THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA
Reassessing Pelagianism:
Augustine, Cassian, and Jerome on the Possibility of a Sinless Life
A DISSERTATION
Submitted to the Faculty of the
School of Theology and Religious Studies
Of The Catholic University of America
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
©
Copyright
All Rights Reserved
By
Stuart Squires
Washington, D.C.
2013
Reassessing Pelagianism:
Augustine, Cassian, and Jerome on the Possibility of a Sinless Life
Stuart Squires, Ph.D.
Director: Philip Rousseau, D.Phil.
The classic understanding of the debate commonly called the “Pelagian
Controversy” is that grace was the central issue at hand. This view may be traced back to
Augustine, whose superior rhetorical skills successfully established the debate on his
terms. As a result of this narrow, Augustinian lens, an assumption has been passed down
through the centuries that his opponents were an organized and centralized movement
bent on corrupting Christianity.
This understanding, however, is dismissed today. Scholars now understand that
the men who have been put under this umbrella term had a variety of interests and
concerns. They, however, still have tried to determine a common theme that unites these
men. A variety of responses have been given: an affirmation of free will, denial of
original sin, preserving divine justice, defending the efficacy of baptism, and ethical
conerns. These answers are inadequate as the single cause of the controversy. A more
fruitful answer is that the tie that bound these men together was the claim that it is
possible to live a life free of sin.
Although scholars, such as Rackett and Winrich Löhr, have begun to investigate
the variety of ways that sinlessness was understood by Pelagius, Caelestius, and Julian of
Eclanum, little work has been done with this question regarding their interlocutors.
This dissertation intends to fill this lacuna by analyzing Augustine, Cassian, and
Jerome concerning the possibility—or impossibility—of living a life free of sin. By
doing so, it will attempt to accomplish several goals: (1) it will construct a narrative of
how these fifth-century Fathers reacted to their opponents’ claim of the possibility of
sinlessness. (2) It will then demonstrate that the theological views of the Church Fathers
were not uniformly Augustinian; they were much more diffuse and variegated than
previously argued.
This dissertation by Stuart Squires fulfills the dissertation requirement for the doctoral
degree in Historical Theology approved by Philip Rousseau, D.Phil., as Director, and by
William Loewe, Ph.D. and Tarmo Toom, Ph.D., as Readers.
___________________________________
Philip Rousseu, D.Phil., Director
___________________________________
William Loewe, Ph.D., Reader
____________________________________
Tarmo Toom, Ph.D., Reader
ii
FOR MY FAMILY
iii
Contents
Abbreviations vi
Acknowledgements ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
Modern Scholarship’s Understanding of the Pelagians 1
Modern Scholarship’s Understanding of the Church Fathers 5
Argument 8
Method 9
Rufinus the Syrian, the Anonymous Sicilian, and Julian of Eclanum 11
Conclusion 25
CHAPTER TWO: AUGUSTINE 27
Introduction 27
De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum 30
De spiritu et littera 33
De natura et gratia 34
De perfectione iustitiae hominis 38
De gestis Pelagii 42
The Council of Carthage of 418 44
Conclusion 48
CHAPTER THREE: CASSIAN 51
Introduction 51
Evagrius 52
Conference 22 and 23 60
De incarnatione 71
Conclusion 82
CHAPTER FOUR: JEROME 85
Introduction 85
Jerome’s Contribution to this Debate 87
Ad Ctesiphontem and Books I and II of Dialogi contra Pelagianos 90
A Shift between Books II and III of the Dialogi contra Pelagianos 93
Jerome’s Genealogy of Sinlessness 105
Conclusion 108
iv
CHAPTER FIVE: CONTEXTS, DEFINITIONS, AND CRITIQUES 111
Introduction 111
Context: Augustine 112
Context: Cassian 122
Context: Jerome 128
Definition of Sinlessness: Augustine 135
Definition of Sinlessness: Cassian 139
Definition of Sinlessness: Jerome 139
Larger Critique: Augustine 144
Larger Critique: Cassian 151
Larger Critique: Jerome 156
Conclusion 160
CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION 162
Topics for Future Research 162
Implications for Scholarship: General 166
Implications for Scholarship: Augustine 168
Implications for Scholarship: Cassian 169
Implications for Scholarship: Jerome 174
Conclusion 176
BIBLIOGRAPHY 177
v
Abbreviations
Series
Ancient Christian Writers ACW
Ante-Nicene Fathers ANF
Classics of Western Spirituality CWS
Clavis Patrum Graecorum CPG
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers NPNF
Patrologia Graeca PG
Patrologia Latin PL
Multiple Authors
Epistula Ep.
Anonymous Sicilian
Ad Adolescentem Ad adol.
De castitate De cast.
De divitiis De div.
De malis doctoribus et operibus fidei et de iudicio futuro De mal.
De possibilitate non peccandi De poss. non. pecc.
Honorificentiae tuae Hon. tuae
Augustine
Acta contra Fortunatum Manicheum C. Fort.
Ad Cresconium grammaticum partis Donati Cresc.
Confessiones Conf.
Contra Academicos C. Acad.
Contra duas epistulas Pelagianorum C. ep. Pel.
Contra Iulianum opus imperfectum C. Jul. imp.
Contra Iulianum C. Jul.
Contra litteras Petiliani donatistae cirtensis Episcopi, libri iii C. litt. Pet.
De gestis Pelagii Gest. Pel.
De gratia Christi et de peccato originali Gr. et pecc. or.
De haeresibus Haer.
De natura et gratia Nat. et gr.
De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum Pecc. mer.
De perfectione iustitiae hominis Perf. iust.
De praedestinatione sanctorum Praed. sanct.
De spiritu et littera Spir. et litt.
Retractiones Retract.
Calvin
Institutio Christianae Religionis Inst. Christ. Rel.
vi
Cassian
Collationes Coll.
De incarnatione Domini contra Nestorium De inc.
De institutis coenobiorum Inst.
Evagrius
Antirrhetikos Antir.
De diversis malignis cogitationibus De div. mal. cog.
De oratione De ora.
Parktikos Prak.
Sententiae ad virginem Sen. ad virg.
Gennadius
De viris inlustribus De vir. inlustr.
Jerome
Apologia adversus libros Rufini Apol.
Commentarii in Ezechielem Com. in Ez.
Contra Ioannem Hierosolymitanum C. Ioan.
Contra Iovinianum C. Iov.
Dialogi Contra Pelagianos Dial.
Epistula 130: Ad Demetriadem Ep. 130
Praefatio in libro Hieremiae prophetae Praef in lib. Hier.
Origen
Commentaria in Epistolam B. Pauli ad Romanos Com. Rom.
Orosius of Braga
Liber Apologeticus, Contra Pelagianum Lib. Apol.
Pelagius
Epistula [ad amicum] de divinia lege Div. leg.
Epistula ad Celantiam [matronan] Ad Cel.
Epistula ad Claudiam de virginitate Virg.
Epistula ad sacram Christi virginem Demetriadem Ad Dem.
Expositiones xiii epistularum Pauli Expos. (ad Romanos)
Liber de vita Christiana (Christianorum) Vit. Christ.
Prosper of Aquitaine
Epistula ad Augustinum Hipponensem Ep ad Aug.
Pro Augustino liber contra collatorem C. coll.
Rufinus of Aquiliea
Apologia contra Hieronymum Apol. C. Hier.
vii
Rufinus the Syrian
Liber de Fide Lib. Fid.
viii
Acknowledgements
There are many people whom I would like to acknowledge for helping me with
this project. First, I would like to thank Dr. Philip Rousseau, the chair of this
dissertation, for his graciousness. His willingness to take on this project will never be
forgotten. I would like to thank my committee, Drs. William Loewe and Tarmo Toom,
for their generosity, insightful comments, and encouragement along the way. My
colleagues at DePaul University have offered much guidance and shared many stories
from their own experiences; in a special way, I would like to thank Dr. James Halstead,
OSA, Dr. David Gitomer, and Dr. Peter Casarella for their wisdom and insight. Many
friends gave me support, encouragement, and feedback, including Dr. Jared Ortiz, Jessica
Seidman, and Andrew Staron. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to thank my
family for their love through the many years of graduate school. I could not have
finished without them.
ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Modern Scholarship’s Understanding of the Pelagians
In the early fifth century, men such as Pelagius, Caelestius, Rufinus the Syrian,
the Anonymous Sicilian, and Julian of Eclanum—often called “Pelagians”—engaged in a
theological “pamphlet war”1 with Augustine of Hippo, Cassian, and Jerome.2 Over the
centuries, this dispute, known as the “Pelagian Controversy,” has been seen as centrally
concerned with the nature of grace, while other issues of theological anthropology and
soteriology (such as baptism, free will, and predestination) have orbited around this
preoccupation.3 Adolph von Harnack gives an exemplary definition of this classic
understanding when he claims that “the crucial question” in this fight is centered on
“whether grace is to be reduced to nature.”4 This line of thinking has continued into the
1
Gerald Bonner, "Pelagianism and Augustine," Augustinian Studies 23 (1992): 37.
2
Cassian is rarely included in any discussion of the “Pelagian Controversy.” Rather, he is usually
relegated to the afterthought known as the “Semi-Pelagian Controversy.” τne of the goals of this
dissertation is to question these tidy categories and to argue that Cassian should be considered as much of a
voice in the “Pelagian Controversy” as any of the other authors listed, even though his involvement started
relatively late and after the imperial condemnations of Pelagius in 418.
3
John Ferguson does an excellent job of outlining the many issues of this controversy: sin,
original sin, the possibility of sinlessness, the person of Jesus, grace, free will, the relationship between
God and humanity, the law and the gospel, infant baptism, death, and prayer. John Ferguson, Pelagius: A
Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons, 1956), 159-182.
4
Adolph von Harnack, History of Dogma, trans. Neil Buchanan, third ed., vol. V (Boston: Little,
Brown, and Company, 1899), 170. Gerald Bonner has offered two more nuanced definitions for
“Pelagianism.” He has distinguished between the theological heresy and the historical controversy. For the
first definition, he claims that “the word Pelagianism is commonly employed in two different ways. It is
used by dogmatic theologians to describe the heresy which dispenses with any need for Divine Grace and
denies any transmission of τriginal Sin.” The second definition: “an ascetic movement within the
Christian Church during the late fourth and early fifth centuries, a movement composed of disparate
elements which came, in the course of time, to be associated under the name of the British theologian and
exegete Pelagius, though his claim to be the dominating spirit of the movement is, at best, debatable.”
Gerald Bonner, Augustine and Modern Research on Pelagianism, ed. Robert P. Russell, The Saint
1
2
middle of the 20th century in the work of such scholars as Robert Evans,5 and continues in
some circles today—for example in the work of B.R. Rees, who claimed that “one thing
is certain: the relationship of human freedom to divine grace was the crucial issue on
which Augustine and Pelagius differed.”6
But, one must stop and askμ why is grace “the crucial” question, or issue? The
answer, as many scholars over the past fifty years have shown, is that the necessity and
efficacy of grace was made the fundamental question because Augustine, who has often
been credited with singlehandedly saving the Church,7 pushed it to the forefront.
Augustine made it clear that this fight revolved around grace when he said that “God’s
grace, which was the whole point of the fierce battle [at the Synod of Diospolis of 415],
was passed over in silence.”8 Because Augustine was able to set the terms for the debate
during the fifth century, Gerald Bonner has correctly stated that “historians and
Augustine Lecture Series: Augustinian Institute, Villanova University (Wetteren: Villanova University
Press, 1972), 1.
Evans claimed that grace was “the real issue.” Robert F. Evans, Pelagius: Inquiries and
5
Reappraisals (New York: The Seabury Press, 1968), 7.
6
B.R. Rees, "Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic" in Pelagius: Life and Letters, vol. I (Woodbridge:
The Boydell Press, 1998), 54.
7
For example, Warfield claimed that “both by nature and by grace, Augustin was formed to be the
champion of truth in this controversy.” Benjamin Warfield, Introductory Essay on Augustin and the
Pelagian Controversy, ed. Philip Schaff, A Select Library of the Christian Church: Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers. First Series. Augustin: Anti-Pelagian Writings, vol. 5 (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2004), xxi. Also,
Bonner states that “of the importance of these [long-term effects of the “Pelagian Controversy”] there can
be no question, and this is largely due to Augustine’s voluminous writings.” Gerald Bonner, "Pelagianism
Reconsidered," in Studia Patristica: Cappadocian Fathers, Greek Authors after Nicea, Augustine,
Donatism, and Pelagianism, ed. Elizabeth A. Livinstone (Leuven: Peeters Press, 1993), 237.
8
In this quote, Augustine has the Synod of Diospolis in mind. It is clear from the rest of
Augustine’s writings that he believes that the whole fight is centered on grace: Gest. Pel. 30 (55). See also
Michael R. Rackett, "What's Wrong with Pelagianism? Augustine and Jerome on the Dangers of Pelagius
and his Followers," Augustinian Studies 33 (2002): 24-25.
3
theologians have too long tended to form their image of Pelagianism by looking through
Augustinian spectacles.”9
As a result of these “Augustinian spectacles,” a “Pelagian” heresiological
category has been passed down over time, which declares this group of authors as a
centralized and organized movement bent on deceiving Christians on the correct
understanding of grace, so this narrative goes. Peter Brown, for example, in his
biography of Augustine, alluded to a body of authors when he claimed that “indeed,
Pelagianism as we know it, that consistent body of ideas of momentous consequences,
has come into existenceν but in the mind of Augustine, not of Pelagius,”10 and Brown
later claimed that “Pelagianism could appear as a movement with a definite programme
of action.”11 The unity implied here was not necessarily consciously acknowledged by
all parties, but could only exist from the start in the eyes of later beholders. Throughout
the rest of this dissertation, following Michael Williams’s rejection of the term
“Gnosticism” because it is reductionist and misleading, this dissertation will reject the
term “Pelagian” on the same grounds, and cease using it from this point forward.12
The standard view articulated here is dismissed today. Scholars have begun to
realize that those authors, who have been placed under this umbrella, actually have a
9
Bonner, “Pelagianism and Augustine,” 4κ.
10
Peter Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography (Berkeley: University of California Press,
2000), 346. Bonner agrees with Brown on this point, but believes that this did not happen in 411-12, but,
rather, should be pushed back to 416-41ι. Bonner, “Pelagianism and Augustine,” 4κ.
11
Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, 349.
12
Michael Allen Williams, Rethinking "Gnosticism:" An Argument for Dismantling a Dubious
Category (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1996), 3-28.
4
variety of interests and concerns. These interests and concerns, although they often
overlap with each other, are much more diverse and nuanced than previous generations
have allowed. Bonner, for example, has claimed that
we can no longer think of the Pelagians as constituting a party with a
rigidly-defined doctrinal system but rather as a mixed group, united by
certain theological principles which nevertheless left the individual free to
develop his own opinions upon particular topics. Within the general
framework of Pelagianism may be detected various shades of emphasis …
accordingly, it is misleading—except in general terms—to talk about the
‘Pelagian view’ on any matterν rather, we must consider which particular
Pelagian we have in mind—a task which is not always easy, in view of the
disagreement among scholars as to the identity of the authors of many of
our Pelagian tracts.13
Roland Teske also has argued that “modern scholarship has brought us to see that
Pelagianism was not a uniform body of doctrine to which those we label as Pelagians all
subscribed. Rather, each of the figures in this early stage of the Pelagian controversy is
quite distinct in his theology and bears at most a family resemblance to the others.”14
Philip Rousseau also rejected the standard view, saying that “the ‘Pelagian Controversy’,
however we might understand that term, is ill studied as the juxtaposition of two sets of
doctrine and would be more fully done justice to by our recognizing its historical
unfolding, its single flow across the decades (and the provinces), carrying in its current a
range of individual vessels.”15 Although they wrote texts that were not as uniform as has
13
Gerald Bonner, "Rufinus of Syria and African Pelagianism," Augustinian Studies 1, (1970): 31.
14
Roland Teske, "Introduction," in The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st
Century: Answer to the Pelagians: I, ed. John E. Rotelle (Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 1997), 11.
15
Philip Rousseau, "Cassian and Perverted Virtue," (Washington, DC: Tenth Annual Lecture as
Andrew W. Mellon Distinguished Professor of Early Christian Studies. The Catholic University of
America, Thursday, September 17, 2009), 14.
5
previously been allowed,16 one must still askμ what are the “certain theological
principles,” or the “family resemblance,” or the “single flowς”
Michael Rackett, in his dissertation titled “Sexuality and Sinlessness,” has shown
the variety of ways that scholars have offered to answer this question:
many scholars have framed the Pelagian controversy in anthropological
terms: an affirmation of human free will or a denial of original sin. …
Other writers have suggested that the Pelagians were most concerned not
with affirming human nature per se but with preserving divine justice,
constituting a perfect Church, or defending the efficacy of baptism.
Sympathetic readers have acknowledged a warm concern for biblical
ethics, while theological critics have seen only a cold Stoic moralism.17
He is not satisfied with any of these answers but believes that there is a different thread
that ties these authors together that has previously been ignored. He says that “the central
theological principle which united the diverse Pelagian movement was the affirmation of
the possibility of sinlessness.”18 Rackett’s analysis is foundational for this dissertation,
and I view what is done here as complementing his work.
Modern Scholarship’s Understanding of the Church Fathers
Although scholars have begun to reassess the nuances between Pelagius and
others, almost no work has been done to show that the Church Fathers, such as
Augustine, Cassian, and Jerome, proffered diverse texts as well. A monolithic
16
Donato Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace and Free Will in the
Discussion of Augustine with the So-called Semipelagians (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 2003), 230.
17
Rackett offers extensive footnotes for this section where he details the different authors who
have made these various arguments. Michael R. Rackett, “Sexuality and Sinlessnessμ The Diversity among
Pelagian Theologies of Marriage and Virginity” (Ph.D. diss., Duke University, 2002), 2η2-53.
18
Ibid., 251.
6
Augustinianism, rather, has been allowed to persist until today. David Johnson, a scholar
of Cassiodorus at the Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary who studied under Dr.
Karlfried Froehlich at the Princeton Theological Seminary, has shown that there
continues to be a homogenous understanding of fifth-century authors writing on the
subjects of theological anthropology and soteriology that centers on Augustine. “It is
commonly taught,” he claims, “that Augustinianism became the basis for orthodox
doctrine in the Western Church up until at least the era of the great scholastics, and
perhaps all the way to the Reformation.”19 He has demonstrated in his analysis of
Adolph von Harnack, Reinhold Seeberg, G.W.H. Lampe, and Jaroslav Pelikan that
Christianity is continually described as a singular, cohesive, and Augustinian theology. 20
Augustine Casiday has called for scholars to reject this overly simplistic
Augustinianism and pay greater attention to the subtleties of Catholic theology. He
claims that “scholars have corrected the slovenly habit of thinking of Pelagianism as a
theological monolith, citing the diversity of views comprehended within the Pelagian
movement. For similar reasons, we should be extremely wary of oversimplifying the
19
David Johnson, “Purging the Poisonμ The Revision of Pelagius’ Pauline Commentaries by
Cassiodorus and his Students” (Ph.D. diss., Princeton Theological Seminary, 1λκλ), 2ηθ. See also, Jaroslav
Pelikan, The Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300): The Christian Tradition. A History of the
Development of Doctrine, vol. 3 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1978), 220-29.
20
Harnack claims that “we regard the history of the dogma of the West from Augustine to the
Reformation as one complete development.” Seeberg says that “the ideas which he [Augustine] expressed
gave birth to the dogmatic history of the West.” Lampe says that “so far as the West was concerned … it
was an essentially Augustinian view which prevailed.” Pelikan says that “we shall have to write [the
history of Western theology] … as a ‘series of footnotes’ to Augustine.” Johnson, “Purging the Poisonμ
The Revision of Pelagius’ Pauline Commentaries by Cassiodorus and His Students,” 2ηθ-7.
7
rejection of Pelagianism.”21 To begin this task of branching outside of Augustine and his
intellectual offspring, Casiday argues that Cassian’s writings against Pelagius should be
researched more thoroughlyμ “the Augustinian-Pelagian dichotomy that is presupposed in
most historical research is dramatically over-simplistic. A consideration of Cassian’s
case against Pelagius shows that one could object to Pelagianism without being
Augustinian.”22 By taking Cassian more seriously, Casiday argues, scholars will come to
the same conclusion as Johnson, that “orthodoxy was not exclusively Augustinianism.
Orthodoxy was eclectic and not necessarily even coherent. In it, Augustinian ideas
played a prominent, but not exclusive, role.”23 Thirteen years later, this exact same
rejection of “the illusion of coherence” was echoed by Rousseau when he claimed that
“Christianity’s ability to articulate convincing answers to current questions, within the
broad setting of Mediterranean society and its religious traditions, should not encourage
us to assume, however, that its answers immediately formed either a coherent body of
doctrine or a single community of believers.”24 Early Christian thought, then, was neither
strictly Augustinian nor entirely uniform.
21
Augustine Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2007), 101. He also claims that “there is in recent scholarship on Cassian no discernible recognition
of the illegitimacy of reducing ‘anti-Pelagianism’ to Augustine and his adherents, which is a crucial move
in making the Pelagian controversy into a bipolar affair, and thus in construing every text that does not
easily fit into one camp or the other as a ‘middle way.’ … there is in fact no reason to suppose that there
were ever only two options.” Ibid., κ.
22
Augustine Casiday, "Cassian Against the Pelagians," Studia Monastica 46 (2004): 7.
23
Johnson, “Purging the Poisonμ The Revision of Pelagius’ Pauline Commentaries by Cassiodorus
and his Students,” 2λ2.
24
Philip Rousseau, The Early Christian Centuries (New York: Longman, 2002), 11.
8
Argument
This dissertation will analyze Augustine, Cassian, and Jerome concerning the
possibility—or impossibility—of living a life free of sin. By doing so, it will attempt to
accomplish several goals: (1) to construct a narrative of how these fifth-century Fathers
reacted to the theme of sinlessness, which, as Rackett has pointed out, is a more adequate
way to see this debate than through the Augustinian lens of grace. It should be noted here
that although I am convinced by Rackett’s assessment of the importance of the question
of sinlessness for Pelagius and others in his cohort, I believe that Rackett went too far
when he claimed that sinlessness is “the central theological principle which united the
diverse Pelagian movement [emphasis mine].”25 Unfortunately, by replacing the central
question of grace with the central question of sinlessness, Rackett falls into the same
reductionist trap as previous scholars.26 This dissertation recognizes sinlessness as one of
the most important themes for Pelagius and others, but it refuses to claim that this is the
heart of the matter. (2) This dissertation will respond to the call of Johnson and Casiday
to demonstrate that the theological views of the Church Fathers were not uniformly
Augustinian; they were much more diffuse and variegated than previously argued.
We shall see that, in the end, all three of our authors rejected the idea that one
may live a sinless life. It is because of this agreement, it seems, that scholars have
25
Rackett, “Sexuality and Sinlessness: The Diversity among Pelagian Theologies of Marriage and
Virginity,” 251.
26
Although Rackett makes this crucial mistake, I still view this dissertation as a natural extension
of Rackett’s work. He has done an excellent job detailing the diverse views of sinlessness between
Pelagius, the Anonymous Sicilian, and Julian of Eclanum. He does very little work, however, with the
view of sinlessness of the Church Fathers. Most importantly, he entirely ignores Cassian. This dissertation
intends to fill this lacuna.
9
ignored investigating this issue. When one begins to examine it closely, however, one
quickly sees that our three authors have entirely different definitions of sinlessness,
starting points, concerns, conceptions, and arguments. They are far from monolithic.
Method
Methodologically, the analysis undertaken here will be a comparison and contrast.
Two models by established scholars in the field of Late Antiquity have informed the
approach adopted here. First, Elizabeth Clark’s The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural
Construction of an Early Christian Debate is important for two reasons. She lucidly
demonstrated that Epiphanius, Theophilus, Jerome, and Shenute considered τrigen’s
theology suspicious for different reasons.27 By doing so, she showed that there was not a
homogenous set of allegations leveled against him. In a similar vein, this dissertation
will reveal that our authors had an equally wide-ranging group of problems with Pelagius
and his ilk. Also, her exposition of the shifting complexion over time of Theophilus’
fears must influence our analyses of our three men. Their arguments, too, morphed as
time passed.
The second model important for this study is Lewis Ayres’ Nicaea and Its
Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology. At the beginning of the
book, he states that his goal is to construct a paradigm “for exploring the [Trinitarian]
theologies that came to be counted as ‘orthodox’ at the end of the [fourth] century. This
27
Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 85-
6.
10
paradigm attempts to move beyond simplistic east/west divisions and to respect the
diversity of ‘pro-σicene’ theologies better than available accounts.”28 He nimbly weaves
his way through the Mediterranean world to reveal the nuances among these ‘orthodox’
authors (his quotations) that have previously been overlooked. Our project, similarly,
attempts to show that there was a wide array of thoughts among our Catholic authors
about how they themselves defined, understood, and rejected the idea of sinlessness.
Our project will unfold in two movements. The initial three chapters will take
each of our authors individually and investigate how, at different times and in different
circumstances during their lives, they placed themselves in opposition to Pelagius (and
often each other). I wholeheartedly agree with Clark that “this approach may strike the
reader as less than exciting,”29 but it will allow us to come to the clearest portrayal of the
issue at hand, even if it inevitably leads to a lack of panache that other, trendy methods
may foster.
The fifth chapter will continue our comparison and contrast, but will do so in a
different way. It will place the arguments of our authors into a larger perspective by
looking at three issues. First, it will place our authors into their historical contexts to see
how their arguments were influenced by their personal lives and the controversies that
had been consuming their time either before or during their writings against Pelagius.
Then, it will look at how they define sinlessness. Each of their arguments emerges from
28
Lewis Ayres, Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), 1.
29
Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 9.
11
the way they conceive of the concept of sinlessness; as they all define it differently, they,
therefore, construct their claims differently. Finally, it will relate their arguments against
sinlessness to their overall critiques of their interlocutors in order to see how they
conceived of sinlessness in relation to Pelagius’ anthropology.
The concluding chapter will offer some suggestions for future research, which
could not be addressed in these pages, and details some implications that this dissertation
has for scholarship.
Rufinus the Syrian, the Anonymous Sicilian, and Julian
Before we turn to our three authors, we must briefly establish that the possibility
of sinlessness was one of the most important themes that connected their opponents
together. Pelagius and Caelestius are the obvious starting points, but as Löhr and Rackett
have demonstrated this thoroughly, a similar exposition here would be unnecessarily
repetitious.30 We will continue their work by showing that Rufinus the Syrian, the
Anonymous Sicilian, and Julian of Eclanum shared this idea as well.
A shadowy, peripheral figure, the author of the Liber De Fide has been much
debated, but scholarly consensus is becoming more comfortable with claiming that it was
a man who often is called Rufinus the Syrian, although it Marius Mercator in the fifth
30
Winrich Löhr, "Pelagius' Schrift De natura: Rekonstruktion und Analyse," Recherches
Augustiniennes, no. 31 (1999): 235-94; Rackett, “Sexuality and Sinlessness: The Diversity among Pelagian
Theologies of Marriage and Virginity,” 256-71.
12
century was the only one to call him that at the time.31 Dunphy has recently argued that
this man did not actually exist and that, since the seventeenth century, scholars have
mistaken him for Rufinus of Aquileia.32 Only time will tell if scholars find his argument
persuasive.
We know very little about this this author, but probably died before our debate
began. The standard scholarly view is that this Rufinus was the same monk who resided
in Bethlehem, had been a student of Jerome, and even may have participated in the
translation of the Vulgate, although Dunphy has recently shown that this is probably not
the case.33 Jerome, as we will see later, was virulently anti-Origenist, and this attitude
seems to have rubbed off onto him.34 He twice mentions a Rufinus who had been living
in Bethlehem whom he had dispatched on legal business. First, in his Apologia adversus
libros Rufini we see that Rufinus (described as a presbyter) was sent to help a man named
Claudius,35 and later, in a letter to Rufinus of Aquileia, he was sent through Rome to
Milan and Jerome ordered Rufinus to visit him.36 He probably settled in Rome for good
31
Rondet, for example, leaves open the possibility that Caelestius wrote it. Henri Rondet, "Rufin
le Syrien et le Liber de Fide," Augustiniana 22 (1972): 539.
32
Walter Dunphy, "Rufinus the Syrian: Myth and Reality," Augustiniana 59, no. 1 (2009): 131.
33
Eugene TeSelle, "Rufinus the Syrian, Caelestius, Pelagius: Explorations in the Prehistory of the
Pelagian Controversy," Augustinian Studies 3, (1972): 63; Walter Dunphy, "Marius Mercator on Rufinus
the Syrian: Was Schwartz Mistaken?," Augustinianum 32 (1992): 281; Walter Dunphy, "Ps-Rufinus (The
"Syrian") and the Vulgate: Evidence Wanting!," Augustinianum 52, no. 1 (2012): 254-5.
34
Rufinus, Lib. Fid. 17, 20-22, 27, 36; Teselle, “Rufinus the Syrian, Caelestius, Pelagiusμ
Exploration in the Prehistory of the Pelagian Controversy,” θ3ν Miller, “Introduction,” 3.
35
Jerome, Apol. 3 (24).
36
Ep. 81 (2).
13
(for unknown reasons) between 399-402, during the pontificate of Anastasius I.37 It was
in Rome that Caelestius came under his influence to the extent that, at his own trial in
Carthage, he named him as the holy priest (sanctus presbyter) who had rejected the idea
of the transmission of sin, when pressured by the deacon Paulinus of Milan.38 Because of
his origins and his influence at the early stages, there is speculation that, although this
may be seen as the first great western theological controversy,39 it had its roots in the
east,40 although some have even suggested that he was not in fact from Syria.41
Different suggestions have been given for the date of the composition of the
Liber. Altaner and Miller have suggested that it was between 413 and 428,42 but Refoulé
has shown that Book I of Augustine’s De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De
baptismo parvulorum was written largely in response to Rufinus.43 I agree with Bonner
and Teske that the text must have been written shortly after his arrival in Rome.44 There
37
Altaner, "Der Liber de fide: ein Werk des Pelagianers Rufinus des 'Syrers'," 436.
38
Augustine, Gr. et pecc. or. 2.3 (3).
39
Gerald Bonner, St. Augustine of Hippo: Life and Controversies (London: S.C.M. Press, 1963),
352.
40
L.W. Barnard, "Pelagius and Early Syriac Christianity," Recherches de Théologie Ancienne et
Médiévale 35 (1968): 195-6.
41
Berthold Altaner, "Der Liber de fide: ein Werk des Pelagianers Rufinus des 'Syrers',"
Theologische Quartalschrift 130 (1950): 440; Sister Mary William Miller, "Introduction," in Rufini
Presbyteri Liber de Fide: A Critical Text and Translation with Introduction and Commentary (Washington,
DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1964), 7.
42
Altaner, "Der Liber de fide: ein Werk des Pelagianers Rufinus des 'Syrers'," 440; Miller,
“Introduction,” 10.
43
Refoulé, “Datation du premier concile de Carthage contre les Pélagiens et du Libellus fidei de
Rufin," 44-7.
14
had even been a popular idea that there was a lost Book of the Liber,45 but Dunphy has
shown this not to be the case.46
Rufinus was interested in many of the same issues that troubled Pelagius and
Caelestius, but he stressed them differently. The first two, which are his main worries,
are intimately related: the punishment of Adam’s sin and the notion of original sin, which
Rufinus rejected.47 Adam, whom he believed had been created immortal in soul but
mortal in body,48 undeniably sinned against God; but his transgression only wounded
himself.49 He rejected the idea of original sin as a perverse reading of Scripture.50
Babies, of course, were baptized by this time and he, like his confreres, was forced to
offer a theological argument for this practice. He said that baptism allowed little ones to
become partakers in the kingdom of heaven, created in Christ, and to become sons of
God.51 Thus, he says, when a baby who has been born of two parents who have been
baptized, the baby does not need to be baptized, which seems to be a claim that he alone
44
Bonner, “Rufinus of Syria and African Pelagianism,” 3κν Teske, “Introduction,” 20.
45
Miller, “Introduction,” 2ν Bonner, “Rufinus of Syria and African Pelagianism,” 3λ.
46
Walter Dunphy, "Rufinus the Syrian's 'Books'," Augustinianum 23 (1983): 525.
47
Miller, “Introduction,” 2.
48
Rufinus, Lib. Fid. 29.
49
Rufinus, Lib. Fid. 36-41; Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.30 (49).
50
Rufinus, Lib. Fid. 41, 48; Augustine, Pecc.mer. 1.30 (58), 1.34 (63).
51
Rufinus, Lib. Fid. 40-1; Augustine, Pecc. mer. 1.18 (23), 1.30 (58).
15
was willing to make.52 Like his colleagues, he declares that the will is entirely free to
choose either good or evil,53 and that it is the responsibility of each person to choose the
good.54 It should be noted that he was not at all concerned with the definition of gratia,
as it would later be understood.
Rufinus did not stress sinlessness as much as Pelagius or Caelestius. We may
turn to two different loci: the Liber and Book II of Augustine’s De peccatorum meritis et
remissione et De baptismo parvulorum. In the Liber, we see references to Rufinus’ belief
that Adam and Eve never sinned after their initial disobedience. He twice insists that,
because Scripture does not explicitly mention any subsequent sins, we must assume that
they successfully refrained from it.55 This is further supported, he claims, by the fact that
the multiple sins of other Old Testament figures—such as Cain—were, in fact, explicitly
described.56 Additionally, Enoch and Elijah, “because they were very pleasing to God”
(cum bene placuissent Deo), did not taste the bitterness of death. Noah, too, was declared
“just” (iustus) because he had “merited” (merere) the same salvation as those who merit
it through baptism.57 This was only possible because their individual wills were free to
turn to the Good.58
52
Pecc. mer. 2.25 (39-41).
53
Rufinus, Lib. Fid. 19, 37.
54
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.3 (3), 2.15 (22).
55
Rufinus, Lib. Fid. 35, 39.
56
Lib. Fid. 39.
57
Rufinus, Lib. Fid. 39.
16
In Augustine’s De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum,
Rufinus moves from Old Testament figures to the Apostles.59 He first establishes the
premise that if we really do not want to sin, we will not do so and that God would never
give commandments that would be impossible to do follow. We will see later that Jerome
will begin his Dialogi Contra Pelagianos lambasting this idea.60 The Apostles, Rufinus
claims, were “holy (sanctus) and already perfect (perfectus iam) and who had absolutely
no sin (nullum omnino habentes peccatum).” When they, like all Christians, pray the
Pater noster and say “forgive us our trespasses,” he interprets this to mean “that there
existed in the one body both those who still had sins and they themselves who had
absolutely no sin.”61 Paul, especially, may be singled out as being sinless because his
statement, “I have kept the faith. There remains for me the crown of righteousness” (2
Tim 4:7-8), proves, Rufinus insists, Paul’s purity.62
If Rufinus was less concerned about sinlessness than Pelagius or Calestius, our
next author—often called the Sicilian Briton,63 Sicilian Anonymous,64 the Anonymous
Teselle, “Rufinus the Syrian, Calestius, Pelagiusμ Explorations in the Prehistory of the Pelagian
58
Controversy,” ι2.
