Pelagius (c. 355 - c. 425) was a monk from the British Isles originally said to be from Scotland[1]who was very learned and was possessed of an austere character. He was not a cleric, but was described as a "layman". In 390 he journeyed to Rome where he observed much moral laxness. About 390 A.D. he began preaching "Christian asceticism", and drew a fairly large following.
As his preaching continued, he developed an entire body of Dogma which became known as "Pelagianism".
From 409-411 A.D. Pelagius began teaching that all men (that is, babies) were "born innocent" exactly as Adam before the Fall.
He denied that consequences came upon the entire human race and the Doctrine of Original Sin.[2] He believed the Fall affected only Adam and not the rest of the human race. Man was therefore "born free". Because of this, he reasoned that even an unregenerate man could possibly excersize his "free will" and thereby secure Eternal Salvation without G-ds' Grace. Mans' "free will", Pelagius taught, had the ability to keep men in a state of relative sinlessness deserving of Heaven provided they made the correct decisions. Human righteousness, "human responsibility" or "Human Good" was exalted so that one would not "lose their Salvation".
Because Pelagius believed all are "born free" and "sinless", he said the causes of sin in the world were "environment", lack of education and negative external experiences or habits that happened to individuals. Forces acting outside the person tended to bring sin. If ones' evnvironment therefore could be changed, or education improved, then there would be less sin or perhaps none at all.[3] Man could be "saved" and the entire human race "made perfect" thereby.
He taught a kind of "moral independence", based on following the Mosaic Law and the sayings of Jesus. It was basically Stoicism combined with other Greek thought along with Bible teaching. Greek thought (mixed with the philosophy of Socrates) which taught that all were "autonomous, free moral agents" and therefore possessed some basic inherent "power to will" their own good to attain unto "Virtue": the Greek Ideal, which they said would qualify such an one for a higher promotion in the next life.
Pelagius was also strongly anti-Paedo (Infant) Baptism. He taught there is no necessity to Baptize infants as they were born "just like Adam before the Fall", guiltless and without any sin whatsoever The protection of Consecration was denied children by Pelagius. He taught that if such an unbaptized infant died in such a state it would have Eternal Life but could not inherit the Kingdom of G-d. This became known as a place called "Limbo".
Since Pelagius believed that fallen man still possessed a "divine spark" and that his "free will" could secure his Salvation, likewise, the failure of mans' will later to "keep him Saved" could cause him to "backslide" and LOSE his Salvation. Pelagius taught that it was even possible for G-ds' Elect to "become unsaved" and perhaps later even "lose their Salvation" as well.[4] Pelagius rejected Eternal Security. Pelagius also taught that "all are Elect" in the New Testament sense; it was just what "you did with it" that decided your Salvation.
Pelagius was unable to accept the fact that Salvation and Sanctification are both altogether the Work of G-ds' Grace alone. (Philippians 2:13) He taught all that "Faith alone, Grace alone" meant was that men could "live however they wished", or that gave man a "license to sin" and still be Saved. He did not seem to comprehend Divine Discipline that keeps G-ds' Elect from straying too far.
After the sack of Rome by the Vandals in 410 A.D., in 411 one of Pelagius' students, Celestius, journeyed to North Africa and began propogating Pelagius' teachings. There he drew the attention of Augustine who, beginning in 412, wrote a series of letters against the theology of Pelagius.[5] Jerome also wrote letters repudiating Pelagius and his doctrines. Both Augustine and Jerome recognizing Pelagianism as a "different gospel" and not the True Gospel at all.
Pelagius however, had gone to Palestine and was preaching it there.
Both Pelagius and Celestius were rebuked first privately, then publically on numerous occasions, but would not repent of these false teachings. Pelagius' teachings were undermining the Assemblies, causing polarization, and their forces were growing in number. Several Councils and Synods were therefore called and they met to address and Rule on Pelagianism.
Celestius was judged heretical at the Council of Carthage in 412 A.D. and Excommunicated.
Pelagius was first brought before the Synods of Jerusalem and Diospolis (also in Palestine). He was at the time the guest of the bishop of Jerusalem when charges were first brought. This was a touchy situation. The ones bringing the charges did not possess an adequate knowledge of Greek and were forced to work through an interpreter. Pelagius had an excellemt command of Greek and disguised his teachings by reciting basic orthodoxy. Next, many of their charges Pelagius consigned to the misinterpretations of Celestius, his student. He managed to make specious explanations with several qualifications which concealed his actual positions. He then was aquitted by the judges there. (414-416). This caused no small stir.
Pelagianism was soon condemned as a heresy in 416 A.D. at the Synods of Carthage and Meleve. Not long afterwards, a Rescript of Honorius banished all Pelagius' followers from Italy. Pelagius refused to stop teaching these things and would not repent. The same year Pelagius was Excommunicated. Nothing more is heard about him after that time.
Next, Julian of Eclanum had taken up Pelagianism and was actively preaching it in Rome. Augustine wrote several more letters refuting Julian. Julian and his forces all focused on Augustines' positions. The debates lasted from 419-428. Julian was refuted at all points and was finally driven from Rome.
Julian found refuge in Cilicia and then went to Byzantium. There he joined with other exiles: Bishops Florus, Orontius, and Fabius, and was openly accepted at the Court of the Patriarch Nestorius of Constantinople. News spread slowly in those days.
