At the close of the 4th century, when this was the state of matters in the Christian Church, touching the opinions that had been published on the subjects of sin and of divine grace, Pelagius appeared, and developed, and gave full expression to, the doctrines which he had learned from the Oriental Church teachers. The oppo- site system of doctrine that had already in some degree been unfolded in the writings of Augustine influenced him also in the direction of leading him to assume more decidedly the attitude of antagonism. He conceived that certain practical consequences resulted from Au- gustine's doctrine of man's moral inabilit}^ and of grace, which in his view were hurtful to the interests of holi- ness. He saw around him, in Home and elsewhere, many errors of practical life among professing Christians, which he supposed had their roots in the system of doctrine taught by Augustine, and generally accepted through- out the Church.
Thus we may regard Pelagius as influenced by two tendencies in the development of his doctrinal views: by the false elements which had in the course of the past ages mingled themselves with the speculations on Christian doctrine, partly in the West, but more es- pecially in the East; and by the tendency to pervert Christian truth, and convert the doctrine of human de- pravity, and of the necessity of divine grace, into a cloak to practical ungodliness. Such a perversion of Christianity gave strength and activity to his opposi- tion to the doctrines with which it was connected. From the beginning there had been those who had said, ''Let us continue in sin, that grace may abound." His abhorrence of such a principle, together with other influences operating in the same direction, led him to construct a system by which he might counteract the evils which he looked upon as resulting from the doc- trine of " salvation by grace," as it may have been im- perfectly or falsely taught by some, especially as it was falsely and perversely practiced by many. His effort was in the interests, as he supposed, of virtue and holiness. He ignored altogether the doctrine of the sinfulness of human nature and the necessity of divine grace, and constructed a system of pure naturalism — a system from which everything peculiar to the Gospel as a revelation of God's plan of mercy towards man is eliminated.
n. Life and Writiiu/s of Pelarjius. — Very little trust- worthy information can be obtained regarding the per- sonal history and character of Pelagius, though his name is associated with one of the most extensive and important controversies within the domain of Christian doctrine. He usually has the name, among his contem- poraries, of I'elagius Brito, and hence it has been con- cluded that ho was a native of Britain. Jerome also speaks of him as "Scotorum pultibus pr:egravatum." He seems to have spent the earlier and greater part of
his life in the retirement of the cloister, where he prob- ably gave himself to the diligent study of the writings of the fathers of the Eastern Church, who were held to be of authority in Britain. These writings undoubtedly moulded his forms of thought, and gave a complexion to all his theological speculations. He was a man of great learning, but there is no evidence in his writings of profundit}' of thought or of depth of feeling. Augus- tine says of him, " Istum, sicut eum qui noverunt, lo- quuntur bonum ac praedicandum virum." He appears to have borne among his contemporaries the reputation of a man of blameless moral excellence, but the devel- opment of his character in its relation to sin seems to have been altogether imperfect. In forming an esti- mate of his character from the spirit and tendency of his writings, Neander remarks that it is manifest he had never passed through any great mental struggle like that which his great opponent Augustine had passed through ere he attained to fixed conceptions of Christianity. He had never known any deep inner con- flicts with sin. He had never vividly realized the true nature and the need of Christian holiness. His whole sj'stem proves that he failed to recognise the difference between morality and true evangelical holiness; and in- deed this was an error into which his whole training as a monk was very apt to lead him.
About the beginning of the 5th century we find Pe- lagius at Rome. Acted upon by such influences as we have described, he began his great enterprise. He wrote a commentarj' on the Pauline epistles : Exposi- tiomim in Epistolus Pauli libri xir. This work, in which he brings out his peculiar views, consists of brief comments on all the epistles of Paul, with the exception of that to the Hebrews. It has a place in the Benedic- tine edition of Jerome's works. Indeed, all that remains to us of the writings of Pelagius, with the exception of extracts which are found in Augustine's controversial treatises, are usually printed along with the works of Jerome. For a long time they were regarded as the gen- uine works of that father. The original editors of Je- rome's works considered it as a part of their duty care- fully to purge away everything that, to them, savored of heresy from his productions, and therefore they used great liberties with the books -which passed through their hands. We have the works of Pelagius therefore only in a mutilated form.