59
While Refoulé has definitively shown that anonymous quotations in Book I are from De
peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum, there has been no definitive proof offered
that the quotations from Book II are as well. I agree with Teske, however, that they most likely were from
Rufinus. Teske, “Introduction,” ιθ n.30, ικ n. 10η, 114 n. 3, 11η n. 30, 4λν Refoulé, “Datation du premier
concile de Carthage contre les Pélagiens et du Libellus fidei de Rufin," 44-7.
60
Jerome, Dial. 1.1.
61
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.10 (13).
62
Pecc. mer. 2.16 (24).
63
Robert F. Evans, Four Letters of Pelagius (New York: The Seabury Press, 1968), 25.
17
Sicilian,65 or the Anonymous Roman66 (we will refer to him here as the Anonymous
Sicilian)—was on the exact opposite end of the spectrum. In fact, he wrote an entire
epistula addressing just this issue, de possibilitate non peccandi. Scholarly consensus
points to this author as the man about whom Hilary wrote to Augustine asking for advice.
We know almost nothing about Hilary, but the tone of his letter to Augustine gives the
impression that he is a layman.67 In his response, Augustine addresses Hilary as “son”
(filio hilario in domino salute), and the report of the Synod of Diospolis did not assign
him an ecclesial rank.68 Teske’s translation, however, suggests that the Synod called
Hilary a “holy bishop,” but the NPNF translation does not do so, and the Latin seems to
suggest that the phrase sanctus episcopus refers to Augustine alone, not Hilary.69 He
states that there were men who were circulating a variety of ideas—such as the ability to
keep the commandments, the possibility of not sinning, and the inability of a rich man to
enter the kingdom of God, among others—that were fogging his understanding of the
64
Bonner, Augustine and Modern Research on Pelagianism, 6.
65
Rackett, “Sexuality and Sinlessness: The Diversity among Pelagian Theologies of Marriage and
Virginity,” 32.
66
Josef Lössl, "Augustine, 'Pelagianism', Julian of Aeclanum and Modern Scholarship," Journal of
Ancient Christianity 11 (2007): 138.
67
Rees says he was a lawyer. “Pelagiusμ A Reluctant Heretic,” in Pelagius: Life and Letters, 11.
68
Augustine, Ep. 157; Gest. Pel. 11 (23).
69
“Quoniam sanctus episcopus Augustinus aduersus discipulos eius in Scilia respondit Hilario ad
subiecta capitula scribens librum in quo ista continentur.” Augustine, Gr. et pecc. or. 2.11 (12).
18
Gospel message.70 Augustine wrote a liber (Ep. 157)71 in reply, addressing each of these
issues and twice mentions the drama in Sicily in two of his treatises.72
Like Hilary, we know very little about the Anonymous Sicilian. He seems to
have been converted from a milquetoast Christianity, and, like many converts, was
zealous for his new life.73 His unflinchingly optimistic anthropology and his heavy
emphasis on the possibility to be free of sin make him, in many ways, a more extreme
version of Pelagius.74 There is no doubt that at the time he wrote the texts that are extant,
he was living in Sicily.75 His patria, however, remains elusive. Mention of a long and
difficult sea journey76 led Caspari, Morris, and Evans to suggest that he was from
Britain.77 As Bonner and Rees have made clear, however, there is absolutely no evidence
for such a statement; he could have been from anywhere, most likely in Italy or Gaul.78
While there currently is not enough information to make any definitive claims, I am
70
Ep. 156.
71
Gest. Pel. 11 (23).
72
Gr. et pecc. or. 2.11 (12).
73
Anonymous Sicilian, Hon. tuae 5 (1-2).
74
Evans, Four Letters of Pelagius, 25; Bonner, Augustine and Modern Research on Pelagianism,
5; Rees, “Introduction,” 1κ.
75
Anonymous Sicilian, Hon. tuae 5 (2).
76
Ibid., 1 (1), 2 (2), 5 (1).
77
C.P. Caspari, Briefe, Abhandlungen, und Predigten aus den zwei letzen Jahrhunderten des
kirchlichen Altertums und dem Anfang des Mittelalters (Brussels: Christiana, 1964), 387; Morris, “Pelagian
Literature,” 3ιν Evans, Four Letters of Pelagius, 24.
78
Bonner, Augustine and Modern Research on Pelagianism, 5; Rees, “Introduction,” 1θ, 14κ.
19
inclined to say that he was probably from Rome because of a passing mention of the urbs
in one of his letters.79
It is clear that he was deeply influenced by Pelagius’ Expositiones, de vita
Christiana, de virginitate, and de divina lege, but even the origin of this influence is hotly
disputed.80 Some scholars claim that Pelagius and Caelestius had stayed in Sicily for a
short time immediately before or after the sack of Rome, and it was at this time that they
would have met each other;81 others suggest that they might have met in Rome or that the
Anonymous Sicilian only received Pelagius’ texts while in Sicily.82 Again, it is
impossible to say with certainty, but I would suggest that they did not meet in Rome or
Sicily and that the Anonymous Sicilian had only been influenced by Pelagius through
texts. He names three different individuals (a “holy” Antiochus, a woman of great
nobility, and a “holy” Martyrius)83 whom he knew personally and who had greatly
influenced him, but never once mentions Pelagius by name. This absence should not be
ignored.
We know that he was married at one time, but by the time he was writing these
letters he rejected marriage for chastity, as well as meat and non-Christian authors such
79
Anonymous Sicilian, Hon. tuae 5 (3).
80
Evans, Four Letters of Pelagius, 28-9.
81
Ibid., 29. Ferguson claims that Pelagius and Caelestius certainly stayed in Sicily, but this does
not necessarily mean that they met the Anonymous Sicilian during this time. Ferguson, Pelagius: A
Historical and Theological Study, 49, 61.
82
Rees, “Introduction,” 1κ.
83
Anonymous Sicilian, Hon. tuae 3.5 (2); Ad adol. 1.
20
as Virgil, Sallust, Terence, and Cicero.84 The fate of his wife is unknown. His marriage
produced a daughter whom he wanted to remain a virgin and whom he gave to the
aforementioned woman of great nobility for instruction.85 A friend of his—possibly a
parent—applied intense pressure to get him to return to his homeland, but he refused to
return stating that he needed to remain for a time where he had found this new teaching.86
He did promise to return one day to the urbs with his female mentor once he had
solidified his knowledge of the Christian life.87 It also seems that he came from a
wealthy family but that he had abandoned his wealth to live a life of poverty, which stung
his correspondent, but did not seem to bother him.88 Such ascetic tendencies far exceed
anything we know about Pelagius or Caelestius, and set him apart from his compatriots.
Three of his six extant texts discuss sinlessness: Honorificentiae tuae, Ad
Adolescentem, and, of course, De possibilitate non peccandi. In the first two, he only
mentions sinlessness in passing, while third offers a defensive tone. Although it is
impossible to prove definitively, I suggest that he had written the first two without any
knowledge of the drama brewing in Africa, and the third was written directly against a
text, or texts, challenging his position. In his Reichtumskritik und Pelagianismus. Die
84
De cast. 10 (9); De mal. 11 (1); Ad adol. 2 (4).
85
Hon. tuae 5 (2-3). Rees says that he does not “understand why σuvolene … states that our
author took the girl with him to Sicily.” If he were writing from Sicily, and the woman who influenced him
was in Sicily, I do not understand Rees’ comment. Rees, “Introduction,” 1η4 n. 28.
86
Anonymous Sicilian, Hon. tuae 5 (1).
87
Hon. tuae 5 (3).
88
Hon. tuae 4 (1).
21
pelagianische Diatribe de divitiis: Situierung, Lesetext, Übersetzung, Kommentar,
Andreas Kessler offers a window of 411-14 for the dating of this text.89 If this is correct,
and Teske’s dating of 414-1η for Augustine’s Ep. 157 is also correct, then it is possible
that he had procured a copy of the response to Hilary in 414 and that it had instigated this
apologia.90
The basis for his claim for sinlessness is even more tightly connected to the idea
of the possibility of obeying all of the commandments than we see from his colleagues.
God’s law is very clear. “For if a man could not be without sin,” he says, “there would
be no commandment to that effect; but it is common knowledge that there is such a
commandment, and so we must either describe God as unjust or, since it is wicked to
think thus of God, must believe that he has commanded what is possible.”91 In another
letter, he makes explicit the commandments he has in mind: you should not do to anyone
what you do not want done to you (Tob. 4:15), and do to others what you would want
done to you (Mt. 7:12. Lk. 6:31).92
His De possibilitate non peccandi gives us the most condensed exposition of his
understanding of sinlessness. He once again cites several biblical passages (Lev. 19:2;
Mt. 5:48; Phil. 2:14,15; Col. 1: 21, 22) to show that humanity is called to live without
89
Andreas Kessler, Reichtumskritik und Pelagianismus. Die pelagianische Diatribe de divitiis:
Situierung, Lesetext, Übersetzung, Kommentar, Paradosis 43 (Freiburg, Schweiz: Universitäts-Verlag,
1999), 108-13.
90
Augustine, Letters: 156-210, ed. Boniface Ramsey, trans., Roland Teske., The Works of Saint
Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2004), 16.
91
Hon. tuae 1 (4).
92
Ad adol. 4 (1).
22
sin.93 With this authority established, he states that the inability to follow this command
is a problem of the movement of the free will, and that “it is impious to say that sin is
inherent in nature.” 94 This, I argue, is a thinly veiled rejection of Augustine’s Ep. 157.
Along with similar statements from Pelagius,95 this leads us to wonder if Augustine’s
opponents ever clearly understood his belief that peccatum originale is not part of human
nature, but, rather, a deficiency of human nature. Regardless, the Anonymous Sicilian
stresses that the call to sinlessness encourages individuals not to sin and, when they do
sin, to repent. 96 If one were to claim that sinlessness is impossible, this would lead to
laziness, and it also would engender a false sense of security by giving sinners and excuse
for their sins.97 The call to the sinless life, he believes, is the only way to exhort sinners
to virtue.
Sinlessness is viewed differently by Julian of Eclanum, whose argument is
generally tied to his belief in the illusion of original sin and the goodness of human
nature. In 408 or 409, Augustine received a letter from Memorius, the bishop of Apulia,
asking him to send the six books of his De musica (completed around 391) for the
education of his son, Julian, who was around twenty-five years old at the time. Short of
patience, Augustine curtly replied that he had little time for such trivialities, but, in the
93
Anonymous Sicilian, De poss. non. pecc. 4 (3).
94
De poss. non. pecc. 4 (1). See also, 3 (1).
95
Pelagius, “we do, however, refute the charge that nature’s inadequacy forces us to do evil.” Ad
Dem. 8.
96
Anonymous Sicilian, De poss. non. pecc. 3 (2).
97
De poss. non. pecc. 3 (1-2).
23
end, sent him the sixth book, the only one that had been corrected because he had been
too busy. He then warmly requested that Memorius send him his son to visit him in
Africa. “[I dare not] say that I love him more than you,” he gushes, “because I would not
say this truthfully, but I still venture to say that I desire his presence more than yours.”98
Such words were probably the only kind words that Augustine would ever have for the
future bishop of Eclanum.
Julian was born around 380 and died in exile in Sicily, around 454. Gennadius
tells us that he was proficient in both Latin and Greek,99 and his classically Roman
education demonstrated knowledge of Aristotle. He married Titia, the daughter of the
bishop of Benevento, Aemilius; but it is unknown if they ever consummated their
marriage.100 By the time he tangled with Augustine, his marriage was chaste.101 He
became bishop sometime before 417,102 and was known for extreme generosity to the
poor.103
After Pelagius and Caelestius had been condemned in 418, Julian and 18 Italian
bishops, mostly from Campania and around Aquileia,104 refused to sign Pope Zosimus’
98
Augustine, Ep. 101 (4).
99
Gennadius, De vir. Inlustr. 46.
100
Josef Lössl, Julian von Aeclanum: Studien zu seinem Leben, seinem Werk, seiner Lehre und
ihrer Überlieferung, Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, 60 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2001), 65-7.
101
Serge Lancel, Saint Augustine, trans., Antonia Nevill (London: S.C.M. Press, 2002), 413-14.
102
Lamberigts, “Julian of Eclanum,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed. Fitzgerald, 478.
103
Gennadius, De vir. Inlustr. 46.
104
Lancel, Saint Augustine, 414.
24
Epistula tractoria.105 For his disobedience, he was forced to leave Italy a year later and
was received, for a short time, by Theodore of Mopsuestia. He went to Constantinople
where he sought refuge with Nestorius, as had Caelestius, but was exiled from there as
well.106 It was probably because of his association with Nestorius that he was condemned
by name at the Council of Ephesus in 431.107 In 439, he asked Pope Sixtus III (432-40)
to reinstate him, but his request was denied.
For Julian, sinlessness almost entirely fades into the background, although not
completely.108 Sinlessness is still the undisputed goal, but he becomes so entangled
discussing the means of reaching the goal that he almost loses sight of it.109 He spends
much more time discussing original sin which, if true, precludes any possibility of
sinlessness. If one is ontologically sinful (he assumes that that is Augustine’s
105
Lössl, Julian von Aeclanum: Studien zu seinem Leben, seinem Werk, seiner Lehre und ihrer
Überlieferung, 262-79.
106
Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, 384.
107
Lössl, Julian von Aeclanum: Studien zu seinem Leben, seinem Werk, seiner Lehre und ihrer
Überlieferung, 311-19.
108
Mathijs Lamberigts, "Julian of Aeclanum on Grace: Some Considerations," in Studia
Patristica: Papers Presented at the Eleventh International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford
1991: Cappadocian Fathers, Greek Authors after Nicaea, Augustine, Donatism, and Pelagianism, ed.
Elizabeth A. Livingstone (Leuven: Peeters, 1993), 348.
109
Philip Barclift, "In Controversy with Saint Augustin: Julian of Eclanum on the Nature of Sin,"
Recherches de Théologie Ancienne et Médiévale 58 (1991): 15. Augustine said that if Julian had not come
along, “the structure of the Pelagian doctrine would necessarily have remained without an architect.” C.
Jul. 6 (36). For Augustine to make such a statement assumes a uniformity in his opponents’ thought, and
that Julian organized this uniformity and gave it a clear voice. These pages show that there was much more
variety in their thinking and that it in accurate to say that Julian simply gave it form. Although Julian
believed in the possibility of sinlessness, he spent more time attacking Augustine than putting forward his
comprehensive view of sinlessness.
25
position),110 one could never reach a state where one does not commit any acts of sin,
which is how he distinguishes his definition of sinlessness from Augustine.111 Augustine,
he believes, makes his first mistake right at the beginning.
The twisted nature of original sin, which is best seen in concupiscentia, leads to
the deprecation of marriage, Julian believes, an emphasis that sets him apart from his
compatriots.112 He holds that if concupiscence is a symptom of the fall, and everyone is
subject to concupiscence, then one could never will oneself to a sinless life because of it.
Such a view inevitably condemns marriage as evil because a husband and wife condemn
themselves—and their children—through the marital act.113 One must reject, he
concludes, the idea of original sin, embrace concupiscence, praise marriage, and admit
that sexuality is a gift, all of which do not impede a life without sin.114
Conclusion
We have seen in this introductory chapter that modern scholarship has begun to
reject the longstanding construct established by Augustine that gratia was the entrance
into—and primary error of—the thought of Pelagius and his colleagues. As a
contribution to this effort, this dissertation will explore the issue of sinlessness (which has
110
Augustine, C. Jul. imp. 1 (49).
111
Ibid., 1 (47).
112
Lössl, “Augustine, ‘Pelagianism’, Julian of Aeclanum and Modern Scholarship,” 143.
113
Augustine, C. Jul. imp. 4 (106).
114
Harnack, History of Dogma, 194-7.
26
been entirely overlooked until recently) of Pelagius’ three most important opponents,
Augustine, Cassian, and Jerome. Following the precedents set by Clark and Ayres, we
will compare and contrast these authors to see how they addressed this question similarly
and differently from each other. We have expanded the work done by Löhr and Rackett
by seeing how Rufinus of Syria, the Anonymous Sicilian and Julian of Eclanum agreed
with each other that sinlessness is possible while, at the same time, asserted it for
different core reasons and emphasized it to different degrees. The stage is now set. Let
us move to Augustine of Hippo.
CHAPTER TWO: AUGUSTINE
Introduction
Augustine never wrote one single text that presents his thoughts about
sinlessness—these thoughts were spread over a number of texts. τne’s initial response
may be to force these thoughts together to construct a mosaic to give a clear picture of
how he conceived of sinlessness.1 As is often the case with him, however, one cannot
capture his thoughts in one picture.2 Rather, one must approach them as one approaches
Claude Monet’s Haystacks, which must be viewed in succession to see how they changed
over time and, only then, to come to a full appreciation of this series. In a similar
fashion, we will analyze Augustine’s beliefs on the possibility of sinlessness and see that
they did not remain static; he changed his position several times over a few short years.
We will look at his first five treatises (De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De
baptismo parvulorum, De spiritu et littera, De natura et gratia, De perfectione iustitiae
1
Mary Clark argues that one may think of Augustine’s thought as a mosaic, but I am convinced
that this way of thinking warps our understanding of him. Clark, Mary, Augustine: Philosopher of
Freedom (New York: Desclée, 1958), 84.
2
Recent scholarship has attempted to make Augustine’s thought homogenous from 3κθ until his
death in 430: Carol Harrison, Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology: An Argument for Continuity.
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006). This has caused a stir among Augustinian scholars: Mark Boone,
"Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology: An Argument for Continuity, by Carol Harrison," Augustinian
Studies 40 (2009): 154-7; Chad Tyler Gerber, "Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology: An Argument for
Continuity, by Carol Harrison," Journal of Early Christian Studies 15 (2007): 120-2; Josef Lössl,
"Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology: An Argument for Continuity, by Carol Harrison," The Journal of
Theological Studies 58 (2007): 300-2; David Meconi, "Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology: An
Argument for Continuity, by Carol Harrison," Theological Studies 68 (2007): 180-2; John Rist,
"Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology: An Argument for Continuity, by Carol Harrison," New
Blackfriars 87, no. 1011 (2006): 542-4; Paul Rorem, "Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology: An
Argument for Continuity, by Carol Harrison," Scottish Journal of Theology 62, no. 4 (2009): 519-21;
Françoise Vinel, "Rethinking Augustine's Early Theology: An Argument for Continuity, by Carol
Harrison," Revue des Sciences Religieuses 82, no. 4 (2008): 573-4.
27
28
hominis, and De gestis Pelagii) and the canons of the Council of Carthage of 418
(Augustine had been the key figure in constructing them) to demonstrate these changes.
Augustine wrote texts other than these five against Pelagius and others, such as
Julian, which will not be discussed in this chapter because, after 418, there is little
discussion about sinlessness. Why is this so? Is sinlessness, in the end, only a minor
footnoteς It receives little attention after Pelagius’ condemnation, I argue, because of the
superior rhetorical skills of Augustine, not because it becomes an irrelevant issue for his
interlocutors. He, through the force of his writings, was able to shift the debate from
sinlessness to his own interest: grace. This shift can best be seen at the end of his De
gestis Pelagii.3
Two main points are at the heart of this chapter.
First, in his overall understanding of sinlessness, Augustine initially makes one
claim (in De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum he permits a
hypothetical possibility of anyone becoming sinless because, through God’s grace,
anything is possible; but, there has never been anyone in the history of the world who has
actually been sinless) then asserts the opposite (in De perfectione iustitiae hominis he
allows that there have been saints in the past who have been without sin) then
demonstrates that he is unsure (in De gestis Pelagii he admits that this matter is open for
3
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 30 (55).
29
debate) and then, finally, he returns to his original position (through the canons of the
Council of Carthage of 418, he shows that everyone has sinned).4
The second important point concerns the Theotokos. Augustine had very little to
say about Mary, but what little he did say was important for later medieval thinking.5
Initially, he claimed that Mary had sinful flesh just as the rest of humanity.6 Later—
forced to reconsider his position by Pelagius, who claimed that Mary was sinless7—he
changed his mind and stated that he did not want to make any definitive claims about the
Mother of God.8
τur idea that Augustine’s understanding of the sinless life changed over time
rejects established scholarly consensus. Gerald Bonner concisely offers the standard
view of Augustine’s thought during this debateν he claims that “Augustine was essentially
re-stating the arguments which he had employed at the very beginning of the controversy
in the De Peccatorum Meritis et Remissione” and that “as the controversy progressed,
there occurred a change, not of doctrine but of emphasis.”9 While Bonner is correct that
4
Pecc. mer. 2.6 (7), 2.7 (8); Perf. iust. 21 (44); Gest. Pel. 30 (55); Dionysius, Codex Canorum
Ecclesiasticorum, PL, vol. 67 (217B-219C).
5
Jaroslav Pelikan, Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1996), 33.
6
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.24 (38).
7
Nat. et gr. 36 (42).
8
Ibid.
9
Gerald Bonner, "Augustine and Pelagianism," Augustinian Studies 24 (1993): 43; Bonner, “Anti-
Pelagian Works,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed. Fitzgerald, 41.
30
there was expansion, refinement, and, yes, a shift in emphasis in Augustine’s writings, we
will see that there was also a change in several of his key thoughts on sinlessness.
De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum
Augustine began his reply to the notion of the possibility of living a life free of sin
in his text De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum, probably
written in 411/412, in response to a letter from Marcellinus. This letter, now lost, asked
Augustine to respond to a variety of issues, including: whether or not Adam would have
died if he had not sinned, whether or not sin passed to the descendants of Adam because
of the fall, and whether or not people may be free of sin. Although Augustine addresses
this work to Marcellinus, in reality this text is written as a response to the as of yet
unnamed opponents, whom Marcellinus brought to Augustine’s attention.
In this first text, Augustine does not take these opponents very seriously, nor does
he seem to grasp the severity of their claims. He states that “one need not, of course,
with a rash incautiousness, immediately oppose those who say that there can be human
beings in this life without sin.”10 For him, this question seems to be an abstract
theological exercise with very little at stake. Augustine’s casual attitude prevents him
from seeing the inevitable anthropological and soteriological issues (such as the
autonomy of the free will and the individual’s role in salvation) that are inseparable from
10
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.6 (7). Even in Spir. et litt. 2 (3), Augustine makes a similar claim that
betrays that he still does not take his opponents seriously.
31
the question of sinlessness, which he would only later come to understand and reject.11
Even Marcellinus, the layman and government bureaucrat, seems to have a better grasp
of the implications of their claims than Augustine does.12 We will see that it is not until
De natura et gratia that Augustine considers them as corrupting the heart of the Christian
message.
In Book II, Augustine responds to Marcellinus by asking and answering four
questions: (1) whether or not one can live life without sin, (2) whether or not there has
ever been a person—other than Jesus—who has been sinless, (3) why it is that no human
being is sinless, and (4) whether or not someday there will be a person who achieves a
state of sinlessness.13 Although he was responding to Marcellinus’ letter, Augustine—in a
subtle rhetorical ploy—poses these four questions and, therefore, establishes the
parameters of the debate.
The first question is only briefly discussed. Augustine claims that it is possible
for one to remain sinless. This sinlessness may only be achieved, he says, through the
grace of God and the movement of the free will. The free will is necessary because God
will not force an individual to be sinless. The sinless life must be desired by the
individual and only then will God offer His aid.14 Initially, this may seem to be a
11
One may suggest that Augustine was diminishing the importance of this issue because he
wanted to emphasize the issue of grace. This suggestion, however, is problematic because Augustine does
not address the question of grace at all in this text. At this point of the debate, he has yet to put grace front
and center.
12
Spir. et litt. 1 (1).
13
Pecc. mer. 2.6 (7), 2.7 (8-16, 25), 2.17 (26)-2.19 (33), 2.20 (34-36).
32
surprising claim and that Augustine has agreed with his opponents’ arguments. He is
making what I will call a “hypothetical” claim to sinlessness because, as we will soon
see, he does not believe that there have ever been any individuals without sin. If
Augustine categorically were to eliminate the possibility of the sinless life, then he would
be placing a limitation on God’s power. He would never want to do so and, therefore,
allows this hypothetical possibility of God’s intervention in the life of an individual.
Historically, as he makes clear in his second point, there has never been a single
individual who has achieved such a state.15 He refutes his opponents by quoting a variety
of biblical passages (Ps 143:2; Ps 32:5-6; 1 Jn 1:8) and alludes to several others (Rv 14:3-
5; Prv 18:17) that prove this impossibility.
In his third point, Augustine states that there has never been a sinless individual
because there has never been anyone who truly wanted to be without sin. When one is
assured that something is good then one will desire it. This knowledge of goodness,
however, is due to the grace of God. At other times, one does not understand the
goodness of a deed or take delight in it; it is at these moments that pride leads the
individual to sin.16
Augustine then poses his fourth question: will there ever be anyone in the future
who will be free of sin?17 Despite his earlier claim that it is hypothetically possible for
14
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.6 (7).
15
Pecc. mer. 2.7 (8).
16
Ibid., 2.17 (26), 2.17 (27).
17
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.20 (34).
33
one to be without sin, he claims this will never happen.18 Returning to an argument from
Book I, he links the impossibility of a sinless life to his discussion about the necessity of
baptism in infants because of original sin.19 For, even if one is able to live a life in
adulthood free of sin, through grace and the pure desire of the free will, one is still born
corrupted.
De spiritu et littera
Augustine’s second treatise relevant for our topic, De spiritu et littera, written at
the end of 412 or at the beginning of 413, was an expansion of his claim in Book II of De
peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum. Marcellinus read
Augustine’s initial response and was perplexed by his position that, in theory, one may
live a life without sinning. He felt that it was absurd to claim that one may achieve such
a goal and, at the same time, not be able to prove anyone has ever done so in the past. In
response, Augustine points to several verses in the Bible (Mt 19:24; Mk 10:25; Lk 18:25)
that show that something has been claimed as a possibility without there ever having been
an historical case.20
While we do not see evidence in this text that Augustine has yet changed his
thinking about sinlessness, it is still important for us because scholars have often
misunderstood its purpose. Paul Meyer, for example, has argued that De spiritu et littera
18
Ibid., 2.20 (34).
19
Ibid., 1.9 (9).
20
Spir. et litt. 1 (1).
34
should not be listed among the corpus of writings against Pelagius; rather, it simply
should be read for a greater understanding of his exegesis of Paul.21 Jean Chéné, likewise,
has shelved Augustine’s concern for sinlessness and analyzed De spiritu et littera to
determine if Augustine made an argument for the universal salvific will of God.22 Chéné,
at least, is willing to acknowledge that it was written against Pelagius and those who
claimed the possibility of a sinless life. But it seems to me that Meyer, Chéné, and other
scholars23 who only read this text for Augustine’s definition of grace miss the point of De
spiritu et littera. Although Augustine spends most of his time defining how one should
correctly understand grace, he does so to explain how one may be sinless. Grace—which
is bookended by a discussion of sinlessness (1 (1-2.3) and 35 (62-66)) and should be seen
as framing the entire text—is the means to the end of sinlessness. Debate about the
sinless life, then, caused Augustine’s composition on grace.
De natura et gratia
At the end of 414,24 Augustine received a copy of Pelagius’ De natura—written
around 405-40625—from two men, Timasius and James, who had been admirers of
21
Paul W Meyer, "Augustine's The Spirit and the Letter as a Reading of Paul's Romans," in The
Social World of the First Christians: Essays in Honor of Wayne A. Meeks, ed. L. Michael White and O.
Larry Yarbrough (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1995), 368.
22
Jean Chéné, "Saint Augustin enseigne-t-il dans le De spiritu et littera l'universalité de la
volonté salvifique de Dieu?," Recherches de Science Religieuse 47 (1959): 223.
23
Bonner, “Spiritu et littera, De,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed. Fitzgerald, 815-16.
24
Lancel, Saint Augustine, 333.
35
Pelagius. They had grown suspicious of his emphasis on the undefiled goodness of
human nature and had written to Augustine stating that Augustine’s words had swayed
their opinions. Although De natura is no longer extant in toto, it is clear from the
remaining fragments that its main focus concerns the possible sinlessness of humanity.26
It was Augustine’s reply, De natura et gratia (written towards the end of the spring of
415),27 that signaled an important shift in his understanding of the arguments of his
opponents, and displayed a more urgent tone in his rhetoric. But, he was still hesitant to
condemn Pelagius openly because he hoped that Pelagius would recant his views—an
unfounded thought, because Pelagius never hinted that he was open to persuasion.
Brown argues that Augustine hesitated to mention Pelagius by name because of the
powerful patrons who supported Pelagius, but Augustine has shown this naïve optimism
in the past.28 When one compares the treatises that he wrote against Pelagius and the
Donatists, one sees, at the beginning, the same desire that they will come to agree with
his position; but he would become frustrated and bitter by their resolve. By the end of his
life, Augustine’s aggravation with Pelagius had spilled over to Julian of Eclanum, against
whom he unleashed a series of vulgar tirades.29
25
Y.M. Duval, "La Date du De Natura de Pélage: Les Premières Étapes de la Controverse sur la
Nature de la Grâce," Revue des Études Augustiniennes 36 (1990): 283.
26
Löhr, “Pelagius' Schrift De naturaμ Rekonstruktion und Analyse,” 235-94.
27
Lancel, Saint Augustine, 333.
28
Peter Brown, "The Patrons of Pelagius: The Roman Aristocracy between East and West," in
Religion and Society in the Age of Saint Augustine (New York: Harper & Row, 1972), 217.
29
Augustine, C. Jul. imp. 2 (44), 2 (206), 4 (56).
36
De natura et gratia is of interest because we see a shift in Augustine’s thinking
about the Virgin Mary. Gerald Bonner offers the standard scholarly view:
Augustine, it will be noticed, is careful in his affirmation of universal
human sinlessness to give Mary a place apart. It is not so much that he
declares her personal sinlessness, as that he absolutely refuses to discuss
the matter propter honorem Domini, for the honour of the Lord. This
specific reference to the Mother of God—and the total number of such
references is not very large in the great bulk of Augustine’s writings—is
evidence of the particular place which Mary enjoyed in the eyes of
Christians by the beginning of the fifth century, not only in the Greek east
but in the traditionally conservative Latin west.30
Augustine, in the passage to which Bonner alludes, says that one should “leave aside the
holy Virgin Mary; on account of the honor due to the Lord, I do not want to raise here
any question about her when we are dealing with sins. After all, how do we know what
wealth of grace was given to her in order to conquer sin completely, since she merited to
conceive and bear the one who certainly had no sinς”31
Bonner, Pelikan, Ferguson, and Doyle agree that Augustine said that Mary was
sinless.32 These scholars, however, ignore a previous discussion, from Book II of De
peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum, where a different
understanding of Mary’s status is given. “Therefore,” Augustine says, “he [Jesus] alone,
having become man, while remaining God, never had any sin and did not assume sinful
flesh, though he assumed flesh from the sinful flesh of his mother [de materna carne
30
Bonner, St. Augustine of Hippo: Life and Controversies, 328.
31
Augustine, Nat. et gr. 36 (42).
32
Bonner, St. Augustine of Hippo: Life and Controversies, 328, n.1; Pelikan, Mary Through the
Centuries, 33,191,195; Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 166; Daniel Doyle, “Mary,
Mother of God,” in Augustine through the Ages, ed. Fitzgerald, 544.
37
peccati]. Whatever of the flesh he took from her, he either cleansed it to assume it or
cleansed it by assuming.”33 We can see here that there is a shift, over just a few years,
from certainty to doubt about Mary’s sinfulness.34
It is impossible to know for sure what caused Augustine’s thought to change, but
a few points should be made. Pelagius’ De natura offered a long list of men and women
from the Old and New Testaments whom he believed were sinless; among others, he
mentioned the Virgin Mary, which seems to have forced Augustine to take a closer look
at his own thinking.35 Augustine surely did not want to concede this point to Pelagius
because he might be seen as associating himself with Pelagius. At the same time, he did
not want to slander Mary. His only option would be quietly to avoid it. It is surprising
that Pelagius allowed Augustine to do so and how rarely Mary is mentioned at all in this
debate, as one would expect Pelagius often to refer to Mary as the exemplar of
sinlessness. But, he does not. Rather, Pelagius chose to spend more time discussing
other biblical figures such as Job or Elizabeth.36 Augustine must have been relieved that
he was not pressured by Pelagius to commit himself to an answer. While we must not
project back to the fifth century our modern understanding of Mary’s Immaculate
Conception and sinless life, the rare appearance of Mary in this debate is perplexing.
33
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.24 (38).
34
Augustine is not clear when exactly the flesh of Mary was cleansed. This issue would later
haunt the medieval theologians. For example, see John Duns Scotus, Four Questions on Mary, trans.,
Allan B. Wolter (St. Bonaventure: The Franciscan Institute, 2000), 2 (1-2).
35
Augustine, “Piety demands, he [Pelagius] says, that we admit that she [Mary] was without sin.”
Nat. et gr. 36 (42).
36
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.10 (14-15, 22).
38
De perfectione iustitiae hominis
Augustine received a text titled Liber definitionum37 from two bishops, Eutropius
and Paul, who asked him to respond to it because they were worried that it was being
spread throughout Sicily.38 His response, De perfectione iustitiae hominis, roughly can
be dated between 412 and 418, although it was probably written around 416.39 The
majority of the citations from Caelestius are directly related to our topic, which show his
theological preoccupation.
Two features deserve our attention: first, earlier in this chapter, we saw that
Augustine believed that, although it is hypothetically possible to achieve a state of
sinlessness (through the grace of God), in reality this historically has never been
achieved. At the end of De perfectione iustitiae hominis, however, Augustine changes
his mind:
finally, one might claim that, apart from our head, the savior of his body,
there have been or are some righteous human beings [aliqui homines iusti]
without any sin [sine aliquo peccato], whether because they never
consented to its desires or because we should not consider as a sin
37
Honnay argues that Augustine did not believe that Caelestius actually wrote this text. Guido
Honnay, "Caelestius, Discipulus Pelagii," Augustiniana 44 (1994): 281. I would argue, however, that the
first paragraph of Perf. iust. suggests that Augustine believed that either Caelestius or his followers wrote
it.
38
Augustine, Perf. iust. 1.
