For Pelagius, human nature was capable by itself to attain perfect righteousness. This, according to Augustine—and with a clear nod to Galatians 2:21—was to posit that Christ, in fact, died in vain.

Some diseases are more pernicious, causing more damage to the body, than others. And in like fashion some heresies tend to have a kind of pernicious staying power that cause significant damage to the body of Christ more than others. Pelagianism is one such heresy. Not only did it bring significant injury during the 5^th century under the teaching of Pelagius and his followers, it continued to rear its ugly head during the 14^th and 15^th centuries through the nominalism of Ockham and Biel^[1], found support in the 18^th century through the teachings of John Wesley and later Charles Finney^[2], and even some thinkers have labeled our current libertine moment as “the Age of Pelagius.”^[3]

So what is this heresy and why is it so rotten? It, of course, draws its name from the man who first taught it, the British “monk” Pelagius.^[4] And whether it appears in its full form or its veiled form, semi-Pelagianism, it’s a teaching that strikes at the vitals of orthodoxy. Specifically, it twists the Bible’s clear teachings in three key areas: the nature of man, the nature of sin, and the nature of God’s grace. Let’s look at each of these in turn.

Mankind: Righteous or Fallen?

When Pelagius made his way to Rome he was shocked by the moral laxity he observed in the Christians present there. Soon after he thought he found the culprit. Augustine’s Confessions were being widely read and when he got a hold of the book, he became triggered by a particular passage:

“On your exceedingly great mercy rests all my hope. Give what you command, and then command whatever you will. You order us to practice continence…O Love, ever burning, never extinguished, O Charity, my God, set me on fire! You command continence: give what you command, and then command whatever you will.”^[5]

For Pelagius, this kind of prayer and attitude was the problem. Why? He thought that Augustine was undermining mankind’s innate ability to obey. Why would God command something that, according to Augustine, men could never obey unless helped first by God’s supernatural grace? For Pelagius, God’s commands assumed man’s ability and how dare Augustine suggest that man had no ability? This kind of Augustinian reliance upon outside help hamstrung men, Pelagius thought, from doing what needed to be done. It’s not God’s responsibility to obey, but man’s, and to place this responsibility upon God was a denial of human agency.

This gets at a major component of Pelagius’ system and how he understood the nature of mankind: he 1) denied that humanity after Adam had lost its original righteousness and 2) he denied that the human will was thus bound by and warped under sin. For Augustine, taking his cue mainly from Romans 5, after Adam “sin came into the world through [that] one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men (Rom. 5:12). If Adam was originally posse non peccare, posse peccare (able not to sin yet also able to sin), now, after the fall, all men are born into this world non posse non peccare (not able not to sin). Augustine would respond to Pelagius by citing and expounding Philippians 2:12-13, “my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.” See(!), said Augustine, our very ability to obey comes from God’s grace first working in us. Without it we are lost in the deadness of our sin.

Read More