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Augustine's Conversion and the Pelagian Controversy

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Augustine's Conversion and the Pelagian Controversy Salvation Requires the Fall Augustine’s Conversion and the Pelagian Controversy TERRA CALDWELL “Make the leap without anxiety; he will catch you and heal you.”’ So spoke the vision Lady Continence to Augustine mere minutes before his famotis conversion in a garden of Milan. ihroughout his life Augustine felt torn between his concept of evil, which he had stibeonsciotisly united with his guilty desires, and his concept of good, which was most likely intlueneed by his Catholic mother. in a quest to understand his divided self Attgtistine sought the wisdom of the Ianichees, though their concepts of evil did not satisfy his logical mind for long. Unfortunately, that prior association would cause him considerable trouble for years to eome, and sparked a heresy that othenvise may have remained a minor regional matter. This heresy began’ when Pelagitis overheard a reading of Augustine’s Gontèssions and reacted to it as if it were contaminated with Manicheism. Augustine combated the Pelagian heresy by codifying the previously vague concept of original sin, making it the remainder of his life’s work.4 To do othenvise wotdd have invalidated, in his own mind, his conversion in 386.’ In his seminal study on religious experience the noted psychologist, William James, determined there were two types of religiotis persons: the “healthy minded” individual and the “sick soul.”6 According to James, the siek-sotiled person typically felt that evil was... no mere relation of the subject to particular outer things, btit something more radical and general, a wrongness or vice in his essential nature, which no alteration of the environment, or any stipcrfieial rearrangement of the inner self, can cure, and which requires a supernatural remedy.’ Atigustine, who struggled since childhood with his foulnesses and carnal corruptions,”5 used the entirety of the tIrst two books of his atitobiography Confessions to illustrate his perfidy, going so far as to compare himself to Lucifer.9 Pelagius, on the other hand, probably belonged to the healthy-minded camp.’ James characterized healthy-minded individuals chiefly by their optimistic outlook on life, where the “good ... is regarded as the essential thing for a rational being to attend to.’’ Pelagius, who rejected the doctrine of original sin believed that, ‘lvil is not horn with us, and we are procreated without fault.”’ According to this doctrine, people were not fundamentally evil, and could not inherit the sins ofanothcr. People, Pelagitis believed, chose to be evil. ‘ibis implied, ‘Atigustine, C’onfessions, trans. I lenry Chadwick (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991), 151. ‘This is a traditional idea. Some scholars believe that Celestius of Rome or Rufinus of Syria ‘ere far more influential to the development of Pelagianism than Pelagius himselt See i3.R. Recs, Pthgitzs:A Reli,eniorilerede, (Suffolk, England: Boydell Press, 1988), 9. Rees, Pelagius: TlieJ?eIuemnri1eieric i. Augustine claims Paulinus of Nola quoted “Give me what you command, and command what yoti will” (confessions, io) in Pelagius’s hearing sometime arotind 405. 4Anti-Pelagian writings ocetir between 412 and 430, when he died, his last refutation unfinished. All dates are in the Common Era. William James, The ‘aHedes ofReligious K-iperience, (New York: Penguin Books. 1982) 7Jamcs, L1fiedes, 134. Atiguistine, confessions, 2:1. 9Atigustine, Confessions, 2:9. “ I vacillate because I was unable to find any texts actually written by Pelagius, so for an analysis of his nature I rntisr rely upon secondary sources, including Augustine. “James, Vanenes, 127. “Aiigsistine, On Original Sin. 13:14, quoted in Rees, Pekigiizs, 91. Ex POST FACTO 172 Terra Caidwell as Augustine pointed otit. that by choosing to be good, people could achieve heaven without Christ’s mediation.’ Original Sin: Backgrounds and Beliefs The concept of original sin had existed among pre-Christian Jews, though it was nothing like the Christian concept, w’hich came froni Rom. s:ia’.i and i Cot, ;5:zi-a2. Both of these passages could be interpreted to mean that the sin of Adam and Eve was impersonal and therefore inherited; unlike the personal sins all humans are prone to committing. I lowever, this interpretation was not the prevailing beliefof the time. To urban Christian parents baptism was the most vital step toward salvation. Baptism secured the probability of the child’s ascension to heaven shotdd it die dtiring childhood because baptism entered the child into covenant with God throtigh Jesus as the savior. I lowever. if the child died prior to his or her baptism, as a non- Christian, the child could only rely upon God’s mercy for salvation. Pelagius did not understand how Augtistine could condemn unbaptized infants to hell. lie believed that the unbaptized children of Christians were Christians themselves. Furthermore, he thought Augustine’s belief that unbaptized people were fundamentally evil implied the Manichean belief that flesh was inherently corrupt. Pelagius may have held these beliefs because he was British. Whereas Augustine preached to people in areas that had known Catholicism for hundreds of years, Pelagius, in Britain, was still explaining to the common people who Christ was.