39
Bonner keeps open the possibility of the text being written as early as 412, while Teske places it
at 415, as does Rackett. Bonner, “Perfetione iustitiae hominis, De,” in Augustine through the Ages, ed.
Fitzgerald, 646; Roland Teske, "Introduction," in The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st
Century: Answer to the Pelagians (Hyde Park: New City Press, 1997): 269; Rackett, “Sexuality and
Sinlessness: The Diversity among Pelagian Theologies of Marriage and Virginity,” 278. I would suggest
that it was written after Augustine had met Orosius returning from Palestine, and received letters from
Jerome, Heroes, Lazarus, and Jerome’s Dialogi.
39
something so slight that God does not count it against their holiness. In
any case, I do not believe that one should resist this idea too much.40
Note the shift of focus to allow the possibility of a sinless individual, which calls for a
few comments. It is clear that Augustine does not have the Virgin Mary in mind because
he uses the plural (homines), not the singular (homo).41 He probably was thinking about
some of the figures from the Old and New Testaments (Noah, Daniel, Job, Zechariah,
Elizabeth), but Augustine did not want to mention them by name.42 It is also not a
coincidence that Augustine made this claim at the very end of the text while summarizing
his argument because this allowed him to avoid expanding this argument. Although he
hesitated to defend this new argument with any force, it should not be seen as simply an
aberration but as a genuine change of heart.43
The second important point comes from the lines shortly after this quotationμ “for
I know,” Augustine says “that such is the view of some whose position on this matter I
dare not reprehend, though I cannot defend it either.”44 Teske has argued that Augustine
was thinking of Ambrose,45 but I want to suggest that he is referring to Jerome, who, as
40
Augustine, Perf. iust. 21 (44).
41
While Mary is not mentioned by name, we should not necessarily include her just because she
wasn’t explicitly excluded.
42
These people previously had been discussed as possible examples of sinlessness. Augustine,
Pecc. mer. 2 (10.12-16, 24).
43
Perf. iust. 21 (44). It is unclear exactly what caused this change of heart. It could have occurred
because of the change in circumstances in the debate or the context of the situation.
44
Ibid.
45
Augustine, Letters: 156-210, ed. Boniface Ramsey, trans., Roland Teske., The Works of Saint
Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2004), 18 n. 3.
40
we will see, claimed that one may be sinless for a short time.46 Shortly before Augustine
wrote this text, Paul Orosius (who will be discussed in detail in a later chapter) returned
to Hippo from Palestine. He had brought with him, among other things, a letter (172)
from Jerome and a copy of the Dialogi contra Pelagianos.47 At first glance, this letter
seems to praise Augustine, something that is a dramatic turn from their previous
correspondence that displayed Jerome’s suspicion of Augustine.48 Jerome said that
Augustine had written several books that “were full of learning and resplendent with
every sparkle of eloquence.”49 Jerome, however, is actually criticizing Augustine in this
letter because he also says that “[in Augustine’s texts can be found] the words of the
blessed apostle, ‘each person abounds in his own ideas (Rom 14μη), one in this way,
another in that (1 Cor ιμι).’ Certainly whatever could be said and drawn from the
sources of holy scriptures by your lofty mind [ingenium] you have stated and
discussed.”50 This should be read as a subtle criticism because Jerome believed that
Augustine was generating his own ideas about sinlessness and has turned away from the
writings of the tradition in favor of his own opinions. This criticism is noteworthy for
two reasons. First, Jerome earlier had charged Ambrose with plagiarism because
46
Jerome, Dial. 3 (12).
47
Frend, “τrosius, Paulus,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed. Fitzgerald, 616.
48
Stuart Squires, "Jerome's Animosity against Augustine," Augustiniana 58, no. 3 (2008): 181-99.
For good introductions to this correspondence: Ferdinand Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre.
(Louvain: Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense, 1922), vol. I: 297-306; Carolinne White, The Correspondence
(394-419) Between Jerome and Augustine of Hippo (Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1990).
49
Jerome, Ep. 172 (1).
50
Ep. 172 (1).
41
Ambrose relied too heavily on the writings of others when he wrote on virginity.51
Second, Cassian would later criticize Jerome for abandoning tradition in favor of his own
views when he wrote about ascetic practices, a criticism that would have made Jerome
furious if he were still alive at the time. Goodrich states that “Jerome, in particular, is
made the target of doubt [by Cassian]. He was a particularly eloquent writer, but his
ascetic works were drawn from his own ingenuity [ingenium]. His teachings were the
product of his fertile mind, rather than the fruit of experientia.”52 Augustine clearly
detected Jerome’s backhanded compliment because, shortly after receiving this letter, he
began to quote authors such as Cyprian, Ambrose, Irenaeus, Hilary, Gregory, and Basil
and would rely on tradition throughout his debate with Julian.53
This letter is also instructive because Jerome recognizes that he and Augustine
think differently about sinlessness. He says that “if enemies, and especially heretics, see
differences of opinion between us, they will slander us by saying that they stem from
rancor of the heart.”54 While Augustine and Jerome see themselves as having the same
general agenda against Pelagius, both men recognize that they disagree on the question of
sinlessness (which will become clearer after our analysis of Jerome).
51
Neil Adkin, "Ambrose and Jerome: The Opening Shot," Mnemosyne 46 (1993): 364-76.
52
Richard J. Goodrich, Contextualizing Cassian: Aristocrats, Asceticism, and Reformation in
Fifth-Century Gaul (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 71.
53
Augustine, Nupt. et conc. 2.29 (52); C. ep. Pel. 4.8 (20-11, 31); C. Jul. 1.3 (5-9, 46). Earlier,
Augustine had mentioned some of these authors, but he was responding to Pelagius’ claim that his
arguments are consistent with tradition. Augustine, nat. et. gr. 61 (71-67, 81). Augustine did not draw on
the tradition until after he read Jerome’s letter.
54
Jerome, Ep. 172 (1).
42
De gestis Pelagii
The last text from Augustine that is relevant for our purposes, De gestis Pelagii,
was written in late 417 or early 418.55 It was a reaction to the Synod of Diospolis that
was convened at the end of 415. Two deposed bishops of Gaul, Heros of Arles (a
disciple of Martin of Tours) and Lazarus of Aix, accused Pelagius of heresy. They
charged him on seven counts from his own writings and also of agreeing with Caelestius,
who had been condemned in Carthage. One of these bishops fell ill and could not attend;
the other would not appear at the Synod without his colleague. Pelagius was proclaimed
orthodox.
This decision by the Synod made Augustine’s campaign against Pelagius much
more complicated to justify. How was he supposed to attack Pelagius’s ideas when a
group of orthodox bishops found Pelagius to be in harmony with the Church? He
claimed that Pelagius purposefully had misled the bishops,56 and that it was not the fault
of the Synod that they did not understand Pelagius’ treachery because the bishops did not
know Latin.57 Augustine attempted to walk a thin line between criticizing him while, at
the same time, not calling into question the legitimacy of the Synod itself.
Late in this text, Augustine once again returned to the question of sinlessness
because he was upset by the fact that the texts of Pelagius neglect any mention of the
55
Bonner, “Gestis Pelagii, De,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed. Fitzgerald, 382.
56
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 11 (26).
57
Carole Burnett has pointed to the woefully inadequate case presented against Pelagius. Carole
Burnett, "Dysfunction at Diospolis: A Comparative Study of Augustine's De gestis Pelagii and Jerome's
Dialogus adversus Pelagianos," Augustinian Studies 34.2 (2003): 155.
43
assistance of God. At the Synod, Pelagius’ verbal testimony diverged from what he had
written in his texts by adding the phrase “by the grace of God.”58 Although Augustine’s
anger at this discrepancy should come as no surprise, his next claim is intriguing. The
Synod discussed the statement from Caelestius, which was condemned at the Council of
Carthage of 411/12, that before Christ there were human beings without sin.59 Pelagius
distanced himself from this statement of Caelestius. He had stated previously that there
were individuals who had been without sin, but now he only said that there were people
who were holy and righteous.60 Augustine says that Pelagius “realized, after all, how
dangerous [periculosus] and difficult [molestus] a point it was [to agree with
Caelestius]”61 since Pelagius knew that Caelestius had been condemned for it.
Augustine’s mild language—in contrast to his earlier harsh criticisms—is noteworthy; he
does not want to use stronger language than periculosus and molestus because he himself
allowed for the possibility of just such a claim and he did not want to sound like a
hypocrite.62
But, he is no longer certain of the possibility of a sinless life. In this text, there is
yet another shift in his thinking and he now leaves open for debate the question of
sinlessness, saying that “it was not … decided [at Diospolis] whether in this flesh lusting
58
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 11 (26).
59
Gest. Pel. 11 (23).
60
Nat et gr. 36 (42).
61
Gest. Pel. 11 (26).
62
Perf. iust. 21 (44).
44
against the spirit there has been, is, or will be someone with the use of reason and the
choice of the will, whether in human society or monastic solitude, who will not have to
say … ‘forgive us our debts’ (Mt θμ12) … that is perhaps a question to be peacefully
investigated, not among Catholics and heretics, but among Catholics.”63 We can see that
he now abandons his previous position from De perfectione iustitiae hominis,64 but does
not yet want to commit himself to the opposite. The shift in Augustine’s thought from
De perfectione iustitiae hominis to De gestis Pelagii, I would suggest, was caused by the
indecision at Diospolis. Augustine recognized that his acknowledgement of possibility of
the sinless life cannot ultimately be sustained, and the hesitancy of Diospolis persuaded
him of this.
The Council of Carthage of 418
The final piece of our puzzle comes from the Council of Carthage of 418. We
know very little about this Council, but we do have nine canons from it—four are
important for our purposes. Although these canons cannot be attributed solely to
Augustine’s pen, he surely played an important role in the Council that was held on the
first of May65 with over 200 African bishops in attendance.66 Shortly thereafter, probably
63
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 30 (55). I have changed the punctuation of this translation to make
Augustine’s words clearer.
64
Perf. iust. 21 (44).
65
Merdinger, “Councils of σorth African Bishops,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed.
Fitzgerald, 249.
66
Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 111.
45
on the 28th of June,67 Pope Zosimus sent a response, his Epistula Tractoria, condemning
Caelestius and Pelagius.68
Canons six through nine are important for us because, while Augustine had
recently claimed that sinlessness is “perhaps a question to be peacefully investigated,”69
the Council of Carthage closed the investigation by claiming that it is impossible for
anyone to be sinless, including those who are considered “holy personsμ”
Canon Six: They [the bishops at the Council] likewise decreed that, if any say that
we are given the grace of justification so that we can more easily (facile) do by
grace what we are commanded to do by free choice, as though if grace were not
given, we could still fulfill the divine commandments without it, though not easily
(facile), let them be anathema.
Canon Seven: They likewise decreed that, if any think that the statement of Saint
John, the apostle, ‘if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us (1 Jn 1μκ),’ is to be interpreted in the sense that one should say
that we have no sin on account of humility, not because it is the truth, let them be
anathema.
Canon Eight: They likewise decreed that, if any say that in the Lord’s Prayer holy
persons say, ‘forgive us our debts’ (Mt θμ12), so that they do not say this for
themselves, because this petition is no longer necessary for them, but for others
who are sinners in their people, and that in this way every holy person does not
say, ‘forgive me my debts,’ but ‘forgive us our debts,’ so that the righteous are
understood to say this for others rather than for themselves, let them be anathema.
Canon Nine: They likewise decreed that, if any claim that the words of the Lord’s
Prayer where we say, ‘forgive us our debts’ (Mt θμ12), are said by holy persons in
the sense that they say them humbly and not truthfully, let them be anathema.70
The discrepancy between Augustine’s hesitancy to make any claims for the possibility of
sinlessness at the end of De gestis Pelagii and these four canons prompts many questions.
67
Teske, "Introduction," 377.
68
Lancel, Saint Augustine, 339.
69
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 30 (55).
70
Dionysius, Codex Canorum Ecclesiasticorum, PL, vol. 67 (217B-219C).
46
What caused the Council to be called? I argue that Augustine was the main figure who
organized the Council to condemn the theology of Pelagius. Augustine’s frustration at
the way that the Synod of Diospolis had failed to censure the writings of Pelagius (not to
mention the attack on Augustine’s character at the Synod of Jerusalem)71 was too much
for him to swallow; he had to take matters into his own hands. Augustine’s central role
in this Council may seem obvious, but we should keep in mind that Augustine had no
hand in the Council of Carthage of 411/12 that dealt with Caelestius.72 His leadership
role, then, should not be assumed.
Two examples from these Canons point to Augustine’s fingerprints on this
Council. The first is from the discussion in Canon Six which addresses how “easily”
(facile) one may keep God’s commandments. This brings to mind Augustine’s recent
response found in De gestis Pelagii. After having received a letter from Pelagius about
Diospolis, and having received the minutes of it from Cyril of Alexandria,73 Augustine
noticed an important difference between the two: in the first Pelagius used the word
“easily” (facile), while in the second he did not.74 This discrepancy was a sign to
Augustine of Pelagius’ heresy as well as his willful subversion of the Synod.75 Second,
71
Orosius of Braga, Liber Apologeticus, Contra Pelagianum, PL, vol. 31 (1173D-1213), 4.
72
For an excellent discussion of Caelestius and the Council of Carthage 411/12, see Otto
Wermelinger, Rom und Pelagius (Stuttgart: Anton Hiersemann, 1975), 4-28.
73
Augustine, Ep. 4* (2).
74
Gest. Pel. 30 (54).
75
Robert F. Evans, "Pelagius' Veracity at the Synod of Diospolis," in Studies in Medieval Culture,
ed. John R. Sommerfeldt (Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University, 1964), 21-30.
47
the quotation of 1 Jn 1:8 in Canon Seven reflects a biblical quotation that was constantly
discussed throughout Augustine’s writings.76 The presence of these two examples cannot
be coincidental and must be seen as stemming directly from Augustine. It is at also clear
that Augustine was behind the Council because, of the 200 bishops in attendance, only he
and 14 other bishops remained in Carthage after the Council waiting for the response of
the Pope.77
Did the other bishops need to convince him of the impossibility of a sinless life,
or did Augustine come to this conclusion on his own? We saw earlier that Augustine had
reconsidered his understanding of Mary based on the writings of Pelagius and his
indecision on the sinlessness because of Diospolis. Here, however, Augustine did not
return to his original point through any outside influence. Canons Eight and Nine give us
a glimpse into Augustine’s thinking. In the paragraph from De gestis Pelagii where he
claims that the question of historical sinlessness is open to investigation, Augustine
quoted Mt θμ12 (as we earlier saw) saying that “it was not, nonetheless, decided …
whether in human society or in monastic solitude, who will not have to say, not because
of others, but because of himself, ‘Forgive us our debts.’”78 Both Canons Eight and
Nine, however, use Mt 6:12 to claim definitively that there never has been, is, or will be
anyone without sin. At some point between 41θ and 41κ, therefore, Augustine’s
76
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.7 (8), 2.8 (10), 2.10 (12), 2.13 (18); Spir. et litt. 36 (65); Nat. et gr. 14
(15), 34 (38), 36 (42), 62 (73); Perf. iust. 18 (39), 21 (44); Gest . Pel. 11 (26), 12 (27).
77
Lancel, Saint Augustine, 339.
78
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 30 (55). This passage from the Pater Noster was also crucial to Cassian’s
understanding of prayer, which is at the heart of his critique of Pelagius, as we will see in the next chapter.
Con. 9 (18-24).
48
appreciation of this passage from the Lord’s Prayer grew and it must have been one of the
key factors that convinced him of the impossibility of the sinless life. 79 The importance
of this verse can also be seen later in his refutation against Julian’s claims of
sinlessness.80
Conclusion
We have seen in this chapter that Augustine’s understanding of the question of
sinlessness changed as years passed and he slowly began to see the gravity of the claims
that Pelagius, Caelestius, and others were making. Originally, he did not see that the
question was one even to be taken seriously, even though Caelestius had been condemned
at the Council of Carthage of 411/12 for saying that there were human beings before
Christ who were sinless. We also saw that Augustine claimed that hypothetically one
may be sinless because to say otherwise would limit the power of God. Despite this
hypothetical possibility, Augustine originally claimed that there has never been anyone
sinless and that there never will be anyone sinless. Even those men and women from the
Old and New Testaments—such as Job, Noah, and Daniel—were certainly righteous
individuals and exemplary compared to other humans, but they were not entirely sinless.
79
This argument is similar to one made by scholars, such as Paula Fredriksen, who claim that
Augustine had changed his mind about the relationship between grace and free will around 396/97 because
of a new assessment of the letters and life of Paul. Prior to this new assessment, in his De libero arbitio,
Augustine believed that the free will is unencumbered, while after this new assessment, (which changed as
he wrote ad Simplicianum), Augustine believed that the will is impeded by the sin of Adam. Paula
Fredriksen, "Beyond the Body/Soul Dichotomy: Augustine on Paul against the Manichees and the
Pelagians," Recherches Augustiniennes 23 (1988): 102-5.
80
Augustine, C. ep. Pel. 1.14 (28), 4.10 (27); C. Jul. 2.8 (23), 4.3 (28), 4.3 (29).
49
Later, in De perfectione iustitiae hominis, he changed his mind to allow that there have
been persons from the past who were sinless. In his next text, De gestis Pelagii, he is
unsure if there has ever been anyone who was without sin and that this question is open
for consideration. Then, he and the Council of Carthage of 418 say that sinlessness is an
impossible state to achieve; anyone who claims the opposite is anathema.81 The second
main argument demonstrated that Augustine’s view of Mary changed. Initially, he
claimed that she was sinless, but later was compelled to suspend his judgment because
Pelagius claimed that Mary was sinless.
We will see, however, that Augustine’s concerns, preoccupations, and thought
processes about sinlessness did not diverge only from Jerome, which we began to discuss
in this chapter and will be discussed in detail later. In the next chapter, Cassian’s
thoughts on sinlessness will be analyzed and it will become apparent that, although
Cassian ultimately agreed with Augustine that it is impossible for any individual to spend
his or her entire life without sin, his conception of the question at hand is radically
different than Augustine’s. Cassian did not divide his thoughts between the possibility of
hypothetical and historical sinlessness, as he was not interested in such theological
gymnastics. Cassian’s lens was, as always, ascetic. Sinlessness was understood by
Cassian as a state of unceasing prayer whereby the monk was able to permanently avoid
the trappings of the body and remain turned toward God without distraction. This
permanent εω α is impossible, however, because of the weakness of the flesh. I will
81
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.6 (7); Gest. Pel. 11 (23); Pecc. mer. 2.6 (7), 2.7 (8), 2.20 (34), 2.10 (12-
14, 21); Perf. iust. 21 (44); Gest. Pel. 30 (54); Dionysius, Codex Canorum Ecclesiasticorum, PL, vol. 67
(217B-219C).
50
argue that Cassian’s view of sinlessness developed from an Evagrian foundation, which
will be significant in light of our later discussion on Jerome’s writings on sinlessness.82
Before we begin our assessment of Cassian, it would be prudent to take a step
back and to look at how this chapter on Augustine fits with the larger goals of this
dissertation. While we only will be able to draw together the disparate threads of our
three authors after they all have been discussed, a few words should be said here about
Augustine. One of the stated objectives of this project is to shift the focus away from
Augustine’s central preoccupation with grace and assess how he, Cassian, and Jerome
responded to the possibility of the sinless life, one of the central concerns of Pelagius,
Caelestius, and Julian of Eclanum.83 What we have seen here is that, unlike his
understanding of grace which had remained constant since his Ad Simplicianum of 397,84
Augustine’s views on the possibility of the sinless life changed over time due to
challenges he faced from his interlocutors. He was, in a sense, wrestling with these ideas
while in the midst of refuting his opponents. This lens of sinlessness, rather than grace,
provides for us a different approach by which we can come to a new appreciation of this
anthropological debate.
82
We will see in the next chapter that many scholars over the years have pointed to an Evagrian
influence on Cassian. No scholar, however, has yet to make the connection between these two men on the
issue of sinlessness.
83
We must be cautious about discussing issues of the fall, sin, grace, and salvation as separate
issues. Although this project attempts to shift the focus away from Augustinian grace to sinlessness, all of
these issues are intimately linked in the end and cannot be separated from each other.
84
While Harrison believes that Augustine’s understanding of the centrality of grace may be seen
as early as 386, Augustine himself points to the fact that his thoughts had changed in 397. Harrison,
Rethinking Augustine’s Early Theology, vi; Augustine, Praed. sanct. 4 (8).
CHAPTER THREE: CASSIAN
Introduction
Cassian, our second author, offers a different critique of sinlessness than
Augustine. Since the late 16th century,1 he (and others such as the monks of Gaul and
Hadrumetum) has been relegated to an ancillary debate called the “Semi-Pelagian
Controversy.” This attribution continues today in secondary sources—such as Weaver’s
Divine Grace and Human Agency: A Study of the Semi-Pelagian Controversy—which
constructs an artificial distinction between the “Pelagian” debate and the “Semi-Pelagian”
debate. Just as this dissertation calls for a rejection of the term “Pelagian,” it now also
calls for the term “Semi-Pelagian” to be abandoned because it is misleading, lacks
nuance, and is ultimately unhelpful. It is important to include Cassian in our discussion
with Augustine and Jerome here because, although scholars have tended to see him in a
different light than these two authors, Cassian was as equally disturbed by Pelagius’
claims as they were.
This chapter will divide the analysis of Cassian’s thought into several sections.
First, we must review Evagrius’ thought on π α and εω because his ideas of
pure prayer and contemplation of the Trinity are the foundation for Cassian’s critique of
Pelagius that will be found in Conf. 23. Second, we will explore Cassian’s Conf. 22 to
see that Cassian rejected the possibility of sinlessness because only Christ is sinless.2 To
1
Leyser, “Semi-Pelagianism,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed. Fitzgerald, 761.
51
52
say that one may be sinless in this life is to equate oneself with Christ. Third, this chapter
will assess Cassian’s argument in Conf. 23. He defines sinlessness as the ability to
remain forever in contemplation of God. This is impossible, however, because every
monk is inevitably distracted by the needs of the flesh. It is in this conference that the
influence from Evagrius will become most evident. Fourth, we will turn to the De
incarnatione. This text is crucial for our purposes because it removes any doubt that
Cassian’s anonymous criticisms in Conf. 22 and 23 were directed at Pelagius as he was
explicitly named and equated with Nestorius. Finally, we will see how the argument
against sinlessness in De incarnatione reveals the anonymous target of criticism in
Cassian’s famous Conf. 13.
Evagrius
Before we begin our analysis of Cassian’s understanding of the sinless life, we
must first say a few words about Evagrius’ thought so that we will see clearly his
influence on Cassian in our later sections. It is widely acknowledged by scholars that
Evagrius was the most important influence on Cassian’s intellectual development.3
2
While Augustine would certainly agree that Christ was sinless, this was not one of Augustine’s
arguments against Pelagius in the way that it would be for Cassian.
3
Many scholars have noted the importance that Evagrius for Cassian: Salvatore Marsili, Giovanni
Cassiano ed Evagrio Pontico (Rome: Herder, 1936), 103-5; Owen Chadwick, John Cassian, Second ed.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968), 92; Peter Munz, "John Cassian," Journal of Ecclesiastical
History 11 (1960): 1; Juana Raasch, "The Monastic Concept of Purity of Heart and its Sources," Studia
Monastica 8 (1966): 8; Richard Byrne, "Cassian and the Goals of Monastic Life," Cistercian Studies
Quarterly 22 (1987): 5. Columba Stewart, Cassian the Monk (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 11;
Steven Driver, John Cassian and the Reading of Egyptian Monastic Culture, ed. Francis G. Gentry, Studies
in Medieval History and Culture (New York: Routledge, 2002), 11; Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the
53
Cassian probably had read Evagrius’ work and they may have met when Cassian went to
Cellia.4 We must take a fresh look at Evagrius’ thought because, while many scholars
have pointed to the Evagrian influence of the concept of ἀπά ε α5 (a term that Cassian
never used, but the spirit of this idea may be found in his use of the biblical term puritas
cordis),6 no scholar has yet to draw a connection between Evagrius and Cassian’s
rejection of Pelagius’ idea of the possibility of sinlessness. I will claim that one of
Cassian’s two arguments against of sinlessness—seen in his Conf. 23—was influenced by
Evagriusμ Cassian’s definition of sinlessness as pure prayer and contemplation of the
Trinity. In this section, we will discuss Evagrius’ understanding of the passions,
Relationship between Grace and Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine with the So-called
Semipelagians, 120.
4
Owen Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive Monasticism (Cambridge: The Syndics of
the Cambridge University Press, 1950), 26; Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace
and Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine with the So-called Semipelagians, 120.
5
Juana Raasch, "The Monastic Concept of Purity of Heart and its Sources: Symeon-Macarius, the
School of Evagrius Ponticus, and the Apophthegmata Patrum," Studia Monastica 12 (1970): 7-41; Groves,
“Mundicia Cordisμ A Study of the theme of Purity of Heart in Hugh of Pontigny and the Fathers of the
Undivided Church,” 304-31ν David Alan τusley, “Evagrius’ Theology of Prayer and the Spiritual life”
(Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago, 1979); Mark Sheridan, "The Controversy over Apatheia: Cassian's
Sources and His Use of Them," Studia Monastica 39 (1997): 287-310; Róbert Somos, "Origen, Evagrius
Ponticus and the Ideal of Impassibility," in Origeniana Septima: Origenes in den Auseinandersetzungen
des 4. Jahrhunderts, ed. W.A. Bienert and U. Kühneweg (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1999), 365-73;
Jeremy Driscoll, "Apatheia and Purity of Heart in Evagrius Ponticus," in Purity of Heart in Early Ascetic
and Monastic Literature: Essays in Honor of Juana Raasch, O.S.B., ed. Harriet Luckman and Linda Kulzer
(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 1999), 141-59; Benedict Guevin, "The Beginning and End of Purity of
Heart: From Cassian to the Master and Benedict," in Purity of Heart in Early Ascetic and Monastic
Literature: Essays in Honor of Juana Raasch, O.S.B., ed. Harriet Luckman and Linda Kulzer (Collegeville:
A Litururgical Press, 1999), 197-214; Augustine Casiday, "Apatheia and Sexuality in the Thought of
Augustine and Cassian," St. Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 45 (2001): 359-94; Christoph Joest, "The
Significance of Acedia and Apatheia in Evagrius Ponticus: Part II," American Benedictine Review 55.3
(2004): 273-307.
6
Raasch, “The Monastic Concept of Purity of Heart and its Sources: Symeon-Macarius, the
School of Evagrius Ponticus, and the Apophthegmata Patrum,” 32.
54
thoughts, memories, demons, senses, ἀπά ε α, pure prayer, and the goal of prayer—
contemplation of the Trinity.
The two main problems that hinder monks on their ascent towards God are
passions and evil thoughts. It is the goal of π α , the first stage of the practical life,
as Juana Raasch says, to achieve the “purification of the mind from the passions.”7 These
passions “are one type of distraction, a base one at thatμ the presence of passion disrupts
the stability and calm which are necessary for the mind to ascend to God in prayer.”8
Evil thoughts, the other distraction, constantly disrupt the mind from pure contemplation
of God, and anchor the monk to this world.9 Although passions and evil thoughts are
similar and both hinder the monk’s progress, the relationship between passions and
thoughts for Evagrius is not entirely clear. τn the one hand, Raasch claimed that “the
passions are set in motion by demons and give rise to thoughts, logismoi, within the
soul.”10 David Ousley, on the other hand, says that “passions are aroused by thoughts.”11
Evagrius himself claims that there have been two schools of thought,12 but never sides
with either argument; sometimes, he leads his audience to believe that the passions are
7
Ibid., 31.
8
τusley, “Evagrius' Theology of Prayer and the Spiritual Life,” 308.
9
Evagrius, Sen. ad virg. 38.
10
Raasch, "The Monastic Concept of Purity of Heart and its Sources: Symeon-Macarius, the
School of Evagrius Ponticus, and the Apophthegmata Patrum," 31.
11
τusley, “Evagrius' Theology of Prayer and the Spiritual Life,” 213.
12
Evagrius, Prak. 37. See also Robert Sinkewicz, "Introduction." In Evagrius of Pontus: The
Greek Ascetic Corpus, xvii-xl. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003, 253-4 n. 46.
55
prior, while at other times he concludes that evil thoughts come first.13 Evagrius is not
deeply concerned with the order of the passions and evil thoughts, however, because they
both need to be harnessed. This may be achieved through a series of rigorous ascetic
endeavors.14
While Evagrius is not clear if passions cause the evil thoughts or the thoughts
cause the passions, he is quite certain about the three culprits that elicit both passions and
thoughts: memories, demons, and the senses.15 Sometimes, these three act independently
of each other; other times, they act in concert to cause the monk to become distracted
from prayer.
Memory, the first cause, distracts the monk by bringing images into the mind that
impede the monk’s progress. Evagrius exhorts his audience to shun such memories.
“When you pray,” he says, “guard your memory strongly so that it does not present you
with its own passions, but instead moves you toward knowledge of the service—for by
nature the mind is too easily pillaged by the memory at the time of prayer.”16 With
constant ascetic practice, however, one may begin to control these distracting memories
so that they will not disrupt prayer.17
13
Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 76.
14
Evagrius, De div. mal. cog. 3.
15
Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 76.
16
Evagrius, De ora. 45.
17
De ora. 62.
56
Evagrius spends much more time talking about demons, the second cause, than
the other two causes. For him, demons pose the greatest threat to the stillness of the mind
because they directly subvert it by acting “through the stimulation of a specific area of
the brain, causing the appearance of a phantasm, which, the monk, if he is deceived, takes
to be an image of God, or at least an apparition of him.”18 More insidiously, they also are
indirectly disruptive by forcing the monk’s memory to recall images to the mind.19
Either by causing new phantasms or the recall of memory, demons are the most pressing
enemy.
Senses, the third cause, are the least important of the three, and Evagrius says
very little about them.20 Even though the senses draw images from the external world
into the mind, the monk’s true struggle remains in the interior life. “Evagrius,” as David
Brakke says, “urges his reader to become not merely a ‘monastic man,’ that is, someone
who has withdrawn from committing sins in action, but rather, a ‘monastic intellect,’ that
is, someone who is free even from thoughts of sin.”21 The senses, then, must not be
allowed to distract the mind of the monk from its immediate objective, ἀπά ε α.
18
τusley, “Evagrius' Theology of Prayer and the Spiritual Life,” 300-1.
19
Evagrius, De ora. 47.
20
Prak. 38.
21
David Brakke, "Introduction," in Talking Back: A Monastic Handbook for Combating Demons
(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2009), 26.
57
The final stage of π α , which may also be seen as the beginning of the
εω , is ἀπά ε α.22 Because there has been much confusion about this term, it is
important that we specifically define how Evagrius used it. Ousley offers the best
definition of Evagrius’ understanding of this term when he says that “for Evagrius, then,
apatheia is not a matter of man becoming a stone or a God [contra Jerome]: rather it is
the reordering of the parts of the soul so that the rational is dominant, and thus the
rational creature can act in accordance with its true (rational) nature. It does not differ
materially from the goal of the via purgativa of the more classical terminology.”23 This
“reordering” can only be achieved through ascetic endeavors.24
Evagrius, however, does not simply claim that a monk may achieve ἀπά ε α.
Rather, he makes a distinction between imperfect ἀπά ε α and perfect ἀπά ε α.
22
Raasch, “The Monastic Concept of Purity of Heart and its Sourcesμ Symeon-Macarius, the
School of Evagrius Ponticus, and the Apophthegmata Patrum,” 31ν Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The
Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 83; τusley, “Evagrius' Theology of Prayer and the
Spiritual Life,” 222.
23
Ibid., 223. There are two other definitions that may help clarify this term according to Evagrius:
“For Evagrius apatheia is the goal of monastic ascesis. Apatheia is a state of integration ‘where enemies
cannot trouble, where anxiety cannot disturb, where injury is met with patience, where the changes and
chances of mortality do not shake, where the will is detached and unwavering because it is set on God.’
The term describes the monk who is free to love and therefore open to receive the direct knowledge of God
or gnosis. In Evagrius’s scheme, therefore, apatheia is the gateway to love, which is the gateway to
contemplation.” Richard Byrne, "Cassian and the Goals of Monastic Life," 11. “Thanks to his fondness for
gnomic utterances, we have several pithy definitions of apatheia from Evagrius. Thus, ‘apatheia is the
tranquil state of the rational soul framed by meekness and prudence,’ it is also ‘the health of the soul’ and
‘the blossom of ascetic struggle.’ ‘The passions that fall upon the heart are vices, on account of the
deprivation of which one is called ‘passionless.’ ‘The kingdom of heaven is apatheia of the soul with true
knowledge of reality.’ Evagrius presupposes that ascetics can possess apatheia here and now.” Casiday,
“Apatheia and Sexuality in the Thought of Augustine and Cassian,” 3θκ.
24
Raasch, “The Monastic Concept of Purity of Heart and its Sources: Symeon-Macarius, the
School of Evagrius Ponticus, and the Apophthegmata Patrum.” ι-41; Ousely, "Evagrius' Theology of
Prayer and the Spiritual Life," 217-19; Elizabeth A. Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural
Construction of an Early Christian Debate (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), 67.
58
Christoph Joest has articulated the difference between the two by stating that “imperfect
apatheia belongs to a man who still experiences temptations, but once he has overcome
all demons, then is perfect passionlessness attained.”25 Evagrius himself tells us that
perfect ἀπά ε α may be achieved only when the monk is able to overcome the
temptations of demons.26 Only once the monk is able to remain undisturbed by passions
and thoughts stirred by demons, memories, and senses has he obtained true ἀπά ε α.
This experience of ἀπά ε α, however, is only the necessary precondition that
allows the desired state of pure prayer.27
Pure prayer is the target at which the monk aims. Evagrius, Elizabeth Clark says,
identifies [pure prayer] with contemplation, requires that worshipers rid
themselves of both emotions and images from the sense world. Prayer
demands a kind of ‘purgation’ that entails a moral, spiritual, and (we
would say) psychological discipline. The time of prayer serves as a kind
of ‘mirror’ through which we can judge the condition of our own soulsμ it
is, he posits, a ‘state’ (katastasis).28
When the monk has reached this “state,” all internal and external distractions fail to
disrupt the monk’s focus. Evagrius offers an amusing and powerful image of a monk
who had reached this state of pure prayerμ “there was,” he says, “another of the saints
living in stillness in the desert, vigorous in prayer, whom the demons, when they
25
Joest, “The Significance of Acedia and Apatheia in Evagrius Ponticusμ Part II,” 2κ0-1. See also,
Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 83.
26
Evagrius, Prak. 60.
27
De ora. ι1ν τusley, “Evagrius' Theology of Prayer and the Spiritual Life,” 30η-7; Clark, The
Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 67.
