The Pelagian Controversy

     For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners,

     So also by one man's obedience many will be made righteous

                                                                              (Roman 5: 19).

     Our study of human free will is, in a sense, a study of doctrine of 

original sin. "Original sin" does not refer to the first sin  Adam and Eve's 

eating of the Forbidden fruit, the event known in redemptive history 

as the fall of man but to the results of that sin. Virtually no one disputes 

 that the fall occured. But there has been and continues to be great 

controversy over the extent to which the human race was corrupted

by our first parents' sin.

   This controversy erupted in a major way early in the fifth century.

In his Confessions, Saint Augustine published a prayer: "Give me the 

grace to do as you command, and command me to do what you will!"

He was asking for divine enabling to do whatever God might command

Him to do. But a British monk named Pelagius took exception to the

underlying theology in Augustine's prayer. A zealot for righteousness,

he agreed that God had the right to command his creatures.

    But Pelagius felt that a just God would not and could not command a

Creature to do something the creature lacked power to do. To him, the

Idea that man requires divine help to do his duty the idea expressed in

Augustine's prayer was repugnant. He believe that idea cast a shadow

on the righteousness of God. And so his dispute with Augustine became

A controversy over the Fall and its effects.

   Pelagius did not deny that Adam sinned. But he believe Adam 

had been created with the power to obey or disobey God. Futhermore, 

Adam's sin did not radically after his nature he retained a will that was

free to choose obedience. His sin make it harder for him to do so, but

not impossible. In Pelagius' view, all of Adam's decendants, far from

being plunged into a state of moral corruption by his sin, are born in the 

same moral condition in which adam was created with power to obey

or disobey. Thus, while affected by sin, mankind is good at the core.

And while grace assists obedience, it is not necessary. People can live 

perfect lives, and many have.

    As we will see, Augustine disputed Pelagius because his view made 

divine grace non-essential. That in turn made the whole concept of a 

redeemer superfluous. Thus, Pelagius' teaching was not just an eso-

teric theological point of view; it was an attack on the Gospel itself.

    Pelagius affirmed that man can live a life acceptable to God under

his own power. But the Bible proclaims that an essential step in our

salvation is the realization that we cannot save ourselves. Have You

reached this understanding? If not, continue to examine the scriptures

as we stady this issue. If so, praise God for redeeming you.