Theological glossary · FaithLogic

Pelagianism

The teaching of Pelagius (c. 400) that there is no inherited sin, that the human will is free and unimpaired, and that a person can obey God and be saved without special grace — condemned by the church.

From Pelagius, a British-born ascetic teacher active in Rome and North Africa.

Pelagius appealed to the commands of God (which, he argued, would not be given if they could not be kept) and to God's justice; Augustine answered from Romans 5, Psalm 51:5, John 15:5, and infant baptism.

Condemned at Carthage (418) and Ephesus (431). 'Semi-Pelagianism' (the first step toward God is the human's, grace then assists) was condemned at Orange (529). 'Pelagian' is now a standard label for any view that makes grace unnecessary for the initial turning to God.

Rejected because it contradicts the universality and depth of sin in Scripture, makes grace a mere aid rather than a necessity, and cannot account for why 'no one is righteous'.

A dead position by name, but the accusation 'that is basically Pelagian' recurs in debates over any strongly synergistic or moralistic account of salvation.

Open in the glossary for related terms and the doctrines this concept appears in.