28
Ibid., 66-7.
59
attacked, played with like a ball for two weeks: they tossed him in the air and caught him
in a rush-basket, but they were not in the least able to lead his mind down from its fiery
prayer for even a moment.”29 This saint was only able to remain in prayer during this
ordeal because his mind was no longer cluttered with thoughts and passions.30
Pure prayer itself, however, is not the end; if it were, Hans Urs von Balthasar
would be correct—Evagrius’ thought would be closer to Buddhism than Christianity.31
The true end is the mind’s ability to contemplate the mystery of the Trinity, which is only
made possible through ἀπά ε α and pure prayer. Evagrius says that “a monastic intellect
is one who has departed from the sin that arises from the thoughts that are in our intellect
and who at the time of prayer sees the light of the Holy Trinity.”32 With pure prayer, as
τwen Chadwick claims, the “Nous has become the temple of the Holy Trinity.”33 Only
once the monk has been able to reach this level of contemplation of the Holy Trinity does
he achieve his aim. Unfortunately, the monk cannot remain contemplating the Holy
Trinity indefinitely as “it is not within our power to prevent thoughts from troubling our
mind.”34
29
Evagrius, De ora. 111.
30
Ibid., 71.
31
Hans Urs von Balthasar, "Metaphysik und Mystik des Evagrius Ponticus," Zeitschrift für Aszese
und Mystik (1939): 38.
32
Evagrius, Antir. Prol. 5.
33
Owen Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive Monasticism (Cambridge: The Syndics of
the Cambridge University Press, 1950), 85.
60
Conference 22 and 23
Cassian’s arguments against Pelagius begin in Conf. 22 and 23.35 They were
written sometime around the year 427 and were dialogues held between Cassian, his
travelling companion Germanus, and with Abba Theonas.36 Theonas most likely lived in
Scetis.37 The beginning of Conf. 21 tells us that his parents made him marry at a young
age because they were concerned about his chastity, believing that marriage would
prevent him from falling into sin. He had been living with his spouse for five years when
he went to Abba John—who was in charge of alms for the poor—to offer him a tithe.38
After listening to John’s teaching, Theonas decided that he must leave his wife and
34
Steven Driver, "From Palestinian Ignorance to Egyptian Wisdom: Jerome and Cassian on the
Monastic Life," American Benedictine Review 48 (1997): 311.
35
Rebillard claims that Conf. 11 was written against Pelagius. Cassian’s only brief mention of
sinlessness (11.λ.η.), I argue, leads to the conclusion that Cassian had probably only heard of Pelagius’
argument through Augustine or Jerome at that point; it was not until later that he had actually read
Pelagius’ own writings. Éric Rebillard, "Quasi funambuli: Cassien et la controverse pélagienne sur la
perfection," Revue des Études Augustiniennes 40 (1994): 197-203; 209.
36
We cannot know exactly when they was written, but Rebecca Harden Weaver says that we can
be certain that the third group “would have been completed between Honoratus’s accession in late 42θ and
his death, probably early in 429. Because of the close relation among the three groups, it seems reasonable
that the third group was composed soon after the first two, thus probably 42ι.” Rebecca Harden Weaver,
Divine Grace and Human Agency: A Study of the Semi-Pelagian Controversy. North American Patristic
Society: Patristic Monograph Series (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1996), 94.
37
Stewart suggests that “the evidence seems to converge on Scetis, rather than either Panephysis
or Diolcos, as Theonas’ monastic home.” See Stewart’s analysis of the available data on Theonas’
geographic location. Columba Stewart, Cassian the Monk (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 137.
38
Cassian, Coll. 21.1 (1).
61
devote himself to the ascetic life.39 Cassian would meet him years later in the desert and
sit at his feet.
In his Conf. 22, Cassian offers his first of two critiques of the idea that one may
live a sinless life. He rests this first on a Christological foundation, a point that we will
see again in his De incarnatione. It is Christ, and Christ alone, whose life was lived
without falling to temptation. “But,” Cassian says, “what would be the meaning of what
the Apostle says—namely, that he came in the likeness of sinful flesh—if we too could
have a flesh unpolluted by any stain of sin? For he says this of him who alone is without
sin as if it were something uniqueμ ‘God sent his Son in the likeness of sinful flesh’
[Rom. κμ3].”40 For Cassian, one can never claim that one may be sinless because
sinlessness is reserved only for Christ, and anyone who claims such a place with Christ is
anathema. “Whoever [quisquis] dares to say that he is without sin, therefore, claims for
himself, by a criminal and blasphemous pride, an equality in the thing that is unique and
proper to him alone.”41 To whom does this quisquis refer? It cannot be Germanus,
because he never made any claim that sinlessness is possible. He only asked about those
who are permitted to “participate in the mysteries of Christ.”42 If all are sinful and only
those who are “free of wrong doing” may receive the sacraments, he did not understand
39
Ibid., 21.9 (7).
40
Ibid., 21.11 (1).
41
Ibid., 22.12 (3).
42
Ibid., 22 (8).
62
who could ever partake in them. 43 Cassian, then, must be arguing against someone
outside of the dialogue between Theonas and Germanus—he most certainly was referring
to Pelagius. We will see later that this is confirmed by Cassian’s De incarnatione.
The main focus of this conference was on the problem De nocturnis inlusionibus.
A discussion about sinlessness was a tangent leading away from this stated goal.
Theonas, therefore, did not wish to pursue the topic of sinlessness and stopped the
dialogue before going any further.44 He resumed his discussion—and introduced a
second critique of Pelagius—in Conf. 23, the “companion” to Conf. 22.45
Conf. 23,46 which often is ignored in favor of others such as 12, 13, or 16, does
not receive the proper scholarly attention it deserves.47 Scholars often believe that it is
tedious and offers little for a greater understanding of Cassian’s thought. Boniface
Ramsey, for example, dismissed it when he stated that it “is little else than a lengthy and
somewhat repetitive commentary.”48 We will see that it is much more than that.
43
Ibid., 22 (8).
44
Ibid., 22 (16).
45
Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 86.
46
Julien Leroy and Ansgar Kristensen argue that this conference was intended for a cenobitic
audience. Julien Leroy, "Les préfaces des écrits monastiques de Jean Cassien," e e s i ee e
Mystique 42 (1966): 171-4; Ansgar Kristensen, "Cassian's Use of Scripture," American Benedictine Review
28 (1977): 271. Stewart, however, argues that “there is no geographical reference in them that fixes
Theonas’ location, though the milieu seems to be anchoritic.” Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 137.
47
Terrence, Kardong. "John Cassian's Teaching on Perfect Chastity," American Benedictine
Review 30 (1979): 249-63; D.J. Macqueen. "John Cassian on Grace and Free Will with Particular
Reference to Institutio Xii and Collatio Xiii," Recherches de Théologie Ancienne et Médiévale 44 (1977):
5-28; Adele Fiske. "Cassian and Monastic Friendship," American Benedictine Review 12 (1961): 190-205.
63
It begins as a close analysis of Paul’s statement that “the good that I want to do I
do not do, but the evil that I hate, this I do. But if I do what I do not want, it is no longer
I who do it but sin dwelling in me … I delight in the law of God according to the inner
man, but I see another law in my members at war with the law in my mind and making
me captive to the law of sin that is in my members (Romans ιμ1λff),” which was
introduced at the end of Conf. 22. Few of Cassian’s Conferences confined themselves to
close analysis of only one particular passage.49 He used Paul’s Epistle as a springboard
to criticize Pelagius’ understanding of sinlessness. Éric Rebillard has argued that Conf.
23 is “a œ r e la on ro erse p lagienne.”50 Stewart has suggested that it should be
understood as a reaction to Jerome.51 Neither Rebillard nor Stewart constructed
arguments to support their statements; they only made their claims in passing. I believe
that Rebillard and Stewart are both correct, and I will offer evidence to show that it was
written against both men.
Germanus believes that Paul was speaking about sinners in Rom. 7:19ff.52
Because Paul was beatus, Germanus could not bring himself to believe that the Apostle
would ever refer to himself in such a vulgar fashion. Theonas counters Germanus saying
48
Boniface Ramsey, "General Introduction," in John Cassian: The Conferences (New York:
Newman Press, 1997), 785.
49
Modestus Haag, "A Precarious Balance: Flesh and Spirit in Cassian's Works," American
Benedictine Review 19 (1968): 180.
50
Éric Rebillard, "Quasi funambuli: Cassien et la controverse pélagienne sur la perfection," 198.
51
Casiday, “Cassian Against the Pelagians,” 23. Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 28; see also n.4 p.
159. He states that this conference was written in response to Jerome’s Ep. 133.
52
Boniface Ramsey claims that Germanus was following τrigen’s exegesis here and that
Theonas’ contradiction to this claim goes against τrigen. Boniface Ramsey, "General Introduction," ικ3.
64
that Paul was, in fact, talking about those who are perfect.53 For Theonas, sinners would
never claim that they do not want to do evil.54 In a rhetorical style typical for Cassian,
Theonas offers a laundry list of biblical quotations (Gn 8:21 LXX; Cf. Phil 3:19; Jer 9:4;
Rom 7:25b; Mt 15:19)55 in order to show that sinners revel in their misdeeds.
Theonas claims that Germanus should not look at the bare signification of Paul’s
words. Rather, he says that “when we have considered not in word but in experience the
condition of dignity of those by whom they were put forth and arrived at the same
disposition, in accordance with which all these meanings were without a doubt conceived
and these words uttered.”56 In other words, Paul appears to be speaking about sinners,
but we must understand that he was intending to speak about himself, and anyone else
who was of the spiritual elite. It is impossible to know, however, exactly what were his
failures until one is on his spiritual level. Although he certainly had “splendid and
precious jewels”57 that few other men could obtain, he would give them all up to reach
perfection that had eluded him.
What is this perfection? Theonas used the biblical example of Mary and Martha
(Luke 10: 38-42)58 to indicate that even though Paul (and the other apostles) was virtuous
53
Cassian, Coll. 23.16 (2), 23.1 (1).
54
Ibid., 23.1 (3).
55
Boniface Ramsey, "General Introduction," 814.
56
Cassian, Coll. 23.2 (1).
57
Cassian, Coll. 23.2 (4).
58
This story of Mary and Martha would become the standard story recited by monks throughout
the Medieval Period to indicate the superiority of the contemplative life over the active life. Pelikan, The
65
in chastity, abstinence, prudence, hospitality, sobriety, temperance, mercy and justice,59
the perfection that he sought was εω α, or contemplatio Dei. Thus, while it is good to
possess all virtues, permanent contemplation of God is superior to everything else.60 He
insists that it only will be in the future when the corruption of this life has been replaced
by grace that one will be able to bask ceaselessly in the beatific vision.61
No matter how virtuous one is in this life, or how much one wants to devote
oneself to contemplation, one inevitably must act. Even when one is able to have a quiet
mind for a time, the needs of the flesh inevitably force the mind to lose focus. Not even
Paul, blessed with many gifts, was able to sustain his gaze upon God because of his
earthly responsibilities.62 This definition of sinlessness is noteworthy and it differs from
the definitions of sinlessness from Augustine and Jerome, which we will see later.
Cassian, as we have seen, allows for an individual (someone as holy as Paul) to be
perfectly virtuous. In other words, one may be sanctus, but not immaculatus.63 No one is
entirely sinless, however, because one cannot remain vigilant in prayer.64
Growth of Medieval Theology (600-1300): The Christian Tradition. A History of the Development of
Doctrine, 119-120.
59
Cassian, Coll. 23.2 (2).
60
Ibid., 23.4 (4).
61
Ibid., 23.3 (4).
62
Ibid., 23.5 (1), 23.5 (30), 23.5 (5-6).
63
Cassian, Coll. 20 (12).
64
Ibid., 23.5 (9).
66
To common sinners, the inability to maintain unceasing prayer seems like an
insignificant problem. To men like Paul who strive to keep their gaze on God’s splendor
and ignore the trials of daily life, however, this mental endeavor is no trivial matter.65
These holy men understand that the briefest lapse in contemplation is a great offense
against God because to turn away from Eternal Beatitude to the finitude of the sensorial
world is a sin of impiety. He tells Germanus why Paul took this seemingly insignificant
problem so seriously, saying that “rightly will a person be guilty not only of no
insignificant sin but in fact of the very serious crime of impiousness if, while pouring
forth his prayer to God, he suddenly goes after a vain and immoral thought and abandons
his presence, as if he neither saw nor heard.”66 τn the other hand, those who “cover the
eyes of their heart with a thick veil of vice” are constantly running from pleasure to
pleasure in hopes of finding fleeting moments of happiness.67
The problem with sinners, Theonas says, is that they are unaware that they should
even strive for the perfection of sinlessness. Sinners are only capable of realizing the
severity of the “capital crimes” that they commit and feel that it is only the worst sins
which need to be avoided.68 When such sins are successfully averted, the sinner feels
65
Ibid., 23.6 (2).
66
Ibid., 23.6 (4).
67
Ibid., 23.6 (5).
68
Ibid., 23.7 (1).
67
that he has done his duty and has achieved a state of sinlessness. This false sense of
spotlessness precludes the sinner from seeking forgiveness from God.69
It is this definition of sinlessness as εω α or contemplatio Dei where we can
best see the Evagrian foundation for Cassian’s rejection of Pelagius. Evagrius, as we saw
in the previous section, claimed that the monk’s goal was to achieve a state of pure prayer
after having gone through a rigorous ascetic process that harnessed the mind. This pure
prayer leads to the contemplation of the Trinity. While Cassian did not use the exact
same vocabulary as Evagrius, (Cassian often avoided Evagrius’ vocabulary),70 the
Evagrian ideal is present in Conf. 23. Cassian’s rejection of Pelagius’ belief in the
possibility of sinlessness, then, is clearly rooted in Evagrian soil.
In chapter 11, Cassian shifts his discussion from articulating the problem of the
impossibility of permanent contemplation of God to the cause of this problem: a
postlapsarian humanity where the flesh is constantly at “war with the law of [the]
mind.”71 One is forced to abandon contemplatio because the human condition, after the
fall of Adam and Eve, no longer has the capacity to remain forever turned towards God.
The necessity of sin is “inserted in the nature of the human condition … which leads
captive their understanding by the violent law of sin, forcing it to abandon the chief good
and to submit to earthly thoughts.”72 Pelagius often argued that God gave humanity the
69
Ibid., 23.7 (2).
70
Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 42.
71
Cassian, Coll. 23.11 (1).
72
Ibid., 23.11 (1).
68
capacity to choose either good or evil, that “it was because God wished to bestow on the
rational creature the gift of doing good of his own free will and the capacity to exercise
free choice, by implanting in man the possibility of choosing either alternative [good or
evil].”73 Cassian rejects the idea of the unadulterated free will in Conf. 23 because every
descendent of Adam suffers from this condition.
God, of course, could have prevented Adam and Eve from turning to contingent
reality so that they would not have faced punishment. But, Theonas says, this unjustly
would have suspended the autonomy of the free will given to our first parents; it was just
of God to honor their choice to obey the serpent.74 God knew that “He could have saved
them then, but he did not wish to, because justice did not permit breaking sanctions
imposed by his own decree.”75 Instead, God “was reserving his salvation for future ages,
so that the fullness of the set time might be attained in the proper order.”76 That “proper
order” would come about generations later through Jesus.77
Humanity is certainly fallen, Theonas insists, and, although we cannot
permanently remain clean because of the law of sin, the way that we know that our
condition is flawed is because of our ability to contrast our experience of sin with the
73
Pelagius, Ad Dem. 3 (2).
74
Here, Augustine and Cassian would agree about postlapsarian humanity. Curiously, though,
Cassian can sound even more radical than Augustine when, for example, he writes that “we are most
salutarily chastened when he deigns to visit us, that we are often even against our will drawn to salvation
by him, and lastly, that when he visits and moves us, he turns even our free will itself, which is readily
inclined to vice, to better things and to the path of virtue.” Inst. 12 (18).
75
Cassian, Coll. 23.12 (6).
76
Ibid., 23.12 (5).
77
Ibid., 23.12 (6).
69
sweetness of contemplation. To stress this point, he quoted Isaiahμ “woe is me, for I am a
man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips (Is. θμη).”78
How would Isaiah even know that he is unclean, Theonas asks? Isaiah understood his
impurity in light of the fact that he had earned the right for purity through εω α.79 One,
then, may earn the “purity of perfection” through the efforts of contemplatio Dei. It is
due to human efforts that one may know the “true and integral purity of perfection,” but,
Cassian is sure to declare that this merit does not earn salvation because it is only “thanks
to the grace and mercy of the Lord, they [sinners] presume upon the complete
justification that they despair of being able to attain due to the condition of their human
frailty.”80
Towards the end of the Conference, Cassian directly connects this second
criticism back to the criticism we saw in Conf. 22. Theonas says that
whoever [quisquis], then, ascribes sinlessness (anamarteton)—that is,
impeccability (impeccantia)—to human nature must go against not empty
words but the witness and proof of his own conscience, which is on our
side, and he may declare that he is without sin only when he feels that he
has not been violently torn away (avellere) from the highest good. For,
indeed, whoever looks into his own conscience, to give but one example,
and sees that he has attended even one synaxis without having been
interrupted (interpellatio) by any word or deed or thought may declare that
he is sinless.”81
78
Ibid., 23.17 (2).
79
Ibid., 23.17 (3).
80
Ibid., 23.17 (8). See also: Inst. 12 (14,17). and Coll. 3 (10,15).
81
Coll. 23.19 (1). I have changed Ramsey’s translation here from “snatched away” to “violently
torn away” to indicate the severity of the force at hand.
70
It is also characteristic of Cassian that he proceeds to be very practical in describing how
we would know we were absque peccato: if we can survive one synaxis without any
interpellatione—not, at first sight, a heavy demand. I would suggest that Cassian has in
mind the same quisquis that we saw earlier in his Conf. 22: this is a reference to Pelagius.
It is not only Pelagius whom Cassian criticizes: he also takes Jerome to task for
his statements on the possibility of being sinless in the short term—which we will
analyze in detail in the next chapter. Jerome said that “we maintain, however, that
perpetual freedom from sin is reserved for God only, and for Him Who being the Word
was made flesh without incurring the defects and the sins of the flesh. And, because I am
able to avoid sin for a short time, you cannot logically infer that I am able to do so
continually. Can I fast, watch, walk, sing, sit sleep perpetuallyς”82 Cassian would
certainly agree with Jerome’s assessment that the ultimate ability to be sinless is
“reserved for God only.” He, however, critiques Jerome for stating that one may be
sinless “for a short time.” Theonas said that “although they [the holy] have not only
uprooted all of their vices but are even attempting to cut off the thought and the
recollection of their sins, they nonetheless profess daily and faithfully that they cannot be
free from the stain of sin for even a single hour.”83 Earlier, Cassian had also asked if one
“is so close to him that he may rejoice to have carried out the Apostle’s order, in which
he commanded us to pray without ceasing, for even a single dayς” 84 We can see with
82
Jerome, Dial. 3 (12).
83
Cassian, Coll. 23 (20).
71
these two quotes that there is a disconnect between Cassian and Jerome about the
potential to avoid sin in the short term.
De incarnatione
We now must turn to the last text relevant for this chapter, Cassian’s De
incarnatione. It was written around 429-30 and is his third and final surviving work.85
De incarnatione was commissioned by Leo who, at the time, was archdeacon, but later
would become the Pope.86 After having finished his two great works, Cassian had hoped
to “remain in the obscurity of silence”87 but was forced (compellere) to condemn the
Christology of Nestorius, who was still the bishop of Constantinople.88 Cassian attacked
σestorius, but probably had little knowledge of σestorius’ thought, and few traces of his
Christology can be found in De incarnatione.89 This text has been heavily criticized as
theologically sloppy by such scholars as Chadwick, Grillmeier, Rousseau, Stewart, and
Ogliari. 90 Casiday, however, has defended it as “theologically sound.”91
84
Ibid., 23.5 (9).
85
Augustine Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2007), 229.
86
Gennadius, De vir. ill. 61.
87
Cassian, De inc. Preface.
88
Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian, 229.
89
Aloys Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451),
trans., John Bowden, Second, Revised ed., vol. 1. (Atlanta: John Knox Press, 1975), 468.
90
Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive Monasticism, 153-67; Grillmeier, Christ in
Christian Tradition: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451), 468-72; Philip Rousseau, "Cassian:
72
While De incarnatione is a popular text among scholars because of its
Christological offerings, it is rarely mentioned in discussions about Pelagius.92 Weaver,
for example, never references it in her Divine Grace and Human Agency and does not
even feel that it is worth including in her bibliography.93 Although a discussion of
Cassian’s Christology and his understanding of σestorius’ Christology would be outside
the bounds of this dissertation, I believe that De incarnatione reveals much about
Cassian’s position against Pelagius—scholars, therefore, need to give it proper attention.
The first important point comes from the beginning of the text. As we saw in our
earlier sections, Cassian never uttered Pelagius’ name in his Conferences. De
incarnatione, however, explicitly mentions the “Pelagians.” Cassian states that “they
actually went so far as to declare that men could also be without sin if they liked. For
they imagined that it followed that if Jesus Christ being a mere man was without sin, all
men also could without the help of God be whatever He as a mere man without
participating in the Godhead, could be.”94 Shortly after this, Cassian accuses Nestorius of
believing this same idea which, he says, Nestorius learned from Pelagius.
Monastery and World," in The Certainty of Doubt: Tributes to Peter Munz, ed. Miles Fairburn and W.H.
Oliver (Wellington: University of Victoria Press, 1996), 84; Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 31; Ogliari, Gratia
et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace and Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine with the So-
called Semipelagians, 123-4.
91
Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian, 254.
92
A notable exception to this is Philip Rousseau, Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of
Jerome and Cassian (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1978), 174 n. 31.
93
Weaver, Divine Grace and Human Agency: A Study of the Semi-Pelagian Controversy, 241.
73
Whence this new author [Nestorius],” he says, “of a heresy that is not new,
who declares that our Lord and Saviour was born a mere man, observes
that he says exactly the same thing which the Pelagians said before him,
and allows that it follows from his error that as he asserts that our Lord
Jesus Christ lived as a mere man entirely without sin, so he must maintain
in his blasphemy that all men can of themselves be without sin.95
This explicit connection between Pelagius and sinlessness, I argue, proves that Cassian’s
earlier refutations of sinlessness in Conf. 22 and 23 were primarily written against
Pelagius.96 They were not written against any anonymous Gallic authors, nor were they
written simply as a theological exercise.
The connection that Cassian attempted to make between Pelagius and Nestorius
has always perplexed scholars.97 These two men never met each other; Pelagius was
condemned for his anthropological and soteriological ideas, while Nestorius was
condemned for his Christological ones; they never lived in the same area; they never cite
each other as an authority. What, then, would lead Cassian to make such a claim?
Chadwick said that Cassian was not the only person to make such a connection. He
stated that Marius Mercator had done so, but Chadwick admits that Cassian probably had
no knowledge of Mercator’s writings.98 The more probable reason for the link is that,
prior to his condemnation, Nestorius had written to Rome and—in the same letters that
94
Cassian, De inc. 1 (3).
95
De inc. 1 (3).
96
Although Cassian’s arguments were against Pelagius, we saw earlier that Cassian also disagreed
with Jerome’s understanding of sinlessness.
97
Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 22.
98
Chadwick, John Cassian, 143.
74
condemned the idea of the Theotokos—he inquired about Caelestius and Julian of
Eclanum, who had taken refuge in Constantinople. Because of his relationship with
Rome, Cassian most likely had heard about σestorius’ letters (although Cassian never
had access to a complete copy of σestorius’ writings) and made the connection by this
flimsy evidence. 99
A second point from this explicit connection between Pelagius and sinlessness
relates to the hotly contested question about Cassian’s intended target of his Conf. 13.
Many arguments have been made. Chadwick, following the tradition established by
Prosper of Aquitaine,100 claims that it was written against Augustine.101 He never raises
the possibility that Conf. 13 was written against Pelagius or Prosper. Chadwick is clearly
in Cassian’s camp and wants to retrieve this Conference from the taint of “semi-Pelagian
errors,”102 saying that it is a “tour de force” and a “fair-minded and good-spirited piece of
controversy.”103 Cassian, Chadwick insists, understood that Augustine was not a heretic
to be condemned (as were Pelagius and Nestorius) and, therefore, the conference was
written in a “gentle and eirenic”104 tone. Most importantly, the differences between them
99
Ibid., p. 142-3; Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 22; Frances M. Young, From Nicea to Chalcedon: A
Guide to the Literature and its Background, Second ed. (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010), 292. See
also: Jean Plagnieux, "Le grief de complicité entre erreurs Nestorienne et Pélagienne d’Augustin à Cassien
par Prosper d’Aquitaine?," Revue des Études Augustiniennes 2 (1956), 391-402.
100
Prosper, C. coll. 2 (4).
101
Owen Chadwick, John Cassian, Second ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968),
119-27.
102
Ibid., 126.
103
Ibid., 120, 126.
75
were minimal. He believes that Cassian “aligned himself with Augustine”105 concerning
humanity’s dependence on God. “Perhaps,” he concludes, “the amount of agreement
between them is more surprising than the disagreement.”106 Although, as we will see
shortly, I ultimately agree with Chadwick that it is was written against Augustine,
Chadwick’s disregard of the differences between them is troubling. It shows that he does
not respect the gravity of the situation. The initium of grace is foundational to the
question of salvation, and to casually dismiss the differences between Augustine and
Cassian cheapens the issue.
Markus has challenged this standard view and has argued that Conf. 13 was
written against “Pelagian views apparently held in Gaul.”107 He believes that one should
not automatically assume that Cassian was writing against Augustine and that, if we
ignore “assumptions encouraged by centuries of received opinion,”108 we will conclude
that we have been wrong all along. His first argument is that this conference has “close
links” with the one immediately preceding it and that it “purports to be an attack on
Pelagian views.”109 Secondly, he argues that it is more “natural” to see this conference in
light of views already condemned in Gaul because there is no evidence to suggest that
104
Ibid., 119.
105
Ibid., 126.
106
Ibid., 127.
107
R.A. Markus, The End of Ancient Christianity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990),
178.
108
Ibid., 178.
109
Ibid., 178.
76
Augustine’s writings had yet to be under attack there. In light of such an absence, he
says, one must inevitably reject the historical consensus.
While Markus’ arguments are compelling, there are several problems with his
claims. He is certainly correct that Conf. 12 and 13 are intimately linked, but this does
not preclude the possibility that Conf. 13 was written against one particular author or
school of thought. I have shown in this chapter that the end of Conf. 22 and all of 23
were written (anonymously) against Pelagius. The first half of Conf. 22, which we have
not discussed, addressed the problem of nocturnal illusions, a subject that has nothing to
do either directly or indirectly with Pelagius. It is, therefore, possible to conclude that
Conf. 13 was both intended to be linked to Conf. 12 and also to address (anonymously) an
author or authors who were not explicitly named. Cassian always embedded his
arguments against specific people within the context of his larger ascetic interests; they
were never separated.
Markus’ argument that Augustine’s views had yet to be scrutinized in Provence is
also problematic. While he may be correct that no precedent of critiquing Augustine was
established, that does not prohibit Cassian from being the first to do so. Markus does not
believe that Augustine’s work (specifically his De correptione et gratia) was known in
Gaul at the time that Conf. 13 was written.110 Three years after Markus wrote The End of
Ancient Christianity, however, Ramsey demonstrated that Cassian was well versed in
Augustinian thought and that he knew De correptione et gratia at the time he penned his
110
Ibid., 178.
77
De protectione Dei. Ramsey claims that an allusion to (and reaction against) Augustine’s
idea that few people will be saved (found in De correptione et gratia 14 (44)) may be
detected in Cassian’s “optimistic and almost universalist view of salvation”111 (found in
Conf. 13 (7)). Ogliari also has convincingly shown that De correptione et gratia was
written before Conf.13 and that Cassian was well aware of its content.112 It is very likely,
then, that Cassian’s Conf. 13 was the first Gallican critique of Augustine.
Casiday offers two different answers to this question. First, he claimed that Conf.
13 was written against unwritten “anti-Pelagian” ideas that were “current among his
peers.”113 He believes that Conf. 13 shows little evidence that it was written against
Augustine but that it is filled with criticisms of Pelagius and his followers. Cassian’s
refusal to explicitly quote Augustine’s De correptione et gratia also deeply troubled
Casiday and this absence supports his thesis that Cassian was unaware of the text. Such
an absence, he says, means that scholars may only make an educated guess that it was
written against Augustine; there is no irrefutable evidence that it was. Casiday also
agrees with Chadwick that one should not read it as a work that was intended to be
strictly against Pelagius and his followers, but must be read in the context of Cassian’s
larger ascetic goals. Finally, Casiday insists that Cassian was writing against anonymous
Gallic authors because external evidence from Vincent of Lérins, Faustus of Riez, an
111
Boniface Ramsey, "John Cassian: Student of Augustine," Cistercian Studies Quarterly 28
(1993): 6.
112
Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace and Free Will in the Discussion
of Augustine with the So-called Semipelagians, 91-7.
113
Casiday, "Cassian against the Pelagians," 20.
78
item from the Gallic Chronicle (417-18), Arnobius the Younger, and Gennadius shows
that predestinationist arguments were already swirling around Gaul at the time.114
There are two serious flaws to Casiday’s argument. He claims that “the
Antipelagian trends that recur right across Cassian’s writings are particularly dense in
Conf. 13; it is the notoriously Antiaugustinian bits that are unusual. They do not recur,
for example, when Cassian returns to the question of grace and freedom in Conf. 23.”115
Casiday is correct that there is no trace of an Antiaugustinian sentiment in Conf. 23
because, as our chapter has demonstrated, it was written against Pelagius primarily and
Jerome secondarily; we should not expect that there would be any hint of Augustine there
because Cassian had Pelagius on the brain. Casiday’s failed example causes us to
become suspicious of the validity of his overall argument.
The second flaw in Casiday’s argument deals with Cassian’s refusal to name the
object of his criticisms. “Cassian,” he says, “never actually quotes Augustine’s On
admonition and grace. ... What we find in Conf. 13 are at best paraphrases that
approximate to an Augustinian view. Now, we know Cassian was capable of
unacknowledged direct quotation (e.g., he cites Evagrius Ponticus in this way)—so, if he
in fact intended to chip away at Augustine, why did he not quote the offending treatise
without acknowledging his sourceς”116 Casiday is correct that Cassian does not name
114
Ibid., 18-20.
115
Ibid., 19.
116
Ibid.
79
Augustine, but this should not come as a surprise. Cassian did make unacknowledged
direct quotations from Evagrius, but he did so as a source, not as an object of critique.
Cassian did not want to name Augustine because he disagreed with him. This was far
from the only instance of anonymous criticism. Cassian’s entire ascetic corpus was
written as a rebuttal to ascetic texts circulating in Gaul. Goodrich recently has shown that
Cassian was fighting models of asceticism from Jerome, Pachomius, Basil, Rufinus, and
Sulpicius Severus that he felt misrepresented the traditions of the desert fathers.117 To
answer Casiday’s questionμ Cassian did not acknowledge his source because, as Ahl has
pointed out, anonymity provided safety for classical authors.118 Cassian undoubtedly had
seen what happens when Augustine was crossed and he did not want to suffer the same
fate as Pelagius.
Three years after having made his argument, Casiday offers a very confusing
revision of his own position. At first, in regards to the sections in Conf. 13 that are
“supposedly anti-Augustinian remarks,” he repeats himself almost word-for-word: “when
we try to make sense of Conference 13, our attention ought to be devoted to the
preponderate objections to Pelagius, rather than the incidental corrections of Augustine—
if indeed that is what they are.”119 Just two pages later, however, Casiday goes against
his own argument and claims that Conf. 13 was written against Prosper, not Pelagius. He
117
Goodrich, Contextualizing Cassian: Aristocrats, Asceticism, and Reformation in Fifth-Century
Gaul, 78-116.
118
Frederick Ahl, "The Art of Safe Criticism in Greece and Rome," The American Journal of
Philology 105, no. 2 (Summer, 1984): 174-208.
119
Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian, 114-5.
80
bases his new argument on a passing statement from Prosper. “I offered up to Your
Blessedness’s teachings,” Prosper said, “written with countless, strong proofs from the
sacred Scriptures and I crafted one, following the style of your arguments, by which they
would be silenced (Casiday’s emphasis).”120 In the paragraph immediately following
this, Casiday, not entirely convinced of his own argument, allows that even if it weren’t
written against Prosper, it was most likely written against some “homespun
Augustiniana”121 found in Gaul.
Although Prosper may not be eliminated entirely as a possibility, Casiday’s
argument is weak and not particularly well argued. He had dismissed the possibility that
Prosper had read Cassian’s works and then contacted Augustine, asking “why should we
suppose that Prosper immediately received a copy of Cassian’s works and, having read
them through voraciously, wrote to Augustine at once to advise him of the contentς”122
In the same vein, why should we suppose that Cassian had read Prosper’s “fiery attack”
and assume that Conf. 13 was Cassian’s rejoinderς Using Casiday’s standards, there is
no evidence to support a claim that Cassian had read Prosper. Moreover, why would
Cassian limit himself to the “amateurish theological blathering” of Prosper or other
120
Prosper, Ep ad Aug. 3; Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian,117.
121
Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian, 117.
122
Ibid., 117.
81
anonymous Gallic “Predestinationist tracts”123 when he could focus his attack on
Augustine, Prosper’s acknowledged intellectual superiorς
All of these scholars analyze the conference itself to find an answer, but ignore
clues found in De incarnatione. By turning to De incarnatione, we may come to a
clearer sense of Cassian’s object of criticism. Cassian, as we have seen, makes two
criticisms of Pelagius in this text: a flawed understanding of sinlessness and a deficient
Christology. He, however, never once criticizes Pelagius on the relationship between
grace and free will.124 When he did discuss the importance of grace in De incarnatione
(2 (5-6)), Cassian avoided any reference to Pelagius. If Conf. 13 were written against
Pelagius, we should expect that Cassian would mention—even if only in passing—
Pelagius’ corrupt understanding of grace. Since he does not, we can conclude that it was
not written against Pelagius. This leaves three other options. Casiday is correct when he
states, referring to the possibility that Cassian was writing against unwritten ideas, that “it
may not be satisfactory to posit a non-literary source” as Cassian’s intended target.125
We should, then, regard this as an unfruitful option. Of the remaining two possibilities,
Augustine and Prosper, there are no clear signs that point to one over the other. Casiday
leans towards Prosper because both Prosper and Cassian lived in Gaul. Although
geographic proximity should not be ignored, Augustine’s international reputation earned
years before this debate, as τ’Donnell has pointed out, and Cassian’s intimate knowledge
123
Ibid., 117.
