Pelagianism in the early church

Pelagius, Caelestius, Julian of Eclanum, and the controversy over grace and nature. Part of Heresy.

Letter 133.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome cites Scripture to show that no one is without sin, rejecting the claim that a sinless life is possible though it has never existed.
Letter 133.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome traces the Pelagian claim of sinlessness to Manichaeans, Priscillian, Evagrius, the Sentences of Sextus, Origen, and Jovinian.
Letter 133.5Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome argues that the Pelagian view of grace as merely the gift of free will makes prayer and fasting pointless, quoting one of Pelagius's disciples.
Letter 133.7Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome mocks a Pelagian's claim that ordinary actions need no divine help, and argues that the commandments cannot be both easy and never fulfilled.
Letter 133.8Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome argues that the Pelagian formula 'without sin if he wills' makes grace superfluous, and cites Romans 7–8 on the weakness of the flesh.
Letter 133.10Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome affirms free choice but insists it needs God's help, and presses his opponent with the dilemma of his own confessed sinfulness.
Letter 133.11Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome ridicules the distinction between being sinless and being able to be sinless, and challenges his opponents to state openly what they teach in private.
Letter 133.12Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome invites scrutiny of his own writings and calls on the Pelagian teacher either to defend his views openly or to confess his error for the sake of unity.
Letter 133.13Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome explains that biblical saints are called righteous for the greater part of their virtues, not for sinlessness, and warns Ctesiphon's patrons against supporting the Pelagians.
Letter 134.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome tells Augustine that the troubles in Palestine have kept him from answering his two treatises, and urges common action against the Pelagian heresy.
Letter 138.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome tells Riparius that the Pelagian leader has been driven out of Palestine, though his followers remain at Joppa, and urges him to continue the fight.
Letter 140.21Jerome · ca. 370–419 · On Ps 90:17 Jerome argues against the Pelagians that even the risen saints pray for God to direct and confirm their works.
Letter 141.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome praises Augustine for standing firm against the Pelagians.
Letter 143.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome writes to Alypius and Augustine rejoicing that the Caelestian heresy has been crushed by their efforts.
Letter 143.2Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome explains that illness and Eustochium's death have delayed his reply to Anianus's defence of Pelagius, and sends greetings from Albina, Pinianus, Melania, and Paula.
Letter 144.14Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Augustine distinguishes whether God makes all souls (certain) from how he makes them (open), and warns Optatus not to fall into Pelagianism by denying the inheritance of souls.
Letter 144.20Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Augustine explains that only one of the two books he sent Jerome concerned the soul, and warns Optatus against the Pelagian denial of original sin.
Letter 152.1Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome dismisses the writings of Julian, Pelagius and Caelestius and declines, because of age and illness, to write against them.
Letter 154.3Jerome · ca. 370–419 · Jerome sends greetings to Marius Mercator and others and urges them to oppose the Pelagians.
Letter 145.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine warns against those (the Pelagians, unnamed) who claim that the will can fulfill the law without grace, which would make the Lord's Prayer pointless.
Letter 157.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · No one in this life is without sin, as 1 John, the Lord's Prayer, and Daniel's confession show.
Letter 157.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Those who avoid grave crimes and cleanse daily sins by mercy and prayer will die free of sin, but sinlessness cannot be an excuse for license.
Letter 157.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The claim that free will suffices to keep God's commandments without grace and the Holy Spirit must be anathematized.
Letter 157.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Paul's contrast between condemnation from one offense and justification from many shows that original sin is inherited by generation, not merely imitated.
Letter 157.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine warns Hilary about Caelestius, condemned at Carthage, who admitted infants need redemption, and hopes the Pelagians may be healed within the church.
Letter 169.13Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine lists his recent works: letters to Jerome on the soul and on James, a book for Orosius against the Priscillianists and Origenists, and a book against Pelagius.
Letter 172.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Jerome tells Augustine he cannot yet answer his two books (Epp. 166–167) because of troubled times, assures him of his love, and urges joint action against Pelagianism.
Letter 175.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Council of Carthage (416) reports to Pope Innocent that it has renewed the condemnation of Pelagius and Caelestius.
Letter 175.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Scripture testifies to grace that frees the will, which the Pelagians in effect deny by making nature sufficient.
Letter 175.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Pelagianism also empties the bishops' blessings and Paul's prayers for strength of meaning.
Letter 175.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The council anathematizes those who deny the necessity of grace and of infant baptism for salvation.
Letter 176.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The council describes the Pelagian denial that prayer and grace are needed against sin and that unbaptized infants are lost.
Letter 176.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The two chief errors are that God's help need not be asked and that the sacrament does not benefit infants.
Letter 177.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Five African bishops write to Pope Innocent, following the councils of Carthage and Milevis, against those who trust in their own strength rather than in grace.
