Psalm 99:5 "Worship at his Footstool" or "Worship his Footstool"

In a recent debate, Craig Truglia argued that Psalm 99:5 should be read, "worship his footstool," contrary to every English translation that I could find (example of a long list).  Craig seemed to suggest that Young's Literal Translation had such a reading, but the edition in the list I provided does not support Craig's assertion.

The ancient church did not always correctly interpret the Old Testament, sometimes because of the issue of a second order translation, or simply a faulty Greek translation.  By way of exception, Jerome understands the text not as "worship his footstool" but "worship at his footstool."  Thus, Jerome (in his Letter 46) argues that it refers to Jerusalem. He makes a similar use of the phrase to refer to Bethlehem in Letter 108.

There are, however, authors who interpreted the text as "worship his footstool." Nevertheless, consider how they apply it.  I omit from the list places where the text is merely quoted without discussion.

• Augustine argues that we worship God's footstool by worshipping Christ (link to Augustine's exposition on Psalm 99).
• Ambrose makes the same argument at chapter 11, sections 75-79, of On the Holy Spirit, Book III.  Considering the close relationship of Augustine to Ambrose, we may guess that the former got it from the latter.
• Gregory of Nyssa has a different understanding.  In On the Holy Spirit, Against the Macedonians, he writes: "every height of man's ability falls below the grandeur of the Spirit (for that is what the Word means in the metaphor of footstool)," to explain the meaning in his citation: "still when one shall have reached the highest limit of human faculties, the utmost height and magnificence of idea to which the mind can ever attain, even then one must believe it is far below the glory that belongs to Him, according to the words in the Psalms, that after exalting the Lord our God, even then ye scarcely worship the footstool beneath His feet: and the cause of this dignity being so incomprehensible is nothing else than that He is holy."

There may be more patristic commentaries out there on the subject.  That said, I don't think there is any reason to accept either Craig's translation or his interpretation of that translation, either on the basis of the Hebrew language or on the basis of patristic tradition.

Methodius of Olympus on the Woman of Revelation 12

 Methodius (d. 312), The Symposium aka the Banquet of the Ten Virgins, Discourse 8, Chapters 4-8:

Chapter 4.

Now, then, O Virgins, daughters of undefiled temperance, let us strive for a life of blessedness and the kingdom of heaven. And unite with those before you in an earnest desire for the same glory of chastity, caring little for the things of this life. For immortality and chastity do not contribute a little to happiness, raising up the flesh aloft, and drying up its moisture and its clay-like weight, by a greater force of attraction. And let not the uncleanness which you hear creep in and weigh you down to the earth; nor let sorrow transform your joy, melting away your hopes in better things; but shake off incessantly the calamities which come upon you, not defiling your mind with lamentations. Let faith conquer wholly, and let its light drive away the visions of evil which crowd around the heart. For, as when the moon brightly shining fills the heaven with its light, and all the air becomes clear, but suddenly the clouds from the west, enviously rushing in, for a little while overshadow its light, but do not destroy it, since they are immediately driven away by a blast of the wind; so you also, when causing the light of chastity to shine in the world, although pressed upon by afflictions and labors, do not grow weary and abandon your hopes. For the clouds which come from the Evil One are driven away by the Spirit, if you, like your Mother, who gives birth to the male Virgin in heaven, fear nothing the serpent that lies in wait and plots against you; concerning whom I intend to discourse to you more plainly; for it is now time.

John, in the course of the Apocalypse, says: Revelation 12:1-6 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: and she, being with child, cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. So far we have given, in brief, the history of the woman and the dragon. But to search out and explain the solution of them is beyond my powers. Nevertheless, let me venture, trusting in Him who commanded to search the Scriptures. John 5:39 If, then, you agree with this, it will not be difficult to undertake it; for you will quite pardon me, if I am unable sufficiently to explain the exact meaning of the Scripture.

Chapter 5. 