124
This, of course, does not mean that he agreed with Pelagius on grace and free will.
125
Casiday, "Cassian against the Pelagians," 20.
82
of Augustine’s work, as we have already seen, makes Augustine the more probable
target.126 It is because of his reputation at this time—and because of Prosper’s lack of a
reputation—that I believe Cassian wrote against Augustine in his most famous
Conference.
Conclusion
This chapter has demonstrated several crucial aspects of Cassian’s rejection of the
idea that one may live a life without sin. First, we examined the Evagrian foundation that
supports Cassian’s intellectual architecture in Conf. 23. Evagrius, unfortunately, was not
a systematic writer. It was necessary, therefore, to construct a cohesive narrative of the
monk’s progress toward his goal. This progress is hindered by passions and thoughts,
which are caused by memories of past sins, the machinations of demons, and the
perception of the senses. Once the mind is correctly ordered through ascetic endeavors
(ἀπά ε α), it may obtain a state of pure prayer that permits an undistracted contemplation
of the Trinity.127
We then discussed Cassian’s rejection of sinlessness from a Christological
perspective, as seen in Conf. 22. Cassian claimed the prerogative of sinlessness only for
Christ. By stating that one may be sinless, one claims equality with Christ. While
126
James J. O'Donnell, "The Authority of Augustine," Augustinian Studies 22 (1991): 14-7.
127
Evagrius, Prak. 37; Sen. ad virg. 38; De ora. 45, 47; Prak. 38; De ora. 71, 111; Antir. Prol. 5.
83
Cassian did not mention Pelagius by name in this Conference, or his Conf. 23, it is clear
that Pelagius was the object of his accusation of “criminal and blasphemous pride.”128
Conf. 23 provided Cassian’s second critique. He transformed his Evagrian
understanding of pure prayer and contemplation of the Trinity into an understanding of
what it means to be sinless. A sinless monk would be someone who has perfected all of
the virtues and is able to turn his mind permanently towards God. This state is
impossible, however, because the mind is constantly distracted by the fallen flesh.
Towards the end, we saw a connection from this conference to Conf. 22 with the word
quisquis, which was followed, in both cases, by a rejection of Pelagius’ position. Cassian
also stood against Jerome’s claim that one may be temporarily sinless for a “single hour”
or “single day.”129
A reexamination of the De incarnatione, in our final section, provided a new
perspective on Cassian’s arguments against Pelagius. This section allowed us to see a
clear connection between his Conferences and his De incarnatione that had yet to be
appreciated by previous scholarship. Cassian’s discourse on sinlessness also must be
used as evidence about the debates over the anonymous target of Conf. 13. The De
incarnatione points to Augustine as Cassian’s object of anonymous criticism.130
128
Cassian, Coll. 22.12 (3).
129
Cassian, Coll. 23.4 (4), 23.11 (1), 23.19 (1), 22.12 (3), 23 (20), 23.5 (4).
130
De inc. 1 (3), 6 (14), 1 (2), 2 (5-6).
84
As at the end of our last chapter, it is important to take a step back for a moment
and see how our chapter on Cassian fits within the larger goals of this dissertation. One
of the central aims of this project is to demonstrate the differences between how our
authors conceived of the question of the possibility of sinlessness. Although we will
construct a systematic analysis later, some differences between Augustine and Cassian
are already beginning to emerge. One worth mentioning here is the different way these
two men defined their terms. Augustine saw sinlessness as the perfection of virtues,
which is impossible. Cassian, on the other hand, believed that perfection of all virtues is
not sinlessness. The contemplation of God free of distraction is how Cassian conceived
of a sinless life.
Not only do we see a difference between Augustine and Cassian, we also saw that
Cassian offered two different responses to Pelagius. Cassian relied on an Evagrian
concept of pure prayer and he also rejected the possibility of a sinless life because of the
Christological implications that accompany such a claim. These two responses provide
further evidence of the variety of ways that our authors reacted to Pelagius.
Finally, we saw that Cassian’s main issue with Pelagius was sinlessness. While
Cassian did not mention Pelagius explicitly by name in either his Conf. 22 or Conf. 23,
there were clear connections between them and his De incarnatione, where Pelagius was
named several times. This returns us to one of the central goals of this project: to
refashion the standard narrative of this debate around one of the central claims of
Pelagius and his supporters, not Augustinian grace.
CHAPTER FOUR: JEROME
Introduction
Jerome is our third and final author. Despite cries from Evans, Zednik, Clark,
Rackett and Jeanjean that scholars have largely ignored his role in this debate,1 Jerome’s
importance continues to be overshadowed by Augustine.2 Because his library was
destroyed in 416 by an unidentifiable group of people,3 and he would die shortly after the
triple condemnation of Pelagius in 418 by Pope Zosimus, the Council of Carthage, and
Emperor Honorius, Jerome was not able to match Augustine’s literary output, which may
account for his relatively muted influence, despite the fact that he probably detected
Pelagius’ flaws before Augustine had done so.4 Augustine’s dominance of this debate,
however, is most likely attributable to his tireless effort to shape it on his own terms in
order to force Pelagius to conform to his understanding of orthodoxy. Furthermore, his
international reputation while alive and Prosper of Aquitaine’s efforts to establish him as
1
Evans, Pelagius: Inquiries and Reappraisals, 4; Margaret Jean Zednik, “In Search of Pelagiusμ A
Reappraisal of his Controversy with Augustine” (Ph.D. diss., The University of Texas at Austin, 1975), 11;
Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 221; Rackett,
“What's Wrong with Pelagianismς Augustine and Jerome on the Dangers of Pelagius and his Followers,”
228; Benoît Jeanjean, "Le Dialogus Attici et Critobuli de Jérôme et la prédication Pélagienne en Palestine
entre 411 et 415." In Jerome of Stridon: His Life, Writings, and Legacy, (Farnham & Burlington: Ashgate,
2009), 60.
2
Benoît Jeanjean, Sain J rôme e l’h r sie (Paris: Institut d’Études Augustiniennes, 1λλλ), 24η.
3
Josef Lössl, "Who Attacked the Monasteries of Jerome and Paula in 416 A.D.?," Augustinianum
44, no. 1 (2004): 110.
4
Y.M. Duval, "Pélage en son temps: données chronologiques nouvelles pour une présentation
nouvelle." In Studia Patristica, ed. M.F. Wiles and E.J. Yarnold (Leuven: Peeters 2001), 112.
85
86
the standard bearer of orthodoxy after he had died all helped to contribute to Augustine’s
primacy.5
Jerome’s understanding of sinlessness, as we will see, is different from our
previous two authors. In our analysis, this chapter will address several tasks. First, we
will outline his initial argument against sinlessness in his Epistula 133: Ad Ctesiphontem
and the first two books of his Dialogi contra Pelagianos. As we turn to Book III, his
position on sinlessness shifts in a subtle, yet important, way as a reaction against
Augustine. This shift, I will argue, is a result of having read several works from
Augustine that were delivered to him by the Spanish priest Orosius.6 Benoît Jeanjean’s
claim, therefore, that Ep.133 and the Dialogi “constituent un ensemble cohérent de textes
qui présentent un objectif commun—r f er la hèse p lagienne e l’impe an ia”7 is not
entirely accurate. In order to support the claim that Augustine was the catalyst that
forced Jerome to rethink his critique of sinlessness, we must look at a variety of other
issues in Book III to determine how much of Augustine’s influence may be detected. By
looking at Jerome’s discussions of the relationship between grace and free will, his
understanding of foreknowledge as opposed to predestination, his hesitancy to claim
boldly an Augustinian understanding of original sin, and his lack of interest in the
5
Although Hwang argues that Prosper gradually moved away from Augustine as the arbiter of
orthodoxy toward an understanding that Rome was the center of the Catholic world, Prosper’s initial texts
had a profound impact on anthropological debates after 430. Alexander Hwang, Intrepid Lover of Perfect
Grace: The Life and Thought of Prosper of Aquitaine (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of
America Press, 2009), 10.
6
Y.M. Duval, "La date du De natura de Pélage: les premières étapes de la controverse sur la
nature de la grâce," Revue des Études Augustiniennes 36 (1990): 259.
7
Jeanjean, Sain J rôme e l’h r sie, 387-8.
87
connection between original sin and the origin of souls, it will become apparent that he
placed himself as a via media between Pelagius and Augustine. Jerome, however, did
learn from Augustine that infant baptism was a contentious issue between Augustine and
Pelagius. Next, we will take a close look at the personal statements that he made about
Augustine. At first blush, it seems as if he praises Augustine for his arguments against
Pelagius. On a closer look, however, we will see that Jerome was not particularly
impressed with Augustine’s thought. While Jerome respected Augustine’s personal
character, his compliments about Augustine’s theology were backhanded. Finally, we
will address the thorny issue that is at the center of his critique of Pelagius: genealogy.
Jerome attempts to discredit Pelagius by placing him in a long line of men who have
corrupted the Church. Scholars have offered contradictory answers about the value of his
genealogy.
Jerome’s Contribution to this Debate
Before we analyze Jerome’s writings, we should outline his contribution to the
debate.8 In a letter written around 393/4, he mentions a monachus who was preaching
publically against his arguments on marriage in his Contra Iovinianum, and whom he
describes as an ignorant rube.9 Much speculation has been made about this shadowy
figure. De Plinval has argued (with Myres, Evans, Kelly, and Rousseau supporting him)
8
For a more complete take on Jerome and Pelagius, see Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and
Controversies, 309-23; Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 323-39; John Ferguson,
Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 72-92.
9
Jerome, Ep. 50 (1).
88
that it was Pelagius.10 Ferguson has claimed that De Plinval’s analysis is “plausible,”
Rees has said that it is “probable,” and Cain has left open it as a possibility.11 Although
he was well versed in the secondary debate on this issue, Hunter has refused to come
down on one side or the other.12 While it is tempting to make such a hypothesis, Duval
has convincingly argued that this was an incorrect attribution on De Plinval’s part.
Jerome’s writings, taken in collaboration with Augustine’s writings, prove that he was
unaware of Pelagius at that time,13 and did not become aware of him until after Pelagius
left Rome in 410.
Scholarly consensus states that the first (anonymous) reference to Pelagius from
Jerome was in the Prologue of his sixth book of his Commentarii in Ezechielem. Written
around 412, he made a connection between Pelagius, to whom he refers as a “new
hydra,” and Pelagius’ predecessor (as we will see later) Rufinus, whom he calls a
“serpent.”14
10
George De Plinval, Pélage: ses écrits, sa vie et sa réforme (Lausanne: Librairie Payot, 1943),
54; J.N.L. Myres, "Pelagius and the End of Roman Rule in Britain," The Journal of Roman Studies 50 Parts
1 and 2 (1960): 22; Evans, Pelagius: Inquiries and Reappraisals, 31; Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings,
and Controversies, 188; Philip Rousseau, "Jerome's Search for Self-Identity," in Prayer and Spirituality in
the Early Church, ed. Pauline Allen (Everton Park, Queensland: Australian Catholic University, 1998),
134-5.
11
Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 77; Rees, "Pelagius: A Reluctant
Heretic" in Pelagius: Life and Letters, 5; Andrew Cain, The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical
Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian Authority in Late Antiquity (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2009), 216.
12
David Hunter, Marriage, Celibacy and Heresy in Ancient Christianity: The Jovinianist
Controversy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), 249-50.
13
Y.M. Duval, "Pélage est-il le censeur inconnu de l’Adversus Iovinianum à Rome en 393? Ou: du
“portrait-robot” de l’hérétique chez S. Jérôme," Revue d'Histoire Ecclésiastique 75 (1980): 530.
14
Jerome, Com. in Ez. 6.
89
Written approximately two years later, his famous Epistula 130: Ad Demetriadem
offered another nameless allusion. He had written to this young woman, as both Pelagius
and Augustine would do, who was dedicating her life to virginity. Towards the end of
this short letter, he established a connection between Pelagius and Origen, claiming that
“the poisonous germs of this heresy [τrigenism] still live and sprout in the minds of
some to this day.”15 He warned Demetrias to avoid such venom.
The Ep. 133: Ad Ctesiphontem was his third text and was written around the same
time as Ep. 130. It was written to a man about whom we know very little, but he may
have been a patron of Pelagius as it seems that Pelagius was visiting his estate (illustris
domus) while in Palestine. It is in this short, yet concentrated, letter that Jerome began to
develop his arguments. All of the themes that would appear in the first two books of his
Dialogi Contra Pelagianos, which were the fulfillment of his promise he made to expand
his criticisms, may be found in this letter.16
The first four of the six Prologues in the Praefatio in libro Hieremiae prophetae
anonymously referenced Pelagius, and were begun at the end of 414 or even at the
beginning of 415. He defended himself against the accusation of Origenism, accused
Pelagius of attempting to be equal with God, claimed that he was a surrogate for the
devil, accused him of being a follower of previous Christian heretics, and made the
accusation that he taught secret knowledge.17 While this commentary contained ad
15
Ep. 130 (16).
16
Ep. 133 (13).
90
hominem attacks on Pelagius, it was at heart, as Rousseau has recently demonstrated,
centrally concerned with Christian repentance. It contains his reflections on the Christian
civitas.18
He finally made his full onslaught in his Dialogi Contra Pelagianos, which was
written sometime in the second half the year 415. It is a Socratic dialogue between two
fictional charactersμ Atticus (Jerome’s voice) and Critobulus (Pelagius’ voice). This text,
and his Ep. 133, will be the focus of our investigation because they contain Jerome’s
substantive arguments, as opposed to his primarily personal attacks found in his first
writings.
Ad Ctesiphontem and Books I and II of Dialogi contra Pelagianos
Jerome makes many of the same arguments in Books I and II of the Dialogi that
were already mentioned in his Ep. 133. Unlike Augustine, who minimized the
importance of sinlessness and placed grace at the center of the debate, Jerome met his
opponents on their own terms.19
He begins both texts with the exact same criticism of Pelagius: the theory of
sinlessness blasphemously creates equality between humanity and God. This hubris, he
17
Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 326-7.
18
Philip Rousseau, "Jerome on Jeremiah: Exegesis and Recovery," in Jerome of Stridon: His Life,
Writings, and Legacy, ed. Andrew Cain and Josef Lössl (Burlington Ashgate, 2009), 74.
19
Rackett, “Sexuality and Sinlessness: The Diversity among Pelagian Theologies of Marriage and
Virginity,” 287.
91
says, summarizes “into a few words the poisonous doctrines of all the heretics.”20 Only
Christ, although fully human, was sinless.21 Christ, of course, received his humanity
from Mary, but we do not find in Jerome mention about the status of Mary; he never
ponders if Mary sinned and the Christological implications of such a statement. He held
the Theotokos in the highest regard and famously defended her perpetual virginity against
Helvidius, but, strangely, even after he read Augustine’s sections about Mary from De
peccatorum meritis et remissione and De natura et gratia, he never felt compelled to
address this question. Jerome, furthermore, held that the idea of a sinless individual
recklessly establishes that person as superior to the Apostles. How could Pelagius make
such a clearly erroneous statement, he wonders? Even the Apostles, who were more
virtuous than all of the rest of humanity, were not perfect.22 Pelagius’ argument
inevitably suggests that one may shine brighter than the men chosen by Christ to be his
followers.
Critobulus, in Book I, argues that the ability to be sinless is not tantamount to
placing oneself equal to God.23 One may not be perfect as God, he argues, but one may
be a perfect human being. Atticus admits that there are degrees of righteousness among
people, but he criticizes Critobulus’ argument as nonsense. He says that one may have a
gift that others do not possess, but no one has all gifts. Alluding to 1 Corinthians
20
Jerome, Ep. 133 (1).
21
Ep. 133 (8); Dial. 1 (9).
22
Dial. 1 (14), 2 (24).
23
Ibid., 1 (16).
92
(12μ2λ), Atticus asks “are all Apostlesς Are all prophetsς Are all teachersς Are all
workers of miracles? Have all gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all
interpretς But desire earnestly the greater gifts.”24 It is impossible for anyone to be all
things to everyone or perfect in all things. “All this goes to prove,” he says, “that not
only in comparison with Divine majesty are men far from perfection, but also when
compared with angels, and other men who have climbed the heights of virtue. You may
be superior to someone whom you have shown to be imperfect, and yet be outstripped by
another; and consequently may not have true perfection, which, if it be perfect, is
absolute.”25 Atticus agrees with Critobulus that one may not be perfect compared to God,
but he also argues that one may not even be perfect compared to the rest of creation.
Although one may be superior to some and inferior to others, Atticus does allow that one
may be perfect in one or two virtues—but no one may be perfect in all virtues.26 Very
few individuals, however, may be perfect in several of the virtues. He does not allow for
just any sinner to be so, but the list of examples that he offers suggests that Jerome sees
only the elite to have such gifts. Atticus says that
there will not be merely wisdom in Solomon, sweetness in David, zeal in
Elias and [Phinehas], faith in Abraham, perfect love in Peter, to whom it
was said, “Simon, son of John, lovest though meς” zeal for preaching in
the chosen vessel, and two or three virtues each in others, but God will be
wholly in all, and the company of the saints will rejoice in the whole band
of virtues, and God will be all in all.27
24
Ibid., 1 (16).
25
Jerome, Dial. 1 (17).
26
Ibid., 1 (21).
27
Ibid., 1 (18).
93
Because the great figures of the Christian past were only blessed with one or two virtues,
he argues that it would be impossible for anyone—other than Jesus—to be sinless.
We saw in the last chapter that Cassian disagrees. He believes that it is possible
that a holy individual, such as Paul, may possess all virtues—such as chastity, abstinence,
prudence, hospitality, sobriety, temperance, mercy and justice. In fact, the monk must
strive for all of the virtues, not simply one or two, because, taken together, they construct
a coherent organization.28 But, even if the virtues are obtained, one may not be
considered sinless because one may not sustain εω α.29 τne’s bodily needs always
force the individual to turn his or her thoughts away from God towards the created world.
Therefore, while Jerome sees that a sanctus may have one or two virtues at best, Cassian
had no problem admitting that a variety of virtues may be pursued and acquired.
A Shift between Books II and III of the Dialogi contra Pelagianos
In 415, Paulus Orosius, a young priest born probably between 380-90, left Spain
and arrived on Augustine’s doorstep.30 Augustine tells us that Orosius was passionate
about Scripture and that he had convinced him to continue his journey to Palestine to
study under Jerome.31 Upon his arrival, Orosius gave Jerome two letters from Augustine
28
Rousseau, "Cassian and Perverted Virtue," 8.
29
Cassian, Coll. 23.2 (2).
30
Craig L. Hanson, "Introduction," in Iberian Fathers: Pacian of Barcelona; Orosius of Braga,
ed. Thomas P. Halton (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1999), 97.
31
Augustine, Ep. 169 (13).
94
(166,7) and, most likely, provided his De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De
baptismo parvulorum, De spiritu et littera, and De natura et gratia.32 He was called to a
council in Jerusalem to discuss the teachings of Pelagius and to give testimony about the
concerns of the North Africans.33 Pelagius was declared to be orthodox and, later that
year, Orosius himself was charged with blasphemy. 34 He quickly fled Palestine.
Many scholars have noted the importance of τrosius’ gifts to Jerome. Kelly, Clark, and
Jeanjean have argued that, through his reading of Augustine, Jerome slavishly adopted
Augustine’s teachings on original sin and infant baptism, becoming nothing more than a
crypto-Augustinian.35 Others, like McWilliam and Lössl, have argued that while he
appreciated Augustine’s texts, he could not align himself with Augustine completely.36
Ferguson claimed that Jerome preferred to be a “synergist” between Augustine and
Pelagius.37 No scholar, however, has offered a systematic analysis of the shift in
Jerome’s thinking because of Augustine’s work, which I would suggest he only read
between writing Books II and III of his Dialogi.
32
Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 317-18.
33
Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 323-7.
34
Hanson, “Introduction,” 104.
35
Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 320; Clark, The Origenist Controversy:
The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 221-26; Benoît Jeanjean, "Le dialogus Attici et
Critobuli de Jérôme et la prédication pélagienne en palestine entre 411 et 415," 61-9.
36
Joanne McWilliam, "Letters to Demetrias: A Sidebar in the Pelagian Controversy Helenae,
amicae meae," Toronto Journal of Theology 16, no. 1 (2000): 136; Josef Lössl, "Who Attacked the
Monasteries of Jerome and Paula in 416 A.D.?," Augustinianum 44 no. 1 [2004]: 94.
37
Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 79.
95
In Book III, he curiously departs from his previous statements that one may not be
sinless and qualifies his remarks by stating that, in fact, one may be sinless due to the
effort of the individual. Atticus says that “we, too, say that a man can avoid sinning, if he
chooses, according to his local and temporal circumstances and physical weakness, so
long as his mind is set upon righteousness and the string is well stretched upon the lyre.
But if a man grow[s] a little remiss it is with him as with the boatman pulling against the
stream, who finds that, if he slackens but for a moment, the craft glides back and he is
carried by the flowing waters whither he would not.”38 Jerome allows for the efficacy of
the free will to avoid the traps of sin according to the individual’s personal strength and
the surrounding temptations. He does not allow, however, this sinlessness to remain a
permanent state because no matter how strong the will or how few the temptations, one
may not avoid sin for the entirety of one’s life. Atticus says that
this is what I told you at the beginning—that it rests with ourselves either
to sin or not to sin, and to put the hand either to good or evil; and thus free
will is preserved, but according to the circumstances, time, and state of
human frailty; we maintain, however, that perpetual freedom from sin is
reserved for God only, and for Him Who being the Word was made flesh
without incurring the defects and the sins of the flesh. And, because I am
able to avoid sin for a short time, you cannot logically infer that I am able
to do so continually. Can I fast, watch, walk, sing, sit, sleep perpetually? 39
We should not be seduced by his claim that “this is what I told you at the beginning.” He
now allows for the sinlessness of an individual, for a “short time,” which Jerome had not
done in either Book I or Book II. Why would he, who had gone through great pains to
38
Jerome, Dial. 3 (4).
39
Ibid., 3 (12).
96
claim that a sinless state is impossible, now claim that it is possible, though only for a
short time? This change at the end of Book III, I argue, stems from a rejection of
Augustine’s position on sinlessness. Jerome read in Augustine’s work a theology that he
considered to be too pessimistic about the human condition. He felt the need to offer a
theological position that attributed more agency to the individual in order to counteract
the limitations that Augustine places on the will because of original sin. While it may go
too far to ever call him an optimist, Graves has already correctly claimed that the Dialogi
are, by Jerome’s standards, “relatively measured.”40 This temperate position was a result
of his rejection of Augustine on one extreme and, of course, Pelagius on the other.
What is even more noteworthy than Jerome’s revised position on sinlessness is
what he ignored in Augustine. Rackett has argued that he was heavily influenced by
Augustine, but we will see that the opposite is actually the case.41 Earlier in this
dissertation, we saw that Augustine made a distinction between the hypothetical
possibility of a sinless life (which is possible) and an historical example of sinlessness
(which cannot be given). In Book III of his Dialogi, Jerome did not even bother to
address this issue, despite the fact that in Book I Atticus had excoriated Critobulus for the
exact same position. 42 There, he felt that such a distinction was absurd. If he were
40
Michael Graves, introduction to Commentary on Jeremiah, by Jerome (Downers Grove: 2011),
xxix. See also Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 319; Ferguson also says that “the
temper of the work is less bitter than many of his controversial writings.” Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical
and Theological Study, 79.
41
Michael R. Rackett, "What's Wrong with Pelagianism? Augustine and Jerome on the Dangers
of Pelagius and His Followers,” 22λ.
42
Jerome, Dial. 1 (9).
97
simply Augustine’s attack dog, in Book III he would have felt compelled to mitigate his
criticism from Book I. Jerome’s refusal to do so shows that he held firm to his criticism
of Pelagius, and, by extension, now of Augustine.
τther evidence supports the claim that Jerome rejected Augustine’s thought. This
evidence will demonstrate that the shift from Books II and III regarding sinlessness was
not simply a coincidence, but part of a pattern of thinking that opposed Augustine’s ideas.
Just as he ignored much of what he read in Augustine’s text regarding sinlessness, he also
ignored his thinking on the relationship between grace and free will. In his Ep.133 and
Books I and II of his Dialogi, he offers an understanding of this relationship that would
have made Augustine nervous. While he rejects Pelagius’ understanding of grace, as
Augustine had done, he saw the free will as possessing more agency than did
Augustine.43 Jerome understood the necessity of God’s aid for the will, but he also
believed that the will must search (petere) for that assistance.44 Free will and grace work
in a symbiotic relationship with each other.45 For example, he says that “to will and to
run is ours, but the carrying into effect our willing and running pertains to the mercy of
God, and is so effected that on the one hand in willing and running free will is preserved;
and on the other, in consummating our willing and running, everything is left to the
43
Jerome, Ep. 133 (5).
44
Ibid., (6).
45
Although both men understood the necessity of both grace and free will, there was a different
emphasis between Augustine and Jerome. Augustine made a sharp distinction which Jerome arguably did
not make, or at least not to the same extent. This distinction was between having a free will (liberum
arbitrium) and the freedom (libertas) to execute that desires of the will.
98
power of God.”46 After having read the texts that Orosius had brought from Hippo that
show Augustine’s thoughts about the impotence of the will to do good without grace, he
stands firm in his understanding of the efficacy of the free will.47 He never feels the need
to alter his position so that it is in concert with Augustine.48
There are also several topics that Jerome only discussed in Book III that seem to
be prompted by his reading of Augustine, but he rejects Augustine’s ideas. First, he
briefly discussed his understanding of foreknowledge and, by implication, rejected the
Augustinian understanding of predestination. According to Atticus, God
does not make use of His foreknowledge to condemn a man though He
knows that he [any individual] will hereafter displease Him; but such is
His goodness and unspeakable mercy that He chooses a man who, He
perceives, will meanwhile be good, and who, He knows, will turn out
badly, thus giving him the opportunity of being converted and of
repenting.49
Jerome rejects the concept of predestination as calling into question justice, God’s
autonomy, and goodness. This is a direct response to Augustine, not Pelagius. Pelagius
never showed any interest in the debate between foreknowledge and predestination.
Although Augustine does not mention predestination in these texts as much as he will
46
Dial. 1 (5). See also Ep. 133 (5-6, 10). This statement from Jerome comes from his
interpretation of Rom. 9:16, which is a passage that can be found in Augustine’s writings against Pelagius.
For example, C. Jul. imp. 1 (38), 1 (141), 3 (177).
47
Jerome became familiar with Augustine’s understanding of the free will when he read Spir. et
litt. 33 (57-60).
48
Jerome mentions free will a few times in Book III, but only in passing: 3 (5), 3 (11), 3(15).
49
Jerome, Dial. 3 (6).
99
towards the end of his life,50 and does not yet articulate his own position with precision,
predestination does arise three times in the texts Jerome had read. Augustine believes that
God has foreknowledge of the deeds of every individual. But, he goes farther than
Jerome because he also believes predestination to be taught by the Church. He says that
“they [human beings] were, after all, predestined either to be damned on account of their
sinful pride or to face judgment and correction for their pride, if they are children of
mercy.”51 He will later articulate the necessity of predestination as the only theologically
consistent position with salvation by grace.52
Towards the end of Book III—just before his explicit mention of Augustine—
Jerome draws a connection between the sinfulness of humanity and our first parents.
“But all men,” he says “are held liable either on account of their ancient forefather Adam,
or on their own account. He that is an infant is released in baptism from the chain
(vinculum) which bound his father. He who is old enough to have discernment is set free
from the chain of his own or another’s sin by the blood of Christ.”53 Several scholars
have found a latent Augustinianism in this quote; Kelly, for example, went so far as to
say that this passage shows that Augustine “had converted him to the strict doctrine of
50
See Augustine, Praed. sanct. 10 (19).
51
Pecc. mer. 2.17 (26). See also: Spir. et litt. 5 (7); Nat. et gr. 5 (5).
52
Gerald Bonner, Freedom and Necessity: St. Augustine's Teaching on Divine Power and Human
Freedom (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2007), 97-117.
53
Jerome, Dial. 3 (18).
100
original sin.”54 Augustine himself even suggests that Jerome believes original sin to be
true.55 While it would be foolish to deny Augustine’s fingerprints here, I would suggest
that scholars have overstated Augustine’s influence and, therefore, have made Jerome out
to be Augustine’s theological puppet. It should be noted that Jerome never used the
Augustinian terms massa, or peccatum originale.56 He could have used Augustine’s
shorthand to describe the state of humanity after the exile of Adam and Eve from the
garden, but he used his own vocabulary, vinculum.57 While it may be tempting to read
vinculum as a theological equivalent to peccatum originale, it is much more likely that he
could not stomach Augustine’s “strict” doctrine of original sin and consciously resisted it
by ignoring Augustine’s language.
At the very end of the text, Jerome gives us another clue that he does not embrace
fully original sin and places himself between Augustine and Pelagius. He says that
“infants also should be baptized for the remission of sins after the likeness of the
transgression of Adam (in similitudinem praevaricationis Adam).”58 The term in
similitudinem, I believe, is used as a third option for the relationship between the sin of
54
Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings and Controversies, 320. See also, Clark, The Origenist
Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate, 221.
55
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 3.6 (12)-7 (14).
56
For Augustine’s use of the term ‘massa,’ Jerome would have read it in Nat. et gr. 5 (5). See
also, Bonner, St. Augustine of Hippo: Life and Controversies, 326-8. For peccatum originale, see Nat. et
gr. 3 (3).
57
This word is used throughout Augustine’s Confessions, but there is no evidence that Jerome
read that text. Augustine, Conf. 3.1 (1), 3.8 (16), 5.9 (16), 6.10 (16), 6.12 (22), 7.7 (11), 8.1 (1), 8.6 (13),
8.8 (19), 8.11 (25), 9.1 (1), 9.3 (5), 9.12 (32), 9.13 (36).
58
Jerome, Dial. 3 (19).
101
Adam and the sin of his descendants. Augustine did not believe that the relationship
between the two was similitudo. Rather, he insisted that sin was passed from Adam to
the rest of humanity by way of propagation (propagatio). This was a direct response to
Pelagius’ belief that humanity sins out of imitation (imitatio).59 Jerome’s phrase, then,
shows that he certainly rejected Pelagius’ imitatio, but could not embrace Augustine’s
propagatio.
A related issue to original sin that was important for Augustine, but entirely
ignored by Jerome in Book III, was the question of the origin of souls.60 Augustine had
written to Jerome and asked him to explain how individual souls are infected by original
sin if they are created individually for each person, as opposed to the Origenist theory of
the preexistence of souls.61 This issue was not a speculative exercise for Augustine; he
understood that this connection was foundational for his argument of original sin against
Pelagius.62 It is noteworthy that Jerome did not include a discussion about this
relationship in Book III, despite the fact that he already had made a connection between
Pelagius and τrigen’s theory of the preexistence of souls.63 Clark offered the explanation
that Jerome simply could not offer an answer to Augustine’s inquiryμ
59
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 1.9 (9).
60
For a discussion of Augustine’s position on the origin of souls, see Mathijs Lamberigts, "Julian
and Augustine on the Origin of the Soul," Augustiniana 46 (1996): 243-60.
61
Augustine, Ep. 166.4 (8).
62
Ep. 166.3 (6).
63
Jerome, Ep. 130 (16).
102
I suspect that Jerome did not know the answer to Augustine’s questionν
from his writings, we would gather that he had not even considered the
issue problematic. It is highly significant that Augustine here presses
Jerome hard on the notion of the souls’ originμ Augustine has sensed that
this question must be answered by anyone seeking to uphold creationism
and original sin at the same time. Since Jerome did both, Augustine
apparently—and incorrectly—assumed that he had considered the links
between the two theories. Jerome, I think, had not. So Augustine was
thrown back onto his own resources.64
Jerome, I think, did not ignore Augustine’s question because he did not know the answer.
He, rather, did not see that there was a link to be made. As discussed above, too much
has been made of Augustine’s influence on Jerome regarding original sin. As he did not
fully accept this Augustinian assumption, he did not share Augustine’s desire to establish
a clear relationship between original sin and the origin of souls.
We should not disregard entirely Augustine’s influence on Jerome. Prior to
reading Augustine, he did not know that the theology supporting infant baptism was in
question.65 At the end of Book III, he had learned his interlocutors were claiming that
babies who were born of baptized parents do not need to be baptized.66 Jerome, like
Augustine, defended the Church’s practice of baptizing babies, but he did not come to the
conclusion of the necessity of infant baptism from Augustine, as he had written about it
over a decade earlier. Laeta, the daughter-in-law of Paula, wrote to Jerome asking him
64
Elizabeth A. Clark, "From Origenism to Pelagianism: Elusive Issues in an Ancient Debate,"
Princeton Seminary Bulletin 12.3 (1991): 298.
65
Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 79; Benoît Jeanjean, "Le dialogus
Attici et Critobuli de Jérôme et la prédication pélagienne en palestine entre 411 et 415," 61.
66
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.25 (39).
103
for a “programme ’ a ion” for her daughter, Paula.67 Still bitter about his exile from
Rome by the “senate of Pharisees,”68 he instructed Laeta to send Paula from Rome to
Bethlehem for proper formation to become a consecrated virgin.69 In this letter, we see
that he had already insisted on the necessity of baptism for infants.70 Augustine’s
influence, then, did not change his thinking about baptism, but it did bring to his attention
an element of this debate about which he had previously been ignorant.71
If he rejected Augustine’s theology, why did he praise him at the end of Book III?
“That holy man (vir sanctus) and eloquent bishop (eloquens episcopus) Augustine,” he
said, “not long ago wrote to Marcellinus two treatises on infant baptism.” He also would
say that “we must either say the same as he [Augustine] does, and that would be
superfluous; or, if we wished to say something fresh, we should find our best points
anticipated by that splendid genius (ingenium).”72 Shortly after writing Book III, he
wrote a letter to Augustine stating that “even in the dialogue that I recently published, I
was mindful (recordor), as was proper, of Your Beatitude.”73 Because of these
comments, scholars have argued that he made a volte-face from his previous contempt for
67
Ferdinand Cavallera, "Saint Jérome et la vie parfaite," e e s i ee e ys i e2
(1921): 118.
68
Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 113.
69
Jerome, Ep. 107 (13).
70
Ep. 107 (6).
71
It is very possible that Jerome’s understanding on infant baptism came from τrigen. See
Origen, Com. Rom. 5 (9).
72
Jerome, Dial. 3 (19).
73
Ep. 172 (1).
104
Augustine. Ferguson, for example, said that “after an initial misunderstanding, [Jerome]
formed a liaison with Augustine founded on a large and genuine mutual respect.”74
There are several hints here, however, that point to the idea that he was only half-
heartedly praising Augustine. First, although he called Augustine a vir sanctus, this is
only a comment about his character, not his theology. Second, he called Augustine an
eloquens episcopus, which seems to praise Augustine but should be not read as laudatory.
