The inks reveal Christ — and print Him in a person
The five inks show which Christ is revealed in Scripture. But printing does not stop there: that image is transferred to a living sheet — ‘until Christ is formed in you’. So many theological disputes are not about the inks, but about the paper, the passes and the run.
Only what loses Christ or replaces the press is called a defect here. Questions disputed within the historic faith are shown as different settings of one machine.Galatians 4:19 · 2 Corinthians 3:18
In every honest scheme the image comes from the form, not from the sheet: Christ is revealed in five inks, and it is He who is printed. The dispute is elsewhere — how the sheet comes under the press and whether it can refuse the ink. So monergism and synergism are shown as two settings of one press. Only a sheet that tries to print the image by itself is a defect.
A SETTING · DISPUTED WITHIN THE FAITH
Monergism
The press does everything — even the sheet's ability to take ink
01A dead sheet02The press changes the paper03Faith: the ink holds04The full impression
IN THE PRESS
The sheet is dead: on its own it does not take ink. The press first changes the paper itself (regeneration), and only then does the ink hold (faith). The sheet does not cooperate with the press; it comes alive under it.
WHAT IT MEANS
Salvation is entirely the work of God. Regeneration precedes faith, and faith is a gift rather than a human contribution. The Reformed and Lutheran traditions teach this, following Augustine.
IF PUSHED TOO FAR
Pushed too far, cyan and black flood the sheet: sovereignty and divine initiative are printed so densely that Christ's humanity and a living human response recede.
Ephesians 2:1–5 · John 3:3 · John 6:44
A SETTING · DISPUTED WITHIN THE FAITH
Synergism (Arminianism)
Grace prepares the sheet; the sheet may take or refuse the ink
01A sheet under grace02The sheet takes the ink03The full impression
IN THE PRESS
The press treats every sheet in advance (prevenient grace), so the paper becomes able to take ink. The press does not force its way through: the ink holds where the sheet does not resist. The image still comes entirely from the form.
WHAT IT MEANS
God acts first in every person, but grace can be resisted. Faith is a response made possible by grace. Arminians, Methodists, most Pentecostals and General Baptists teach this.
IF PUSHED TOO FAR
Pushed too far, the human decision takes centre stage: yellow begins to flood the sheet, and salvation shrinks to a moment of choice rather than a life under the press.
Titus 2:11 · John 1:12 · Revelation 3:20
A DEFECT · CHRIST IS LOST
Semi-Pelagianism
The sheet starts by itself; the press finishes
01The sheet inks itself02The press joins in03The start is not from the form
IN THE PRESS
The sheet lays the first layer without the form — by its own effort and its own ink. Only then does the press join in and print the rest. The beginning of the image belongs to the paper.
WHAT IT MEANS
The first step towards God is taken by the person, and grace answers that step. The teaching was condemned at the Council of Orange (529) and is rejected by Reformed and Arminians alike.
Romans 9:16 · John 15:5 · Philippians 2:13
A DEFECT · CHRIST IS LOST
Pelagianism
The sheet prints the image by itself, without the form
01No form02The sheet tries03Christ as an example
IN THE PRESS
No press is needed: the sheet can depict Christ by itself if it tries hard enough. What results is what a person can draw alone — the yellow of a good example, almost without the King, without God and without the Spirit's gold.
WHAT IT MEANS
A person is able to live righteously by their own strength; Christ is above all a model to imitate. Rejected by the Council of Carthage (418) and by the whole historic Church.