The woman who appeared in heaven clothed with the sun, and crowned with twelve stars, and having the moon for her footstool, and being with child, and travailing in birth, is certainly, according to the accurate interpretation, our mother, O virgins, being a power by herself distinct from her children; whom the prophets, according to the aspect of their subjects, have called sometimes Jerusalem, sometimes a Bride, sometimes Mount Zion, and sometimes the Temple and Tabernacle of God. For she is the power which is desired to give light in the prophet, the Spirit crying to her: Isaiah 60:1-4 Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory shall be seen upon you. And the Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about, and see; all they gather themselves together, they come to you: your sons shall come from far, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. It is the Church whose children shall come to her with all speed after the resurrection, running to her from all quarters. She rejoices receiving the light which never goes down, and clothed with the brightness of the Word as with a robe. For with what other more precious or honorable ornament was it becoming that the queen should be adorned, to be led as a Bride to the Lord, when she had received a garment of light, and therefore was called by the Father? Come, then, let us go forward in our discourse, and look upon this marvelous woman as upon virgins prepared for a marriage, pure and undefiled, perfect and radiating a permanent beauty, wanting nothing of the brightness of light; and instead of a dress, clothed with light itself; and instead of precious stones, her head adorned with shining stars. For instead of the clothing which we have, she had light; and for gold and brilliant stones, she had stars; but stars not such as those which are set in the invisible heaven, but better and more resplendent, so that those may rather be considered as their images and likenesses.

Chapter 6. 

Now the statement that she stands upon the moon, as I consider, denotes the faith of those who are cleansed from corruption in the laver of regeneration, because the light of the moon has more resemblance to tepid water, and all moist substance is dependent upon her. The Church, then, stands upon our faith and adoption, under the figure of the moon, until the fullness of the nations come in, laboring and bringing forth natural men as spiritual men; for which reason too she is a mother. For just as a woman receiving the unformed seed of a man, within a certain time brings forth a perfect man, in the same way, one should say, does the Church conceive those who flee to the Word, and, forming them according to the likeness and form of Christ, after a certain time produce them as citizens of that blessed state. Whence it is necessary that she should stand upon the laver, bringing forth those who are washed in it. And in this way the power which she has in connection with the laver is called the moon, because the regenerate shine being renewed with a new ray, that is, a new light. Whence, also, they are by a descriptive term called newly-enlightened; the moon ever showing forth anew to them the spiritual full moon, namely, the period and the memorial of the passion, until the glory and the perfect light of the great day arise.

Chapter 7. 

If any one, for there is no difficulty in speaking distinctly, should be vexed, and reply to what we have said: But how, O virgins, can this explanation seem to you to be according to the mind of Scripture, when the Apocalypse plainly defines that the Church brings forth a male, while you teach that her labor-pains have their fulfilment in those who are washed in the laver? We will answer, But, O faultfinder, not even to you will it be possible to show that Christ Himself is the one who is born. For long before the Apocalypse, the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word was fulfilled. And John speaks concerning things present and things to come. But Christ, long ago conceived, was not caught up to the throne of God when He was brought forth, from fear of the serpent injuring Him. But for this was He begotten, and Himself came down from the throne of the Father, that He should remain and subdue the dragon who made an assault upon the flesh. So that you also must confess that the Church labors and gives birth to those who are baptized. As the spirit says somewhere in Isaiah: Isaiah 66:7-8 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. From whom did he flee? Surely from the dragon, that the spiritual Zion might bear a masculine people, who should come back from the passions and weakness of women to the unity of the Lord, and grow strong in manly virtue.

Chapter 8. 

Let us then go over the ground again from the beginning, until we come in course to the end, explaining what we have said. Consider if the passage seems to you to be explained to your mind. For I think that the Church is here said to give birth to a male; since the enlightened receive the features, and the image, and the manliness of Christ, the likeness of the form of the Word being stamped upon them, and begotten in them by a true knowledge and faith, so that in each one Christ is spiritually born. And, therefore, the Church swells and travails in birth until Christ is formed in us, Galatians 4:19 so that each of the saints, by partaking of Christ, has been born a Christ. According to which meaning it is said in a certain scripture, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm, as though those who were baptized into Christ had been made Christs by communication of the Spirit, the Church contributing here their clearness and transformation into the image of the Word. And Paul confirms this, teaching it plainly, where he says: Ephesians 3:14-17 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened I with might by His Spirit in the inner man; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. For it is necessary that the word of truth should be imprinted and stamped upon the souls of the regenerate.