Goodrich has shown how, in antiquity, the accusation of eloquence was actually an insult.
“The eloquent,” Goodrich says, “with their rhetorical tricks, could make falsehoods seem
plausible, but the writer with truth to offer could rely on an unadorned simplicity.”75
Jerome’s backhanded compliment, then, suggests that Augustine was a master of rhetoric,
but his theology was lacking.76 Third, he used the word ingenium to describe
Augustine’s thought. We saw in an earlier chapter that he elsewhere had used this same
word as an insult. Fourth, his use of the word recordor implies that Augustine’s writings
had come to mind while he was writing, but that he did not draw on Augustine as a
source. Jerome, it must be noted, is known for previously having given backhanded
compliments. Neil Adkin has demonstrated that, years earlier, his choice of three verbs
(exquirere, ordinare, exprimere) in his Ep. 22 was a latent charge that Ambrose’s recent
74
Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 75.
75
Goodrich, Contextualizing Cassian, Aristocrats, Asceticism, and Reofrmation in Fifth-Century
Gaul, 69-70.
76
Later, we will discuss that Jerome’s opinions of Augustine did soften right before he died.
Jerome, Ep. 141.
105
text on virginity was plagiarized.77 A precedent has been set by Jerome of seeming to
offer compliments, but, in reality, he was cryptically disparaging his interlocutor.
Jerome’s Genealogy of Sinlessness
Jerome’s main weapon of attack on Pelagius’ theory of sinlessness was to paint
him as an intellectual descendent of heterodox Christians who infected Christianity with
non-Christian ideas.78 He mentioned, in passing, a number of men, or groups of men,
whom he held responsible, either directly or indirectly, for attempting to corrupt the
Church, such as the New Academics, Peripatetics, Gnostics, Basilides, Priscillian,
Evagrius, Xystus, Massalians, Mani, Arians, and Marcion.79 The majority of his time
was spent linking Pelagius with the Stoics, Jovinian, Rufinus, and, most importantly,
Origen.80 He felt that if he could connect Pelagius’ idea of sinlessness through τrigen
back to the Greek philosophy that he would be able to discredit his opponent and win the
day.81 In typical style for Jerome, he was less interested in constructing a nuanced
argument and was content to find guilt by association.82 Of course, one should keep in
mind that this ploy was endemic to classical argumentation.
77
Adkin, “Ambrose and Jeromeμ The τpening Shot,” 364-76.
78
Stefan Rebenich, Hieronymus und sein Kreis: Prosopographische und Sozialgeschichtliche
Untersuchungen (Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1992), 219.
79
For example: Jerome, Ep. 133 (1), 133 (3); Dial. 1 (1), 1 (20), 1 (19).
80
For example: Dial. 3 (15), 1 (2), 3 (19).
81
Elm, "The Polemical use of Genealogies: Jerome's Classification of Pelagius and Evagrius
Ponticus," 311-18.
106
This lack of interest in connecting the dots has left scholars to debate the merits of
his genealogy. While all agree that it was absurd of him to link Pelagius with the New
Academics, Peripatetics, Gnostics, Basilides, Priscillian, Massalians, Mani, Arians, and
Marcion, a disagreement has arisen about the influence that the Stoics, Evagrius, Xystus,
Jovinian, Rufinus, and Origen had on Pelagius. Driver has argued that his entire
genealogy is “of little worth.”83 Most scholars, however, have not made such a broad,
sweeping claim and have chosen to be more focused in their assessments. Marcia Colish
has argued that he incorrectly sensed an influence from the Stoics.84 McWilliam and
Lamberigts agree with Colish. McWilliam adds that Origen, too, was incorrectly seen as
an influence.85 Years before either of them, Cavallera, Ferguson and Brown claimed that
the Stoics had influenced Pelagius.86 Kelly believes that Origen (through Rufinus) and
Xystus did influence Pelagius, but the influence from Jovinian is unfounded.87 Duval and
Hunter have argued that Jovinian, indeed, influenced Pelagius, but Pelagius was
82
Jerome, for example, had accused Jovinian of being a heretic by associating his name with
Epicurus and Seneca. C. Iov. 1 (1), 1 (49).
83
Driver, “From Palestinian Ignorance to Egyptian Wisdom: Jerome and Cassian on the Monastic
Life,” 307.
84
Marcia Colish, The Stoic Tradition From Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages: Stoicism in
Christian Latin Thought through the Sixth Century, vol. II (New York: Brill, 1990), 78.
85
Joanne McWilliam, "Letters to Demetrias: A Sidebar in the Pelagian Controversy Helenae,
Amicae Meae,” 135-6; Mathijs Lamberigts, "Competing Christologies: Julian and Augustine on Jesus
Christ," Augustinian Studies 36 (2005): 164. See also Rackett, Michael R. "What's Wrong with
Pelagianism? Augustine and Jerome on the Dangers of Pelagius and His Followers," 228.
86
Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 323; Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and
Theological Study, 78; Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, 369.
87
Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 315-6.
107
attempting to strike a balance between him and Jerome.88 Of all of these scholars,
Bostock has given the most detailed argument and shows that Jerome correctly detected
τrigen’s influence.89 The connection between the two is now indisputable.
While much scholarly research has been written on the relationship between
Stoicism and Christianity in general, specific work has yet to be done with respect to
Pelagius and the Stoics. Colish’s impressive work on Stoicism and Christianity up to the
medieval period, for example, lucidly demonstrates Jerome’s odd relationship with
Stoicism.90 But, she offered little insight into the theology that Pelagius derived from
them. While it is outside the scope of this dissertation to offer a detailed analysis of the
relationship between Pelagius and the Stoics, I would argue that he was, in fact,
influenced by them. One does not read in Pelagius any direct quotation from them, but
Jerome correctly detects some similar foundational assumptions. Pelagius most likely
had stewed in the Stoic milieu during the years he was among the Roman elite before
410. Stoicism had been popular in Rome before Constantine and many of the first
Christians after Constantine, especially ascetics engaged in the life of otium, had been
influenced by it.91 Staniforth has said that Stoicism was “a code which was manly,
88
Y.M. Duval, affaire Jo inien ne rise e la so i romaine ne rise e la pens e
hr ienne la fin ee a e siè le, (Rome: Institutum patristicum Augustinianum, 2003),
284-365; Hunter, Marriage, Celibacy and Heresy in Ancient Christianity: The Jovinianist Controversy,
259-68.
89
Gerald Bostock, "The Influence of Origen on Pelagius and Western Monasticism," in
Origeniana Septima: Origenes in den Auseinandersetzungen des 4. Jahrhunderts, ed. W.A. Bienert and
Kühbeweg (Leuven: Leuven University Press, 1999), 385-6.
90
Colish, The Stoic Tradition From Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages: Stoicism in Christian
Latin Thought through the Sixth Century, 70-91.
108
rational, and temperate, a code which insisted on just and virtuous dealing, self-
discipline, unflinching fortitude, and complete freedom from the storms of passion [that]
was admirably suited to the Roman character.”92 Such a statement could have been made
about Pelagius’ thought.
Conclusion
This chapter has demonstrated that Jerome’s understanding of sinlessness subtly
changed between Books II and III of his Dialogi, because he was no longer exclusively
engaged in conversation with Pelagiusν after having read several of Augustine’s works,
Jerome set his view apart from Augustine and established his conception of sinlessness
between Pelagius and Augustine. We can only imagine how he felt, as a controversialist,
to know that he was not facing one opponent, but two. He certainly never had any
admiration for Pelagius, nor does he seem particularly worried about Pelagius’ responses
to his attacks, although his absences at the informal gathering in Jerusalem, and the
Synod of Diospolis in 41η, do betray his fear of John of Jerusalem and Pelagius’ other
supporters.
His thoughts on Augustine must have been much more complicated. Years
earlier, in 404, he had recognized that Augustine was a bishop “notissimus” and by this
point, over ten years later, Jerome undoubtedly knew that Augustine’s reputation had
91
Pierre Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life, trans., Michael Chase (Malden: Blackwell, 1995),
126-44.
92
Maxwell Staniforth, "Introduction," in Marcus Aurelius: Meditations (London: Penguin Books,
1964), 10.
109
grown even more.93 He must have known that to make any overt criticisms of Augustine
would only cause himself more drama and conflict, something, as we will see in our next
chapter, he did not want at the end of his life. This certainly was the cause of his attempt
to mask his criticisms of Augustine, an attempt that, until now, had been successful. He,
also, was aware that, despite his criticisms of Augustine, Augustine had expressed
himself as an admirer—although at times critical—of Jerome’s work, something Pelagius
had never done.94 Such affection must have muddied his attitude when writing Book III.
It is only later, at the end of his life that he offers, what seems to be a genuine expression
of affection for Augustine, forgetting his criticisms of him from only a few years
earlier.95
We also saw in Book III that Jerome now allows that one may be sinless for a
short time, something he had not done earlier. Furthermore, he stood by his earlier
critique of the distinction made by Pelagius between theoretical and historical sinlessness.
By not changing his opinion in Book III after having read Augustine’s work, we can be
sure that he his criticism would also have included Augustine, too. We also saw that his
views on such issues as the relationship between grace and free will, foreknowledge,
original sin, the origin of souls, and infant baptism clearly indicate that Augustine’s
writings against Pelagius did not resonate with Jerome. Then, we turned to his statements
93
Jerome, Ep. 112 (5).
94
Squires, “Jerome’s Animosity against Augustine,” 1κ1.
95
Jerome, Ep. 143.
110
about Augustine and saw that his praise was only directed at Augustine’s character and
did not extend to his thought. Finally, his use of genealogy was explored.
Before moving to our next chapter, we must first place this chapter into the larger
context of this project. Although overshadowed by Augustine over the past 1600 years,
his rejection of Pelagius—which was initially conducted without any knowledge of
Augustine’s writings—clearly displays an entirely different understanding than our
previous two authors. While Augustine viewed Pelagius’ claims to be a new heresy that
cannot be traced to the antiquity of the Gospel message, Jerome saw Pelagius’ claim to be
a disease that had infected the Body of Christ from Greek philosophy. His approach
shows a marked difference from Augustine and Cassian. Having closely investigated all
three of our authors, we may now turn to a systematic comparison of their unique
personal contexts that informed their understanding of sinlessness, their definitions of
sinlessness, and how it related to their meta-critique of Pelagius and his followers.
CHAPTER FIVE: CONTEXTS,
DEFINITIONS, AND CRITIQUES
Introduction
Our investigation does not end there. We now must place the arguments of our
three authors into a larger picture. We will look at three key issues. These issues, in
many ways, dictate why they differed so significantly from each other. First, their
contexts must be considered. Although there are many different ways of viewing
Augustine’s contexts, we will look at two of his other important theological
contemporary controversies—against the Manichees and the Donatists—because they
show what was swirling in his mind at the time he was writing against Pelagius.
Cassian’s understanding of εω α, and the inability to sustain it, cannot be separated
from his understanding of the larger function of ascetic practice. Although Jerome also
was an ascetic writer, his stance against sinlessness was predominantly informed by the
battles he recently survived over the orthodoxy of τrigen’s writings. Thus, we must see
how Jerome’s participation in the τrigenist debate shaped his life before he confronted
Pelagius.
Second, we must look closely at how they define sinlessness, because the way
that one does so shapes the argument itself. Our authors define sinlessness in different
ways.
111
112
Finally, we must see how their critiques of sinlessness fit in their larger critiques
of Pelagius. As each one conceived what was the heart of the threat posed by Pelagius,
they connected their critiques of sinlessness to the larger anthropological and
soteriological questions is startlingly different ways.
Context: Augustine
After having been an auditor for nine years,1 Augustine engaged the Manichees in
disputation through public debate and in writing. He could not even wait until he left
Rome for Africa to begin his assault on his former colleagues; he wrote his first texts, De
moribus ecclesiae catholicae and De moribus Manichaeorum, in Rome in 388 while
waiting for passage back to Carthage, 2 whence he had fled only a few short years earlier
because of the civil persecution of the Manichees.3 Over the next sixteen years, he would
write a variety of texts criticizing them for their beliefs in—among others ideas—two
gods, the rejection of the Old Testament and, most importantly for him, their
understanding of evil. His final text written against them, De Actis cum Felice
1
Jason BeDuhn, The Manichaean Body: In Discipline and Ritual (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins
University Press, 2000), 26-30; Augustine, Conf. 5.6 (10).
2
Retract. 1.7 (1).
3
Jason BeDuhn, Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma, I: Conversion and Apostasy, 373-388 C.E.
(Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010), 136.
113
Manichaeo, was a retelling of his two-day public dispute in December, 404 with Felix, a
more impressive opponent than Fortunatus, despite his lack of a liberal education.4
What is important for the purposes of our project is the Manichees’ understanding
of sin. Because of their belief that humans are a product of the God of Light (soul) and
the God of Darkness (flesh), everyone sins necessarily.5 In his public debate with
Augustine, Fortunatus claimed that “if the soul, to which as you [Augustine] say God has
given free will, having been constituted in the body, dwells alone, it would be without
sin, nor would it become involved in sin.”6 But, of course, everyone is involved in sin.
The Manichees claim that one does not sin simply by the movement of the free will
toward evil because, if humans were created good by one God who is himself good, then
the individual would never turn toward evil. As everyone does so, the syllogism
concludes, humanity must be—at least in part—evil.7 Humans, therefore, can never be
sinless.8
It was explicitly against this understanding that Pelagius constructed his
theological anthropology. Long before he was locked in struggle with our authors, he
4
Augustine, Retract. 2 (8).
5
Iain Gardner and Samuel Lieu, eds. Manichaean Texts from the Roman Empire. Cambridge:
(Cambridge University Press, 2004), 182; Kam-Iun E. Lee, “Augustine, Manichaeism and the Good”
(Ph.D. diss., Saint Paul University, 1996), 94.
6
Augustine, C. Fort. 20.
7
Haer. 46 (19). See also, Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, 36 and 45; τ’Donnell,
Augustine: A New Biography, 50; Lancel, Saint Augustine, 39.
8
It should be noted that the Manichees thought the good God was material as well.
114
had attacked the Manichees in his Expositiones xiii epistularum Pauli.9 He felt that their
view compromised the idea that God had given humanity free will, which was one of his
chief concerns.10 In his Expositio ad Romanos, he commented on Paul’s statement that
the flesh was a slave to sin but that Christ liberated humanity for righteousness (Rom.
6:19-20). He said that “it is not the case, as the Manichaeans say, that it was the nature of
the body to have sin mixed in … since you are in no way slaves to sin inwardly, so now
also become free from every sin.”11 Because there is only one God, and that God is good,
humanity must be good. It is only through the movement of the free will that an
individual turns toward sin. The Manichees, he said, made the fundamental error of
misdiagnosing the nature of sin as ontological.12 Here, at least, he and Augustine agree.13
A second context that must be discussed is Augustine’s dispute with the
Donatists. By the time he joined the fray with his first (and lost) treatise against them—
Contra epistulam Donati haeretici, liber unus—in 393, Christianity in North Africa had
been in schism for almost a century.14 Although the Donatists had been condemned at a
council in Carthage in 411 through the efforts of his friend Marcellinus and in 412 the
9
Pelagius wrote his Expositiones xiii epistularum Pauli after 405 and before leaving Rome in 410.
Theodore De Bruyn, "General Introduction," in Pelagius's Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle to the
Romans, ed. Henry Chadwick and Rowan Williams (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002), 11.
10
Bonner, Freedom and Necessity: St. Augustine's Teaching on Divine Power and Human
Freedom, 72.
11
Pelagius, Expos. (ad Romanos) 6 (19-20). See also, 1 (2), 7 (7), 8 (7).
12
De Bruyn, “General Introduction,” 1θ and 4η.
13
Augustine, Conf. 4.15 (24).
14
Augustine, Retract. 1 (21).
115
Emperor Honorius issued anti-Donatist edicts, it was not until his last work against them,
Contra Gaudentium in 420, that he finally concluded his longest running theological
debate.15 The Donatists had dominated the towns important to him, including Hippo,16
and had been the majority in Thagaste during Monica’s childhood. This has led
τ’Donnell to claim that she probably had been one as a child.17 A passing reference in
the Confessiones, however, may lead us to a different conclusion. Augustine says that
Monica “was trained ‘in your fear’ (Ps. ημκ) by the discipline of your Christ, by the
government of your only Son in a believing household through a good member of your
Church (in domo fideli, bono membro ecclesiae tuae),” and that it was a “Christian
household (in domo Christiana).”18 One could speculate that Augustine was tweaking
his mother’s history to present her in a positive light. But, in the subsequent section, he
airs her dirty laundry by confessing her childhood “weakness for wine,”19 upon which
Julian would later seize for ridicule.20 Monica, it seems, had been a Catholic her entire
life.
The Donatists believed that they were superior to their opponent because of their
purity and holiness. They had not become traditores under the persecution of Diocletian
15
Retract. 2 (59).
16
Geoffrey Grimshaw Willis, Saint Augustine and the Donatist Controversy (Eugene: Wipf and
Stock, 2005), 29.
17
τ’Donnell, Augustine: A New Biography, 212-14.
18
Augustine, Conf. 9.8 (17).
19
Ibid., 9.8 (18).
20
C. Jul. imp. 1 (68).
116
by handing over sacred texts to government authorities. Some bishops, they claimed, had
done so, while others, such as Mensurius, the Bishop of Carthage, had surrendered
heretical texts. After the Edict of Milan of 313 that legalized Christianity in the west and
the east, and all other religions, under the Emperors Constantine and Licinius, they
declared that only their bishops were legitimate because they had remained faithful to the
Church. Anyone who received baptism from a traditor must be baptized a second time.21
We can see here that there are some important similarities between the Donatists
and Pelagius. Both placed purity at the center of their thought. While it was Petilian who
said that “you should not call yourselves holy, in the first place, I declare that no one has
holiness (sanctitas) who has not led a life of innocence (innocens),”22 this could easily
have been said by Pelagius.23 Both optimistically believed in the goodness of humanity.
Both—Augustine would say—tended towards pride in these two beliefs. There are,
however, some differences between them. First, the Donatists claimed that their purity is
obtainable in this life, while Pelagius said it is possible, but it has not been achieved by
anyone.24 A second, and related, difference was that, for the Donatists, purity rests at the
corporate level. Purity in the Church was defined as not having been a traditor, and
maintaining that a Church containing traditores was ipso facto rendered impure.
21
Augustine, C. litt. Pet. 2.22 (49).
22
Ibid., 2.48 (111).
23
For example, “how much more possible must we believe that to be after the light of his coming,
now that we have been instructed by the grace of Christ and reborn as better men: purified and cleansed by
his blood, encouraged by his example to pursue perfect righteousness.” Pelagius, Ad. Dem. 8 (4).
24
For example, Augustine, C. litt. Pet. 2.35 (81); Pelagius, Ad. Dem. 27 (3).
117
Tolerance for the Circumcellions shows that engaging in violence did not pollute one’s
holiness.25 Pelagius’ focus on purity, on the other hand, was on the individual level. He
felt that each person must strive for holiness and through the aggregate effort of
individuals the Church will be holy.26 Third, the Donatist focus on purity caused them to
set themselves apart from their opponent.27 Pelagius, on the other hand, was not trying to
segregate the Church. In fact, he was uncomfortable with laxity that had been increasing
since the early fourth century.28 His goal was to transform the entire Body of Christ into
one without spot or wrinkle.29
What is both shocking and fascinating is how little the Manichees and the
Donatists make appearances in Augustine’s writings against Pelagius. Prior to his
exchange with Julian, the Manichees are mentioned only as a passing thought in a direct
quotation from Caelestius and, paired with Marcion, as those who rejected the Old
Testament.30 Their anthropology is avoided entirely. At any time, Augustine could have
contrasted Pelagius as precisely the opposite of Mani: while Mani pessimistically
condemned creation (and, therefore, placed asceticism at the center of concern),31
25
Willis, Saint Augustine and the Donatist Controversy, 117-8; Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A
Biography, 215.
26
Pelagius, Ad. Dem. 17 (2).
27
Willis, Saint Augustine and the Donatist Controversy, 28 and 108.
28
Pelagius, Vit. Christ. 6 (2).
29
Ibid., 9 (3).
30
Augustine, Perf. iust. 6 (14); Gest. Pel. 5 (15).
118
Pelagius optimistically praised it to the other extreme (and, therefore, was not interested
in establishing any ascetic communities). But, he did not. Why not? Why would he
purposefully avoid such an obviously effective attack strategy? It is impossible to say for
certain, but he was probably concerned that if he were to juxtapose Pelagius and Mani he
would open to ridicule his own position on peccatum originale as a vestige of his past.32
He had already been accused of being a Manichee by the Donatists Petilian and
Cresconius and probably was sensitive to the charge.33 In his silence, he was
foreshadowing the onslaught from Julian to come.
When Julian began to excoriate him as a crypto-Manichee,34 Augustine had lost
the ability to attack his opponents as the opposite extreme of the Manichees, and he was
left reeling on his heels and playing catch-up.35 Throughout their debate, Julian
31
Jason BeDuhn, "The Battle for the Body in Manichaean Asceticism," in Asceticism, ed.
Wimbush, Vincent L. and Richard Valantasis (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), 513.
32
Although Julian, as we will see, charged Augustine as a crypto-Manichee, Augustine never
believed that his own views were ontologically dualist.
33
Augustine, C. litt. Pet. 3.10 (11); Cresc. 3.80 (92).
34
Lössl, Julian von Aeclanum: Studien zu seinem Leben, seinem Werk, seiner Lehre und ihrer
Überlieferung, 34.
35
For Julian of Eclanum, see: François Refoulé, "Julien d'Éclane, Théologien et Philosophe,"
Recherches de Science Religieuse 52 (1964): 42-84; 233-47; Alister McGrath, "Divine Justice and Divine
Equity in the Controversy between Augustine and Julian of Eclanum," The Downside Review 101, no. 345
(1983): 312-19; Barclift, “In Controversy with Saint Augustin: Julian of Eclanum on the σature of Sin,” η-
20; Mathijs Lamberigts, "Augustine and Julian of Aeclanum on Zosimus," Augustiniana 42 (1992): 311-30;
Lamberigts, “Julian of Aeclanum on Grace: Some Considerations,” 342-9; Mathijs Lamberigts, "Recent
Research into Pelagianism with Particular Emphasis on the Role of Julian of Aeclanum," Augustiniana 52
(2002): 175-98; Lamberigts, “Competing Christologies: Julian and Augustine on Jesus Christ,” 1ηλ-94;
Josef Lössl, "Julian of Aeclanum's 'Prophetic Exegesis'," in Studia Patristica: Papers Presented at the
Fourteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 2003, ed. M. Edwards and P.
Parvis F. Young (Leuven: Peeters, 2006): 409-21; Lössl, “Augustine, 'Pelagianism', Julian of Aeclanum
and Modern Scholarship,” 129-50.
119
repeatedly accused him of bringing those views into the Christian faith and infecting it
with heresy. Despite these accusations that Julian leveled against him ad nauseam,
Brown takes these accusations lightly and gives them only secondary importance. He
says that “Julian accused Augustine of being a Manichee, of preaching fatalism—these
were merely conventional bogeys.”36 We see in Contra Iulianum and Contra Iulianum
opus imperfectum, however, that Julian’s accusations are more than “conventional
bogeys.” They are at the heart of his concern by calling into question Augustine’s
understanding of creation, evil, and, ultimately, the inability to be free of sin.37 He did
not simply slap him with these accusations in an attempt to strike fear in the hearts of
Augustine’s supporters, or as an attempt at character assassination. To disregard Julian’s
accusations as simply a rhetorical maneuver is too dismissive.
By the time he returns Julian’s volleys, Augustine’s fall flat. Strangely, he does
not contrast Julian and Mani as opposite extremes; rather, he compares them as
bedfellows. Although he does not accuse Julian of being a Manichee outright, he argues
that his understanding of evil assists them. Julian had accused him of being a Manichee
because Augustine said that evil arose from the changeable good of God’s creation. Evil
could not come from God himself but, since God had given humanity free will to choose
between good and evil, one had the capacity to choose evil. He claimed that this
implicates God in the sin of humanity and, therefore, it is blasphemous to say that
36
Peter Brown, "Pelagius and his Supporters: Aims and Environment," in Religion and Society in
the Age of Saint Augustine (New York: Harper & Row, 1972), 202.
37
Augustine, C. Jul. 4.3 (28-9).
120
anything God creates must be the author of sin. Augustine retorted by stating that, if sin
did not come from God’s creation, the only conclusion is that it must come from outside
of God’s creation. He took Julian’s argument to its extreme that this only leaves the
possibility that evil comes from an eternal and equally powerful force competing with
God. This was Mani’s position.38 Ultimately, Augustine shows that he was
hypersensitive to the charge of being a Manichee, and his attempt to paint Julian as a
Manichee feels contrived and hollow. His admissions in his Confessiones about his
former life were coming back to haunt him, and he knew it.
The almost complete absence of the Donatists in this debate is as startling as his
treatment of the Manichees, and just as startling as their entire absence in his
Confessiones. As both they and Pelagius laid claim to a purity superior to their
opponents, one would expect Augustine to associate them as common enemies of the
Church, a rhetorical strategy that Cassian employed and Jerome had mastered.39 It is
only in De gestis Pelagii that he finally connects the two together, but, despite Markus’
insistence that Augustine “seized on the affinity he detected between Pelagian and
Donatist teaching,”40 he shows little interest in developing this angle in his subsequent
works.41 As Pelagius had fled Rome to Carthage, he undoubtedly learned Donatist
38
Augustine, C. Jul. 1.8 (41).
39
Cassian, De inc. 1 (1-3); Elm, "The Polemical use of Genealogies: Jerome's Classification of
Pelagius and Evagrius Ponticus," 311-18.
40
Markus, The End of Ancient Christianity, 51-3.
121
ecclesiology during the preparations for the council of 411, which was convened shortly
after he left town (did he do so because he saw similarities with his and their positions
and wanted to avoid condemnation?).42 Furthermore, as this council condemned the
Donatists and the full force of the imperial legal system now supported his cause, it
would make even more sense that Augustine would draw a direct line connecting the two.
We must once again ask: why did he not do it? As with our discussion of the Manichees,
no easy answers reveal themselves. The most likely answer is that he did not want to
associate them because while Pelagius’ ideas were being spread throughout the entire
Mediterranean, the Donatists were a local phenomenon. While it is true that the
Donatists had a bishop in Rome, they had very few non-African converts, and the
movement never made its way to the Greek-Christian world.43 To accuse Pelagius of
being a cousin of the Donatists would limit the gravity of his critique to those in Africa
who had an intimate knowledge of the Donatists and who would understand the
correlation he was attempting to make. In order to appeal to a wider demographic, he
preferred to slander them as enemies of grace, an issue that concerned all Christians.
41
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 12 (7). See also: Gest. Pel. 22 (46); C. Jul. 3.1 (5), 3.17 (31); C. Jul. imp.
1.75 (2). For an excellent exposition on the correspondence between Augustine and Pelagius, see Duval,
“La correspndance entre Augustin et Pélage,” 3θ3-84. For a recent understanding of Pelagius in light of
recent scholarship, see Duval “Pélage en son tempsμ données chronologiques nouvelles pour une
présentation nouvelle,” λη-118.
42
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 22 (46).
43
Willis, Saint Augustine and the Donatist Controversy, 9-17.
122
Context: Cassian
Cassian’s critique of Pelagius must be understood within the context of his ascetic
life. This section will show the connection of these two by demonstrating that many of
his claims made in Conf. 22 and 23 may be found throughout the rest of his ascetic
corpus. By seeing this connection, it will become clear that Cassian’s criticism of
Pelagius grew out of his ascetic agenda; they cannot be separated from each other.44 It is
important to make this link because it gives us insight into how Cassian situated Pelagius’
idea of sinlessness in his own mind.
His ascetic life began in Bethlehem around 378-80.45 There, he sought entrance
into a Greek-speaking community near the cave of the Nativity.46 Years later, he would
declare the form of asceticism he found there to be inferior to the asceticism in Egypt.47
He believed that the monks of Palestine were stubbornly rigid in their flawed teachings. 48
His companion, Germanus, and he were only in Bethlehem a few years and probably left
around 385 to sit at the feet of the great ascetic teachers in Egypt.49 As he made no
44
Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace and Free Will in the Discussion of
Augustine with the So-called Semipelagians, 150.
45
Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 6; Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace and
Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine with the So-called Semipelagians, 120.
46
Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive Monasticism, 8; Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 6.
47
Cassian, Coll. 17 (23).
48
Ibid., 17 (26).
49
Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 7.
123
reference to Jerome, one can safely conclude that he left Bethlehem before Jerome’s
arrival in 386.50
They left Bethlehem and arrived in the port town of Thennesus.51 He then
brought the wisdom he learned in Egypt to the west and modified it for the good of his
Gallic audience.52 Scholars have debated how long these men lived among the fabled
ascetic communities of the Nile Delta, Scetis, and Kellia. Chadwick argued that they
were in Egypt for a minimum of seven years;53 Rousseau has argued that we can only be
certain of two years, but possibly longer;54 Stewart and Goodrich believe that they
probably stayed up to 15 years.55 The only thing that we may say for sure is that he was
in Egypt in 3λλ when Theophilus’ yearly letter at Easter was issued.56 Scholarly
consensus holds that they left soon afterwards, probably with the Tall Brothers and a
group of other monks because of the so-called “Anthropomorphite Controversy.”57
50
Cavallera, “Saint Jérome et la vie parfaite,” 101ν Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive
Monasticism, 11; Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 6.
51
Cassian, Coll. 11 (1).
52
Inst. Pre (9).
53
Chadwick, John Cassian, 18.
54
Rousseau, Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian, 169.
55
Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 8; Goodrich, Contextualizing Cassian: Aristocrats, Asceticism, and
the Reformation in Fifth-Century Gaul, 2.
56
Cassian, Coll. 10 (2).
57
Rousseau, Ascetics, Authority, and the Church in the Age of Jerome and Cassian, 169.
124
After leaving the desert, Cassian travelled to Constantinople, where he was
ordained a deacon by Chrysostom and later a presbyter,58 although that may have
happened in Rome.59 He eventually left Constantinople, with possible brief stays in
Palestine,60 Antioch,61 and arrived in Rome. It does not seem that he engaged in any
more ascetic activities during this time, as his Institutes and Conferences only sang the
praises of the Egyptian ascetic communities.
He arrived in Gaul around 415-17, where he would stay until his death in the mid-
430s.62 It is unclear why he went there, although he may have been returning to the place
of his birth, or he may have been convinced by Lazarus that the ascetic-minded Proculus
would welcome him.63 Regardless of his motivation, it is here that he returned to the
ascetic life—as Gennadius would later note—by establishing two monasteries, one for
Rousseau, “Cassianμ Monastery and World,” 69; Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship
58
between Grace and Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine with the So-called Semipelagians, 121.
59
Gennadius, De vir. inlustr. 61.
60
Marrou, Henri Irénée Marrou, "Jean Cassien à Marseille," Revue du Moyen Age Latin 1 (1945),
21-26.
61
E. Griffe, “Cassien a-t-il été Prêtre d'Antioche?” Bulletin de Littérature Ecclésiastique 55
(1954): 240-44.
62
Rousseau, “Cassianμ Monastery and World,” θκν Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 16, 24; Ogliari,
Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace and Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine with the
So-called Semipelagians, 122-4..
63
Rebenich, Hieronymus und sein Kreis: Prosopographische und Sozialgeschichtliche
Untersuchungen, 292; K. Suso Frank, "John Cassian on John Cassian," in Studia Patristica: Augustine and
his Opponents, Jerome, other Latin Fathers after Nicaea, Orientalia, ed. Elizabeth A. Livingstone
(Leuven: Peeters, 1997), 422; E. Griffe, “Cassien a-t-il été Prêtre d'Antiocheς,” 240-4; Driver, John
Cassian and the Reading of Egyptian Monastic Culture, 17-9; Goodrich, Contextualizing Cassian:
Aristocrats, Asceticism, and Reformation in Fifth-Century Gaul, 22-5; Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 16;
Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace and Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine
with the So-called Semipelagians, 122.
125
men and one for women.64 Undoubtedly because Cassian had been a student in the center
of that ascetic world and had marinated in its teachings, he was asked to write about the
“holy souls that shine in the fullness of innocence, righteousness, and chastity and that
bear within themselves the indwelling Christ the king.”65 His writings solidified him as
one of the most important ascetic thinkers in Christianity, but he did not import the
ascetic life to Gaul; he transformed the practices already in place.66 Rousseau has rightly
pointed to the reality that, in the fourth and fifth centuries, the relationship between the
“laity” and “religious” was more fluid and that the “monastic” life was less teleologically
institutional than our understanding of it today.67
Cassian, as we have seen, defined sinlessness as a state of εω α. This finis of
the monk, however, was more than a part of his critique of Pelagius, it was also central to
his ascetic agenda.68 His discussion of εω α within the context of this agenda may be
seen most explicitly in Conf. 3, De tribus abrenuntiationibus. In this Conference, he and
Germanus dialogue with Paphnutius, who was a priest (presbyter) blessed with
unsurpassed knowledge (scientia) in Scetis. He entered a coenobium at a young age
(adulescentia) and quickly conquered all vices and achieved perfection in every virtue.
Having accomplished everything he could in the coenobium, Pahnutius left for the desert
64
Gennadius, De vir. inlustr. 61; Ogliari, Gratia et Certamen: the Relationship between Grace and
Free Will in the Discussion of Augustine with the So-called Semipelagians, 118-9.
65
Cassian, Inst. Pre (3).
66
Rousseau, “Cassianμ Monastery and World,” 69-70.
67
Ibid., 68-9, 78.
68
Cassian, Coll. 23.10 (2).
126
and surpassed the anchorites in his desire for εω α.69 Rumor had it that Paphnuitus had
reached such heights that he enjoyed the company of angels and, therefore, was given the
nickname bubalus, translated by Edgard Gibson and Ramsey as a “buffalo,” and by Colm
Luibheid as “the wild roamer,” although it may be more accurately translated as a type of
deer.70
Paphnutius describes three renunciations that monks pursue: the first is the
renunciation of material possessions; the second is internal distractions, such as vices; the
third—which is important for our purposes—is the mind’s abandonment of visible things
for that which is invisible.71 These three renunciations are not their own ends; rather,
Cassian holds that they lead to the contemplation of God, which is the final phase of the
ascetic life. 72 As Byrne has pointed out, “renunciation exists for the sake of prayer.
