Editing Pelagianism (section)

==Comparison==

Significant influences on Pelagius included [[Eastern Christianity]], which had a more positive view of [[human nature]],{{sfn|Chadwick|2001|p=116}}{{sfn|Bonner|2018|pp=304–305}}{{sfn|Scheck|2012|p=80}} and [[classical philosophy]], from which he drew the ideas of personal autonomy and self-improvement.{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=78}} After having previously credited Cicero's [[Lost literary work|lost]] ''[[Hortensius (Cicero)|Hortensius]]'' for his eventual conversion to Christianity,<ref>Augustine of Hippo, ''Confessions'', 3:4</ref> Augustine accused Pelagius' idea of virtue of being "[[Ciceronian]]", taking issue with the ideology of the dialogue's author as having overemphasized the role of human intellect and will.{{sfn|Dodaro|2004|pp=109–110}}{{efn|According to Augustine, true virtue resides exclusively in God and humans can know it only imperfectly.{{sfn|Dodaro|2004|p=111}}}} Although his teachings on original sin were novel, Pelagius' views on grace, free will and predestination were similar to those of contemporary Greek-speaking theologians such as Origen, John Chrysostom, and Jerome.{{sfn|Scheck|2012|p=80}}

Theologian [[Carol Harrison (theologian)|Carol Harrison]] commented that Pelagianism is "a radically different alternative to Western understandings of the human person, human responsibility and freedom, ethics and the nature of salvation" which might have come about if Augustine had not been victorious in the Pelagian controversy.{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=78}} According to Harrison, "Pelagianism represents an attempt to safeguard God's justice, to preserve the integrity of human nature as created by God, and of human beings' obligation, responsibility and ability to attain a life of perfect righteousness."{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=82}} However, this is at the expense of downplaying human frailty and presenting "the operation of divine grace as being merely external".{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=82}} According to scholar [[Rebecca Weaver (theologian)|Rebecca Weaver]], "what most distinguished Pelagius was his conviction of an unrestricted freedom of choice, given by God and immune to alteration by sin or circumstance."{{sfn|Weaver|2014|p=xviii}}

===Definition===
What Augustine called "Pelagianism" was more his own invention than that of Pelagius.{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=50}}{{sfn|Bonner|2018|p=302}} According to [[Thomas Scheck]], Pelagianism is the heresy of denying Catholic Church teaching on original sin, or more specifically the beliefs condemned as heretical in 417 and 418.{{sfn|Scheck|2012|p=86}}{{efn|Scheck and [[F. Clark]] summarize the condemned beliefs as follows: {{numbered list|"Adam's sin injured only himself, so that his posterity were not born in that state of alienation from God called original sin|It was accordingly possible for man, born without original sin or its innate consequences, to continue to live without sin by the natural goodness and powers of his nature; therefore, justification was not a process that must necessarily take place for man to be saved|Eternal life was, consequently, open and due to man as a result of his natural good strivings and merits; divine interior grace, though useful, was not necessary for the attainment of salvation."{{sfn|Scheck|2012|p=86}}}}}} In her study, Ali Bonner (a lecturer at the [[University of Cambridge]]) found that there was no one individual who held all the doctrines of "Pelagianism", nor was there a coherent Pelagian movement,{{sfn|Bonner|2018|p=302}} although these findings are disputed.{{sfn|Chronister|2020|p=119}}{{sfn|Lössl|2019|p=848}} Bonner argued that the two core ideas promoted by Pelagius were "the goodness of human nature and effective free will" although both were advocated by other Christian authors from the 360s. Because Pelagius did not invent these ideas, she recommended attributing them to the ascetic movement rather than using the word "Pelagian".{{sfn|Bonner|2018|p=302}} Later Christians used "Pelagianism" as an insult for theologically orthodox Christians who held positions that they disagreed with. Historian [[Eric Nelson (historian)|Eric Nelson]] defined genuine Pelagianism as rejection of original sin or denial of original sin's effect on man's ability to avoid sin.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=4}} Even in recent scholarly literature, the term "Pelagianism" is not clearly or consistently defined.{{sfn|Scheck|2012|pp=81–82}}