Victorinus of Pettau on the Ark of Revelation 11 and the Woman of Revelation 12

Victorinus of Pettau (d. 303), Commentary on the Apocalypse, at Revelation 11:19 and 12:1 (consecutive verses):

11:19. And the temple of God was opened which is in heaven. The temple opened is a manifestation of our Lord. For the temple of God is the Son, as He Himself says: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. And when the Jews said, Forty and six years was this temple in building, the evangelist says, He spoke of the temple of His body.

And there was seen in His temple the ark of the Lord's testament. The preaching of the Gospel and the forgiveness of sins, and all the gifts whatever that came with Him, he says, appeared therein.

12:1. And there was seen a great sign in heaven. A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. And being with child, she cried out travailing, and bearing torments that she might bring forth. The woman clothed with the sun, and having the moon under her feet, and wearing a crown of twelve stars upon her head, and travailing in her pains, is the ancient Church of fathers, and prophets, and saints, and apostles, which had the groans and torments of its longing until it saw that Christ, the fruit of its people according to the flesh long promised to it, had taken flesh out of the selfsame people. Moreover, being clothed with the sun intimates the hope of resurrection and the glory of the promise. And the moon intimates the fall of the bodies of the saints under the obligation of death, which never can fail. For even as life is diminished, so also it is increased. Nor is the hope of those that sleep extinguished absolutely, as some think, but they have in their darkness a light such as the moon. And the crown of twelve stars signifies the choir of fathers, according to the fleshly birth, of whom Christ was to take flesh.

Hippolytus on the Woman of Revelation of 12

Hippolytus of Rome (d. 235), On Christ and Antichrist, Sections 61-62, states: 

60. Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary, John also speaks thus: And I saw a great and wondrous sign in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who is to rule all the nations: and the child was caught up unto God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has the place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And then when the dragon saw it, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man- child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast (out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast) out of his mouth. And the dragon was angry with the woman, and went to make war with the saints of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.

61. By the woman then clothed with the sun, he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father's word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by the moon under her feet he referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, upon her head a crown of twelve stars, refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded. And those, she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered, mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. And she brought forth, he says, a man-child, who is to rule all the nations; by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words, her child was caught up unto God and to His throne, signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool. And the dragon, he says, saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the man- child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church, which flees from city to city, and seeks conceal-meat in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defense than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.

Frédéric Spanheim, Jr. on Historic Semi-Pelagianism

Frederick Spanheim the Younger, wrote a book of church history, known as Ecclesiastical Annals.

From page 264 of "Ecclesiastical Annals" (in the source, the author's name is spelled Freidrick Spanheim) 

(source)  This work was originally written in the 1690s or so, with the English translation coming much later.

It is interesting, of course, to note Spanheim's willingness to identify the label "Semi-Pelagian" with John Cassian, Faustus of Riez, Vincent of Lerins, Gennadius of Marseilles, Honoratus of Marseilles, and even Hilary of Arles.

The points he identifies:

• Free will producing the beginning of goodness, faith, and conversion
• Co-operation of God and man and of nature with grace 

Arminius Against the Label of Semi-Pelagianism

In 1607 or shortly thereafter, Arminius wrote a Declaration of his sentiments on various subjects including Perseverance of the Saints.   One of the articles under that heading is provided below (as found at this link):

ARTICLE XXX (X.)

It may admit of discussion, whether Semi-Pelagianism is not real Christianity.

ANSWER

In a certain lecture I said, that it would be easy, under the pretext of Pelagianism, to condemn all those things of which we do not approve, if we may invent half, quarter, three-fourths, four-fifths Pelagianism, and so upwards. And I added, that it might admit of discussion whether Semi-Pelagian is not real Christianity. By these remarks it was not my wish to patronize Pelagian doctrine; but I was desirous to intimate, that something might be accounted as Semi-Pelagianism which does not depart from the truth of Christian doctrine. For as, when a departure is once made from the truth, the descent towards falsehood becomes more and more rapid; so, by receding from falsehood, it is possible for men to arrive at truth, which is often accustomed to stand as the mean between two extremes of falsehood. Such indeed is the state of the matter in Pelagianism and Manicheism. If any man can enter on a middle way between these two heresies, he will be a true Catholic, neither inflicting an injury on Grace, as the Pelagians do, nor on Free Will as do the Manichees. Let the Refutation be perused which St. Augustine wrote against both these heresies, and it will appear that he makes this very acknowledgement. For this reason it has happened, that, for the sake of confirming their different opinions, St. Augustine’s words, when writing against the Manichees, have been frequently quoted by the Pelagians; and those which he wrote against the Pelagians, have been quoted by the Manichees.