% In addition, Augustine had been a father, possibly the oldest child of several in his family, and a Bishop who performed baptisms. I Ic was quite familiar with children.6 In contrast, Pclagius, who t’as not even a monk, probably had no children of his own. I te lacked experience performing the sacraments or speaking with the consoling authority of the priesthood to Christian parents of sick infants. ‘l’he Arianism. a belief that many in lands bordering l3ritain adhered to, was of greater immediate concern to Pelagius. who styled himself a foe of heresy. Pelagitis. unlike several other heresiarehs, was not the first or even the most prolific proponent of the heresy that bears his name. I us two colleagues, Rufinus and Celestius, whom he befriended in Rome toward the end of the fourth century, had more to do with creating the Pelagian heresy than he did. I lowever, Rtifinus the Syrian died in 411 and Celestius vas excommunicated hi Carthage in 411. The heresy asstimcd Pelagitis’s name becatise he svas still in good standing with the Church, which meant he could be threatened and forced to recant, and also because he ptiblished ovo hooks in 414 inclttding On Nature and On Free Willboth ot which incltLde heretical material. l3ecausc Pelagitis would not take Augustine’s subtle hint&i Augustine and his ally Jerome proceeded to harass him. Despite his relatively small involvement in his own heretical ideas Pelagius did argue with Augustine about the origin of free will, the nature of original sin, and the necessity of infant baptism. In these arguments Pelagius picked up where Rufous and Celestius had left off, ‘5 Augustine, On tile Spiritand the Lerrei; Tr. P. 1 lolmes. Ed. WhitneyJ. Oates, Basic Writings ofSr. Augustine ivi. i, (New York: Random I louse, 1948), Chapter . I lereafter abbreviated as SL. Fhey ... must be resisted ... who suppose that without God’s help, the mere power of the human will in itself, can [achieve] either perfect righteousness, or advance steadily toward it...” ‘ St. Patrick, considered the missionary to the Irish. lived ca. 420-490. Pelagius himself probably came from Ireland or the southwestern coast ofWales. Rees, Peiagius: The Reiuctanr Iiere& 121. Augustine, Confessions, 9:22, 27. ‘6Augustine, Confessions, t:8, II. U iThe entirety of SI. is one stich hint. EX POST FACTo Salvation Requires the faIl though in some eases accidentally. Rufinus argued, “infants receive baptism not on account of their sins, but in order that they may through baptism be, as it were, created in Christ and become partners in his heavenly kingdom.’c Pelagius did not partictilarly agree with this assessment, lie questioned later, “Who can be so impious as to deny to an infant of any age the common redemption of the human race?”9 Baptism, according to Pelagius. was important because it restored a person’s ability to be righteous and not to sin. Jesus. Pelagius believed, did not die to remove any fault of Adam’s, but to remove personal sin. As such baptism was completely pointless for children, who, based on Catholic teachings, could not sin tintil they were eight years old and therefore were already eligible for heaven should they die young.’ lice question of infant baptism became an isstle that neither man wanted to argue. Pelagius believed it was a moot point and was more concerned about Augustine’s theories of predestination. Augustine found the thought of infants going to hell to be depressing, and thus thought it vital to baptize them as soon as possible.’ Unfortunately, infant baptism became a rather large symptom of the underlying problem. While Pelagius’s heresy c’as kind, it ultimately removed Christ from Christianity. Conversely, AugtLstine’s doctrine was cruel, but held the religion together. The problem had quite a bit to do with the workings of both men’s minds. In Health and Sickness: Conversion as a Palliative PelagilLs, by all non-abusive accounts, i’as charismatic and well liked. I us opinions and statements, garnered through the few surviving texts he wrote and the considerable quotations embedded in his enemies’ treatises against him, generally show’ him to be a person to whom the world is an obvious place, a confident man without internal conflict who was stire of the nature of Ccxl. God, he believed, was good and therefore would not condemn tinbaptiscd infants to hell as sin was committed by those who could act on their own free will. Evil existed, but it was something to be overcome through willpower, which God had enabled his people to do so. Morality showed the way.” Jestis va’ the absolution that allowed humanity a chance to start over.
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