Pelagius

(d. c. 418)

   Heretical Theologian.

   Pelagius was a native of Britain. He was trained as a lawyer and he taught in Rome in the late fourth and early fifth centuries. He seems to have believed that human beings, of their very nature, are capable of choosing good over evil. In the face of the threat from the Goths, he left Rome for Africa and then he went to Palestine where he attracted a group of followers. After his expulsion from Palestine, he disappears from view. Pelagianism, the doctrine with which he is associated, was developed by his disciple celestius. He denied that the guilt of original sin was passed down through the human generations. Largely as a result of the efforts of St Augustine of hippo, Pelagianism, together with Nestorianism, was condemned at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, it survived in various forms, particularly in Gaul and Britain, for many years. The issues it raises (original sin, grace, moral responsibility, predestination) have constantly been areas of controversy within the Church.

   R.F. Evans, Pelagius: Inquiries and Reappraisals (1968);

   J. Ferguson, Pelagius (1956);

   P. Brown, Augustine of Hippo (1967).