This, therefore, is what I intended to convey; and that my brethren may understand my meaning, I declare openly, "that it will be quite as easy a task for me to convict the sentiments of some among them of Manicheism, and even of Stoicism, as they will be really capable of convicting others of Pelagianism, whom they suspect of holding that error." But I wish us all to abstain from odious names of this description, as they are employed without producing any benefit. For he who is accused will either deny that his sentiments are the same as those of Pelagius; or, if he acknowledges the existence of a similarity, he will say that Pelagius was wrongly condemned by the Church. It would be better then to omit these epithets, and to confer solely about the matter itself; unless, approaching to the opinion of the Papists, we hold that what has once been determined by the Church, cannot be drawn into controversy.

Arminius viewed his position half-way between two opposite errors.  It was evidently in that sense that he suggested that maybe "Semi-Pelagianism" is real Christianity.  Not that his position was half-way between truth and Pelagianism, but halfway between two errors.

Arminius' focus seems to be on the Grace versus Freedom of the Will spectrum, as it pertains to Pelagius (as distinct from the Manichees in his understanding of them).       

Arminus' suggestion was that all this labelling amounted to name-calling, and he thought it would be better to avoid the name-calling and focus on the question of the theological substance, rather than the label.

Other General-Purpose Dictionary Definitions of Semi-Pelagianism (in the English language)

In a previous post we covered the 1913 Oxford English Dictionary's definitions of Semi-Pelagian and Semi-Pelagianism (link to that post).  What about other general-purpose dictionaries of the English language?

Webster's 1828 (website version):

• SEMI-PELA'GIANISM, noun The doctrines or tenets of the Semi-pelagians, supra.
• SEMI-PELA'GIAN, noun In ecclesiastical history, the Semi-pelagians are persons who retain some tincture of the doctrines of pelagius. See Pelegianism. They hold that God has not by predestination dispensed his grace to one more than another; that Christ died to all men; that the grace purchased by Christ and necessary to salvation, is offered to all men; that man, before he receives grace, is capable of faith and holy desires; and that man being born free, is capable of accepting grace, or of resisting its influences.
• SEMI-PELA'GIAN, adjective Pertaining to the Semi-pelagians, or other tenets.

Webster's 1913 (via website):

Sem`i-Pe`la´gi`an`ism   Pronunciation: sĕm`ĭ`pė`lā´jĭ`an`ĭz'm

n. 1. The doctrines or tenets of the Semi-Pelagians.

Sem`i-Pe`la´gi`an

n. 1. (Eccl. Hist.) A follower of John Cassianus, a French monk (died about 448), who modified the doctrines of Pelagius, by denying human merit, and maintaining the necessity of the Spirit's influence, while, on the other hand, he rejected the Augustinian doctrines of election, the inability of man to do good, and the certain perseverance of the saints.

a. 1. Of or pertaining to the Semi-Pelagians, or their tenets.

Merriam-Webster (website version):

semi-pelagianism

"+

often capitalized S & usually capitalized P

: the doctrines of semi-Pelagians that were condemned by a synod at Orange in a.d. 529

semi-pelagian

noun

plural-s

often capitalized S & usually capitalized P

: a person (as a theologian of a 5th or 6th century monastery in Gaul) holding that man requires special help and not merely general guidance from God to overcome original sin, that such help is offered freely to all men, that each man must of his own initiative accept or reject this special divine help, that the individual and not God takes the first step leading to his salvation, and that God's grace toward him is conditioned by his own attitude of acceptance or rejection

semi-pelagian

adjective

"

often capitalized S & usually capitalized P

: of or relating to semi-Pelagians or semi-Pelagianism

I add the following as a summary of the takeaways from these three general-purpose dictionaries:

