What is at stake in the Pelagian Controversy PDF

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What is at stake in the Pelagian Controversy?...

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Wha ti sa ts t a kei nt hePe l a g i a nCo nt r o v e r s y ?An s we rwi t hs p e c i a lr e f e r e n c et oAu gu s t i ne ’ s OnNat u r ea n dGr ac e . Th ec o n t r o v e r s yb e t we e nAu gu s t i n ea n dP e l a g i u sl e dt ot h et r i u mp hofAu gu s t i n e ’ st h e ol o g y wh i c hwe r ea c c e p t e db yt heoffic i a lCh u r c hc o u n c i l s .  Original sin  Pelagian controversy is the Christian theological position that the original sin did not taint human nature and mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without special divine aid or assistance.  Named after the British monk Pelagius  He taught that human will was sufficient to live a sinless life – as well as God’s grace which assists every good work  Human beings can earn salvation by their own efforts  Augustine contradicted this – said that perfection was impossible without grace because we are born sinners with a sinful heart and will = original sin  An attack on Pelagianism was brought forwards in 415 at the Council of Diospolis which found Pelagius to be orthodox  But was later condemned at Council of Carthage – 418  Pelagian controversy = whether or not God’s internal grace is prior to and supportive of the exercise of man’s freedom in faith and the doing of good  At stake is a much more basic conception of what the very nature of man is according to Christianity, the nature of Christian life and of the Church  The Pelagian controversy asked the perennially radical question of the quality of human behaviour + the sources of good and evil in this world   Pelagius – defender of free will and perfection  Pelagius was not convinced by Augustine’s theology, in particular, the element of original sin  How could humans justly be responsible for the sins of those who came before them? Inheriting a sinful nature seems incoherent  This theological questions comes to ahead regarding infant baptism  Is it necessary to baptise infants? Pelagius = no, they do not inherit a sinful nature  Augustine = yes, as they were born in the flesh  Augustine uses baptism to explain his theological outlook  Pelagius sees the Gospels as a call to perfection  Pelagianism is a reaction itself against the mass conversion of society  Humans choose either good or evil on their own. They are responsible for their sin as well as their salvation  For Pelagius, the story of Adam and Eve, in which they disobey God, is a paradigm, an example of what every human does. Every human was born the way they were created in the Garden. To obey or disobey God.  Each individual human who sins imitates Adam  Augustine = the sin of Adam and Eve corrupted their flesh. Their new corrupted nature would be transmitted through the seed of Adam to all subsequent generations. Each generation inherits the twisted will of Adam  Augustine attacks Pelagianism = the simplistic psychology of it in particular  Pelagius – the act matters – do good or go to Hell.  Augustine – the motivation matters – not just do good but come to the will to do good – if you only do good just to avoid Hell, you do not like to do good but are just fearing the fire.

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Augustine is not against free will but thinks it is more complicated than Pelagius allows – we can be more or less free For Augustine the truly free man is one in whom reason and emotion become united into one, who does good because he loves the good....