Editing Total depravity (section)

{{Short description|Protestant theological doctrine}}
{{For|the 2016 album by the Veils|Total Depravity}}
[[File:Forbidden fruit.jpg|upright=1.6|thumb|A [[Sistine Chapel]] [[fresco]] depicts the expulsion of [[Adam and Eve]] from the garden of Eden for their sin of eating from the fruit of the [[Tree of the knowledge of good and evil]].]]
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{{Five Articles}}

'''Total depravity''' (also called '''radical corruption'''<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sproul|first=R. C.|date=March 25, 2017|title=TULIP and Reformed Theology: Total Depravity|url=https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/tulip-and-reformed-theology-total-depravity|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805035204/https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/tulip-and-reformed-theology-total-depravity|archive-date=August 5, 2021|access-date=August 5, 2021|website=Ligonier Ministries|quote=I like to replace the term ''total depravity'' with my favorite designation, which is ''radical corruption''. Ironically, the word ''radical'' has its roots in the Latin word for "root", which is ''radix'', and it can be translated ''root'' or ''core''.}}</ref> or '''pervasive depravity''') is a Protestant [[theology|theological]] [[doctrine]] derived from the concept of [[original sin]]. It teaches that, as a consequence of [[Fall of man|the Fall]], every person born into the world is enslaved to the service of [[sin]] as a result of their fallen nature and, apart from the [[Irresistible grace|efficacious (irresistible)]] or [[Prevenient grace|prevenient (enabling)]] [[Grace in Christianity|grace of God]], is completely unable to choose by themselves to follow [[God in Christianity|God]], refrain from [[evil]], or accept the gift of [[Salvation in Christianity|salvation]] as it is offered.

The doctrine is advocated to various degrees by many [[Protestant]] denominations, including [[Lutheranism]]<ref name=WELS-Compare>{{cite web |url=http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=10&cuItem_itemID=15094 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927073128/http://www.wels.net/cgi-bin/site.pl?1518&cuTopic_topicID=10&cuItem_itemID=15094 |archive-date=27 September 2009 |website=WELS Topical Q&A |title=Calvinism and Lutheranism Compared |publisher=[[Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod]] |quote='Total Depravity – Lutherans and Calvinists agree'. Yes this is correct. Both agree on the devastating nature of the fall and that man by nature has no power to aid in his conversions ... and that election to salvation is by grace. In Lutheranism the German term for election is ''Gnadenwahl'', election by grace—there is no other kind. |access-date=9 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last1=Andreä |first1=Jakob |author1-link=Jakob Andreä |last2=Chemnitz |first2=Martin |author2-link=Martin Chemnitz |last3=Selnecker |first3=Nikolaus |author3-link=Nikolaus Selnecker |last4=Chytraeus |first4=David |author4-link=David Chytraeus |last5=Musculus |first5=Andreas |author5-link=Andreas Musculus |last6=Körner |first6=Christoph |title=Solid Declaration of the Formula of Concord |url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/creeds3.iii.iv.html |year=1577}}</ref><ref>{{citation |editor-last=Melanchthon |editor-first=Philip |editor-link=Philip Melanchthon |title=The Augsburg Confession |url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Augsburg_Confession |year=1530}}</ref> and all [[Calvinism|Calvinist churches]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Canons of Dordt |url=https://reformed.org/documents/canons_of_dordt.html |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=reformed.org}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Westminster Assembly |title=Westminster Confession of Faith |author-link=Westminster Assembly |url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Westminster_Confession_of_Faith |year=1646}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Westminster Larger Catechism 1-50 |url=https://reformed.org/documents/wlc_w_proofs/WLC_001-050.html |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=reformed.org |at=Question 25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Heidelberg Catechism |url=https://reformed.org/documents/heidelberg.html |access-date=2023-05-20 |website=reformed.org |at=Question 8}}</ref> [[Arminian]] denominations, such as [[Methodist]]s, believe and teach total depravity, but with distinct differences,<ref>Arminius, James ''The Writings of James Arminius'' (three vols.), tr. [[James Nichols (printer)|James Nichols]] and W. R. Bagnall (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 1956), I:252.</ref><ref name= MQR/> the most important of which is the distinction between [[Irresistible Grace|irresistible grace]] and [[Prevenient Grace|prevenient grace]].<ref name="Arnold2020">{{cite web |last1=Arnold |first1=Johnathan |title=Do Wesleyan Arminians Believe in Total Depravity? |url=https://holyjoys.org/do-wesleyan-arminians-believe-in-total-depravity |publisher=Holy Joys |access-date=14 January 2022 |language=English |date=8 May 2020 |quote=Wesleyans and Calvinists primarily disagree on the nature of the grace that brings men to salvation. To answer the question, 'How do totally depraved sinners come to Christ?' Calvinists posit ''irresistible grace''; Wesleyans posit (universal, enabling, resistible) ''prevenient grace''.}}</ref>