• "some tincture of the doctrines of Pelagius"
• God has not by predestination dispensed his grace to one more than another
• Christ died to all men
• the grace purchased by Christ and necessary to salvation, is offered to all men
• man, before he receives grace, is capable of faith and holy desires
• man being born free, is capable of accepting grace, or of resisting its influences
• Cassian's views, which included denying human merit and maintaining the necessity of the Spirit's influence but also 
• rejecting 
• Augustinian election,  
• the inability of man to do good, and 
• the certain perseverance of the saints
• Doctrines condemned by Orange (529)
• 5th or 6th Century Gallic monks (or those like them) who believed:
• man requires special help and not merely general guidance from God to overcome original sin
• such help is offered freely to all men
• each man must of his own initiative accept or reject this special divine help
• the individual and not God takes the first step leading to his salvation
• God's grace toward him is conditioned by his own attitude of acceptance or rejection

Defining Semi-Pelagianism - the Lutheran Take

While Reformed Theodore Beza (1556) and Roman Catholic Nicholas Sanders (1571) may have been the first to use the label "Semi-Pelagianism," the first (and perhaps only) conciliar use of the term is in the Lutheran Epitome or Formula of Concord (1577).

"The Formula of Concord contains," according to Nicholas Hoppmann (link to article), "the most specific condemnations of Calvinism found in the Lutheran Confessions."  Hoppmann goes on to explain that after Luther's passing in 1546, the Lutheran churches began to be led by Phillip Melanchthon, but tension arose, and the Lutheran churches became divided amongst each other.  Some softened their position on the Lord's Supper to allow Calvinists or even adopted the Heidelberg Catechism, which is associated with Calvin.  The Calvinist Second Helvetic Confession of 1566 further unified Calvinist churches internationally.  

 Naturally, there was an effort to reunify Lutherans.  Hoppmann explains it thus:

As part of the German princes’ continuing attempt to unify the Lutheran Church, in 1576 Elector August of Saxony commissioned Jacob Andreae to organize a team of theologians from the Holy Roman Empire’s Lutheran principalities for the purpose of writing a confession that would bring an end to internal disagreements. The group led by Andreae had a very pro-Luther, anti-Calvinist, and anti-Melanchthonian point of view. It contained many of Melanchthon’s former students, but they had all distanced themselves from their master’s views on human potential and the toleration of Calvinism.

These six men met in Torgua in 1576. The group composed what would eventually become the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, which condemned many of the radical teachings of the opposing Lutheran parties and sharply attacked Calvinism. They then sent the Epitome to all the Lutheran principalities of the Holy Roman Empire to be examined by the various princes’ theologians and returned with suggestions. After the critiques returned, the authors explained the Epitome further, in 1577, by writing the Solid Declaration. They then sent it out for subscription in the various principalities.

The section on Free Will (section II of the Formula) is the part where we read of Semi-Pelagian error.  Naturally, the discussion appears under the "Negative Theses" of that section:

NEGATIVE THESES: Contrary False Doctrine.

[7] Accordingly, we reject and condemn all the following errors as contrary to the standard of God’s Word:

[8] 1. The delirium [insane dogma] of philosophers who are called Stoics, as also of the Manicheans, who taught that everything that happens must so happen, and cannot happen otherwise, and that everything that man does, even in outward things, he does by compulsion, and that he is coerced to evil works and deeds, as inchastity, robbery, murder, theft, and the like.

[9] 2. We reject also the error of the gross Pelagians, who taught that man by his own powers, without the grace of the Holy Ghost, can turn himself to God, believe the Gospel, be obedient from the heart to God’s Law, and thus merit the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

[10] 3. We reject also the error of the Semi-Pelagians, who teach that man by his own powers can make a beginning of his conversion, but without the grace of the Holy Ghost cannot complete it.

[11] 4. Also, when it is taught that, although man by his free will before regeneration is too weak to make a beginning, and by his own powers to turn himself to God, and from the heart to be obedient to God, yet, if the Holy Ghost by the preaching of the Word has made a beginning, and therein offered His grace, then the will of man from its own natural powers can add something, though little and feebly, to this end, can help and cooperate, qualify and prepare itself for grace, and embrace and accept it, and believe the Gospel.

[12] 5. Also, that man, after he has been born again, can perfectly observe and completely fulfil God’s Law, and that this fulfilling is our righteousness before God, by which we merit eternal life.

[13] 6. Also, we reject and condemn the error of the Enthusiasts, who imagine that God without means, without the hearing of God’s Word, also without the use of the holy Sacraments, draws men to Himself, and enlightens, justifies, and saves them. (Enthusiasts we call those who expect the heavenly illumination of the Spirit [celestial revelations] without the preaching of God’s Word.)

