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christian-councils-heresiesfeatured in 26 works

Pelagianism

Can a person climb toward salvation by willpower alone, before grace?

Pelagianism, named for Pelagius, taught that humans can take the first steps toward salvation by free will without prior grace, denying original sin. Augustine opposed it, and it was condemned at Carthage in 418 and Ephesus in 431. The condemnation is shared across the traditions, which together affirm that God's grace precedes and enables every movement of the soul toward salvation.

How it traveled

  1. Against the Pelagians
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  2. The Letters of St. Jerome
    Bethlehem · 420
    applies
  3. Jerome and Gennadius. Lives of Illustrious Men
    Bethlehem · 420
    explains
  4. A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians
    Hippo Regius · 430
    applies
  5. A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  6. A Work on the Proceedings of Pelagius
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  7. On Marriage and Concupiscence
    Hippo Regius · 430
    challenges
  8. A Treatise on Nature and Grace
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  9. A Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  10. A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants
    Hippo Regius · 430
    explains
  11. Letters of St. Augustin
    Hippo Regius · 430
    applies
  12. A Treatise on Grace and Free Will
    Hippo Regius · 430
    challenges
  13. A Treatise on the Soul and its Origin
    Hippo Regius · 430
    applies
  14. A Treatise Concerning Man’s Perfection in Righteousness
    Hippo Regius · 430
    challenges
  15. A Treatise on the Spirit and the Letter
    Hippo Regius · 430
    challenges
  16. Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament
    Hippo Regius · 430
    challenges
  17. The Third Ecumenical Council: The Council of Ephesus
    Ephesus · 431
    applies
  18. The Seven Books of John Cassian on the Incarnation of the Lord, Against Nestorius
    Marseille · 435
    challenges
  19. The Letters and Sermons of Leo the Great
    Rome · 461
    applies
  20. Discussion: First Part
    Wittenberg · 1546
    applies
  21. Commentary on Galatians
    Wittenberg · 1546
    challenges
  22. Discussion: Third Part
    Wittenberg · 1546
    challenges
  23. Discussion: Second Part
    Wittenberg · 1546
    challenges
  24. Book Second. of the Knowledge of God the Redeemer, in Christ, as First Manifested to the Fathers, Under the Law, and Thereafter to Us Under the Gospel
    Geneva · 1564
    challenges
  25. XIV Five discourses on the soul's eternal salvation
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    challenges
  26. The great christian doctrine of original sin defended
    Northampton, Massachusetts · 1758
    challenges

Key passages(20)

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A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians · Augustine of Hippo

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A Treatise on Nature and Grace · Augustine of Hippo

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A Treatise on the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin · Augustine of Hippo

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A Work on the Proceedings of Pelagius · Augustine of Hippo

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A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians · Augustine of Hippo

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