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Pelagius's followers, including Caelestius, went further than their teacher and removed justification through faith, setting up the morality- and works-based salvation known as Pelagianism. The only historical evidence of the teachings of Pelagius or his followers is found through the writings of his two strongest opponents—Augustine and Jerome .
[30] [i] In Augustine's writings, Pelagius is a symbol of humanism who excluded God from human salvation. [18] Pelagianism shaped Augustine's ideas in opposition to his own on free will, grace, and original sin, [ 68 ] [ 69 ] [ 70 ] and much of The City of God is devoted to countering Pelagian arguments. [ 47 ]
Pelagius was also highly educated, spoke and wrote Latin and Greek with great fluency, and was well versed in theology. His name has traditionally been understood as a Graecized form (from pélagos, "sea") of the Welsh name Morgan ("sea-born"), or another Celtic equivalent. [6] Pelagius became better known around 380 when he moved to Rome. [7]
When Pelagius appealed to St. Ambrose (c. 339 – c. 397) to support his view, Augustine replied with a series of quotations from Ambrose which indicated the need for prevenient grace. [64] Augustine described free will without the spiritual aid of grace as, "captive free will" ( Latin : liberum arbitrium captivatum ).
The doctrine takes its name from Pelagius, a British monk who was accused of developing the doctrine (he himself appears to have claimed in his letters that man does not do good apart from grace, claiming only that all men have free will by God's gift); it was opposed especially by Augustine of Hippo and was declared a heresy by Pope Zosimus in
Grace for Grace: The Debates After Augustine and Pelagius (2014) is a volume of conference proceedings from a 2007 conference examining issues related to the semi-Pelagian controversy. There are thirteen essays in the book, which was edited by Alexander Y. Hwang, Brian J. Matz and Augustine Casiday. [1] [2] [3] [4]
It is believed Caelestius met Pelagius in the late 4th century in the city of Rome.Pelagius emphasized that Christians were required by God to struggle against evil behavior using the teachings of the Bible and the example of the Christian saints (although he also affirmed repeatedly in Church proceedings and in a letter to the pope that grace assisted the will in all good actions).
Named after Pelagius (354–420/440). The theology was later developed by C(a)elestius and Julian of Eclanum into a complete system. [35] and refuted by Augustine of Hippo (who had for a time (385–395) held similar opinions [36]) but his final position never gained general acceptance in the East.