THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
PELAGIUS, PELAGIAN CONTROVERSIES.
. Pelagius. Place and Life (§ 1). Works (§ 2). Original Sin (§ 3). Christian Redemption (§ 4). Pedobaptism, Original Sin, and Perfection (§ 5).
Doctrine of Grace (§6). Letter to Demetrias and Celestius (§7). II. Pelagian Controversies. Rejection of Celestius (§ 1). Diffusion of Pelagianism (§ 2). Mission of Orosius (§3).
Synods of Diospolis, Carthage, and
Mileve (§ 4). Zosimus and the African Church (§ 5). Rescript of Honorius (§6). Julian of Eclanum (§ 7) . Decline and Disappearance (§ 8).
I. Pelagius : The author of the teachings which racked the western Church in the fifth century was born probably in Britain in the fourth century; and died, as may be assumed, in Palestine at the age of about seventy. Together with his friend Celestius, he is mentioned by Augustine in a
i. Place letter of 418 as the author or promoter and Life, of a heresy which sought to undermine the ancient faith by assailing the doctrine of divine grace. Until 411, however, Pelagius had been regarded as perfectly orthodox, nor did he gain his evil fame until he came within the domain of the dogmatic influence of Augustine. It was from Africa that the condemnation of Pelagianism proceeded, and in the East it was only after the Pelagian controversy had been complicated by Nestorianism that Pelagius was deemed a heretic, which was not till after 428. Pelagius had lived long in Rome, when, about 411, he made the fateful journey to Africa which was to brand him as a heresiarch. It is not improbable that he was an old man by 410, and after 418 his name vanished. Of his life little is definitely known, and even his birthplace is uncertain. Augustine, Prosper, Marius Mercator, and Orosius refer to him as a Briton. Jerome, on the other hand, states that he was from Albion or Scotia (i.e., Ireland). It seems probable, however, that Pelagius was of British birth. He was a monk, though whether in his native land or not is unknown. It is not improbable that he had visited the East before settling at Rome, especially as he was well acquainted with Greek (though this is by no means a conclusive argument). He can scarcely be identified with the monk of the same name mentioned by Chrysostom in 405, for in this year he was living in Rome; or with a monastic gormand to whom Isidore of Pelusium refers. If Pelagius visited the East before 400, he might there have become a monk; but in Rome he was neither connected with any monastery nor did he hold any ecclesiastical position. Nevertheless, even without school or position, an educated and upright ascetic, such as Pelagius was acknowledged to have been, readily found a public, and his fame became wide-spread. By 405 he wrs in correspondence with Paulinus of Nola (q.v.) and enjoyed an honorable reputation with Augustine. Jerome and Orosius describe him as a man with broad shoulders and a strong neck, and corpulent in person.
According to Gennadius, Pelagius had written two works of value before he became known as a heretic : De fide Trinitatis libri tres and Eclogarum ex divinis scripturis liber unus. The former has entirely disappeared; the latter is plainly identical with the T estimoniorum liber and Capitulorum liber to which Augustine and Jerome refer, from the latter of which the synod of Diospolis cit?s
several propositions. The fragments of this work, however, which consisted principally of citations from the Scriptures with only the chapter-headings written by Pelagius, are of little
2. Works, value for a knowledge of his system.
The greater importance attaches to the In apostolum Paulum commentarii, mentioned by Marius Mercator. This work was known by Augustine by 412; and Marius Mercator is doubtless right in dating it before 410. This commentary may be regarded as preserved by the fortunate discovery of H. Zimmer in a manuscript of St. Gall. From this it has become evident that the recension of the commentary of Pelagius which has become incorporated with the writings of Jerome (MPL, xxx. 646-902) can no longer be termed " pseudo-Jeromian "; for, although two Pelagian statements in the commentary on Romans preserved by Augustine and Marius Mercator and contained in the St. Gall codex are lacking in the " pseudo- Jerome," and the discovery of other differences between the original by Pelagius and our texts may be the result of researches still in progress, nevertheless the " pseudo Jerome " may be considered as containing nothing not derived from Pelagius. From the data thus gained it becomes possible to see the views of Pelagius at a time when he was still deemed orthodox, which would be impossible from the polemics of Augustine.
As early as his commentary on Romans Pelagius denied the tenet of original sin inherited from Adam, not only citing the similar views of others (possibly including Celestius) but himself directly controverting it. Only the flesh of man, not the immortal soul, comes from Adam, and even the " substance of
man's flesh " comes from God and is,
3. Original therefore, good; and he regards it as
Sin. Manichean (see Mani, Manicheans) to assert that sin is innate in the body. Man accordingly still possesses the power not to sin, and is free to do either good or evil. He implies that natural death is not due to Adam, nor does he regard the natural death (i.e., death without subsequent abiding in Hades) as a result of the fall or as coming under the category of death. At the same time Pelagius held that sin had come into the world through Adam, who had brought death upon himself and his descendants. But although the flesh is good, its desires, so soon as they pass beyond " the limits of nature," are contrar}r to reason. The applications of these views bear a decidedly ascetic stamp: to sell all one's possessions, as he himself had done; to refrain even from what was permitted; to be content, like pilgrims, with bare necessities; and to live in celibacy — these were his ideals. Nevertheless, Pelagius carefully refrained from upbraiding nature. He did not oppose marriage; though the