===Pelagianism and Augustinianism===
{{See also|Augustinianism}}
Pelagius' teachings on human nature, divine grace, and sin were opposed to those of Augustine, who declared Pelagius "the enemy of the grace of God".{{sfn|Puchniak|2008|p=123}}{{sfn|Scheck|2012|p=79}}{{efn|The phrase ({{lang|la|inimici gratiae}}) was repeated more than fifty times in Augustine's anti-Pelagian writings after Diospolis.{{sfn|Rackett|2002|p=234}}}} Augustine distilled what he called Pelagianism into three heretical tenets: "to think that God redeems according to some scale of human merit; to imagine that some human beings are actually capable of a sinless life; to suppose that the descendants of the first human beings to sin are themselves born innocent".{{sfn|Wetzel|2001|p=52}}{{efn|[[Robert Dodaro]] has a similar list: "(1) that human beings can be sinless; (2) that they can act virtuously without grace; (3) that virtue can be perfected in this life; and (4) that fear of death can be completely overcome".{{sfn|Dodaro|2004|p=186}}}} In Augustine's writings, Pelagius is a symbol of [[humanism]] who excluded God from human salvation.{{sfn|Scheck|2012|p=79}} Pelagianism shaped Augustine's ideas in opposition to his own on free will, grace, and original sin,{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=43}}{{sfn|Keech|2012|p=15}}{{sfn|Stump|2001|p=130}} and much of ''[[The City of God]]'' is devoted to countering Pelagian arguments.{{sfn|Dodaro|2004|p=80}} Another major difference in the two thinkers was that Pelagius emphasized obedience to God for fear of hell, which Augustine considered servile. In contrast, Augustine argued that Christians should be motivated by the delight and blessings of the [[Holy Spirit in Christianity|Holy Spirit]] and believed that it was treason "to do the right deed for the wrong reason".{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=80}} According to Augustine, credit for all virtue and good works is due to God alone,{{sfn|Dodaro|2004|pp=187–188}} and to say otherwise caused arrogance, which is the foundation of sin.{{sfn|Dodaro|2004|p=191}}

According to Peter Brown, "For a sensitive man of the fifth century, Manichaeism, Pelagianism, and the views of Augustine were not as widely separated as we would now see them: they would have appeared to him as points along the great circle of problems raised by the Christian religion".{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=53}} [[John Cassian]] argued for a middle way between Pelagianism and Augustinianism, in which the human will is not negated but presented as intermittent, sick, and weak,{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=82}} and Jerome held a middle position on sinlessness.{{sfn|Squires|2016|p=706}} In Gaul, the so-called "[[semi-Pelagians]]" disagreed with Augustine on [[predestination]] (but recognized the three Pelagian doctrines as heretical) and were accused by Augustine of being seduced by Pelagian ideas.{{sfn|Wetzel|2001|pp=52, 55}}   According to Ali Bonner, the crusade against Pelagianism and other heresies narrowed the range of acceptable opinions and reduced the [[intellectual freedom]] of classical Rome.{{sfn|Bonner|2018|pp=303–304}} When it came to grace and especially predestination, it was Augustine's ideas, not Pelagius', which were novel.{{sfn|Bonner|2018|p=305}}{{sfn|Dodaro|2004|p=86}}{{sfn|Weaver|2014|p=xix}}