Letter 177.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The bishops explain that the Eastern synod acquitted Pelagius because it understood “grace” in the Catholic sense, not as mere created nature.
Letter 177.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The bishops ask that Pelagius be made to condemn his book, and forward through the pope a letter of Augustine to Pelagius.
Letter 178.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine warns Bishop Hilary of a new heresy (Pelagianism) that limits grace to creation, law, and forgiveness of past sins, and denies infants need baptism.
Letter 178.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine reports that the councils of Carthage and Numidia have written to Pope Innocent against the Pelagians.
Letter 178.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The heresy empties the Lord's Prayer, claiming one can become sinless and overcome temptation by nature alone.
Letter 179.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Pelagian teaching contradicts the church's blessings and Paul's prayers and statements about the Spirit's help.
Letter 179.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine asks for the record of the synod that cleared Pelagius and quotes Pelagius's own defense on the possibility of sinlessness.
Letter 179.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Pelagius must either admit original sin in Abel or retract his claim, since his defense implies everyone's early life is sinful.
Letter 181.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Pope Innocent I praises the Council of Carthage for referring the Pelagian case to the apostolic see, according to ancient custom.
Letter 181.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Innocent excommunicates the Pelagians but allows the bishops to receive them back if they repent and condemn their views.
Letter 182.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Pelagians, by denying God's help, abolish daily prayer; Adam's fall and David's prayers show our need of grace.
Letter 182.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Innocent excommunicates Pelagius and Caelestius and all who obstinately defend their views.
Letter 186.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine and Alypius write to Paulinus of Nola about Pelagius, whom they once loved as orthodox and now love in hope of his correction, explaining how they came to know his teaching on grace.
Letter 186.27Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Those who deny original sin must say what becomes of infants who die unbaptized; Pelagius himself anathematized the view that such infants have eternal life.
Letter 186.28Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · To say unbaptized infants have life contradicts Christ's words in John 6, the apostolic see, and Pelagius's own anathema.
Letter 186.33Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Whoever accepts Pelagius's anathemas must positively confess the Catholic counterparts: original sin, the need of baptism, grace for every act, and grace not given according to merit.
Letter 186.34Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Pelagius's later books still give the will equal power to sin or not to sin, or call it strong and firm, whereas it is weak until healed.
Letter 186.35Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Pelagius's statement that grace lets us fulfil commands 'more easily' implies that they can be fulfilled without grace.
Letter 186.36Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Scripture, as John of Jerusalem reminded Pelagius, says that nothing good is achieved without grace, not merely more easily; and Pelagius's 'even balance' contradicts his own concession.
Letter 186.37Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · We should pray for the Pelagians, who like the philosophers trust the will and risk making void the cross, since nature could not even keep its health without grace.
Letter 188.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine warns Juliana that the error of those who limit grace to nature and teaching and deny that love is God's gift is not small.
Letter 188.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine quotes the book written to Demetrias, which tells her that her spiritual riches can come only from herself.
Letter 188.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Saying spiritual goods are 'in' Demetrias is true, but saying they are 'from' her alone is poison; Paul teaches that the treasure is God's.
Letter 188.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine challenges Juliana to find in the book any confession of grace beyond nature, teaching and forgiveness, and asks whether it is Pelagius's work and whether she has it.
Letter 190.22Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine warns Optatus against the Pelagian heresy condemned by Innocent and Zosimus, which uses the creation of new souls to deny original sin, quoting Pelagius's argument.
Letter 191.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine joyfully thanks the Roman presbyter Sixtus for his letter defending grace against the Pelagians, whose patron he had been rumoured to be.
Letter 191.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Sixtus to restrain open Pelagians, watch over those who spread the error secretly, and patiently teach those who have fallen silent out of fear.
Letter 194.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine tells Sixtus of his joy that Sixtus, once rumoured to favour the Pelagians, has anathematized them and written clearly in defence of grace.
Letter 194.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine urges Sixtus to deal with three kinds of Pelagians: open defenders to be restrained, secret propagandists to be tracked down, and silent sympathizers to be patiently taught.
Letter 194.35Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The Pelagian appeal to foreseen works is refuted by Paul himself, who answered the charge of injustice not by foreseen works but by God's free mercy.
Letter 194.42Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · The theory that God punishes sins infants would have committed is absurd and contradicts the Pelagians' own promise of salvation for unbaptized infants.
Letter 196.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Those who glory in the law without grace, whether Jews or Pelagians, refuse God's righteousness; the Pelagians thus Judaize in error, and their leaders have been excommunicated.
Letter 207.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine sends Bishop Claudius his reply to Julian of Eclanum's four books, explaining that his earlier answer had relied on inaccurate extracts.