In 429, Celestius also joined them.
Marius Mercator, one of Augustines' friends found they were plotting in Constantinople. He exposed their activities and Emperor Theodosius II soon decreed their banishment in 430. Julian died between 441 ansd 445.
Pelagianisms' forces were still active. They had found fairly wide-spread acceptance in England among the Saxons and the Picts. In 429 A.D. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, along with Lupus were sent to counter the threat to Orthodoxy. The Pelagians had mobilized and had begun to take up arms to forcibly oppose the Assemblies. They were debating the Church envoys from Gaul publically, probably at Verulamium, where Germanus paid respects to the tomb of the martyr Alban. The Venerable Bede records that the Pelagians were known by their wealth and opulent clothing. Their doctrine however, was totally and completely refuted in public by Germanus. The unrepentant forces of the Pelagians could not be swayed, and they were intent on war. Germanus then rallied newly-Baptized Britons against the armies of the Saxons and Picts shouting "Hallelujah!" as they engaged the enemy. The forces of Germanus were victorious, and the Pelagians, basically, were put to the sword.
Thus ended Pelagianism as an organized force in England.
Finally in the East, the Council of Ephesus agreed with the West and condemned Pelagianism as a heresy in 431 A.D.
SEMI-PELAGIANISM
Pelagianism had been decreed heresy, and so in an attempt to combine Augustines' and Pelagius' theology, the Doctrine of Semi-Pelagianism was soon developed.
Semi-Pelagianism said that G-ds' Grace and mans' unregenerate "free will" co-operated together to secure Salvation.
They admitted that man was a sinner by nature, but that he was merely somewhat "diseased" or "wounded" and not completely fallen.
They still taught that Election was for all men and that G-ds' Foreknowledge merely "knew" who would later "choose" Him. Thus man could "elect" himself.
Augustine had spoken out against this false gospel and the entire early Church Ruled that Augustine was right.
Both views, Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism were likewise condemned as Heresies at the Council of Orange in 529.
Even though the Doctrines of Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism were condemned as heresies and Pelagianism was defeated as an organized group in the 5th Century A.D., its doctrines continue to pop-up within some churches and culture today.
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FOOTNOTES
[1
The work of Zimmer, however, revealed that "Scotland" was also a name for Ireland. Pelagius' works contained many "Irish phrases" and so it has been determined that Pelagius was indeed an Irishman.
[2
Pelagius realized (correctly) that acceptance of man as a fallen creature would prevent him, being "dead in trespasses and sins" from "saving himself" by any means. Therefore Pelagius reasoned that only Adam was Fallen to that degree, not the entire human race. Basically, Pelagius knew what the Greek of the New Testament clearly said, so this was why he reasoned that all babies were "born elect"; all were "born free" or "sinless", making all mens' unregenerate "free will" not "dead in trespasses and sins", but wholly potentially able to "save" an individual because of some "divine spark" still left in man. Today, those ones (usually "evangelicals" or "charisnatics" who do not want to appear "unorthodox" (and therefore heretical), will most times quickly agree that they DO accept that man ls a fallen creature. In doing so, however, they of course take away all mans' "power to save himself", because that is what the Doctrine MEANS! (See the Council of Orange 529 AD, above). But they still go right on believing and teaching Semi-Arminianism anyway, without "firing on all cylinders".
[3
In the Social Humanistic application, perhaps only their "environment" or "bad education" causes them to commit sin. Create "perfect environment" and "better education" and there would be "less sin", or perhaps even "no sin". In Social Humanism, of course, we are at the place where it is not even called "sin".
The Childhood is exalted, and if an individual has had a "deprived" or bad childhood, because of "external forces" these are the cause of societys' ills. Then the individual is directed back to what is called his "Inner Child" which is supposed to be "perfectly innocent" (again following Pelagius) and a "remedy" for their problems is somehow "found". This is "mans' wisdom seeking a solution" and just the Pelagian heresy that denies the Doctrine of Original Sin and the True Gospel at all points.
These concepts are all a repetition of the philosophy of HUMANISM.
[4
[5
The foremost Bible scholar and theologian of the 5th Century A.D. was Augustine. Augustines' powerful arguments could not be defeated by the forces of Pelagius. The Augustinian view of Predestination and Election based solely on G-ds' Grace won out. Jerome and many others agreed with Augustine.
Long before the 16th and 17th Centuries A.D. Rome had drifted back to Pelagianism. The Scholars and Leaders of the Reformation (Luther, Calvin and Zwingli) quoted Augustines' works to demonstrate how far the Romanists had drifted from the original doctrines of the Assemblies.
Rejecting the Reformers, Rome still doggedly promotes much of Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism to this day as valid. This was because of the success of Arminianism in combatting "Calvinism". Arminianism and Semi-Arminianism contain Pelagian teachings.
Augustine, Aurelius. Contra Pelagius.
ibid. Contra Julian.
Berkhof, Louis. The history of Christian doctrines. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Banner of Truth. 1937.
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story if Christianity. Saint Louis, Missouri. Prince Press. 1999.
Pohle, Joseph.
Zimmer, H. Pelagius in Ireland. Berlin. 1901.