Pelagian controversy
c. 411–431 (Semi-Pelagian debate to 529)
attested. Attested, mostly through Augustine. Modern scholarship (e.g. Rees, Bonner) stresses that 'Pelagianism' was partly shaped by its opponents.
Pelagius, a British ascetic teaching in Rome, stressed that God's commands imply human ability to obey and denied that Adam's sin is inherited as guilt. Augustine argued that grace precedes every good will and that infants inherit original sin. Caelestius and Julian of Eclanum pressed the Pelagian side.
Sides
Pelagian
Leaders: Pelagius, Caelestius, Julian of Eclanum
Free will is intact. Adam set a bad example rather than transmitting sin. Grace is understood as the law, Christ's example and forgiveness.
Augustinian
Leaders: Augustine, Jerome, Orosius, Aurelius of Carthage, Zosimus (after reversal), Prosper of Aquitaine
Original sin. Grace is needed for every good act. Predestination.
Councils and places
- Rome (Pelagius's circle, c. 380s–410) 4th–5th
- Aeclanum (see of Julian) 5th
- Synod of Diospolis (Lydda) (415) 5th
- Council of Carthage (418) · Carthage 5th
- Council of Ephesus (431) · Ephesus 5th
Outcome
Pelagius was acquitted at Diospolis (415) but condemned by Carthage, Pope Zosimus and Honorius (418). Ephesus (431) condemned Caelestius. The Council of Orange (529) settled the later Semi-Pelagian dispute in a moderate Augustinian sense.
What happened to the losers
Pelagius vanishes from the record after about 418. Julian was exiled and died in Sicily (c. 455). Pelagius' commentary on Paul survived under Jerome's name.