Pelagius does have some good aspects

I thought about putting this in the cal/arm thread, but thought perhaps more thoughtful responses would come from those who skillfully handle the Scriptures rather then the reactionary posts that come from a contentiousness.

The thread is meant to explore some area of good about this man who was proclaimed a heretic. This is not an endorsement but rather to set forth why this thinking came to be heretical, and what can be seen as impacts upon this modern time even society outside the church.

A short history (I am doing this from recall, so some may have better information).

Pelagius was a theologian, a monk from Britain. He was very devout and especially concerning denial of the flesh and often severe confrontation of his battle over the flesh could be seen in his body.

When Pelagius traveled to Rome, he was appalled at the laziness, the excess, the indulgence into the worldly living by the very folks who were supposed to be his authorities. He considered Augustine was not removed from the philosophy that he had embraced and studied before his conversion resulting in that philosophy perverting the truth of the Scriptures. Where he considered Augustine embraced a strong deterministic approach in which everything was preplanned and determined before the creation and that all humans were precast for a specific role, Pelagius, as reaction to the state of those supposed leaders, would develop a scheme remarkably different.

Pelagius first took from the Ancient Greek thinking the idea of a freedom of the human will.

Pelagius took God from the church teaching of an absolute sovereignty in which all things are preplanned to that of a sovereign who would create and delegate authority over aspects of His creation to characters created. Within that authority was given the autonomy free to make decisions and held responsible for those decisions.

Where the church had adopted the Augustine thinking that the fall had left humankind incapable of living without sin and sinning was inseparable from that nature, Pelagius took the position that humankind was capable on their own to choose sin or to choose not to sin. People had the natural ability to overcome sin and by their own self determination be obedient to God irrespective of any internal or external influence.

Where the typical church teaching had presented sin was hereditary and automatically passed down, Pelagius took the position that each person was responsible for their own behavior. As a result, the human could always at will turn (repent) and worship God. They had freedom to choose or reject God at any time.

Volumes have been written on Pelagius, and I have only given a very brief statement attempting to contrast him with the church teaching of that time.

A contemporary result of the teaching may be seen in these areas:

Typical presentations (especially by the liberals) are that humankind are, at their core, good.

That given the proper (sufficient) time, nurture, helps, education... a person will by their nature be a good person. That the person will always choose what is best and right for them in every situation.

That getting God's attention (especially concerning eternal life) is a matter of self will and self determination. That the time, place, and to what extent is totally up to the individual. One may take a "step toward God" at a time of the individual's determination and not God's.

That humankind are not born sinful, but learn sin and become sinful. This is seen particularly in social areas such as the presentation of racism and corporate social responsibility. "Hollywood" more often shows this in presentations of the good eventually and always overcoming the evil.

That ultimately freedom of expression, life, and choice cannot be infringed upon, because it is the individual right to have unlimited freedom without constraints or positive / negative restraints.


Again, this thread is to serve as an educational tool, and not a debate.

It is to present evidence of how this thinking permeates aspects of modern society and what the assembly can do to show the error.