Letter 214.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine explains that his letter to Sixtus opposed the Pelagian teaching that grace is given according to merit, since everything that distinguishes a person is received from God.
Letter 215.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine sends the monks his book on grace and free will together with the African councils' letters and the popes' replies condemning Pelagianism.
Letter 217.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine identifies Vitalis's view, that grace consists only in teaching to which the will freely assents, with the Pelagian position that Pelagius himself had renounced at Diospolis.
Letter 217.29Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Augustine distinguishes Vitalis's view from full Pelagianism: Vitalis grants that grace aids believers but holds that the beginning of faith comes from ourselves, which the Church's prayers refute.
Letter 225.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 386–430 · Prosper describes how some at Marseilles reduce prevenient grace to the grace of creation and make the beginning of salvation lie in the natural will.
Sermon 26.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Pelagians, accused of arguing against grace, claimed that by defending free choice they honored grace, since God gave free choice; Augustine calls the argument glass.
Sermon 30.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The defender of a healthy nature shuts out the Savior; as ruin came through Adam and rebuilding through Christ, so the believer, who cannot be free of evil desire, must by grace refuse to let sin reign.
Sermon 115.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Those who claim to make themselves righteous are worse than the Pharisee, who at least thanked God; if he was rebuked for proudly giving thanks, how much more those who attack grace.
Sermon 131.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Against those who exalt human nature, Augustine says that free choice was lost by sin; baptism forgives all sins, like the Samaritan’s oil and wine, but weakness is healed only gradually in the inn, the Church.
Sermon 131.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The righteousness of God is the grace by which he justifies the ungodly; once hidden like the dew in Gideon’s fleece, it is now manifest throughout the world, so that those who exalt nature against it make Christ’s death vain.
Sermon 131.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Pelagians, like the Jews, have zeal without knowledge; two African councils have referred the case to the Apostolic See and received its replies, so the case is closed, though the error persists.
Sermon 181.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · John's “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” means that no one in this life is without sin, not even a day-old infant, nor the baptized believer, who lies if he says he is righteous.
Sermon 181.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Pelagians, swollen with pride, claim the righteous, indeed the whole Church, are without sin, citing Ephesians 5:27, a Church “without spot or wrinkle.”
Sermon 181.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Pelagians admit they themselves are sinners, though baptized members of the Church; so the Church on earth is not without spot, and by their own claim they have put themselves outside it.
Sermon 181.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · If the Pelagians call themselves sinners only out of humility while believing themselves righteous, they lie, and John condemns not a lack of humility but a lack of truth.
Sermon 181.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · To call oneself a sinner while believing oneself righteous is a lie, and so makes one a sinner after all; there is no humility where falsehood reigns.
Sermon 183.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Pelagian, by making every infant's flesh equal to Christ's sinless flesh, denies that only Christ came in the likeness of sinful flesh; mothers who bring infants to baptism to be saved testify against him, so he too denies Christ come in the flesh.
Sermon 290.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Christ judges the case: the tax collector went home justified, because the humble are exalted; those who claim that righteousness is in their own power are more proud than the Pharisee, who at least gave thanks.
Sermon 293.12Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Even John the Baptist was born with original sin, since he was born of a man and a woman; his own words ‘I ought to be baptized by you’ show he needed the Savior who freed him.
Sermon 294.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · The Pelagians agree that infants are to be baptized, but say it is for entry to the kingdom of heaven, not for salvation and eternal life, which they claim sinless infants have anyway; Augustine asks whether eternal life exists outside the kingdom.
Sermon 294.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine asks the Pelagians how, on their own reasoning, they could answer someone who granted unbaptized innocent infants the kingdom of heaven as well as eternal life, and argues that side for the sake of the argument.
Sermon 294.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · If infants have no original sin, the Pelagians cannot justly exclude them from the kingdom, since even exile from it would be a punishment inflicted on the innocent; denying original sin leaves them no answer.
Sermon 294.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Against the Pelagian reading that Paul meant only that others imitated Adam, Augustine replies that the devil, not Adam, sinned first; Paul names Adam as our origin, in whom we all sinned, and Christ as our regeneration.
Sermon 294.20Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Augustine asks that those who deny original sin be borne with patience and corrected as brothers, since error may be tolerated on unsettled questions but not when it shakes the Church’s foundation.
Sermon 299.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 391-430 · Against the Pelagian claim that death is natural, citing Enoch and Elijah, Augustine replies that their survival tells against nature as much as sin; their fault was ended, and Revelation’s two witnesses, probably they, will yet die.
On Christian Doctrine 3.33Augustine of Hippo · Books 1–3 ca. 396–397; completed 426–427 · Tyconius's third rule, on the promises and the Law, is really a great question; he erred in thinking faith comes from us and not from God, as the Pelagian controversy has made clear.