Cassian sees prayer as a progressive movement toward simplicity until at last the state of
pure prayer is reached.”73 He would make explicit this connection between renunciation
and contemplatio Dei. “We shall deserve to attain to the true perfection,” he says, “of the
69
Although this gives the impression that Cassian believed that the solitary life is superior to the
communal life, Driver has shown that Cassian did not make such a distinction. Steven Driver, "A
Reconsideration of Cassian's Views on the Communal and Solitary Lives," in Religion, Text, and Society in
Medieval Spain and Northern Europe: Essays in Honor of J.N. Hillgarth (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of
Mediaeval Studies, 2002), 277-301.
70
Cassian, Coll. 3 (1-2). For Gibson, see NPNF. For Ramsey, see ACW. For Luibheid, see CWS.
71
Cassian, Coll., 3.6 (1).
72
Philip Rousseau, "Cassian, Contemplation and the Coenobitic Life," Journal of Ecclesiastical
History XXVI, no. 2 (1975): 114; Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 47; Boniface Ramsey, "General
Introduction," in John Cassian: The Conferences, ed. John Dillon, Dennis D. McManus, and Walter J.
Burghardt (New York: Newman Press, 1997), 20.
73
Byrne, “Cassian and the Goals of Monastic Life,” 14.
127
third renunciation … once it [the mind] has been planed by a careful filing, it will have
passed over so far from earthly affection and characteristic to those things which are
invisible, thanks to the ceaseless meditation on divine realities and to spiritual theoria.”74
Whether writing against Pelagius and Jerome in Conf. 23, or describing every monk’s
proximate goal in Conf. 3, all of his trails ultimately lead back to εω α.
We also saw in Conf. 23 that the monk cannot permanently sustain his gaze on
God because his mind is constantly being distracted.75 This key idea, too, may be most
clearly seen in his Conf. 7: De animae mobilitate et spiritalibus nequitiis. In this
Conference, he and Germanus met Serenus, who will appear again in Conf. 8. Serenus
was known for such holiness that he did not even suffer from the stirrings of the flesh in
his sleep. He prayed for chastity and continence daily and nightly until lust
(concupiscentia) was extinguished from his heart. With this physical craving set aside,
he began to pursue the purity of the spirit more vigilantly and, because of this purity, he
had a vision (visio) in which an angel came to him in the night. In this vision, the angel
“seemed to open his belly, pull out a kind of fiery tumor (struma) from his bowels, cast it
away, and restore all his entrails to their original place.”76 This vision signified that
Serenus had successfully eliminated all bodily desires.77
74
Cassian, Coll. 3.7 (3). See also, 3.6 (4), 3.7 (5), 3.10 (4).
75
Ibid., 23.5 (3), 23.5 (7-8), 23.13 (20).
76
Ibid., 7.2 (2).
77
Ibid., 7.1-2 (3).
128
While most Conferences are dialogues primarily between Germanus and the
Abba, Conf. 7 does not follow this pattern. It begins with both men asking Serenus to
expound on the problem of the mind’s inability to remain focused on its proper object.78
The mind, they say, is too often distracted by trivial matters to rest in prayer. The
impossibility of permanent prayer leads them to despair of ever reaching their goal, and
to blame the problem not on themselves but on nature.79 Serenus agrees that the mind is
changeable. But, because of practice and training, one may harness the restlessness of
the mind so that it will remain fixed on God. One must not attribute the problems of the
mind to nature (and, indirectly, to God as the Creator of nature). The activities of the
mind are under the control of the monk. Where they turn is under his power. It is
necessary for Cassian that thoughts may be controlled because of the soteriological
implications at stake; if they may not, then condemnation of any sinner would be unjust,
not to mention the fact that ascetic effort would be rendered pointless.80
Context: Jerome
The context surrounding Jerome’s participation in this debate is entirely different
from Augustine and Cassian. Ferguson has claimed that he was in Bethlehem waiting for
a fight. “Rufinus was dead,” he says, “and the old lion was looking for some new
78
Here, Cassian uses the first person plural.
79
Cassian, Coll. 7.3 (1-5).
80
Ibid., 7.4 (1)-6 (4).
129
adversary on whom to sharpen his claws when Pelagius came on the scene. After a long
life of disputation controversy was his meat and drink; to abandon it would mean spiritual
starvation.”81 Quite the contrary was true. By the time Pelagius fled Rome after 410 and
knowledge of his theology began to spread throughout the Mediterranean world, Jerome
was nearing the end of his life. He felt pestered by this upstart young man and did not
want to be pulled into yet another contest. At the beginning of his Dialogi, he tells us
that, having written his short Ep. 133, “I received frequent expostulations from the
brethren, who wanted to know why I any longer delayed the promised work in which I
undertook to answer all the subtleties of the preachers of Impassibility.”82 Several years
later after the Synod at Diospolis (like the one held in Jerusalem, he did not attend) and
after having received two letters from Augustine,83 he was content to bite his tongue; he
wrote to Augustine saying that “a most difficult time has come upon us when it is better
for me to be silent than to speak.”84 Furthermore, his writings against Pelagius do not
demonstrate the expected Hieronymian invective of his earlier works. In 416, just a few
years after his attention was piqued by Pelagius, Jerome’s monastery was burned, which
surely sucked any motivation right out of him.85 Jerome was tired and wanted to be left
alone.
81
Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 77.
82
Jerome, Dial. Pro (1).
83
Augustine, Ep. 166 (7).
84
Jerome, Ep. 134 (1). I am using Teske’s translation from the Augustinian corpus (Ep. 172).
130
Pelagius arrived in Jerusalem and picked a fight with him. He had fled Africa,
leaving Caelestius behind, and had become associated with John of Jerusalem.86 While
there, Jerome tells us, he began resurrecting old accusations against him. He, like
Rufinus before him, had accused Jerome of borrowing from Origen in his Commentarii in
epistolam ad Ephesios.87 He also rehashed the critique that Jerome’s distaste for
marriage in his Adversus Iovinianum is too extreme.88 It would have been
counterproductive for Jerome to have raised the issue of τrigen’s orthodoxy once
again.89 He had nothing to gain and everything to lose. He was forced to fight a new
battle in a war that, as he saw it, ended long ago.
Jerome, like Cassian, was one of the most important ascetic writers for the west in
the early Church.90 But, contrary to Clark who claims that he viewed this debate as a
“continuation of both the ascetic and the τrigenist controversies,”91 he did not see this
debate through an ascetic lens, though the Origenist flavor is undoubtedly present. Even
85
Ep. 136 (7); Augustine, Gest. Pel. 66; Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 327-
32; Lössl, "Who Attacked the Monasteries of Jerome and Paula in 416 A.D.?," 91-112.
86
Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 72.
87
Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 326.
88
Evans, Pelagius: Inquiries and Reappraisals, 8; Jerome, Praef in lib. Hier. Prol (3), 4 (41);
Prol. (4). 3 (60).
89
Evans, Pelagius: Inquiries and Reappraisals, 8-17; Driver, John Cassian and the Reading of
Egyptian Monastic Culture, 54-55.
90
Cavallera, “Saint Jérome et la vie parfaite,” 101-4; Goodrich, Contextualizing Cassian:
Aristocrats, Asceticism, and Reformation in Fifth-Century Gaul, 78.
91
Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate,
221.
131
in his Ep.130—which was one of his most important discourses on the consecrated life
and where one would expect a connection between asceticism and Pelagius to be made—
his warning to Demetrias was restricted to the dangers of Origenism (such as the
preexistence of souls) in new form, but did not accuse Pelagius of rejecting moral
hierarchy, which was at the center of his ascetic concerns.92 Perhaps he did not detect
any ascetic shading in Pelagius’ writings, despite the fact that the bishops at the Synod of
Diospolis had done so and addressed Pelagius as a monk (monachus) several times.93
Perhaps he had known this, but did not see the implications for the ascetic life that
Pelagius’ arguments inevitably caused, as Cassian would do later. Perhaps he felt that
Pelagius was more vulnerable on the charge of distorting the Gospel by introducing the
corrupting influence of philosophy and chose to remain focused on that front. Regardless
of the reasons why, his ascetic preoccupations are curiously absent.
It is impossible to talk about his context without mentioning the many fights in his
life. He battled men like Jovinian, Vigilantius and Helvidius. The most important one,
without question, concerned Origen. Origen was mentioned in our earlier chapter on
Jerome and we saw that Jerome correctly detected his influence on Pelagius. It is
important to offer an outline of this episode in Jerome’s life because, as Clark has pointed
92
Jerome, Ep. 130 (16).
93
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 14 (36), 19 (43), 20 (44), 35 (60). Orosius, however, claims that Pelagius
was a layman. Orosius, Lib. Apol. 5.
132
out, Jerome’s understanding of Pelagius’ agenda cannot be removed from his
understanding of what transpired just a few years earlier in the Origenist Controversy.94
This phase of the so-called “τrigenist Controversy” began, for our purposes, in
393.95 While Clark has detailed the different concerns that the authors who participated
in this debate had with τrigen’s theology (or their own personal axes to grind), we will
limit ourselves to surveying the characters involved.96 Epiphanius, the bishop of Salamis
in Cyprus, believed that τrigen’s thought had contaminated ascetic communities
throughout Palestine with non-Christian ideas and he sent Atarbius and a group of monks
to the monasteries of Jerome and Rufinus and demanded they denounce Origen.97
Jerome did so immediately while Rufinus refused to meet them.98 Later that year,
Epiphanius visited Jerusalem and preached a homily that challenged τrigen’s theology,
drawing contempt from Bishop John. That afternoon, John took his turn and subtly
94
Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate,
221. For excellent discussions of this controversy in addition to Clark’s text, see alsoμ Evans, Pelagius:
Inquiries and Reappraisals, 6-25; Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 195-258.
95
Although we are avoiding the use of the term “Pelagian Controversy” in this dissertation, the
“τrigenist Controversy” should not be automatically dismissed for the same reasons. It is outside the scope
of this dissertation to debate the merits of this term.
96
Clark has shown that Epiphanius changed his critiques of Origen from his comments in the 370s
to the 3λ0s when he became preoccupied with “the heightened debate over asceticismν” Theophilus
“engaged contemporary concern over ‘the body’ as well as the texts of τrigenν” Jerome bludgeoned his
enemies with accusations of being followers of Origen while reasserting his central preoccupation with
‘asceticism and moral hierarchy.’” Clark, The Origenist Controversy: The Cultural Construction of an
Early Christian Debate, 85.
97
Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 203-27.
98
Jerome, Apol. 3 (33).
133
mocked Epiphanius.99 A few days later, Epiphanius left Jerusalem for the monastery in
Besanduc that he had founded. The following year, a group of monks from Bethlehem—
including Jerome’s brother Paulinian—visited Besanduc and Epiphanius forcibly
ordained Paulinian.100 John’s response was to excommunicate Paulinian, Jerome and the
monks in Bethlehem,101 which lasted for several years until Theophilus, the bishop of
Alexandria, brokered a peace between John and Jerome.102
Shortly after this, Rufinus left Jerusalem and moved to Italy which, one would
speculate, should have eased the tensions between Rufinus and Jerome, but their lifelong
friendship was about to implode. While there, Macarius, “a man of distinction from his
faith, his learning, his noble birth and his personal life,”103 told Rufinus that he had had a
dream that someone from overseas would help him with the problem of fatalism with
which he had been struggling. To assist him, Rufinus translated Pamphilus’ Apologia
pro Origene, wrote a preface, and wrote his De adulteratione librorum Origenis, in
which he argued that τrigen’s works had been distorted by heretics. He then rendered
τrigen’s Πε ἀ χώ into Latin, which one cannot actually call a translation but “a free
paraphrase”104 that changed any theologically questionable passages. Rufinus claimed
99
C. Ioan, 11.
100
Ep. 51 (1).
101
C. Ioan, 41-3.
102
Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 208-9.
103
Jerome, Apol. C. Hier. 1 (11).
104
Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 230.
134
that, in doing so, he was following the precedent set by Jerome. When Jerome had
learned about Rufinus’ project and had received a draft of the translation, he was furious
and began his own translation of Πε ἀ χώ that “should neither add nor subtract but
should preserve in Latin in its integrity the true sense of the Greek (nec adderem quid nec
demerem graecam que fidem latina integritate seruarem).”105 In doing so, he was
exposing all of τrigen’s dirty laundry. He also wrote a public letter (Ep. 84) in which he
defended himself against Rufinus’ implicit claim that he was a student of Origen. He also
wrote a private letter (Ep. 81) to Rufinus with a warning of caution. It never reached
him.106
Around the same time, Theophilus changed his position and became a firm anti-
Origenist and expelled from Nitria the Tall Brothers—leaders of a group of monks who
favored Origen—and other monks sympathetic toward Origen. He also enlisted the help
of Anastatius, the new Pope, in his campaign against Origen and they began to apply
pressure to Rufinus. Rufinus had received Jerome’s Ep. 84 and replied with his Apologia
contra Hieronymum. Jerome had caught wind of it before it had even been published and
set out immediately to write two books of his own Apologia.107 Although we do not have
a response to this scathing diatribe against Rufinus, he was surely devastated. A mutual
friend, Bishop Chromatius, stepped in and Rufinus restrained himself from making a
105
Jerome, Ep. 85 (3). In recent decades, Rufinus’ translation has been rehabilitated, to a great
extent, in the minds of many scholars and they believe that Rufinus was maligned. See also: Jerome, Ep.
124.
106
Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 229-255.
107
Jerome, Apol. 1 (1).
135
public response and only sent a personal letter to Jerome.108 Jerome’s response to this
private correspondence was to add a third book to his Apologia. Rufinus did not dignify
this addition with a response and their public soap opera fizzled to a close.109 Although
officially over, Jerome could not resist attacking his friend even long after he had died.
In his battle with Pelagius, Jerome leveled more ad hominem attacks on Rufinus, such as
calling him a pig (Grunnius), as the pressure continued in his later and greater
commentaries.110
Definition of Sinlessness: Augustine
τf our three authors, Augustine’s definition of sinlessness is the most difficult to
determine because, unlike Cassian and Jerome, he does not provide for us a clearly
worded statement. His definition is further complicated by the fact that he uses a variety
of terms as synonyms for sinlessness, such as: perfect in full righteousness (perfectus in
plenitudine iustitiae), true righteousness (vera iustitia), complete perfection (plena
perfectio), spotless (immaculatus), eternal perfection (perfectio aeterna), and pure of
heart (mundus corde).111 He also obfuscates his meaning by using iustitia in different
108
Ibid., 3 (2).
109
Cavallera, Saint Jérôme: sa vie et son oeuvre, vol. I: 280-6.
110
Jerome, Praef in lib. Hier. 1; Rebenich, Hieronymus und sein Kreis: Prosopographische und
Sozialgeschichtliche Untersuchungen, 207-8.
136
ways—sometimes he uses it as a synonym for sine peccato while, at other times, he
distinguishes the two.112 We, therefore, are forced to distill a definition by closely
examining several of his texts to determine what, exactly, he means.
His definition may only be appreciated in light of his understanding of sin.113
James Wetzel has succinctly stated that, for Augustine, “sin (peccatum) refers to the
willful misdirection of the love that is fundamental to the life of the soul.”114 This willful
misdirection is caused by desire (“no sin is committed without desire”),115 which comes
from concupiscence in the flesh that has been passed down from our first parents after
their prideful disobedience.116 Sin is the turn inward towards the self and outwards
toward contingent reality.
111
Augustine, Pecc. mer. 2.13 (20); Nat. et gr. 13 (14), 60 (70), 63 (75); Perf. ius. 14 (32), 15 (36).
Although Augustine uses the term pure of heart, there is no indication that he understood this term in the
same Evagrian sense that Cassian would later understand it. It is clear that he only has Mt. 5:8 in mind.
112
In Pec. merr. 2.12 (17), Augustine uses iustitia as a synonym for sine peccato, while in 2.9 (11)
he does not.
113
For extended discussions of Augustine’s definition of sin, seeμ Malcom E. Alflatt, "The
Responsibility for Involuntary Sin in Saint Augustine," Recherches Augustiniennes 10 (1975): 171-86;
Malcom E. Alflatt, "The Development of the Idea of Involuntary Sin in St. Augustine," Revue des Études
Augustiniennes 20 (1974): 113-34; William Babcock, "Augustine on Sin and Moral Agency," Journal of
Religious Ethics 16 (1988): 28-55; Barclift, “In Controversy with Saint Augustin: Julian of Eclanum on the
σature of Sin,” η-20; Ernesto Bonaiuti, "The Genesis of St. Augustine's Idea of Original Sin," The Harvard
Theological Review 10, no. 2 (1917): 159-75; William Mann, "Augustine on Evil and Original Sin," in The
Cambridge Companion to Augustine, ed. Eleonore Stump and Norman Kretzmann (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2001), 40-58.
114
Wetzel, “Sin,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed. Fitzgerald, 800.
115
Augustine, Spir. et litt. 4 (6).
116
Pecc. mer. 2.23 (37); Spir. et. litt. 36 (65).
137
We continue with his understanding of iustitia. In Book II of De peccatorum
meritis et remissione, Augustine detailed how Job was righteous, but not sinless. In this
exposition, he said that a righteous person was one who “has so developed in moral
goodness that no one can equal him.”117 This moral goodness does not mean that the
righteous person is without sin because he always struggles to maintain it. Later, in his
De natura et gratia, he says that the sinless individual is one who does not need to wage
such interior moral battles because he has overcome the concupiscence of the flesh.118
The first element to his definition, then, is that a sinless person is one who has reached an
unsurpassed level of moral purity by not even being tempted by the desires of the flesh.
The second element of his definition is that a sinless person would be perfect in
all respects. Some men and women, such as Paul, can claim truthfully that they are
perfect in one respect (Phil 3:15), but nobody may claim to be perfect in all. One may be
a perfect student of wisdom, he says for example, but may not be a perfect teacher of it;
one could have a perfect knowledge of righteousness, but not practice it; one may be
perfect in loving one’s enemies, but not in accepting their injustices.119
The third element of his definition is love. While sin is love misdirected, a sinless
individual would be one who has rightly ordered love. This proper love is not turned
inwards towards the self, but turned upwards towards God, which will overflow onto the
117
Pecc. mer. 2.12 (17).
118
Nat. et gr. 62 (72).
119
Pecc. mer. 2.15 (22).
138
rest of humanity. He says that “He [Jesus] said, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with
your whole heart and your whole soul and your whole mind’ and ‘You shall love your
neighbor as yourself (Matt 22μ3ι.3λ).’ What could be truer than that, when we have
fulfilled these, we have fulfilled all righteousnessς”120 Only when one is able to follow
this greatest of all commandments may the sinless individual entirely love God with
heart, soul, and mind.121
We cannot achieve perfect morality, be perfect in all respects, or have a properly
ordered love of God and neighbor in this life. Such a reality is reserved for the end of the
journey (cursus), in the resurrected body.122 But, one may make a certain level of
progress.123 This progress—as one would expect from Augustine—may only be achieved
through God’s gracious assistance.124 We now may construct his definition of sinlessness
as one who would no longer have a flesh that is disordered by concupiscence, would not
struggle with morality, would be perfect in every single respect, would follow Jesus’
command to love God and neighbor properly.
120
Augustine, Spir. et. litt. 36 (63). See also: Nat. et gr. 70 (84); Perf. ius. 3 (8).
121
Ibid., 8 (19).
122
Pecc. mer. 2.13 (20).
123
Perf. ius. 13 (31).
124
Spir. et. litt. 2 (4).
139
Definition of Sinlessness: Cassian
As we have already given Cassian’s definition of sinlessness in detail because it
was impossible to speak of his critique of Pelagius without doing so, we do not need to
repeat it here. It is sufficient to recall that, in a previous chapter, he saw life without sin
defined as εω α, the permanent contemplation of God.125 This contemplation,
however, cannot be maintained permanently as the needs of the flesh inevitably will
distract the mind from its goal. Even Paul, the greatest of Apostles, could not remain
sinless.126 Cassian’s definition, as I already have argued, comes from Evagrius, his
intellectual master.
Definition of Sinlessness: Jerome
Jerome offers a definition of sinlessness that he sees operating in Pelagius’ works,
which, he believes, is rooted in Stoicism.127 According to the Stoics, he says, every
individual experiences passions (πά , perturbatio) that must be removed through
“meditation (meditatio) on virtue and constant practice (exercitatio) of it.”128 If one were
ever to achieve this goal, he sees such a person becoming “either a stone or a God.”129
One may be tempted to see a connection between the Stoic meditatio, as described by
125
For the definition that Cassian makes between the idea of sinlessness and εω α, recall: Coll.
23.1 (1)-8 (1).
126
Ibid., 23.5 (1-6).
127
Cavallera, “Saint Jérome et la vie parfaite,” 12ι
128
Jerome, Ep. 133 (1).
129
Ibid., (3).
140
Jerome here, with Cassian’s εω α, but we should not see them as synonymous. Jerome
is describing a process where the individual brings one, or more than one, virtue to the
front of the mind and ponders it, then puts it into action. Such a goal runs counter to
Cassian’s central concern for two reasons. First, he does not want the ascetic to ponder
any idea, he wants all ογ ο to be removed from the mind, including those about
virtues. Second, Jerome’s description of constant exercitatio of virtue hints at Cassian’s
π α , which, as we have seen, he—like Evagrius—views as the stage prior to
εω .
Jerome then connects this supposed Stoic idea with Pelagius’ belief in the
possibility of sinlessness. He says:
let those blush then for their leaders and companions who say that a man
may be ‘without sin’ (sine peccato) if he will, or, as the Greeks term it
ἀ α ά ο , ‘sinless.’ As such a statement sounds intolerable to the
Eastern churches, they profess indeed only to say that a man may be
‘without sin’ (sine peccato) and do not presume to allege that he may be
‘sinless’ (ἀ α ά ο ) as well. As if, forsooth, ‘sinless’ (sine peccato)
and ‘without sin’ (ά α ά ο ) had different meaningsν whereas the only
difference between them is the Latin requires two words to express what
Greek gives in one. If you adopt ‘without sin’ (absque peccato) and reject
‘sinless,’ (ἀ α ά ο ) then condemn the preachers of sinlessness.130
Elsewhere, he says that ἀ α ά ο is a synonym for ἀπά ε α, and in a linguistic sleight
of hand he connects ἀπά ε α to ἀ α ά ο then to sine peccato.131 By doing so, he
associates sinlessness with a pagan philosophical origin.132 The term ἀπά ε α, which we
130
Jerome, Ep. 133 (3).
131
Praef in lib. Hier. 4.
141
have already encountered in the chapter on Cassian, had a turbulent history in the Church
because it was a philosophical term that was appropriated, adapted, and used by
theologians such as Clement of Alexandria and Origen.133
Jerome also heavily criticized Evagrius (from whom, according to him, Pelagius
received this understanding of sinlessness) for using the term, although scholars today
disagree if he understood what Evagrius meant by ἀπά ε α.134 Driver, for example,
claims that his “description of apatheia is little more than a caricature, and his supposed
reliance on the ancient philosophers shows that Jerome had little understanding of their
views.”135 Casiday, on the other hand, argues that this “is actually far more penetrating
than it might seem at first. … Jerome’s anxieties are not as far-fetched as some have
suggested, though they may well not have been completely justified by the
132
Benoît Jeanjean, Sain J rôme e l’h r sie (Parisμ Institut d’Études Augustiniennes, 1999), 395-
ιν Rackett, “Sexuality and Sinlessness: The Diversity among Pelagian Theologies of Marriage and
Virginity,” 283-4.
133
For discussions about ἀπά ε α concerning Clement and Origen, see: Stewart, Cassian the
Monk, 42; Nicholas Groves, "Mundicia Cordis: A Study of the Theme of Purity of Heart in Hugh of
Pontigny and the Fathers of the Undivided Church, " in One yet Two: Monastic Tradition East and West.
Orthodox—Cistercian Symposium. Oxford University: 26 August-1 September 1973 (Kalamazoo:
Cistercian , 1976): 312; Jeremy Driscoll, "Apatheia and Purity of Heart in Evagrius Ponticus," in Purity of
Heart in Early Ascetic and Monastic Literature: Essays in Honor of Juana Raasch, O.S.B. (Collegeville:
Liturgical Press, 1999), 157.
134
Jerome, Ep. 133 (3).
135
Driver, John Cassian and the Reading of Egyptian Monastic Culture, 303; See also, David
Bell, "Apatheia: The Convergence of Byzantine and Cistercian Spirituality," Cîteaux 38 (1987): 48; Kelly,
Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 315; Rackett, “What’s Wrong with Pelagianismς Augustine
and Jerome on the Dangers of Pelagius and His Followers,” 231ν Somos, “Origen, Evagrius Ponticus and
the Ideal of Impassibility,” 3ι2ν Colish, The Stoic Tradition From Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages:
Stoicism in Christian Latin Thought through the Sixth Century, 78.
142
circumstances.”136 I would suggest that, although the relationship between Pelagius and
the Stoics has yet to be explored as we have already stated, Driver rightly rejected his
argument of the equivalence of sine peccato and ἀπά ε α. Furthermore, I would suggest
that he did have a clear understanding of the Stoic definition of ἀπά ε α, but he did not
know the writings of Evagrius well enough to realize how Evagrius had adapted the term
for Christian usage by making it a means towards the end of a prayerful connection to
God. Cassian, on this point at least, understood Evagrius better than Jerome.137
With these definitions of sinlessness now clearly established, we see how
radically different were their starting points. Both Cassian and Jerome rejected Pelagius’
idea of sinlessness, but they did so from opposing positions. Cassian stood firmly on an
Evagrian foundation while Jerome rejected Pelagius from an anti-Evagrian position. This
point cannot be overstated. For Cassian, Pelagius was, we can say, “not Evagrian
enough” while Jerome thought that Pelagius was “too Evagrian.” It was irrelevant for
both of these men that Pelagius may never have read Evagrius. What was of central
importance was their own relationships with Greek philosophy and the Christian
appropriation of that philosophy. These relationships colored their rejection of Pelagius.
Cassian, with his dependence on Evagrius and his praise of the ascetic practices of the
Egyptian fathers, constructed a definition of sinlessness that echoed the οπό of the
136
Casiday, “Apatheia and Sexuality in the Thought of Augustine and Cassian,” 3ι0-2.
137
Rebenich, Hieronymus und sein Kreis: Prosopographische und Sozialgeschichtliche
Untersuchungen, 67-71.
143
desert monks.138 Jerome, with his scorn for the “asps” of σitria and their appropriation of
Greek philosophy through Origen and Evagrius, constructed a definition that (indirectly)
assailed those whom he had once praised.139
Augustine—because he was not as well versed in eastern Christian thought as
Jerome and Cassian had been—did not construct a definition in dialogue with the east.140
For him, the inability to overcome concupiscence determines the inability to remain free
from sin. Baptism does not remove concupiscence, it only removes the guilt (reatus) of
concupiscence.141 Although our other two authors also realize that the “flesh lusts against
the spirit” (Gal ημι), Augustine’s definition leads to his understanding of the necessity of
Christ’s sacrifice. It is because of the weakness of the flesh that Christ’s sacrifice is
absolutely necessary for the salvation of humanity.142 He understood better than Cassian
or Jerome—who never seem to make the connection between the implications of a sinless
life and salvation—that the claim to the possibility of sinlessness calls into question the
necessity of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection.
138
Cassian, Coll. 1.8 (1).
139
Driver, “From Palestinian Ignorance to Egyptian Wisdomμ Jerome and Cassian on the Monastic
Life,” 2λ3.
140
Augustine did not know Greek well enough to read τrigen’s works. He had asked Jerome to
continue translating Origen so that he would be able to read him. Ep. 28.2 (2).
141
Pecc. mer. 1.24 (34).
142
Nat. et gr. 9 (10).
144
Larger Critique: Augustine
We now must turn our attention to see how our authors situated their assessment
of sinlessness in their larger critiques of Pelagius. While we may be specific about
Cassian and Jerome because their evaluations of Pelagius were limited in scope, we
cannot say the same about Augustine. As we have seen, his point of departure was grace,
but he also touched on almost every single anthropological issue one can imagine. It
would be impossible, therefore, to detail each argument he made. We will limit ourselves
to tracking the issues at stake to see which ones took center stage at what given moment.
In the beginning, sinlessness was the main event. Since, when he responded to an
inquiry from Marcellinus he had not read any works by his opponents, Augustine had yet
to play his signature card. De peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptism
parvulorum, and De spiritu et littera, should be thought of as companion pieces—
although they are never discussed as such—because they were both written in response to
inquiries from the same friend.
De spiritu et littera is much more narrowly focused as Augustine was responding
to another letter from Marcellinus who had been confused by his previous reply and
needed several points clarified. There are, however, a few new issues that are introduced
here. He offers his first extended discussion of God’s help (adiutorium) by criticizing his
opponents’ definition of it as the gift of the free will, commandments, and teachings.143
He is clearly disturbed by this definition, as we also will see with Jerome. These two
143
Augustine, Spir. et litt. 2 (4).
145
men entirely agree that this definition is too flat and does not adequately appreciate God’s
work in every action. Predestination is introduced for the first time,144 although it does
not reach full blossom until the end of his life.145 The main thrust of the text is the
necessity of the presence of the Spirit when obeying the law.146 This gift of the Spirit
does not destroy free will, which he insists is itself a gift from God,147 but strengthens
it.148 At the end of the text, he calls his opponents inimici gratiae Dei for the very first
time,149 which he will do throughout the rest of his works.150
Augustine finally gains access to Pelagius’ writings and we see, in his De natura
et gratia, yet another subtle shift in his argument. He begins the text with an overview of
the differences between his and Pelagius’ foundational thought, and then returns to the
question of sinlessness, which ended his discussion in De spiritu et littera. Indeed, it is in
this text that our question receives his most sustained attention.151 Many of the issues
already discussed may be found here. In fact, it is quite impressive how consistent his
arguments were in De natura et gratia with the arguments he had made in De
144
Ibid., 5 (7).
145
Praed. sanct. 10 (19-21, 43).
146
Spir. et litt. 13 (22).
147
Ibid., 33 (57).
148
Ibid., 30 (52).
149
Ibid., 35 (63).
150
For example: Augustine, C. ep. Pel. 1.7 (12), 3.5 (11); C. Jul. 4.3 (15), 4.3 (16), 6.14 (44). C.
Jul. imp. 1.68 (3), 1.134 (1). Augustine only used the phrase “enemies of grace” three times before the
Council of Diospolis, but more than 50 times after it.
151
Nat. et gr. 7 (8-18, 20), 33 (37-44,51), 48 (56-60,70).
146
peccatorum meritis et remissione et De baptismo parvulorum and De spiritu et littera
without having their texts in hand.
We come to his newest contribution at the end of his text. In his De natura,
Pelagius had quoted several thinkers (Lactantius, Hilary of Poitiers, Ambrose of Milan,
John Chrysostom, Xystus, Jerome, and Augustine himself) to prove his argument for the
possibility of sinlessness. These quotations did not bother Augustine, because he said
that they were “neutral, neither against our view nor against his. He cited them, not from
the canonical scriptures, but from some writings of Catholic commentators, in order to
answer those who said that he was the only one who held these views.”152 He brushed
aside Pelagius’ appeal to these authorities as superfluous at best and a sign of weakness at
worst.153 This is noteworthy because, later, in his rantings against Julian when his civility
was exhausted and his frustration may be sensed on every page, he was the one
defensively evoking earlier Church Fathers to support his claims.154 “I first show,” he
will later say in his Contra Iulianum, “the intolerable injustice you [Julian] do not
hesitate to do to great and good teachers of the Catholic Church by labeling them
Manichees. For you hurl your sacrilegious weapons at them, though you are aiming at
me.”155 Unlike in De natura et gratia, he wants to emphasize the importance of the union
152
Ibid., 61 (71).
153
Ibid.,
154
Even in his De natura et gratia, Augustine is still trying to show signs of civility towards
Pelagius. He said that “out of a feeling of friendship I do not want the man [Pelagius] who paid me this
honor [of quoting Augustine’s De libero arbitrio] to be in error.” Nat. et gr. 61 (71).
147
of belief of all the non-canonical Catholic writers to show that he was not the one
introducing novelty.156
In his De perfectione iustitiae hominis, he responds to a text attributed to
Caelestius. As he quotes most—if not the entirety—of Caelestius’ Liber definitionum,
we confidently may deduce that Caelestius had a narrower set of interests than
Pelagius.157 The main topics were: (1) a correct definition of sin, (2) that the
commandments are not burdensome, and (3) that everyone is a liar. Once again,
predestination makes an appearance. At the forefront of Caelestius’ mind, though, is
sinlessness. The similarities between the substance of his and Pelagius’ arguments,
unfortunately, do not help answer the daunting question that has plagued recent scholars:
who was the teacher and who was the student? Most scholars have argued that Pelagius
was the teacher,158 while others have argued it was Caelestius.159 Some have argued that
155
Augustine, C. Jul. 1.1 (3).
156
Ibid., 2.10 (37).
157
Roland Teske, "Introduction," in The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st
Century: Answer to the Pelagians: I, ed. John E. Rotelle (Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 1997), 270.
158
Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, 343; Lancel, Saint Augustine, 327; Henri Rondet,
Original Sin: The Patristic and Theological Background, trans., Cajetan Finegan (Shannon: Ecclesia Press,
1972), 125; Gustave Bardy, "Grecs et Latins dans les Premières Controverses Pélagiennes," Bulletin de
Littérature Ecclésiastique 49 (1948): 7; Lamberigts, “Caelestius,” in Augustine Through the Ages, ed.
Fitzgerald, 114; Rackett, “What’s Wrong with Pelagianismς Augustine and Jerome on the Dangers of
Pelagius and His Followers,” 223ν Jean Chéné, "Saint Augustin enseigne-t-il dans le De Spiritu et Littera
l'universalité de la volonté salvifique de Dieu?," Recherches de Science Religieuse 47 (1959): 218; J.H.
Koopsmans, "Augustine's First Contact with Pelagius and the Dating of the Condemnation of Caelestius at
Carthage," Vigiliae Christianae 8 (1954): 151; Hwang, Intrepid Lover of Perfect Grace: The Life and
Thought of Prosper of Aquitaine, 70.
159
Georges De Plinval, Pélage: ses écrits, sa vie et sa réforme; Guido Honnay, "Caelestius,
Discipulus Pelagii," Augustiniana 44 (1994): 271.
148
it was Rufinus the Syrian,160 Dunphy has argued that it was Rufinus of Aquileia,161 and
Rees has argued there was no founder.162 The differences in the style of their arguments,
however, are noteworthy. Caelestius relies much more heavily on philosophy—
specifically, syllogistic thinking.163 This suggests, I would argue, that while he was
probably the student and certainly was younger than Pelagius, he most likely had a
superior education. It may have been this education that gave him the confidence to
proclaim his position much more boldly and strongly than Pelagius, which landed him in
trouble much earlier, in the Council of Carthage of 411, than his mentor.
