnation of Christ. The most concise summaries of synergistic regeneration (in my opinion) are in the works of Peter of Damascus and Maximos the Confessor.

Answer 4

None, it acts only on god's will not ours, Romans 8: 26 states, Likewise the spirit also helps in our weaknesses. The spirit himself makes intercession for us with groaning which can not be uttered.

Answer 5

if the Holy Spirit worked independent of the human will. then there would be no point the acceptance of the holy Spirit, or salvation.
we have to accept the leading of the holy spirit in our lives.
so it is the holy Spirit and the human will working in cooperation that completes the regeneration of who we are to be in Christ.

Answer 6

"You know; I'm not quite sure! "I believe the Churches are putting way too much emphasis on these "titles" to describe and confuse people; Were all not Biblically correct on these terms you guys use "However; I believe we should just let God do hi's weork and let him use us as he see's fit and pray on hi's name that whatever comes of it "Will be the best" In the end.
We can't be impatient why waiting on him; He will only do t6hings in hi's time. Waiting is the hardest part "but" we must have the faith and the trust in him. Not big fancy terms that going to confuse people.

Answer 7

I believe that if we truly have any part in our regeneration then we detract from God's amazing work.

Answer 8

Doctrine doesn't glorify God. Doctrine is some human's idea of what God wants.
What glorifies God is reading His Word and doing what it says, obeying His Word. Some of it's confusing but so much is so simple that if you do what you know you won't have time to worry about the tiny stuff.

Answer 9

If I answer this question do I get a DMin? Or maybe a PhD in
Epistemology? Hi Kidd!
I Cr 13;8a

Answer 10

Monergism of course. God gets all the glory, we get none.