Notice before canon 109 (Bruns)Anonymous · 401–424 (collection of 419) · Notice of the general council of Carthage of 1 May 418 against the Pelagians.
Letter 29, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent agrees that the Pelagian error must be cut out quickly, like a festering wound, before it spreads through the church.
Letter 29, chapter 7Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent declares those who deny the need for divine help enemies of the catholic faith and excludes Pelagius and Caelestius from communion.
Letter 29, chapter 8Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · If Pelagius and Caelestius acknowledge their need of God’s help and condemn their teaching, the bishops may receive them back into the fold.
Letter 30, chapter 6Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent excommunicates Pelagius and Caelestius and all who obstinately defend them, while allowing their reception if they repent, and dates the letter 27 January 417.
Letter 31, chapter 2Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Those misled by Pelagius, whether at Rome or elsewhere, are to be won back gently, and his condemnation should correct them.
Letter 31, chapter 3Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent doubts the acts of the Synod of Diospolis (415) brought to him, since they came without an official letter and show Pelagius evading the charges.
Letter 31, chapter 4Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent neither approves nor condemns the Diospolis judgment; Pelagius should come himself, or by letter condemn his errors and seek pardon.
Letter 31, chapter 5Innocent I, bishop of Rome · 401–417 · Innocent condemns the book attributed to Pelagius and calls on him to anathematize his views, so that his followers may be recalled.
Tractates on the Gospel of John 81.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 406–420 · Against those who claim to be righteous of themselves, Augustine insists that no branch bears fruit unless it abides in the vine.
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins 3.1Augustine of Hippo · 411–412 · Augustine explains that after finishing two books he read Pelagius's brief expositions of Paul and found an argument against original sin that he answers in this letter.
On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins 3.6Augustine of Hippo · 411–412 · Pelagius, perhaps out of shame or caution, put these views in others' mouths; Augustine hopes he does not hold them, since they imply that sinless infants are condemned or have eternal life outside God's kingdom.
On the Spirit and the Letter 4Augustine of Hippo · 412 · Augustine states the view of his opponents: God's help consists only in creating free will and giving commands that remove ignorance.
On the Good of Widowhood 21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 414 · Against “enemies of the grace of Christ” who make prayer needless, Augustine argues that continence, like wisdom, is God's gift, to be asked for in prayer, though the will must consent.
Commentary on Jeremiah 3.70Jerome · ca. 414-419 · Judah's sin is engraved indelibly while the nations' sins are blotted out; this refutes the claim that a man can be sinless if he wishes.
On Nature and Grace 1Augustine of Hippo · 415 · Augustine answers the book Timasius and James sent him (Pelagius' On Nature), warning that its zeal for human responsibility undermines the righteousness that comes only by the grace of Christ.
On Nature and Grace 8Augustine of Hippo · 415 · Augustine sets out Pelagius' distinction between whether a man can be without sin and whether he is, and Pelagius' claim that the Scripture texts on universal sin speak only of fact, not of possibility.
On Nature and Grace 11Augustine of Hippo · 415 · Augustine reports Pelagius' reply that admitting a sinless life is possible “by the grace of God” still confirms his thesis, and insists only that Pelagius confess that without grace no one can be without sin.
On Nature and Grace 21Augustine of Hippo · 415 · Augustine answers Pelagius' argument that sin, not being a substance, cannot weaken human nature, by pointing to the psalmist's prayer for healing and Christ's words about the physician.
On Nature and Grace 24Augustine of Hippo · 415 · Augustine answers Pelagius' objection that punishment should not cause further sin by showing from Romans 1 how God's giving sinners up is itself punishment that produces graver sins.
On Man's Perfection in Righteousness 1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 415 · Augustine begins to answer the Definitions ascribed to Caelestius: sin can be avoided only if damaged nature is healed by grace.
Apologetic Book 1.5Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Old heretics live again in the Pelagians.
Apologetic Book 1.6Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Pelagius and Caelestius hiss like serpents in the church.
Apologetic Book 3.4Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Caelestius was condemned at Carthage.
Apologetic Book 3.5Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Augustine's writings against Pelagius.
Apologetic Book 4.4Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Pelagius admits his teaching.
Apologetic Book 4.5Orosius · ca. 415–416 · The doctrine was already condemned.
Apologetic Book 30.1Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Pelagius resists all these testimonies.