[14] 7. Also, that in conversion and regeneration God entirely exterminates the substance and essence of the old Adam, and especially the rational soul, and in conversion and regeneration creates a new essence of the soul out of nothing.

[15] 8. Also, when the following expressions are employed without explanation, namely, that the will of man before, in, and after conversion resists the Holy Ghost, and that the Holy Ghost is given to those who resist Him intentionally and persistently; for, as Augustine says, in conversion God makes willing persons out of the unwilling and dwells in the willing.

[16] As to the expressions of ancient and modern teachers of the Church, when it is said: Deus trahit, sed volentem trahit, i. e., God draws, but He draws the willing; likewise, Hominis voluntas in conversione non est otiosa, sed agit aliquid, i. e., In conversion the will of man is not idle, but also effects something, we maintain that, inasmuch as these expressions have been introduced for confirming [the false opinion concerning] the powers of the natural free will in man’s conversion, against the doctrine of God’s grace, they do not conform to the form of sound doctrine, and therefore, when we speak of conversion to God, justly ought to be avoided.

[17] But, on the other hand, it is correctly said that in conversion God, through the drawing of the Holy Ghost, makes out of stubborn and unwilling men willing ones, and that after such conversion in the daily exercise of repentance the regenerate will of man is not idle, but also cooperates in all the works of the Holy Ghost, which He performs through us.

[18] 9. Also what Dr. Luther has written, namely, that man’s will in his conversion is pure passive, that is, that it does nothing whatever, is to be understood respectu divinae gratiae in accendendis novis motibus, that is, when God’s Spirit, through the Word heard or the use of the holy Sacraments, lays hold upon man’s will, and works [in man] the new birth and conversion. For when [after] the Holy Ghost has wrought and accomplished this, and man’s will has been changed and renewed by His divine power and working alone, then the new will of man is an instrument and organ of God the Holy Ghost, so that he not only accepts grace, but also cooperates with the Holy Ghost in the works which follow.

[19] Therefore, before the conversion of man there are only two efficient causes, namely, the Holy Ghost and the Word of God, as the instrument of the Holy Ghost, by which He works conversion. This Word man is [indeed] to hear; however, it is not by his own powers, but only through the grace and working of the Holy Ghost that he can yield faith to it and accept it.

(Source: https://bookofconcord.org/epitome/)(the Formula of Concord is also available in Latin, which is not the original, as German was the original, and English here)

If we follow the Lutheran usage from this specific document, we see three separate accusations of error:

1. man by his own powers can make a beginning of his conversion, but without the grace of the Holy Ghost cannot complete it.
2. although man by his free will before regeneration is too weak to make a beginning, and by his own powers to turn himself to God, and from the heart to be obedient to God, yet, if the Holy Ghost by the preaching of the Word has made a beginning, and therein offered His grace, then the will of man from its own natural powers can add something, though little and feebly, to this end, can help and cooperate, qualify and prepare itself for grace, and embrace and accept it, and believe the Gospel.
3. man, after he has been born again, can perfectly observe and completely fulfil God’s Law, and that this fulfilling is our righteousness before God, by which we merit eternal life.

The first error seems to be a fair characterization of the Soteriology101 position, but not a characterization that Leighton Flowers would accept.

The second error seems to be something that Leighton Flowers would likely accept.

The third error is something that I think Leighton Flowers would roundly condemn.

I note that according to Baukus and Goudriaan, (p. 29), ‘Semipelagians’ referred to here are synergist theologians such as Johann Pfeffinger and his followers who opposed the Gnesio-Lutherans by asserting that man’s free will was the primary agent in the act of conversion"."  More specifically, these were the followers of Philip Melanchthon, aka Philippist. 

Which of the Lutheran theologians coined the term.  B&G note: "Preus, who also thought that Semipelagianism was an ancient doctrine, attributed its appearance in the Epitome to Martin Chemnitz but it could equally well be attributed to Jakob Andreae, the main author of the text." (p. 29)

The key takeway of B&G's article on the historical connection of the term can be expressed in this way: "Evidence from Lutheran and Calvinist sources dating from the period subsequent to 1556 shows clearly that the term ‘Semipelagianism’ was not used initially to refer to fifth-century doctrinal configurations but rather to sixteenth-century teachings." (p. 40)