Editing Perseverance of the saints (section)

=== Augustine's doctrine of perseverance ===
[[File:Saint Augustine Portrait.jpg|thumb|upright|Botticelli, Sandro. (c. 1480) ''[[Saint Augustine in His Study (Botticelli, Ognissanti)|Saint Augustine in His Study]]'']]
Before his conversion to [[Christianity]] in 387, [[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430), adhered to three [[Determinism|deterministic]] philosophies: [[Stoicism]], [[Neoplatonism and Christianity|Neoplatonism]] and [[Manichaeism]].{{sfn|McCann|2009|pp=274-277}}{{sfn|Oort|2006|pp=709-723}}{{sfn|Christie-Murray|1989|p=89}}{{sfn|Adam|1968|pp=1-25}}{{sfn|Latourette|1945|p=332|ps=. "The young Augustine for a time had fellowship with it [Manichaeanism). It seems to have left a permanent impression upon him."}}{{sfn|Newman|1904|p=361}} After his conversion, he taught traditional Christian theology against forms of [[theological determinism]] until 412.{{sfn|Wilson|2018|pp=41–94}}{{sfn|O'Donnell|2005|pp=45, 48}}{{sfn|Chadwick|1986|p=14}}

During his conflict with the [[Pelagianism|Pelagians]], however Augustine seemed to reintroduce certain Manichean principles into his thought,{{sfn|Hanegraaf|2005|pp=757–765|loc=ch. Manichaeism}}{{sfn|Bonner|1999|pp=227–243|loc=ch. Augustine, the Bible and the Pelagians}}{{sfn|Schaff|1997|pp=789, 835}}{{sfn|Chadwick|1993|p=232-233}}{{sfn|Strong|McClintock|1880}}{{sfn|Mozley|1855|p=149|ps=. "When St. Augustine is charged by Pelagius with fatalism, he does not disown the certainty and necessity, but only the popular superstitions and impieties of that system."}} a shift notably influenced by the controversy over [[infant baptism]].{{sfn|Haight|1974|p=30|ps=. "Infant baptism tended to be regarded as an initiation into the kingdom of God and the effects of Original Sin as mediated by society. Only adult baptism included the remission of sin. Augustine denied this traditional view: Man's nature is fundamentally disordered because of inherited sin and this involved personal guilt so that an unbaptized infant could not be save."}} His early exposure to Stoicism, with its emphasis on meticulous divine [[predeterminism]], also shaped his views.{{sfn|Chadwick|1965}} According to Manichean doctrine, unborn and unbaptized infants were condemned to [[hell]] due to their physical bodies.{{sfn|Cross|2005|p=701}} Augustine asserted that God predetermined parents to seek baptism for their newborns, linking [[water baptism]] to [[Regeneration (theology)|regeneration]],{{sfn|Augustine|1994|pp=184, 196 |loc=Sermons III/8, Sermon 294}} and ultimately predetermining which infants are [[Damnation|damned]] and which are [[Justification (theology)|justified]].{{sfn|Wilson|2017|p=40}}

Augustine had to explain why some baptized individuals continued in the faith while others [[Backsliding|fell away]] and lived [[Immorality|immoral]] lives. He taught that among those regenerated through baptism, some receive an additional [[gift of perseverance]] ({{lang|la|donum perseverantiae}}) enabling them to maintain their faith and preventing them from [[Backsliding|falling away]].{{sfn|Wilson|2018|pp=150, 160–162, 185–189}}{{sfn|Hägglund|2007|pp=139–140}}{{sfn|Burnell|2005|pp=85-86}} Without this second gift, a baptized [[Christians|Christian]] with the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] would not persevere and ultimately would not be saved.{{sfn|James|1998|p=101}} Augustine developed this doctrine of perseverance in {{lang|la|De correptione et gratia}} ({{circa|426–427}}).{{sfn|Wilson|2018|pp=184–189, 305}} While this doctrine theoretically gives security to the [[Election in Christianity|elect]] who receive the gift of perseverance, individuals cannot ascertain whether they have received it.{{sfn|Davis|1991|p=213}}{{sfn|Christie-Murray|1989|p=89}}{{sfn|Newman|1904|p=317}}