Apologetic Book 30.2Orosius · ca. 415–416 · Pelagius's charge against those who plead weakness.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 1Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Augustine tells Aurelius that, now the official proceedings of the synod in Palestine have reached him, he can safely discuss Pelagius's defense.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 3Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Augustine distinguishes helps without which a thing cannot be done from helps that are useful but not necessary, and asks which kind knowledge of the law is.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 4Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Even if Pelagius meant the teaching given before baptism, the baptized infants, who are without personal sin yet know nothing, refute his written statement.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 5Augustine of Hippo · 417 · The second charge, that all are governed by their own will, is accepted in Pelagius's explanation, but Augustine shows from Scripture that God governs and leads his children.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 7Augustine of Hippo · 417 · The texts Pelagius cites about human choice show that choosing evil is the will's own work, while choosing good requires God's help; the predestined are not left to their own desires.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 11Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Scripture describes the one judgment in many images; since Pelagius did not say that all sinners burn forever, the bishops rightly approved his statement, though his real view remains unclear.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 16Augustine of Hippo · 417 · The sixth charge: Pelagius affirms that a man can be without sin if he wishes, disowns flattering passages to a widow, and anathematizes their authors “as fools, not as heretics.”
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 22Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Augustine fears Pelagius's “grace” means only created free choice, as his book On Nature said, and notes that the book's claim that Abel never sinned conflicts with his answer at the synod.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 23Augustine of Hippo · 417 · The next charges were the propositions of Caelestius condemned at Carthage and the Sicilian propositions Augustine had answered in his letter to Hilary.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 24Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius anathematized the propositions of Caelestius and the Sicilian propositions, and the synod declared his answer sufficient; so these errors stand condemned.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 26Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius changed Caelestius's claim that some were without sin before Christ into the harmless claim that some lived holy lives, which the judges approved.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 29Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Caelestius's claim that we do more than the law commands was approved only in the sense that virginity, a gift of God, exceeds commanded marital chastity.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 30Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius anathematized Caelestius's propositions that grace is not given for individual acts and is given according to merit, so these stand condemned by the synod.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 33Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius's phrase that God gives graces to the worthy troubles Augustine, because grace by definition is given freely to the unworthy, not paid as a debt.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 39Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius's commentary on Romans treats Rom 9:16 as an objection Paul refutes, so his silent assent to John obliges him to disown or correct it; John's remarks about the absent accusers do not prejudice them.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 40Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius's claim that Paul was worthy of all graces contradicts both Paul's words and Pelagius's own condemnation of Caelestius's proposition that grace is given according to merit.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 47Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius's book On Nature, given to Augustine by Timasius and James, showed that he meant by grace only created nature; his anathema on all who “ever held” such views condemns his own former disciples.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 51Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Augustine explains the courteous terms of his short letter to Pelagius, which quietly reminded him that goodness is God's gift.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 54Augustine of Hippo · 417 · A letter circulating under Pelagius's name boasts that the synod approved his view that man can “easily” keep the commandments, though “easily” appears nowhere in the proceedings.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 57Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius's own summary of his defense, sent to Augustine, omitted his anathema of Caelestius's propositions, leaving room to think they could still be defended.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 58Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Pelagius's paper also merged his answers and hid that the church had already judged the propositions, so readers might think them still open; he should now oppose them openly.
On the Proceedings of Pelagius 61Augustine of Hippo · 417 · Augustine summarizes the new heresy: it denies God's help in individual acts, calling grace only created nature, the law, and forgiveness of past sins.
Memorandum against Caelestius 1Paulinus of Milan · 417/418 · Paulinus asks Pope Zosimus to deal with Pelagius and Caelestius as Innocent did, condemning them if they persist.
Memorandum against Caelestius 2Paulinus of Milan · 417/418 · Paulinus recalls Zosimus's questions to Caelestius at Rome and Caelestius's refusal to condemn what was charged against him.
Memorandum against Caelestius 3Paulinus of Milan · 417/418 · Caelestius's denial of original sin and of infants' need of baptism is opposed by Pelagius's own disavowal at Diospolis, by Cyprian, Ambrose, Gregory, Innocent and Zosimus.
Memorandum against Caelestius 4Paulinus of Milan · 417/418 · Paulinus explains why he did not answer the summons to Rome: Caelestius, the appellant, had not pursued his appeal.
Memorandum against Caelestius 5Paulinus of Milan · 417/418 · Caelestius, a cunning fox, has been exposed and cut off; the booklet is sent through the subdeacon Marcellinus.
Letter 2, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus heard Caelestius in the basilica of Saint Clement, choosing the place for the example of Clement, Peter’s disciple and a martyr.
Letter 2, chapter 3Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus reviewed the earlier proceedings, had Caelestius’s statement of faith read, and questioned him repeatedly about his sincerity.
Letter 2, chapter 4Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus discredits the accusers Heros and Lazarus, irregularly ordained bishops whom he has deposed, and complains that Caelestius was accused in absence by their letter.
Letter 2, chapter 6Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus declares Caelestius’s faith cleared and gives his accusers two months to come to Rome and prove otherwise.
Letter 2, chapter 7Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus warned Caelestius and the bishops present against curious disputes, which destroy rather than build up.
