PELAGIANISM
Pelagianism derives its name from Pelagius (born c. 354, probably Britaindied after 418,
possibly Palestine), monk and theologian who lived in the 5th century A.D. and was a teacher in
Rome, though he was British by birth. It is a heresy dealing with the nature of man. Pelagius was
concerned about the slack moral standards among Christians, and he hoped to improve their
conduct by his teachings. Rejecting the arguments of those who claimed that they sinned because
of human weakness, he insisted that God made human beings free to choose between good and
evil and that sin is a voluntary act committed by a person against Gods law.
Teaching of Pelagius:
Pelagius taught that people had the ability to fulfill the commands of God by exercising
the freedom of human will apart from the grace of God. In other words, a person's free
will is totally capable of choosing God and/or to do good or bad without the aid of Divine
intervention.
Pelagianism teaches that man's nature is basically good. Thus it denies original sin,
the doctrine that we have inherited a sinful nature from Adam. Celestius,1 a disciple of
Pelagius, denied the churchs doctrine of original sin and the necessity of infant Baptism.
He said that Adam only hurt himself when he fell, and all of his descendants were not
affected by Adam's sin. Pelagius taught that a person is born with the same purity and
moral abilities as Adam was when he was first made by God. He taught that people can
choose God by the exercise of their free will and rational thought. God's grace, then, is
merely an aid to help individuals come to Him.
Pelagianism was opposed by St. Jerome, the great Latin biblical scholar and Augustine, bishop of
Hippo. After the fall of Rome to the Visigoth chieftain Alaric in 410, Pelagius and Celestius went
to Africa. There they encountered the hostile criticism of Augustine, who published several
denunciatory letters concerning their doctrine, particularly Pelagius insistence on mans basically
good moral nature and on mans own responsibility for voluntarily choosing Christian asceticism
for his spiritual advancement. Augustine asserted that human beings could not attain righteousness
by their own efforts and were totally dependent upon the grace of God. Violent outbreaks by the
Pelagians in Rome caused the Western Roman emperor Flavius Honorius2 to
condemn Pelagianism and exile Celestius from Italy.
When Pelagius left for Palestine c. 412, there, although accused of heresy at the synod of
Jerusalem in 415, he succeeded in clearing himself and avoiding censure. In response to further
attacks from Augustine and the Latin biblical scholar Jerome, Pelagius wrote De libero
arbitrio (On Free Will) in 416, which resulted in the condemnation of his teaching by two
1
Like Pelagius, Celestius was practicing law in Rome when they met. In reaction to contemporary immorality, they
turned from temporal to religious pursuits, and their reforming views found much support at Rome.When the Goths
menaced Rome about 409, the two men went first to Sicily and then, about 410, to North Africa, where Celestius
remained after Pelagius left for Palestine in 411. During a visit to Carthage, Paulinus, a deacon of Milan, accused
Celestius of denying the existence of original sin and the remission of sins by baptism. Celestius was condemned at
the Council of Carthage (412), presided over by Bishop St. Aurelius, who excommunicated him. He left
for Ephesus (near modern Seluk, Turkey).
2
Flavius Honorius Augustus; 9 September 384 15 August 423) was Western Roman Emperor from 393 to 423. He
was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and brother of Arcadius, who was the Eastern Emperor from 395 until
his death in 408.
African councils. In 417 Pope Innocent I endorsed the condemnations and excommunicated
Pelagius and Celestius. Innocents successor, Zosimus, at first pronounced him innocent on the
basis of Pelagius Libellus fidei (Brief Statement of Faith), but after renewed investigation at the
council of Carthage in 418, Zosimus confirmed the councils nine canons condemning Pelagius.
Julian of Eclanum continued to assert the Pelagian view and engaged Augustine in literary
polemic until the latters death in 430. Julian himself was finally condemned, with the rest of the
Pelagian party, at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Another heresy, known as Semi-Pelagianism,3
flourished in southern Gaul until it was finally condemned at the second Council of Orange in 529.
Pelagius has been condemned by many councils throughout church history including the
following:
Councils of Carthage (412, 416 and 418)
Council of Ephesus (431)
The Council of Orange (529)
Council of Trent (1546) Roman Catholic
2nd Helvetic (1561/66) 8-9. (Swiss-German Reformed)
Augsburg Confession (1530) Art. 9, 18 (Lutheran)
Gallican Confession (1559) Art. 10 (French Reformed)
Belgic Confession (1561) Art. 15 (Lowlands, French/Dutch/German Reformed)
The Anglican Articles (1571), 9. (English)
Canons of Dort (1618-9), 3/4.2 (Dutch/German/French Reformed).1
3
In 17th-century theological terminology, the doctrine of an anti-Augustinian movement that flourished from about
429 to about 529 in southern France. The surviving evidences of the original movement are limited, but it is clear that
the fathers of semi-Pelagianism were monks who stressed the need of ascetic practices and who were highly respected
leaders in the church. The writings of three of these monks had positive influence on the history of the movement.
They were John Cassian, who had lived in the East and who founded two monasteries in Massilia (Marseille); Vincent,
a monk of the celebrated Abbey of Lrins; and Faustus, bishop of Riez, a former monk and abbot at Lrins, who at
the request of Provence bishops wrote De gratia (Concerning Grace), in which semi-Pelagianism was given its final
form and one more naturalistic than that provided by Cassian.Unlike the Pelagians, who denied original sin and
believed in perfect human free will, the semi-Pelagians believed in the universality of original sin as a corruptive force
in man. They also believed that without Gods grace this corruptive force could not be overcome, and they therefore
admitted the necessity of grace for Christian life and action. They also insisted on the necessity of Baptism, even for
infants. But contrary to Augustine, they taught that the innate corruption of man was not so great that
the initiative toward Christian commitment was beyond the powers of mans native will.This commitment was called
by John Cassian initium fidei (beginning of faith) and by Faustus of Riez credulitatis affectus (feeling of
credulity). According to this view, man by his unaided will could desire to accept the gospel of salvation, but he
could not be actually converted without divine help. In later semi-Pelagianism, divine help was conceived not as an
internal empowering graciously infused by God into man but as purely external preaching or the biblical
communication of the gospel, of the divine promises, and of the divine threats. The strong point for all semi-Pelagians
was the justice of God: God would not be just if man were not natively empowered to make at least the first step
toward salvation. If salvation depended initially and unilaterally only on Gods free election of the saved, those not
chosen could complain that they were doomed by the mere fact of being born.
