blog post on synergism - any thoughts?

[Matthew V]

G'day.

Over here in Australia we have a pretty sharp young theologian by the name of Michael Bird. He has written a number of books on Paul and Pauline studies, etc.
Here is his blog, which is normally quite good. However I discovered this post this morning which I found very disturbing. What do you think about this argument?

Euangelion: Synerism?

 

[Andres]

i think his argument is poor. He is taking away glory from God by ascribing salvation to man's work, even if it's a part. I believe he errs with his comment, "If "salvation" is contingent upon certain human responses, like faith repentance, then anywhere where you have a divine sovereignty/human responsibility tension, then you are gonna have some kind of synergism." He seems to forget the regeneration precedes faith/repentance and faith/repentance would never be possible without a solely mongergistic work of God. In other words, the only reason anyone can repent and believe is because God regenerates them first.

Also, if you want a sharp, young, Australian theologian may I recommend a one Rev Matthew Winzer?

 

[MW]

In the traditional debate with Arminianism "monergism" and "synergism" are not referring to the fact of human response but to the specific nature of the human response which is given to the divine call. Is that response the result of God's "work alone" or is it produced by man "working with" God? Monergism is descriptive of the former while synergism is descriptive of the latter.