Pelagianism, associated with the British monk Pelagius, constitutes one of the first major doctrinal controversies of the early Church after the initial patristic era. Arising in the early 5th century, primarily in Rome and North Africa, the movement offered an interpretation of the human condition and salvation that diminished the role of divine grace and exalted man's natural freedom (Brown, 1967). The ensuing confrontation, especially with St. Augustine of Hippo, was decisive for the formulation of Catholic doctrine on original sin and the necessity of grace. This heresy is not merely a historical fact but the formalization of a tendency that constantly re-emerges under the name of practical naturalism: the attempt to organize intellectual and moral life without God, or at least, without the radical need for His interior grace (Garrigou-Lagrange, 1989, v. 1, p. 275-277).
📜Pelagian DoctrineAccording to Pelagius, Adam's sin did not result in an ontological corruption of human nature, but only in a bad example transmitted to posterity. Man, therefore, would be born morally neutral and fully capable of fulfilling the divine commandments through his free will (Rees, 1988).
In this framework, grace would not be an interior aid that heals and elevates the soul, but only an external set of resources: it would consist of the Mosaic law, the Gospel, and the example of Christ (Kelly, 1978). Thus, salvation would ultimately depend on human effort. By denying the necessity of interior grace, Pelagianism effectively denies the existence of a spiritual organism infused into the soul—composed of sanctifying grace, virtues, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit—reducing the Christian life to a mere exercise of natural morality (Garrigou-Lagrange, 1989, v. 1, p. 48-51).
🙏The Response of St. Augustine
Against such a conception, Augustine maintained that original sin profoundly wounded human nature, making it incapable of turning to God by its own strength. This wound is not superficial; it is a fourfold disorder affecting the whole of human nature: ignorance in the intellect, malice in the will, weakness in the irascible appetite, and concupiscence in the concupiscible appetite (Garrigou-Lagrange, 1989, v. 1, p. 287-289). For him, without prevenient and sustaining grace—a grace that is simultaneously sanans (healing) and elevans (elevating)—man cannot even begin the path of salvation (Augustine, c. 415). His famous prayer—Da quod iubes et iube quod vis ("Give what You command and command what You will")—summarizes the conviction that obedience is possible only through the divine gift.
This contrast between Pelagius and Augustine was not merely theoretical but had pastoral and ecclesial implications: while Pelagius emphasized a rigorist moralism, Augustine saw in grace the foundation of true Christian freedom (Bonner, 1963) and the principle of a new, essentially supernatural life, which is a participation in the intimate life of God Himself (Garrigou-Lagrange, 1989, v. 1, p. 48).
⚖️Condemnation and Consequences
Pelagianism was successively condemned by the African synods of Carthage and Milevis (416), by Pope Innocent I, and more broadly, by the Council of Carthage (418). Later, the Council of Ephesus (431) reiterated the condemnation, declaring heretical the denial of original sin and the necessity of infant baptism (Denzinger, 2012).
However, the controversy generated later developments, such as Semi-Pelagianism in southern Gaul, which attempted to reconcile human merit and divine grace. This current was condemned at the Council of Orange (529), which reaffirmed the absolute priority of grace in the order of salvation, declaring the necessity of grace even for the initium fidei, the very first desire to believe (Prosper of Aquitaine, c. 430).
⏳Historical Repercussions
The Pelagian controversy decisively marked Western theology. On one hand, it reinforced Augustine's position as the theologian of grace, whose influence would extend to medieval scholasticism and the 16th-century Reformations. On the other, Pelagianism remained a paradigm of anthropocentric heresy, frequently re-actualized in moralistic movements or in currents that minimize the gravity of original sin (Rist, 1994). This Pelagian spirit re-emerges whenever the radical mortification of the "old man" is replaced by a mere regulation of the passions, and the need for interior prayer is obscured by an activism that relies excessively on natural strengths (Garrigou-Lagrange, 1989, v. 1, p. 275).
Thus, the dispute that began around 410 not only defined dogmatic parameters but also delineated the contours of Christian reflection on freedom, sin, and grace throughout the entire Latin tradition.
✨Conclusion
Pelagianism (c. 410) should be understood not just as an ancient heresy, but as a perennial challenge: the temptation to reduce salvation to the strength of the human will, obscuring the radical necessity of the grace of Christ. The Augustinian response, confirmed by the Magisterium, continues to be an essential point of reference for contemporary Catholic theology, reminding the soul that the Christian life is not a mere moral improvement, but the reception and development of a divine life, a complete spiritual organism that makes us truly children of God (Garrigou-Lagrange, 1989, v. 1, p. 29).
📚References
AUGUSTINE. De natura et gratia. C. 415.
BONNER, G. St. Augustine of Hippo: Life and Controversies. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1963.
BROWN, P. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967.
DENZINGER, H. Enchiridion Symbolorum. 43rd ed. Freiburg: Herder, 2012.
GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE, R. The Three Ages of the Interior Life. 2 vols. Rockford: TAN Books, 1989.
KELLY, J. N. D. Early Christian Doctrines. London: A & C Black, 1978.
PROSPER OF AQUITAINE. Epistula ad Rufinum. C. 430.
REES, B. R. Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic. Woodbridge: Boydell Press, 1988.
RIST, J. Augustine: Ancient Thought Baptized. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994.