which Pelagius was again accused of holding and propa- gating unsound opinions. Two bishops from the Gal- ilean Church, viz. Heros of Aries and Lazarus of Aqua (Aix), took a prominent part in the proceedings against him. They appeared, indeed, as his chief accusers. Here again Pelagius did not find it difficult to persuade his judges of his orthodoxy. Their own opinions were not very greatly different from those of the accused. They understood not the distinctions on which the doc- trinal system prevalent in the West was formed. By the use of ambiguous phraseology, and by abstaining from giving any definition of what he really meant by " grace" and " free will," he easily convinced them that his views were quite in accordance with the doctrines of the Church. The learned Jesuit historian, Petavius {Rutionar. Temp, i, 257), thus describes the appearance he made on this occasion : " Ab iis interrogatus Pelagi- us, facile Graicos homines lingute illius ac fraudis igna- ros captiosis responsibus elusit." The following was the sentence pronounced by his judges: "Since we are sat- isfied with the declarations of the monk Pelagius, here present, who acknowledges the holy doctrine, and con- demns whatsoever is contrary to the faith of the Church, we declare that he is in the communion of the Catholic Church." This singular condition, however, was at- tached to the sentence, that he should anathematize all who taught the contrary opinions, not as heretics, but as fools — " tanquam stultos, non tanquam hreretlcos !" The Eastern Church had never, with such fulness and precision of expression as the Western, given an au- thoritative deliverance on the doctrines of sin and of divine grace. The anthropology there prevailing, and moulding all their forms of thought, was still that of the second and third centuries, and thus Pelagius es- caped so easily when his opinions were inquired into.
It seemed as if in the East the cause of Pelagius and his followers would triumph. They exulted at the vic- tories they had gained over their opponents. But the Western bishops were roused to more resolute efforts than ever to expose and condemn the deadly errors which were growing up under the sanction, seemingly, of the Eastern synods. Jerome condemned these syn- ods as themselves heretical. The vigilant and ener- getic Augustine now girded on his armor, and stood in the foreground as the great champion for the doctrine of grace. His penetrating and philosophic mind, and the deep insight he had gained in the school of Chris- tian experience into the true nature of the Gospel, en- abled him to see through the disguise under which the system of Pelagius was concealed, and to discover the fatal character of its doctrines. He contended earnestly for the faith. He agitated the African Church to in- vestigate the whole matter, and to give forth an unam- biguous decree on the subjects in dispute. At the same time he published his first work on the controversy, entitled De r/estis Pelagii, in which he spoke strongly against the Eastern bishops in allowing themselves to be so grievously misled by the plausible reasonings and ambiguities of Pelagius. This was the first of a series of works which Augustine published from time to time during the space of about twenty years, during which- he was engaged mainly in conducting this controversy.
Two provincial synods were held in the year follow- ing (41G) ; one at Mileum, in Numidia, composed of six- tj'-one bishops, among whom was Augustine, presided over by Silvanus, and the other at Carthage, presided over by Aurelius, by both of which the opinions pro- mulgated by Pelagius and Crelestius were examined, and being found heretical were solemnly condemned. These sj-nods respectively sent letters to Innocent I, the Roman bishop, giving him an account of their pro- ceedings, and asking his concurrence in the sentence they had pronounced. A third letter, sent in the names of five African bishops — Augustine, Aurelius, Alypius, Euodeus, and Possidius — conveyed to him fuller infor- mation regarding the heretical character of the opinions entertained bv I'clairius. Thcv at the same time also
PELAGIAN ISM
871
PELAGIANISM
sent him one of the books published by Pelagius, that he might examine it for liimself. Innocent, in reply to those letters, expresses himself well pleased with the dutiful conduct of the North African bishops in refer- ring the matter to the bishop of Rome, the successor of Teter, and the legitimate head therefore of Christen- dom ! He then declares his full concurrence in the sen- tence they had pronounced against the heresy. " We can neither affirm nor deny," he says, "that there are Pelagians in Eome; because, if there are any, they take care to conceal themselves, and are not discovered in so great a multitude of people." It had been reported to him that the Eastern Council had acquitted Pelagius. With reference to this he says, "We cannot believe that he has been jnstitied, notwithstanding that some laymen have brought to us acts by which he pretends to have been absolved. But we doubt the authenticity of these acts, because they have not been sent us by the council, and we have not received anj' letters from those who assisted at it. For if Pelagius could have relied on his justification, he would not have failed to oblige his judges to acquaint us with it. And even in these acts he has not justified himself clearly, but has only sought to evade and perplex matters. We can neither approve nor blame this decision. If Pela- gius pretends he has nothing to fear, it is not our busi- ness to send for him, but rather his to make haste to come and get himself absolved. For if he still contin- ues to entertain the same sentiments, whatever letters he may receive, he will never venture to expose himself to our sentence. If he is to be summoned, that ought rather to be done by those who are nearest to him. We have perused the book said to be written by him, which you sent us. We have found therein many propositions against the grace of God, many blasphemies, nothing that pleased us, and hardly anything but what dis- pleased us, and ought to be rejected by all the world."' Pelagius, being made aware of the anathema which had been pronounced against him and Ccelestius, immediate- ly drew up a confession of his faith, and sent it with a letter to Innocent; but that pope meantime dying, the communication fell into the hands of his successor, Zos- imus, who came probably originally from the East, a man whose knowledge of Christian truth was superficial and indefinite. Ccelestius went to Rome to prosecute in person his appeal against the decree of the African synods. Zosimus readily favored the appeal to his judg- ment. He was so far influenced by the written state- ments and explanation of Pelagius ("subdola Pelagii epistola deceptus," says Petavins), and by a letter in fa- vor of Pelagius from bishop Praylus of Jerusalem, as well as by the more detailed oral explanation and prom- ises of submission to the papal decision made by Cceles- tius, that he reversed the sentence of his predecessor Innocent, and declared in very strong terms his disap- proval of the decision of the councils of JJ ileum and Carthage. He sent two letters to the African Church, in which he declared that they were guilty of doing a great wrong to Pelagius and his associate, by condemn- ing them as heretics on grounds altogether insufficient. He complained that they had too hastily given heed to the representations of Heros and Lazarus, "whose ordinations," says he, "we have found to be irregular: and no accusation ought to have been received from them against an absent person, who being now present explains his faith and challenges his accusers. If these accusers do not appear at Rome within two months, to convict him of having other opinions than those which he professes, he ought to be deemed innocent to all in- tents and purposes."