Pelagianism in the Christian Sources from 431 to the Carolingian Period (II) 16:00 - 18:30 Friday, 23rd August, 2019 Room 6 Presentation type Workshop
224 Baptismal Exorcism as Proof of Original Sin : the Legacy of Augustine’s Liturgical Argument in the Early Medieval West
Matthieu Pignot Université de Namur, Namur, Belgium
Abstract
In the wake of the Pelagian controversy, Augustine of Hippo repeatedly referred to liturgical practices as arguments to promote his views on original sin. A particularly prominent argument in his polemical writings, repeated with great insistence in his controversy against Julian of Eclanum, is that the rites of exorcising and blowing at infants at baptism would provide proof of the necessity of cleansing them from original sin. This paper traces the destiny of this argument after Augustine’s death. First, it demonstrates how it was soon reused by Prosper of Aquitaine in his Auctoritates de gratia Dei, which were later transmitted together with Celestine's letter 21, and borrowed and copied in a number of Western sources, in particular in the letter of the Deacon Peter and other Scythian monks to African bishops exiled in Cagliari in the early sixth century, in a late antique Latin pseudo-Chrysostom homily from the Morin collection and in Bede's commentary on First Samuel. Second, it shows the use of Augustine's argument in renewed debates against allegedly Pelagian views in the works of pope Gelasius I, and in a synthesis on the catechumenate written by the deacon John in a letter sent to the aristocrat Senarius. This paper sheds light on Augustine’s legacy and the signifiance of his intermediary Prosper of Aquitaine, and leads us to reflect on the continuity of debates on infant baptism and original sin long after the official condemnation of Pelagianism. 365 The Traps of the Heresiological Discourse: “Pelagianism” in the British and Irish Sources
Raúl Villegas Marín Universidad de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Abstract
References to Pelagianism in sources from, or relating to, Late antique and Early medieval Britain -from Prosper of Aquitaine’s Chronicle (430s) to Rhigyfarch’s Life of David (late 11th century) and Jocelin of Furness’ Life of Kentigern (late 12th century)-, as well as the use of Pelagius’ Expositions of Thirteen Epistles of Paul by Irish writers, have led some scholars to talk about the “Pelagian influence” on the 5th to early 7th centuries “Celtic churches” in Britain and Ireland. Nevertheless, leaving aside the vexed question of “Celtic Christianity”, the notion of a “Pelagian influence” on the British and Irish churches also raises problems: what did this influence consist of? Did “Pelagianism / Pelagian” mean the same to all the authors who made use of this heresiological category, from Prosper to Jocelin? This communication aims at providing a relational and contextual approach to the uses of “Pelagianism” by these authors. 220 The Pelagian Controversy in Eastern Sources from the Council of Ephesus (431) to Photius
Giulio Malavasi Independent Researcher, Porto Mantovano, Italy
Abstract
In the present article, the sources on the Pelagian controversy written in the Byzantine world from the council of Ephesus to Photius will be reviewed and analysed. The first part of the article concerns specifically the council of Ephesus, in particular the charge of hosting members of the Pelagian movement. The second part will deal with the sources that mention Pelagius, Caelestius or Julian of Aeclanum from the aftermath of the council of Ephesus up to the patriarch Photius with the aim of understanding the memory preserved by the Byzantine world and assessing the degree of knowledge of the Pelagian controversy among Byzantine theologians. The initial favour that some Eastern bishops showed towards members of the Pelagian movement, for instance John of Jerusalem, Theodore of Mopsuestia and Nestorius, was completely forgotten from the sources of the following centuries and the only image of Pelagius and his followers in Greek Christianity was that of a heresy to be condemned and inserted in heresiological catalogs. Also, the knowledge of the theological issues discussed during the Pelagian controversy was almost lost during the centuries after the council of Ephesus, except some partial noticeable exceptions.