Tradition
Pelagianism
Overview
Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the fall did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius (c. 355 – c. 420 AD), an ascetic and philosopher from the British Isles, taught that God could not command believers to do the impossible, and therefore it must be possible to satisfy all divine commandments. He also taught that it was unjust to punish one person for the sins of another; therefore, infants are born blameless. Pelagius accepted no excuse for sinful behaviour and taught that all Christians, regardless of their station in life, should live unimpeachable, sinless lives.
To a large degree, "Pelagianism" was defined by its opponent Augustine, and exact definitions remain elusive. Although Pelagianism had considerable support in the contemporary Christian world, especially among the Roman elite and monks, it was attacked by Augustine and his supporters, who had opposing views on grace, predestination and free will. Augustine proved victorious in the Pelagian controversy; Pelagianism was decisively condemned at the 418 Council of Carthage and is regarded as heretical by the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. For centuries afterward, "Pelagianism" was used in various forms as an accusation of heresy for Christians who hold unorthodox beliefs. However, more recent scholarship in both theology and religious studies has questioned how strongly Pelagius's beliefs differed from those of his opponents and from modern mainstream Christians.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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Hence these writers are named 'Supralapsarians', because the decree to punish precedes, according to them, the knowledge of the future existence of sin. But the opinion most common to-day amongst those who are called Reformed, and one that is favoured by the Synod of Dordrecht, is that of the 'Infralapsarians', corresponding somewhat to the conception of St. Augustine. For he asserts that God having resolved to…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Theodicy Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil
States what Pelagianism is; the author is tied to Pelagianism in the knowledge graph.
For whence is that which you do not understand: "Let the righteous smite me, it shall be a kindness; and let him reprove me?" For while he says this of the severity of merciful correction, the Psalmist immediately went on to say of the gentleness of destructive flattery, "But the oil of sinners shall not break my head."[873] Do you therefore consider whither you are called, and from what you are summoned away. For…
of Hippo Augustine, Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy
States what Pelagianism is; the author is tied to Pelagianism in the knowledge graph.
Now the power and resolved purpose to resist a strong but unjust opponent is called fortitude (fortitudo), and when concerned with the opponent of the moral character within us, it is virtue (virtus, fortitudo moralis). Accordingly, general deontology, in that part which brings not external, but internal, freedom under laws is the doctrine of virtue.
Immanuel Kant, The Metaphysical Elements of Ethics
States what Pelagianism is; the author is tied to Pelagianism in the knowledge graph.
Philosophers who discussed Pelagianism
Related ideas
- Erasmus
- Eastern Orthodox Church
- Predeterminism
- Regeneration (theology)
- Jesus
- Ancient philosophy
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- John Rawls
- Arianism
- Human rights
- Neoplatonism and Christianity
- Immanuel Kant
- Judaism
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- Jerome
- John Locke
- John Cassian
- John Milton
- Conscience
- Grace in Christianity
- Stoicism
- Liberalism
- Manichaeism
- Augustine of Hippo
Place in the tradition
Part of British philosophy.