The lecture addresses the Pelagian heresy (Pelagianism) — its origin and its ideas and its impact and how the Fathers of the Church opposed it.

Origin of the heresy and its person:

• The speaker spoke about Pelagius, a British monk critical of accepting the weakness of human nature, he called people to a life of piety but ended with ideas that say the strength of human nature and absolute free will.

• He mentioned that Pelagius denied original sin and its effect on Adam’s offspring and denied the human need for an external grace to attain perfection.

Theoretical center of the heresy:

• Pelagius saw that human nature is capable of living without sin and that human works and the person are able by themselves to choose good without supportive grace.

• He denied the benefit of infant baptism and diminished the role of external grace, and saw that perfection is possible by nature not by grace.

Response of the Fathers and the outcomes of the dispute:

• He was opposed by Saint Augustine and Saint Jerome and other Fathers of the Church, and Augustine wrote strong treatises in reply.

• Councils were convened in Carthage and other cities and judged against the ideas of Pelagius and Coelestius, and the matter reached Rome where they were considered heretical and their followers were sometimes exiled.

• Then a middle current called Semi-Pelagianism arose trying to find a middle solution but the disputes continued.

Spiritual lesson and teaching:

• The lecture warns monks and non-specialists from entering into precise theological issues without preparation, and affirms the necessity of acknowledging the role of divine grace in human salvation.

• It affirms the Church’s steadfastness in the doctrine of the need for grace and baptism and the inheritance of sin, and calls for caution against simplistic views or extremes from any side.

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