Letter 3, chapter 1Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus recalls his earlier letter on the hearing of Caelestius.
Letter 3, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus reports that Pelagius’s letter and statement of faith, read publicly at Rome, seemed fully orthodox and moved the hearers to tears.
Letter 3, chapter 3Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus attacks the characters of Heros and Lazarus, bishops installed under the usurper Constantine, and urges the Africans not to trust their accusations against Pelagius.
Letter 3, chapter 8Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus asks the Africans to rejoice, like the father of the prodigal son, that Pelagius and Caelestius have not left the church, and sends Pelagius’s writings.
Letter 12, chapter 2Zosimus, bishop of Rome · 417–418 · Zosimus tells the Africans that he has not acquitted Caelestius uncritically and has left the case as it stood under Innocent.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.2Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Pelagius's anathema against denying the need of grace for every act sounds orthodox but can be read to mean only the memory of forgiven sins or Christ's example.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.5Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Augustine quotes Pelagius's own statement of the triad: being able is from God, while willing and being (doing) are man's own.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.6Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Paul's words 'God works in you both to will and to work' contradict Pelagius's claim that grace helps only the capacity, not the willing and doing.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.8Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Pelagius's fuller description of grace (revelation, opening the eyes of the heart, warning of the devil's snares) still amounts to law and teaching.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.26Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Scripture attributes to God not only our ability but our actual good willing, doing, speaking, and thinking, as Paul's prayers and Christ's words show.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.32Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Augustine turns to the letter and statement of faith Pelagius sent to Pope Innocent, which answer charges about infant baptism and about excluding God's help.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.43Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Pelagius explains Romans 7 as spoken by one under the law, freed by forgiveness in baptism and by imitating Christ's example, which shows he places grace in example rather than inward help.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 1.45Augustine of Hippo · 418 · In his four books On Free Choice Pelagius speaks of grace only ambiguously, as law, teaching, revelation, and Christ's example, never as help for the will and action.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 2.3Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Augustine quotes the minutes of the Carthaginian hearing of 411, where Caelestius, questioned by Aurelius and the deacon Paulinus, called the transmission of sin an open question while affirming that infants must be baptized.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 2.12Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Augustine quotes the minutes of the Synod of Diospolis, where Pelagius anathematized the propositions of Caelestius, including that Adam's sin harmed only himself and that newborns are as Adam was before his sin.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 2.14Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Pelagius's own words in On Free Choice ('we are begotten without vice') show that he holds the very propositions he condemned at Diospolis.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 2.15Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Augustine had at first thought Pelagius's anathema at Diospolis confessed original sin, until his four books showed him still denying it while boasting of his acquittal.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 2.17Augustine of Hippo · 418 · The judges acquitted Pelagius because they took his anathemas in the Catholic sense; what they acquitted was not what he actually held.
On the Grace of Christ and On Original Sin 2.26Augustine of Hippo · 418 · Caelestius claimed that the transmission of sin was an open question outside the faith, so that error on it would not be heresy.
On the Soul and Its Origin 1.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · The penitent thief counts as a martyr baptized in blood (or perhaps by the water from Christ’s side); his case gives no ground for promising heaven or a middle place to unbaptized infants.
On the Soul and Its Origin 3.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–420 · Eleventh error: promising paradise and later the kingdom to the unbaptized, which even Pelagius did not dare.
On Marriage and Concupiscence 1.40Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · Augustine cites Ambrose, whom Pelagius praised, as teaching that everyone conceived through intercourse is bound by sin, and closes the book to Valerius.
On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · Catholics affirm free choice and God as creator; what makes the Pelagians heretics is denying that grace is needed for good and that infants need redemption.
On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · Augustine distinguishes the catholic, Manichaean, and Pelagian views of human nature and turns Julian's charge of Manichaeism back on him.
On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · All sinned in Adam's will; Ambrose taught the same about conception, and the Pelagians who call this Manichaean must say the same of Ambrose, as Jovinian did.
On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.27Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · Julian cites 1 Cor 15 and the story of Abimelech to argue that God gives the power of generation and that no one is born guilty.
