tered into the general faith of the Church before they were so stren- uously asserted by Augustine in his controversy with Pelagius. It is true that many assertions may be quoted from the Greek fathers inconsistent with some of the propositions above stated. But the same writers in other passages avow their faith in these primary Scriptural truths ; and they are implied in .the prayers and ordinances of the Church, and were incorporated at a later period, in the public confessions of the Greeks, as well as of the Latins.
Clemens Alexandrinus^ says: to yap e^^a/xapTavetv Trao-ii/ €ixcf>vTOi' kol koi- vov. Justin says, To yeuo<; twv avOpwTrwv airo tov ^Ada/j. vtto Odvarov Koi Trkdvqv riyv tov o(/)ea)s eVcTrrw/cei, although he adds, Trapa ttju iSiav ahCav eKaa-Tov avTU)VTrovr]pev(TaiJ.ei'ov. Origen says, ^ " Si Levi .... in lum- bis Abrahse fuisse perhibetur, multo magis omnes homines qui in hoc mundo nascuntur et nati sunt, in lumbis erant Adaj, cum adhuc esset in Paradiso ; et omnes homines cum ipso vel in ipso expulsi sunt de Paradiso." Athanasius says,* Havres oif ol i^ ASafx. yeiop.-
€VOi iv duaprtats avXkafJi/SA'OVTaL ttj tov ■n-poira.Topo'i KaraStKiy — Oukvvcflv ws ci; apx^^ V «-''P^pw"wi/ <^ucris utto rr^v afxapTiav ttctttwkci' vtto t'^9 iv Eua irapa fSdaeu)^, KOL viro KaTapav rj yeiv/jcrts yiyovev. Ambrose says,° " Manifes- tum itaque in Adam omnes peccasse quasi in massa : ipse enim per peccatum corruptus, quos genuit omnes nati sunt sub peccato. Ex eo igitur cuncti peccatores, quia ex ipso sumus omnes." Cypi'ian says : '^ " Si . . . . baptismo atque a gratia nemo proliibetur ; quanto magis prohiberi non debet infans, qui recons natus niliil pec- cavit, nisi quod secundum Adam carnaliter natus, contagium mortis antiquse prima nativitate contraxit? qui ad remissam peccatorura accipiendani hoc ipso facilius accedit, quod illi remittuntur non propria, sed aliena peccata." Again he says : " Fuerant et ante Christum viri insignes, sed in peccatis concept! et nati, nee original! nee personal! cai'uere delicto." These writers, says Gieseler," taught that through Christ and his obedience on the tree was healed the original disobedience of man in reference to the tree of knowledge ; that as we offended God in the first Adam by trans- gression, so through the second Adam we are reconciled to God ; that Christ has freed us from the power of the devil to which we were subjected by the sin of Adam ; that Christ has regained for
1 Padayvf/us, ill. 12; Works, edit. Paris. 1641, p. 262, c.
2 Dialo(jus cum Ti-yphone Jttdcso, 88; Works, edit. Cologne, 1636, p. 316, a.
8 In Epislolam ad Rmnanos, lib. v. sect. 1 ; Wot-ks, edit. Wirceburgi, 179-1, vol. xv. p. 218.
4 Expos, in Psnlmos ; in Ps. 1. (li.), 7.
*> In Ephtolam nd Romnnos, v. 12: Works, Paris, 1661, vol. iii. p. 269, a.
^ Epistola\K\\'. edit. Bremen, 1690; p. 161, of third set
' Kirchengeschkhie, edit. Bonn, 1855, rol. vi. p. 180.
152 PART II. Ch. VIII. — sin.
us life and immortality.^ It is not maintained that the Greek fathers held the doctrine of original sin in the form in which it was afterwards developed by Augustine, but they nevertheless taught that the race fell in Adam, that they all need redemption, and that redemption can only be obtained through the Lord Jesus Christ.^
§ 4. Pelagian Theory.
In the early part of the fifth century, Pelagius, Coelestius, and Julian, introduced a new theory as to the nature of sin and the state of man since the fall, and of our relation to Adam. That their doctrine was an innovation is proved by the fact that it was universally rejected and condemned as soon as it was fully under- stood. They were all men of culture, ability, and exemplary character. Pelagius was a Briton, whether a native of Brittany or of what is now called Great Britain, is a matter of doubt. He was by profession a monk, although a layman. Coelestius was a teacher and jurist ; Julian an Italian bishop. The radical principle of the Pelagian theory is, that ability limits obligation. " If I ought, I can," is the aphorism on which the whole system rests. Augus- tine's celebrated prayer, " Da quod jubes, et jube quod vis," was pronounced by Pelagius an absurdity, because it assumed that God can demand more than man render, and what man must receive as a gift. In opposition to this assumption he laid down the principle that man must have plenary ability to do and to be whatever can be righteously required of him. " Iterum quaerendum est, pecca- tum voluntatis an necessitatis est ? Si necessitatis est, peccatum non est ; si voluntatis, vitari potest. Iterum quaerendum est, utrumne debeat homo sine peccato esse ? Proeul dubio debet. Si debet potest ; si non potest, ergo non debet. Et si non debet homo esse sine peccato, debet ergo cum peccato esse, et jam peccatum non erit, si illud deberi constiterit." ^
1 Iremeus, v. xvi. 3; Worlcs^ edit. Leipzig, 1853; vol. i. p. 762. " Obediens factus est usque ad mortem, mortem autem cruets, Phil. ii. 8; earn quae in ligno facta fuerat inobedi- entiam, ))er earn quae in ligno fuerat obedientiam sanai-.s ... In primo quidem Adam offendimus, non facientes ejus prsecepliim ; in secundo autem Adam reconciliati 8umus, obedientes usque ad mortem facti." And again, Ibid. v. xxiii. 1, p. 546 : " Quo- niani Deus invictus et magnanimis est, magnanimem quidem se exhibuit ad correptionem
hominis, et probalionem omnium ; per secundum autem hominem alligavit
fortem et diripuit ejus vasa et evacuavit mortem, vivificans eum hominem, qui fuprit morti- ficatus."
2 J. G Walch: De Pelagianismo ante Pelagium. J. Hern: De Sententiis eorum Pati-um quorum nuctorUns ante Augnsiinum plurimwn valuit. Neander's Chttrch HisUiry, vol. i. Gieseler's Kirchengesrhichte, vol. vi. Shedd's History of Christian Drctrine. Also Miin- Bcher"s, Meyer's, and Klee's Dogmenyeschichte.
8 Gieseler, vol. i.