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Belief !! Pelagianism !! [[Augustinianism]]
|-
|[[Fall of man]] || Sets a bad example, but does not affect [[human nature]]{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=44}}{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=81}} ||Every human's nature is corrupted by [[original sin]], and they also inherit moral guilt{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=44}}{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=81}} 
|-
|[[Free will]] || [[Libertarian free will|Absolute freedom of choice]]{{sfn|Puchniak|2008|p=123}}{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=79}}  || Original sin renders men unable to choose good{{sfn|Puchniak|2008|pp=123–124}}
|-
|Status of infants||Blameless{{sfn|Kirwan|1998|loc=Grace and free will}} ||Corrupted by original sin and consigned to hell if unbaptized{{sfn|Puchniak|2008|p=124}}{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=44}}{{sfn|Harrison|2016|p=81}}
|-
|[[Sin in Christianity|Sin]]|| Comes about by free choice{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=44}}||Inevitable result of fallen human nature{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=44}}
|-
|[[Justification (theology)|Forgiveness for sin]] || Given to those who sincerely repent and merit it{{efn|Pelagius wrote: "pardon is given to those who repent, not according to the grace and mercy of God, but according to their own merit and effort, who through repentance will have been worthy of mercy".{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=49}}}}|| Part of God's grace, disbursed according to His will{{sfn|Chadwick|2001|pp=30–31}} 
|-
|[[Impeccability|Sinlessness]]||Theoretically possible, although unusual{{sfn|Puchniak|2008|p=123}}{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=48}}||Impossible due to the corruption of human nature{{sfn|Puchniak|2008|p=124}}
|-
|[[Salvation in Christianity|Salvation]]||Humans will be judged for their choices{{sfn|Puchniak|2008|p=123}}||Salvation is bestowed by God's grace{{sfn|Stump|2001|pp=139–140}}
|- 
|[[Predestination]]||Rejected{{sfn|Elliott|2011|p=378}}||God [[unconditional election|decides who is saved]] and [[perseverance of the saints|prevents them from falling away]].{{sfn|Chadwick|2001|pp=123–124}} Though the explicit teaching of [[double predestination]] by Augustine is debated,{{sfn|Levering|2011|p=47–48}}{{sfn|James|1998|p=102}} it is at least implied.{{sfn|James|1998|p=103|ps=. "If one asks, whether double predestination is a logical implication or development of Augustine's doctrine, the answer must be in the affirmative."}}
|}
According to Nelson, Pelagianism is a solution to the [[problem of evil]] that invokes [[libertarian free will]] as both the cause of human suffering and a sufficient good to justify it.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=3}} By positing that man could choose between good and evil without divine intercession, Pelagianism brought into question Christianity's core doctrine of [[Jesus]]' act of [[substitutionary atonement]] to expiate the sins of mankind.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=3, 51}} For this reason, Pelagianism became associated with [[nontrinitarian]] interpretations of Christianity which rejected the [[divinity of Jesus]],{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=51}} as well as other heresies such as [[Arianism]], [[Socinianism]], and [[mortalism]] (which rejected the [[hell in Christianity|existence of hell]]).{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=4}} Augustine argued that if man "could have become just by the law of nature and free will ... amounts to rendering the cross of Christ void".{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=3}} He argued that no suffering was truly undeserved, and that grace was equally undeserved but bestowed by God's benevolence.{{sfn|Chadwick|2001|pp=117–118}}  Augustine's solution, while it was faithful to orthodox Christology, worsened the problem of evil because according to Augustinian interpretations, God punishes sinners who by their very nature are unable not to sin.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=4}} The Augustinian defense of God's grace against accusations of arbitrariness is that God's ways are incomprehensible to mere mortals.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=4}}{{sfn| Stump|2001|p=139}} Yet, as later critics such as [[Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz]] asserted, asking "[[Euthyphro dilemma|it is good and just because God wills it or whether God wills it because it is good and just]]?", this defense (although accepted by many Catholic and [[Reformed tradition|Reformed]] theologians) creates a [[Divine command theory|God-centered morality]], which, in Leibniz' view "would destroy the justice of God" and make him into a tyrant.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|pp=5–6}}

===Pelagianism and Judaism===
One of the most important distinctions between Christianity and [[Judaism]] is that the former conventionally teaches justification by faith, while the latter teaches that man has the choice to follow divine law. By teaching the absence of original sin and the idea that humans can choose between good and evil, Pelagianism advocated a position close to that of Judaism.{{sfn|Fu|2015|p=182}} Pelagius wrote positively of [[Jews]] and Judaism, recommending that Christians study Old Testament (i.e., the Tanakh) [[Law of Moses|law]]—a sympathy not commonly encountered in Christianity after [[Paul the Apostle|Paul]].{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=48}} Augustine was the first to accuse Pelagianism of "[[Judaizers|Judaizing]]",{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=45}} which became a commonly heard criticism of it.{{sfn|Nelson|2019|p=51}}{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=45}} However, although contemporary rabbinic literature tends to take a Pelagian perspective on the major questions, and it could be argued that the rabbis shared a [[worldview]] with Pelagius, there were minority opinions within Judaism (such as the [[Essenes]]) which argued for ideas more similar to Augustine's.{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=59}} Overall, Jewish discourse did not discuss free will and emphasized God's goodness in his revelation of the [[Torah]].{{sfn|Visotzky|2009|p=60}}