Poor Pelagius

I have a special place in my heart for heretics. I don't know why, perhaps it is because without their heresy the Christian faith would not be as rich as it is. Or maybe it is because I am part of their number in some ways; in fact I think most people are heretics in some respect. If you don't believe me explore your understanding of the Trinity and compare it with the Arians, or of salvation and compare it with semi-pelagianism... that's right, you're a heretic; just be glad we don't stone your kind anymore. There is one heretic that I am particularly fond of as of late, his name is Pelagius. For those of you who have ever studied Christian history at all you would have run into the Augustine-Pelagius debate. It's not my intent to dive into this debate but I want to look at how "Pelagianism" began (I wouldn't do either side justice anyway).

In Augustine's Later Works, there is an epistle titled, The Spirit and the Letter. It begins:

Pelagianism began as a protest against the decay of Christian morals. In the last years of the fourth century, the proscription of paganism by the edicts of Theodosius brought into the Church large numbers of "converts" whose Christianity can hardly have gone deeper than acceptance of baptism and profession of the name. There was enough in the Church's official teaching upon the efficacy of the sacraments to encourage such nominal Christians in the belief that membership of the Church was all that was necessary for salvation.

So Pelagius was motivated, some might say, from a longing for righteousness. He saw Christians living morally perverse lives; claiming perhaps that it doesn't matter how they live because they have already been baptized or said the so-called "sinner's prayer." When he saw this he must have spotted an inconsistency, and thus Pelagianism was born.

This story makes me feel sorry for Pelagius, he pursued righteousness more than the average religious person (both then and now). He was correct in seeing an error in the way of the nominal Christians, but his fix went to far. I think he sought to distance himself so much from them that he began to think being a Christian was solely located in the things that we do, rather than what God in Christ has done. So he lived his life trying to earn his salvation, and then his disciples pulled him into an argument with Augustine... poor guy.

I think we can learn something from Pelagius. We should live as if we can earn our salvation while trusting in Christ for it. Is that heretical? Maybe, but I told you I was in their number.

For goodness sake,

God's Court Jester