On Marriage and Concupiscence 2.38Augustine of Hippo · ca. 419–421 · As the Arians call catholics Sabellians, so the Pelagians call them Manichees; but catholics call marriage good and hold only that an evil passed from the first couple to all.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine explains that the Pelagians, though condemned, keep writing, and that as a bishop he must answer them.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine recalls that Pelagius at the Palestinian synod condemned the view that grace is given according to merit, yet later taught it.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.9Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine answers Julian's charge that he denies that marriage is instituted by God, showing from Scripture that present marriages are God's work.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine explains that Catholics do not call marital union devilish, but hold that infants inherit original sin and need Christ's redemption.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 1.14Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine notes that the Pelagians do not object to Romans 7:7–13 being read of Paul's past, and explains how it can describe his life before grace.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine turns to the letter of the Pelagian bishops to Thessalonica and explains that their condemnation of the Manichees does not make them orthodox.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine sets out point by point how the Catholic faith refutes both Manichees and Pelagians on creation, concupiscence, free choice, and sin.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.4Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine argues that opposing the Manichees does not make the Pelagians right, since both errors are contrary to the truth.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine defends the Roman clergy and Pope Zosimus against the charge of changing their judgment, explaining that Zosimus never approved Caelestius's doctrine but gave him time to correct himself.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine quotes Pope Innocent's letter to the Council of Carthage and shows that Caelestius, by professing agreement with it, bound himself to accept original sin.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.8Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine argues that the Roman church was consistent under Innocent and Zosimus, and that the Pelagians, not the Roman clergy, have abandoned the faith.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.10Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine shows that the Pelagians call his doctrine 'fate' because he denies that grace is given according to merit, a view Pelagius himself condemned in Palestine.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 2.18Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine argues from John 15:5, Philippians 1:6, and 2 Corinthians 3:5 that even the beginning of the desire for good comes from God.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 3.24Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine explains that the Pelagians hide their three errors behind praise of creation, marriage, law, free choice, and the saints, and answers each briefly.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 3.25Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine shows that the Catholic teaching on creation, marriage, the law, free choice, and the saints refutes Manichees and Pelagians at the same time.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.2Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine summarizes the Pelagian bishops' statements under his five heads and shows the three errors they are meant to support.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.3Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine sets out the Catholic position on creation, marriage and concupiscence, the law, free choice, and the saints as avoiding both Manichaean and Pelagian errors.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.6Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine argues that the Pelagian claim that only death, not sin, passed from Adam makes infants suffer undeserved punishment, a prerogative that belongs to Christ alone.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.7Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine interprets Romans 5:12 'in whom all sinned' as meaning that all sinned in Adam, citing 'holy Hilary'.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.15Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine argues from Ezekiel 36 and Psalm 95 that God himself makes people good and sets their wills free, so that no merit precedes his grace.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine sums up: the Pelagians use praise of five goods to lead people into three errors, which he has now answered.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.21Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine cites Cyprian's On Works and Alms to show that Cyprian taught inherited wounds from Adam, sins after baptism, and humanity's loss of paradise.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.28Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine argues that Cyprian, while praising the saints, taught that no one is sinless in this life and that perfect righteousness, peace, and joy belong to the kingdom to come.
Against Two Letters of the Pelagians 4.29Augustine of Hippo · ca. 420–421 · Augustine cites several works of Ambrose, whom Pelagius praised, to show that Ambrose taught original sin while honoring creation and marriage.
On Grace and Free Will 11Augustine of Hippo · ca. 426 · Against the Pelagian claim that the law is the grace that helps us, Augustine shows that the letter kills and the Spirit gives life; those who put to death the deeds of the flesh are led by God's Spirit.
On Grace and Free Will 19Augustine of Hippo · ca. 426 · The Pelagians grant that knowledge of the law is from God but claim love is from themselves; Scripture says both are from God, and love is the greater gift.
Retractations 1.8Augustine of Hippo · 426-427 · Reviewing On Free Choice, written against the Manichaeans, Augustine answers the Pelagians' use of its statements on the will, arguing that the books already taught that every good, including the good use of free will, is from God and that fallen man rises only by grace.
Retractations 1.9Augustine of Hippo · 426-427 · Reviewing On Genesis against the Manichaeans, Augustine corrects remarks on the will, on whether children would have been born without sin, on Israel's sacrifices, and on nature and original sin, so that the Pelagians cannot claim them.
Retractations 2.33Augustine of Hippo · 426-427 · Augustine explains how the Pelagian controversy led him to write On the Merits and Remission of Sins, on infant baptism and original sin, and why he at first spared Pelagius by name.
Retractations 2.62Augustine of Hippo · 426-427 · Augustine describes his six books Against Julian, which answer Julian's charge of Manichaeism with patristic testimony, and corrects a name he gave from faulty memory.
Chapter 1Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 426-428 · The Pelagian error at root is that grace is given according to human merits; Pelagians now profess grace only in a diluted sense.
Chapter 3Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 426-428 · Pelagianism was condemned by East, Rome and Africa and refuted by Augustine, whom some in Gaul now secretly accuse of denying free choice and teaching fatalism.
On the Predestination of the Saints 1Augustine of Hippo · ca. 428/429 · Augustine writes again at the request of Prosper and Hilary for brothers in Gaul who agree with the church on original sin and prevenient grace but are still in the dark about the predestination of the saints.
On the Gift of Perseverance 5Augustine of Hippo · ca. 428/429 · Only the petition for forgiveness does not ask for perseverance, yet Cyprian's exposition of it refutes the Pelagian claim of sinlessness; “Lead us not into temptation” asks for perseverance.
