SYNERGISM

As a word, synergism may have a correct denotation: the interplay and concausality of God's grace and man's cooperation in the process of justification and the working out of salvation. However, some proposals under the name of synergism reflect Semi-Pelagian doctrine.

In particular the term refers to P. melanchthon's defense of the human will under grace, especially in connection with the question of conversion. As early as 1521, in his Loci communes, he avoided any discussion of determinism as such, although he stated clearly that since all things happen necessarily according to divine predestination, there is no freedom in man's will. Each new edition of Loci (there were 80 before his death) furnished more evidence that men are genuinely συνεργοί (1 Cor3.9), that is, responsible agents to whom God entrusts the working out of His salvific design.

Sharing fully Luther's positive insight into the absolute gratuity of grace, Melanchthon nevertheless perceived the difficulties arising in the moral order from luther's description of man as simultaneously sinful and just. The two reformers earnestly studied scriptural sources to solve the antinomy. When in December 1525 Luther's De servo arbitrio appeared in reply to Erasmus's De libero arbitrio of the preceding year, Melanchthon rejoiced that the controversy was bringing the crucial problem out into the open.

A humanist by attraction, Melanchthon never completely subscribed to Luther's teaching on the ineradicable depravity of human nature. On the contrary, using an empirical, psychological approach, he developed his own vital intuition of self-sanctification in the ethical sense. Steering clear of Pelagianism, in the 1535 Loci he showed from the dialogical character of the Law that God initiates not only man's justification, but also his sanctification: "You shall know that when we strive within ourselves, when aroused by the promise, we call God and resist our distrust and other vicious desires, that is the very way God desires to convert us."

To grasp Melanchthon's thought requires a study of the evolution of his appreciation of the three conjoined causes: "The Word, the Holy Spirit, and the will not wholly inactive in its own weakness." For him faith was a gift of the Holy Spirit demanding a dynamic reaction from man for its acceptance. "In conceiving faith there is a struggle within us," he explained in the 1532 Commentary on Romans, the struggle precisely between man's power to refuse and his power to receive God's Word. Against the growing number of his monergistic opponents, he held that conversion can take place only when a man, conscious of his personal responsibility, gives a meaningful "Yes," in answer to God's call to him individually. Melanchthon acknowledged the fact that after conversion man continues to bear within himself the wounds of sin, but once regenerated through faith in the Word he is "sweetly helped by the Holy Spirit" to bear witness to the new life given him.

Melanchthon always kept Luther informed of changes in his theological stance. Conversant as he was with Melanchthon's Loci of 1535 and 1544 and his 1537 Examen ordinandorum, Luther refused to reedit his own writings, saying: "… by the grace of God we have better methodical works, among which Philip's is the best." In the 20th century, scholars began to see, within the structure of Lutheran theology, the importance of Melanchthon's doctrine of synergism.

See Also: lutheranism; free will and grace; imputation of justice and merit.

Bibliography: j. paquier, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, ed. a. vacant et al., (Paris 1903–50) 10.1:502–513. f. zoepfl, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rah ner (Freiberg 1957–65) 7:247–249. k. rahner, ibid. 9:1231. g. kawerau, The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, ed. s. m. jackson (Grand Rapids, Mich 1951–54) 9:223–225. c. l. manschreck, Melanchthon, The Quiet Reformer (New York 1958).

[k. t. hargrove]

Synergism

Synergism is a term used by toxicologists to describe the phenomenon in which a combination of chemicals has a toxic effect greater than the sum of its parts.

Malathion and Delnav are two organophosphate insecticides that were tested separately for the number of fish deaths they would cause at certain concentrations. When the two chemicals were combined, however, their toxicity was significantly greater than the individual tests would have led scientists to expect. The toxicity of the mixture, in such cases, is greater than the total toxicity of the individual chemicals.

In the manufacture of pesticides, toxic chemicals are deliberately combined to produce a synergistic effect, using an additive known as a "potentiator" or "synergist" to enhance the action of the basic active ingredient. Piperonyl butoxide, for example, is added to the insecticide rotenone to promote synergistic effects.

The study of unintended synergistic effects, however, is still in its early stages, and the majority of documented synergistic effects deal with toxicity to insects and fish. Laboratory studies on the effects of copper and cadmium on fish have established that synergistic interactions between multiple pollutants can have unanticipated effects. Both copper and cadmium are frequently released into the environment from a number of sources, without any precautions taken against possible synergistic impacts. Scientists speculate that there may be many similar occurrences of unpredicted and currently unknown synergistic toxicities operating in the environment.

Synergism has been cited as a reason to make environmental standards, such as the standards for water quality , more stringent. Current water quality standards for metals and organic compounds are derived from toxicological research on their individual effects on aquatic life. But pollutants discharged from a factory could meet all water quality standards and still harm aquatic life or humans because of synergistic interactions between compounds present in the discharge or in the receiving body of water. Many scientists have expressed reservations about current standards for individual chemicals and concern about the possible effects of synergism on the environment. But synergistic effects are difficult to isolate and prove under field conditions.

[Usha Vedagiri ]

RESOURCES

BOOKS

Connell, D. W., and G. J. Miller. Chemistry and Ecotoxicology of Pollution. New York: Wiley, 1984.

Rand, G. M., and S. R. Petrocelli. Fundamentals of Aquatic Toxicology. Bristol, PA: Hemisphere Publishing Corporation, 1985.

synergism (summation)
1. The phenomenon in which the combined action of two substances (e.g. drugs or hormones) produces a greater effect than would be expected from adding the individual effects of each substance. See also potentiation.

2. The combined action of one muscle (the synergist) with another (the agonist) in producing movement. Compare antagonism.

synergism The result of combined factors, each of which influences a process in the same direction but which, when combined, give a greater effect than they would acting separately.

synergism The result of combined factors, each of which influences a process in the same direction but which, when combined, give a greater effect than they would acting separately.