Commonitorium 3Marius Mercator · 429-431 · Marius Mercator traces the denial of original sin from Theodore of Mopsuestia through Rufinus the Syrian to Pelagius, Caelestius, and Julian of Eclanum, whom Augustine refuted.
Commonitorium 4Marius Mercator · 429-431 · Marius explains that he has gathered his notes on Julian's books at Pientius's request, and answers Julian's 'making new' with Scripture's language of renewal and regeneration, which includes infants.
Commonitorium 5Marius Mercator · 429-431 · Marius distinguishes original from natural sin against Julian, and answers Julian's claim that reason must judge Scripture by pointing to the virgin birth and the incarnation.
Commonitorium 8Marius Mercator · 429-431 · Against Julian's defence of sexual desire as God-given, Marius holds that desire in Adam and Eve served procreation but has since been vitiated, so that offspring need Christ.
Commonitorium 9Marius Mercator · 429-431 · Marius argues that Julian's view, that only death and not sin passes to Adam's descendants, makes God unjust, especially toward infants, who die though sinless on Julian's view.
Commonitorium 10Marius Mercator · 429-431 · Julian's claim that only death passed to all contradicts his defence of Caelestius and makes him a traducian himself; his distinction of two deaths repeats the condemned theses of Pelagius and Caelestius.
Commonitorium 11Marius Mercator · 429-431 · Marius quotes Julian's earlier letter to Pope Zosimus, in which he condemned the Pelagian theses on Adam's death, original sin, and infants, and shows that Julian meant them in a sense of his own.
Commonitorium 12Marius Mercator · 429-431 · Marius turns Julian's own argument that sin, not being a substance, cannot be transmitted against his claim that death, also not a substance, passes to Adam's imitators.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.1Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine recalls that the Pelagians had been condemned by East and West, and that Atticus and Sisinnius kept the faith at Constantinople.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.15Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Heretics like Paul of Samosata have always been cast out; the condemned Pelagian bishops found shelter with Nestorius because his teaching makes them look innocent.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 2.16Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Although Nestorius professes original sin, he shelters the condemned Pelagians; he should attend to his own case first.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 24.2Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Celestine urges Maximian to follow John Chrysostom, Atticus, and Sisinnius, to gather the scattered, and to resist the Pelagian error.
Celestine, ACO I.2, letter 25.15Celestine I, bishop of Rome · 430-432 · Pagans praised Nestorius, and the Pelagians supported him; Scripture foretells the end of such allies.
Canon 1Anonymous · 431 · A metropolitan who joins the rival assembly or holds Celestius's views is excommunicated, powerless over his bishops, and liable to deposition by orthodox bishops.
Canon 4Anonymous · 431 · Clergy who hold the views of Nestorius or Celestius are deposed.
Chapter 1Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 432-433 · Prosper complains that respected churchmen are attacking Augustine's defense of grace twenty years after the Pelagians were condemned, and invites them to state their improved doctrine.
Chapter 5Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 432-433 · Prosper rejects Cassian's claim that both the Pelagians and Augustine's followers err, and shows that Innocent, the Eastern bishops, the African councils, and Zosimus all taught that good will begins from God's grace.
Chapter 6Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 432-433 · Prosper insists that the question of grace was settled against the Pelagians and that grace does not destroy free choice but makes the will good.
Chapter 11Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 432-433 · Prosper charges that Cassian's warning not to refer all the saints' merits to God combines two condemned Pelagian theses: that grace is given according to merits and not for each single act.
Chapter 14Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 432-433 · Prosper quotes Cassian on Job, who supposedly defeated the devil by his own strength, and sums up how Cassian's successive definitions have departed from his own catholic opening statement.
Chapter 21Prosper of Aquitaine · ca. 432-433 · Prosper recalls the condemnations of Pelagianism by Innocent, Zosimus, Boniface, and Celestine, cites Celestine's letter praising Augustine, and urges Pope Xystus to drive out the hidden Pelagians.
Commonitory 9Vincent of Lérins · 434 · Paul's ban on another gospel binds all churches and all ages, against which the Pelagians call for a new faith.
Commonitory 24Vincent of Lérins · 434 · Heresies are always novelties with a known founder, place and date, such as Pelagius, Caelestius, Arius, Sabellius, Novatian and Simon Magus; catholics keep what was handed down.
Part 2, chapter 6Quodvultdeus of Carthage · ca. 445-450 · The inspection of leprosy figures the judgment of heresies: leprosy of the head (Manichaeans, Priscillianists), of the beard (Arians, Photinians, Nestorians), of the body (Donatists and other schismatics), and of the whole (Pelagians); the ten lepers figure heretics returning to Christ.