De gestis Pelagii offers a fascinating juxtaposition of different views of Pelagius’
and Caelestius’ faults. By this time, in late 41ι after he had received the minutes of the
Synod of Diospolis, Augustine was almost singly focused on gratia as the core issue.164
The Synod, on the other hand, brought a bevy of charges against Pelagius, gratia only
being tertiary. This text can be broken down into three sections. First, six objections
were brought to Pelagius from his own works, two of which are related to our topic: the
160
Gerald Bonner, "Rufinus of Syria and African Pelagianism," Augustinian Studies 1 (1970): 38;
Eugene TeSelle, Augustine the Theologian (New York: Herder and Herder, 1970), 280; François Refoulé,
"Datation du premier concile de Carthage contre les Pélagiens et du Libellus Fidei de Rufin," Revue des
Études Augustiniennes 9 (1963): 49.
161
Dunphy makes it clear that he is not sure that Rufinus would have actually agreed with the
theological anthropology of Pelagius and his group. However, he believes that Rufinus the Syrian was
actually Rufinus of Aquileia and that his translations gave Pelagius and others the courage to proclaim what
they did. Dunphy, "Rufinus the Syrian: Myth and Reality," 157.
162
Rees, “Introduction,” 20-5.
163
Augustine, Perf. iust. 1-7 (16).
164
Gest. Pel. 30 (55).
149
first that “only one who has knowledge of the law can be without sin,” and the sixth that
“human beings can be without sin, if they want.”165 The second objection, referencing
free will, does not come as a surprise to us.166 The third, that “on the day of judgment the
wicked and sinners are not to be sparedν rather they are to be burned with eternal fire,”167
is noteworthy because—as Pelagius himself points out168— it is a direct refutation of
Origen; we have already seen how Jerome tirelessly attempts to link Pelagius and Origen
together.169 The fourth, clearly coming from the influence of Jerome who traced this idea
to Origen,170 was an objection that “evil does not even enter one’s thoughts.”171 The fifth
is that “the kingdom of heaven was promised even in the τld Testament.”172 This, like
the third objection, cannot be traced to Augustine or Jerome, nor found in τrosius’ work.
It is impossible to say whence these objections originated, but they probably came from
Heros and Lazarus. I would suggest, therefore, that Jerome was not necessarily the
driving force behind Diospolis, as previous scholars have claimed.173 It becomes clear,
once again, that there was a panoply of concerns over Pelagius’ thought.
165
Ibid., 1.2, 6 (16).
166
Ibid., 3 (5).
167
Ibid., 3 (9).
168
Ibid., 3 (10).
169
Jerome, Ep. 130 (16).
170
Ep. 133 (3).
171
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 4 (12).
172
Ibid., 5 (13).
150
The second section of objections raised against Pelagius came from those issues
that condemned Caelestius in Carthage. Of these six, only one pertains to our question,
that before Christ there were human beings without sin.174 Pelagius distanced himself
from Caelestius and anathematized his ideas.175 Added to these objections were three
raised by Augustine in his Ep.157 to Hilary of Syracuse, one of which dealt with
sinlessness, but not gratia.176
The third section forced Pelagius to address three objections that came from
Caelestius’ Liber definitionum. In addition to claiming that “we do more than is
prescribed in the law and the gospel,” Caelestius was accused of having claimed that
“God’s grace and help is not given for individual actions, but consists in free choice or in
the law and teaching,” and that “everyone can have all the virtues and graces and that
they destroy the diversity of graces which the apostle teaches.”177 Here we see, at long
last, that gratia makes an appearance at a council, but not, importantly as a single reality.
173
Ferguson, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study, 85-6.
174
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 11 (23). The remaining fiveμ “Adam was created mortal so that he would
die whether he sinned or did not sin … the sin of Adam harmed him alone and not the human race … the
law leads to the kingdom just as the gospel does … newly born infants are in the same state in which Adam
was before his transgression … the whole human race does not die through the death or transgression of
Adam, nor does the whole human race rise through the resurrection of Christ.” Gest. Pel. 11 (23); Rackett,
“What’s Wrong with Pelagianism? Augustine, and Jerome on the Danger of Pelagius and his Followers,”
24-8.
175
Augustine, Gest. Pel. 19 (43).
176
“Human beings can be without sin if they want. … Infants attain eternal life, even if they are
not baptized. … If wealthy persons who have been baptized do not renounce all their possessions, they
have no merit, even if they seem to do something good, and they cannot possess the kingdom of God.”
Gest. Pel. 11 (23).
177
Ibid., 14 (32).
151
Pelagius easily deflects these accusations by once again distancing himself from
Caelestius.178 Diospolis, then, offers a wide ranging assortment of charges against
Pelagius. Of the 18 objections raised, four of them treated sinlessness, only two treated
grace.
As we noted in an earlier chapter, when he writes De gratia Christi et de peccato
originali, sinlessness has almost become irrelevant for Augustine, and so he drops it
almost entirely from view.179 He radically narrows the focus of his attack to primarily
two issues: the definition of grace as a single concept and the existence of original sin.180
It cannot be said that he makes any profoundly new arguments, but he does go into
greater detail of his opponents’ views.
Larger Critique: Cassian
While the question of sinlessness was one of many topics that Augustine
addressed, Cassian showed no interest in the multitude of issues at stake. Rather, he
confined his critique to the question of sinlessness and one other problem: Christology.
As we have already extensively discussed his understanding of sinlessness, we will limit
ourselves here to the second criticism. Although several examinations of the
178
Ibid., 32 (58).
179
It is mentioned a few times in this text, often when quoting Pelagius or Caelestius. Augustine,
Gr. et pecc. or. 1.3 (3), 1.4 (5), 1.30 (32), 1.43 (47), 1.48 (53), 1.49 (54), 2.11 (12)-12 (13), 2.38 (43).
180
He does discuss, in a very limited way, several issues we have seen before: baptism 1.32 (35),
2.39 (45), the relationship between Adam and Christ 2.24 (28), the goodness of marriage 2.33 (38-39).
152
Christological aspect of this debate have been done in the past few decades, scholars have
largely ignored Cassian’s critique of Pelagius.181 When scholars do analyze his De
incarnatione for its Christological aspects, the analyses address his Christology, as well
as his understanding of σestorius’ Christology. It is my contention that he offers an
insightful critique of Pelagius’ Christology that needs a fresh look.
Cassian claims that Pelagius believes that Christ is merely an example for
humanity to emulate in the quest for sinlessness, saying that
if Christ who was born of Mary is not the same Person as He who is of
God, you [Nestorius] certainly make two Christs; after the manner of that
abominable error of Pelagius, which in asserting that a mere man was born
of the Virgin, said that he was the teacher rather than the redeemer of
mankind; for he did not bring to men redemption of life but only an
example (exemplum) of how to live.182
For Cassian, as with our other authors, Christ is more than an example to imitate. He is
the savior of humanity. Pelagius had mentioned several times the importance of Christ as
an example to be followed. In his Expositiones ad Romanos, he says of Romans 5:12
(just as through one person sin came into the world, and through sin death), that sin and
death happen “by example or by pattern. Just as through Adam sin came at a time when
it did not yet exist, so in the same way through Christ righteousness was recovered at a
181
Joanne Dewart, "The Christology of the Pelagian Controversy," in Studia Patristica, ed.
Elizabeth A. Livingstone (Oxford: Pergamon Press, 1982), 1221-41; Robert Dodaro, "Sacramentum
Christi: Augustine on the Christology of Pelagius," in Studia Patristica: Papers Presented at the Eleventh
International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 1991: Cappadocian Fathers, Greek Authors
after Nicaea, Augustine, Donatism, and Pelagianism, ed. Elizabeth A. Livingstone (Leuven: Peeters, 1993),
274-80; Michael Hanby, Augustine and Modernity (New York: Routledge, 2003), 72-133; Lamberigts,
“Competing Christologiesμ Julian and Augustine on Jesus Christ,” 1ηλ-94; William E. Phipps, "The
Heresiarch: Pelagius or Augustine?," Anglican Theological Review LXII, no. 2 (1980): 125; Rees,
"Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic" in Pelagius: Life and Letters, 25.
182
Cassian, De inc. 6 (14). See also 1 (2).
153
time when it survived in almost no one. And just as through the former’s sin death came
in, so also through the latter’s righteousness life was regained.”183 Later, in the same
text, he said that “He [Christ] offered, by way of grace to overcome sin, teaching [and]
example.”184 Cassian, and more recently Hanby,185 understood the Christological
implications of Pelagius’ belief of Christ as exemplum.186 To say that Christ is simply an
exemplar to emulate is to call into question Christ’s role as mediator between God and
humanity. Neither Augustine nor Jerome were disturbed by the Christological
implications of Pelagius’ theological anthropology. 187 Augustine, certainly, engaged
Julian in debate over the person and natures of Christ, but their exchange orbited around
the question of Christ’s virility.188 While Cassian has been accused of being a second-
rate theologian, he was, on this point at least, more astute than our other two authors.189
183
Pelagius, Expos. (ad Romanos) 5:12. and 8 (3); Ad Dem. 8 (4).
184
Expos. (ad Romanos) 6:14.
185
Michael Hanby, Augustine and Modernity (New York: Routledge, 2003), 73-81. Although
Hanby attributes to Augustine a correct assessment of Pelagius’ Christology, he does not recognize that
Cassian understood this problem as well. Hanby sees Cassian as almost as dangerous as Pelagius.
186
Casiday, I argue, does not adequately grasp the soteriological problems attaching to Pelagius’
Christology. He claims that “In their defense, it should be acknowledged that they espoused a broadly
sacramental view of salvation that belies Cassian’s insinuation about the Pelagian Christ being merely a
teacher.” While Casiday is right to point towards the Pelagian belief in the necessity of baptism, he
overestimates the sacramental value of Pelagius’ understanding of baptism. Baptism for Pelagius was an
entrance into the Christian community for both babies and adults and a washing away of sins in adults.
Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian, 111. For Pelagius’ understanding of baptism, see
Brown, Augustine of Hippo: A Biography, 370-1.
187
Augustine detected the Christological problem in Pelagius, but he only mentioned in passing.
He did not spend any significant time correcting Pelagius: Gr. et pecc. or. 1.2 (2). Jerome never addressed
this problem.
188
See, for example: Augustine, C. Jul. 5 (55).
154
While Cassian’s analysis is keenly insightful, he then attributes to Pelagius two
Christological statements that are not found in his writings. First, he claims that Pelagius
believed that Jesus became Christ only after his baptism;190 then, he states that he became
God only after the resurrection.191 The implication of these claims is that, ontologically,
Jesus was only human, but that through grace he received (suscipere) God.192 As
Pelagius never made such claims, we are left to ponder why Cassian would make such a
fallacious statement. The most likely reason is that he confused, misattributed, or even
purposefully ascribed these ideas to Pelagius under the influence of, or with the
encouragement of, Leporius, a man who had recently recanted his previous Christological
views.
Leporius, according to Cassian, was one of the first and most zealous students of
Pelagius in Gaul.193 Gennadius, later, would make the same claim.194 It is clear,
however, that Gennadius received this idea from Cassian because his and Cassian’s
words are eerily similar. Cassian claimed that Leporius was “a monk, now presbyter,
who followed the teaching or rather the evil deeds of Pelagius” (enim tunc monachus,
189
Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 23. See also: Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition: From the
Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451), 468; Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive Monasticism, 157.
190
Cassian may have had Photinus on his mind and may have been attempting to use the same
ploy of “guilt by association” that he uses with Pelagius and σestorius.
191
Cassian, De inc. 1 (3), 5 (1-4), 6 (14), 7 (21).
192
See also: Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive Monasticism, 156-7; Casiday,
“Cassian Against the Pelagians,” 1θ.
193
Cassian, De inc. 1 (4).
194
Gennadius, De vir. inlustr. 59.
155
modo presbyter, qui ex Pelagii), while Gennadius said that he was “formerly a monk
afterwards presbyter, relying on purity, through his own free will and unaided effort,
instead of depending on the help of God, began to follow the Pelagian doctrine” (adhuc
monachus, postea presbyter, praesumens de puritate vitae, quam arbitrio tantum et
conatu proprio, non Dei se adjutorio obtinuisse crediderat, Pelagianum dogma coeperat
sequi).195 We, therefore, may dismiss Gennadius as an independent source.
In an epistula from 418 written to Proculus, bishop of Marseilles, and Cillenius, a
bishop of southern Gaul, Augustine and several other North African bishops tell a
different story.196 In this description of Leporius’ recantation, there is no indication that
he was ever a follower of Pelagius.197 If he had been his disciple, we should expect to
find Leporius claim that Christ was only an exemplum.198 But, he never does so. Indeed,
when Cassian himself quotes his deploratio,199 there is in it nothing remotely reminiscent
of Pelagius.200 Furthermore, as this epistula is dated from the height of this debate when
Pelagius would be condemned three times, we should expect Augustine to make a
195
Cassian, De inc. 1 (4); Gennadius, De vir. inlustr. 59.
196
For the debate over the dating of this letter, see Teske’s note inμ Augustine, Letters: 211-270,
1*-29*, ed. Boniface Ramsey, trans., Roland Teske. The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the
21st Century (Hyde Park: New City Press, 2005), 69 n. 1.
197
Augustine, Ep. 219.
198
Torsten Krannich, Von Leporius bis zu Leo dem Großen: Studien zur lateinischsprachigen
Christologie im fünften Jahrhundert nach Christus (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2005), 58-60.
199
Cassian, De inc. 1 (5).
200
Krannich, Von Leporius bis zu Leo dem Großen: Studien zur lateinischsprachigen Christologie
im fünften Jahrhundert nach Christus, 104-6.
156
connection between Pelagius and Leporius, if such a connection were to exist. As none is
made, we may dismiss these criticisms of Pelagius as erroneous. It is most likely that
Cassian linked them together on purpose in order to discredit them both and, throughout
the rest of the text, discredit Nestorius.201
Larger Critique: Jerome
Jerome has a much narrower set of concerns than most scholars believe. In our
previous chapter, we saw in Book III of his Dialogi that he addressed such issues as
predestination, infant baptism, and the transmission of sin. Those attacks, however, were
aimed at Augustine, not Pelagius. He seems to be troubled by only two other issues:
Pelagius’ definition of grace and his understanding of free will. It is important to note
that grace and free will are not discussed independently; both are secondary and are
always in service of sinlessness.202 In other words: does humanity have the free will to
be sinless, what role does grace play in the exercise of free will in such a case, and what
role does it play in a sinless life? He, then, was closer to Cassian than to Augustine in
that he understood that sinlessness was the key to entering Pelagius’ thought.
201
Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive Monasticism, 158; Stewart, Cassian the Monk,
22.
202
Rackett, “What's Wrong with Pelagianism? Augustine and Jerome on the Dangers of Pelagius
and His Followers,” 231.
157
While acknowledging that Pelagius recognizes its importance,203 Jerome feels that
Pelagius’ definition of grace is far too narrow.204 In his Ep. 133, he indicates that
Pelagius defines grace as the gifts of the commandments of the Law and free will.205
Later, in his Dialogi, he expands the definition of grace to include all of creation
(conditio).206 He is also deeply troubled by Pelagius’ claim that God’s grace has
provided the ability (potestas) to avoid sin.207 But Pelagius, he believes, does not
adequately appreciate the need for God’s grace in every moment and, thereby,
demonstrates a flawed understanding of the sinfulness of humanity.208
This stands in a different light than Augustine’s critique of Pelagius’ idea of grace
in two ways. First, Augustine’s critique of Pelagius rested on the claim that works cause
grace to be bestowed on the individual. In his Ad Demetriadem, Pelagius claims that “by
doing his [God’s] will, [one is able] to merit divine grace also and to resist the evil spirit
more easily with the aid of the Holy Spirit.”209 Augustine would rail against this claim in
203
Jerome, Dial. 1 (2).
204
Cavallera, “Saint Jérome et la vie parfaite,” 102.
205
Jerome, Ep. 133 (5); Dial. 1 (1).
206
Ibid., 3 (11).
207
Ibid., 3 (2-7).
208
Rousseau, “Jerome on Jeremiahμ Exegesis and Recovery,” ιθ.
209
Pelagius, Ad Dem. 25 (3). How these men define grace is one of the most important and
slippery issues in the entire debate. They all believed in the necessity and efficacy of grace. What that
exactly means for each one of them is the heart of the dispute of grace. Here, we see that Jerome (and
Augustine would also do) acknowledges that Pelagius stressed grace, but how Pelagius defined grace was
problematic, to say the least, for Jerome.
158
his De gratia Christi et de peccato originali. Grace, he claims, can never be earned.210
Jerome, on the other hand, was never concerned with the order of grace and merits.
Although we saw earlier that he claims that we should strive for grace, we should not
conclude that he favored Pelagius on this issue. Like many other theological issues, it
seems that he was just not interested in writing about such questions. Once again, Jerome
shows that he is theologically less probing than Augustine.
Also, Augustine is much more detailed than Jerome in his critique of Pelagius’
idea that God’s grace rests in the ability to be free of sin, but not the will or the action.
For Pelagius, God’s grace extends only to the ability to be free of sin. The will to be
sinless and the action of being sinless rest with the individual alone. God will never
compel anyone either to commit sin or to be sinless.211 For Augustine, in order for an
individual to avoid sin, God’s grace must be present in all three stages.212 To say that
ability alone is all that is necessary demonstrates a fundamental error in comprehending
humanity’s postlapsarian reliance on God. Jerome, however, never explores Pelagius’
scheme in such a fashion.213
Jerome’s second worry was Pelagius’ emphasis on the free will. Pelagius insisted
on the autonomy of the will because to say that it has lost its freedom implies several
210
Augustine, Gr. et pecc. or. 1.23 (24).
211
Ibid., 1.3 (4).
212
Ibid., 1.25 (26).
213
Jerome recognizes that Pelagius makes this three-fold distinction, but does not attack it as
Augustine did. Jerome, Dial. 3 (5).
159
points. First, Genesis (1:26) states that humans are created in the image and likeness of
God.214 If the will is impaired by the sin of Adam and Eve, such a claim would render
the biblical claim invalid. Such a stand is blasphemous. Second, if the will is not truly
free, then there is no difference between Christians and the Manichees, which we have
already discussed.215 Finally, the will must be free to choose either good or evil because
if it is not, one must accuse God of being the author of sin.216 Jerome’s responses to
these concerns are disappointing. He entirely ignores the charges that, in his scheme, the
image and likeness of the soul is warped, and he also ignores the charge that he supports
the Manichees, (a possible foreshadowing of the accusations thrown back and forth
between Augustine and Julian?). He does respond to the third charge by throwing it back
at Pelagius. In Pelagius’ line of thinking, God must also be credited as the author of sin
because of his refusal to act in human affairs. “It is an old maxim,” he says, “that if a
man can deliver another from death and does not, he is a homicide.”217 God is damned if
He does, or not.
Jerome is offended by Pelagius’ will on three fronts. Why would anyone ever
pray, he asks, if the movement of the will permits sinlessness? He suggests that such a
free will implies that humanity is equal to God because it does not need any assistance
214
Ibid., 1 (1).
215
Ibid., 3 (5).
216
Ibid., 3 (6).
217
Ibid., 3 (6).
160
from Him.218 He is also concerned with the inevitable implication that by stressing the
importance of the will, Pelagius diminishes God’s power. Jerome wants to preserve both
it and the free will; but, Pelagius, he believes, favors the latter over the former. Finally,
he feels that Pelagius does not adequately appreciate the influence that the body has over
the soul. Pelagius certainly acknowledges that the flesh lusts against the spirit, but he
believes that through the determination of the will, the flesh can be conquered. Jerome,
on the other hand, had a keener understanding of the danger that the flesh always poses to
the spirit.219
Conclusion
This chapter has situated the arguments found in our previous chapters into the
biographical contexts of our authors that informed how they approached their opponents,
the way they understood sinlessness, and how their criticisms of sinlessness related to
their overall critiques of Pelagius. Augustine’s battles with the Manichees and the
Donatists both informed his approach to Pelagius, and were evoked thereafter in
unexpected and counterintuitive ways. Cassian, the consummate monk, so seamlessly
wove his critique into his ascetic context that few scholars have recognized his Conf. 23
as anything other than an elaboration of the ascetic agenda. Haunted by the ghosts of his
past, Jerome only viewed Pelagius as Origen echoing down through time to the fifth
218
Jerome, Ep. 133 (5).
219
Dial. 3 (12).
161
century in the “Albine dog.”220 Their starting points—the definitions of sinlessness—
were so dissimilar that their subsequent arguments ended with equally dissimilar
conclusions. We also saw how their critiques of sinlessness were located in their larger
agenda. Augustine brushed aside sinlessness as a footnote that distracted from his main
concern. Cassian and Jerome, on the other hand, took the center of Pelagius’
anthropology much more seriously. Cassian saw this as one of the two main flaws in
Pelagius thinking, the other being Christological. Jerome, finally, was worried about
Pelagius’ definitions of grace and free will, both in service to the possibility of living a
sinless life.
220
Praef in lib. Hier. 3.
Chapter Six: Conclusion
Topics for Future Research
Orosius, whom we have mentioned in passing, deserves more attention than we
have been able to give him here and, in fact, more attention than scholars have given him
in general. Twenty years ago, Bonner correctly pointed to the important (yet ultimately
futile) role that he played in Palestine.1 Little work, however, has been done since.2
Orosius often is considered to have been a student of both Augustine and Jerome;3
Augustine tells us that he instructed him as best he could, and Orosius tells us that
Augustine sent him to Palestine to sit at Jerome’s feet.4 Such statements have often been
taken to imply that he was simply a puppet for the two theological giants, which, I would
argue, is not necessarily the case. While Orosius certainly had been influenced by them,
he was his own man.
The first, and most important, accusation that he brought against Pelagius at the
Synod of Jerusalem was that Pelagius claimed that a person could be without sin and that
God’s commandments were easy to follow. τrosius reported that at the Synod “Pelagius
told me that he was teaching that a person could be without sin and could easily obseve
1
Bonner, “Pelagianism Reconsidered,” 23κ.
2
Lacroix’s text remains foundational for our understanding of τrosius. Bonner, however, wrote
28 years after him, and work remains to be done. Benoît Lacroix, Orose et ses idées (Montréal: Institut
d'Études Médiévales, 1965).
3
Adalbert Hamman, "Orosius de Braga et le Pélagianisme," Bracara Augusta 21 (1968): 347-8.
4
Augustine, Ep. 166 (2); Orosius, Lib. Apol. 3.
162
163
God’s commandments if he so wished.” 5 In response, Pelagius said that “I cannot deny
that I both said this and still am saying it.”6 This accusation is in harmony with the theme
of this dissertation and, as such, the obvious next step would be to investiage τrosius’
understanding of sinlessness.
Orosius also says that “[sinlessness] is the doctrine, as you [John of Jeruslaem]
have heard, to which Bishop Augustine reacted with horror (exhorrescere) in his
treatises.”7 This, as we have seen, is not correct. At this point in the debate, Augustine’s
reaction may be characterized, at worst, as mildly indifferent.8 Why, then, would Orosius
make such a claim?9 His statement leads us to two important points. First, Orosius, like
Jerome but unlike Augustine, put the question of sinlessness at the forefront of Pelagius’
heretical claims. This shows that although Augustine had influenced him, he diverged
from Augustine on his understanding of Pelagius’ error. Second, his distortion of
Augustine’s texts also points to a crafty willingness to put to use Augustine’s
reputation—which he had so loudly proclaimed—for his own agenda.10 This may have
led to the cooling of the relationship between the two, about which scholars have
5
Orosius, Lib. Apol., 4.
6
Ibid.,
7
Ibid.,
8
Augustine, Nat. et gr. 60 (70).
9
It is possible that in private conversations Augustine expressed emotions to Orosius that are
different from the texts we have. Unfortunately, we can never know what went on in those dialogues.
10
Orosius, Lib. Apol. 4.
164
speculated.11 One may suspect also that Jerome had something to do with it. τrosius’
failure to achieve Augustine’s desires to stem Pelagius’ influence in Palestine, however,
also must have disappointed Augustine and led to their break.
Several questions, then, need to be pursued in future research. While he was a
student of both Jerome and Augustine, who influenced him more? Or, better yet, what
influence did he have on either of them? Did the student become the teacher? How are
his criticisms of sinlessness similar to Jerome’s? More importantly, how are they
different? What sour taste did he leave in the mouth of John of Jerusalem that poisoned
him and his fellow bishops? What influence did he have on the Synod of Diospolis?
How do the Synods of Jerusalem and Diospolis compare? Such an important voice has
been marginalized for too long.
Another issue—unrelated to Orosius and his relationships—that needs more
exploration deals with the founder of the school of thought that is associated with
Pelagius’ name. Scholars have attempted to determine who “really” was the intellectual
progenitor of this loose confederation of men. This question, I would argue, is
impossible to answer based on the extant materials, and is the wrong one to ask. A more
productive study would result from investigating each of our three authors to see whom
they believed was the leader of this group. Such an investigation in relation to Augustine
would need to follow a similar method of tracking his thought over time as was done in
these pages because, on a cursory survey, it seems that Augustine’s thoughts on this issue
11
Hanson, “Introduction,” 10θ.
165
changed over time. What caused such changes? When did he start grouping these men
together as a coherent group of “new hereticsς”12 What was his agenda in doing so?
How did these changes dictate how his arguments were constructed?
Our other two authors offer their own insights. Such an inquiry of Cassian would
lead to very little as he never names anyone other than Pelagius, whom he clearly sees as
being the instigator.13
Jerome, though, offers a more puzzling case. When he criticizes his opponents
either directly or indirectly, he aims his attacks at Pelagius. In the middle of his Ep. 133,
however, he seems to make a reference to Caelestius that muddies the waters. “This
argument [that people do not need external help] is not mine,” he says, “it is from his
disciple (discipulus), rather the teacher and leader (magister et ductor) of the entire army
(exercitus).”14 This leads to several questions: should magister and ductor be interpreted
to mean that he thought Caelestius was the teacher and Pelagius was the student? Is it, in
fact, Caelestius whom he calls a discipulus? If so, why does he immediately call him the
magister? If he does believe that Caelestius is the teacher, why does he spend the next
few years criticizing Pelagius and not Caelestius? What are the implications of such a
belief? His elaborate genealogies of antecedents and dependents in his Praefatio in libro
Hieremiae prophetae and his Dialogi only confuse the issue more. Later, in a letter
12
Augustine, C. ep. Pel. 3.9 (25).
13
Cassian, De inc. 1 (3), 5 (2), 5 (4), 6 (14).
14
Jerome, Ep. 133 (5). English translation mine.
166
written to Alypius and Augustine just before he died, he congratulated them on defeating
the “Caelestian heresy,” without mentioning Pelagius at all.15
Implications for Scholarship: General
The broadest—and most important—implication that this dissertation has for
scholarship is that this debate in the early fifth century now must be seen in a new and
different way, because this project investigated our three authors from a perspective that
had not been done previously. While Rackett and Löhr have demonstrated how central
the question of sinlessness was for Pelagius and his band, the question still remained how
Pelagius’ interlocutors reacted to it. By investigating these authors through this lens, the
classic Augustinian narrative of grace becomes qualified, and we are left with a different
assessment of the actors and issues.
We saw that Augustine did not find sinlessness a particularly convincing avenue
by which to attack his opponents. He opens himself up to criticism for this because he
betrays that he was not interested in engaging them on their own terms. He, rather, was
more interested in the question of grace, which, for Pelagius, was simply a means to the
end of sinlessness. This should lead us to look more suspiciously at Augustine’s agenda
and to question how honest was his portrayal of his opponents. Augustine’s analysis of
Pelagius’s threat to Christianity, in the end, is disappointing because it does not seem as
if he ever grasped what was most important for Pelagius.
15
Ep. 143 (1).
167
While Cassian was more willing to take the issue of sinlessness head-on, we must
be suspicious of his conclusions as well because his definition of sinlessness did not
come from Pelagius’ writings. His equation of sinlessness with Evagrian εω α distorts
the issue at hand just as much as Augustine had done by diminishing its importance.
Cassian’s use of Evagrius does not seem applicable to Pelagius as he had likely never
read Evagrius. It should be noted here that although Cassian connected sinlessness and
εω α, Evagrius did not do so. This association was an innovation from Cassian.
Furthermore, Jerome’s equation of sinlessness with Stoic ἀπά ε α was just as misleading.
Although Pelagius most likely had been influenced by certain aspects of Stoicism, it was
unfair of Jerome to assume that Pelagius understood sinlessness through a Stoic
perspective. We must conclude that, ultimately, our three authors and Pelagius were not
engaged in theological conversations but, rather, were engaged in dueling monologues;
that is to say, they were speaking past each other, not to each other.
This dissertation also demonstrated that this debate was not two sides in
opposition; our three authors also attempted to set themselves apart from each other.
During the short period of time that Augustine believed that one may be sinless, he still
was wary of Jerome’s position.16 Cassian, on the other hand, was much more willing to
challenge Augustine and Jerome. He, we saw, wrote his Conf. 13 against Augustine, not
Pelagius as many contemporary scholars believe. His Conf. 23, furthermore, was written
not only against Pelagius but, also, Jerome. Jerome’s Book III of his Dialogi was written
primarily against Augustine, not Pelagius. These examples must force scholard to
16
Augustine, Perf. ius. 21 (44).
168
reconsider that there are many more nuanced positions than previously have been
acknowledged.
Implications for Scholarship: Augustine
This dissertation has several implications for Augustinian scholarship. It has
offered a coherent picture of Augustine’s understanding of sinlessness—a topic not
hitherto investigated either extensively or systematically. This fact is quite surprising in
light of the immensity of his influence for the history of the development of western
thought. Such a comprehensive view of sinlessness gives us a more complete picture of
his thought as a whole. This more complete picture will help theologians and historians
gain a clearer insight into the development of the Christian understanding of the human
person and of salvation.
Specifically, this dissertation has demonstrated that Augustine’s thinking about
sinlessness (cyclically) changed over time, in opposition to such scholars as Bonner who
claimed that it only changed in emphasis, not substance. Recently, Carol Harrison has
argued that Augustine’s anthropology and soteriology did not change in 397; they
remained constant since his early Cassiciacum dialogues.17 Chad Tyler Gerber, in his
recent book on Augustine’ pneumatology, has stated that Augustine’s understanding of
the Holy Spirit was firmly Nicene in his early years.18 This dissertation has shown that,
17
Harrison, e hinking g s ine’s Early Theology, vi.
18
Chad Tyler Gerber, The Spirit of Augustine's Early Theology: Contextualizing Augustine's
Pneumatology (Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2012), 5.
169
at least for the question of sinlessness, Bonner’s, Harrison’s, and Gerber’s, arguments
cannot account for the entirety of Augustine’s thinking. The debate must continue, then,
about the development of Augustine’s thought. Is there an “early” Augustine and a “late”
Augustine? Or, is the change demonstrated in this project the exception to the rule and
that, overall, Augustine’s thought remained constant since the time of his conversion?
Another issue that scholars must face is Augustine’s responses to others whom he
believed contaminated Christianity. As Augustine established the terms of the debate to
fit his interests, scholars must investigate to see if similar patterns may be found in his
writings against other groups, such as the Manichees, Donatists, and others. BeDuhn has
demonstrated that Augustine did not fully understand the teachings of the Manichees.19
We must ask, then, if Augustine unintentionally, or even intentionally, misrepresented
them in his treatises. While Augustine had been a Manichee, he never had been a
Donatist. If he did not fully understand the Manichees, one wonders how well he knew
the Donatists and, by extension, how accurately he portrayed them in his writings. In the
end, did Augustine, in a sense, “miss the point,” or even purposefully ignore the point of
these groups?
Implications for Scholarship: Cassian
The sections on Cassian in this dissertation contain the most important
implications for scholarship. First, and most generally, the connections made here
19
BeDuhn, Augustine's Manichaean Dilemma, I: Conversion and Apostasy, 373-388 C.E., 102-4.
170
demonstrate that Cassian was not writing in a vacuum, against some Gallic authors, or
against a select few texts from Augustine that were divorced from Augustine’s writings
against Pelagius. Nor should his arguments be considered as a “Semi-Pelagian” after-
thought. He saw himself as fully engaged in the debates against Pelagius and his cohort.
We now see that his Conf. 13, Conf. 23 and his De incarnatione had critiqued Pelagius,
Augustine, and Jerome. Scholars now now reorient their thinking about the false division
between the “Pelagian Controversy” and the “Semi-Pelagian Controversy.” One
distinction that should still remain, I argue, is the one caused by Augustine’s Ep. 194 that
frazzled the monks of Hadrumetum. As they had no knowledge of Pelagius or the drama
that he caused, they should not be considered part of this debate. Furthermore, they
should not be lumped together in the “Semi-Pelagian Controversy” (as has often been
done since the post-Reformation period) with the Gallic monks because there was no
connection between the two groups.20 This pairing, unfortunately, continues until the
present. Even Teske, who refuses to use the terms “Semi-Pelagian,” “Massilian,” and
“remnants of the Pelagians,” still combines them together, described as “the monks of
Hadrumetum and Provence,” in his fourth volume of translations of Augustine’s Answer
to the Pelagians.21 If it is absolutely necessary to give this controversy a title (and I am
20
Roland Teske, General Introduction to The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st
Century: Answer to the Pelagians: IV, ed. by John E. Rotelle, 26. Hyde Park, N.Y.: New City Press, 1997,
11.
21
Teske, “Introduction” to The Works of Saint Augustine: A Translation for the 21st Century:
Answer to the Pelagians: IV, 35 n. 1.
171
not sure that it is), I would suggest that scholars begin using the phrase “The
Hadrumetum Controversy.”22
Another implication results from the argument that the end of Conf. 22 and all of
Conf. 23 were written against Pelagius. This argument must force scholars to reconsider
Cassian’s later ones, which receive much less attention than his earlier. While previous
scholars viewed Conf. 23 as an unremarkable biblical commentary, or have largely
ignored it because they view it as simply rehashing the telos of the ascetic life that had
been discussed in earlier writings such as Conf. 1, we have seen here that it is much more
layered than has previously been thought. It is both a description of the ascetic life and,
simultaneously, an attack (primarily) on Pelagius and (secondarily) on Jerome. Scholars,
then, also must investigate, in a more nuanced way, how Cassian constructs the
relationship between his ascetic agenda and his apologetic agenda in his writings.
Furthermore, picking up on the implication made earlier that Cassian must be deemed a
partner with Augustine and Jerome against Pelagius, these two texts must be included in
any new drawing of the theological landscape of this early fifth-century debate.
Yet another implication from this dissertation arises from the relationship between
Evagrius and Cassian. While scholars have recognized the influence that Evagrius had
on Cassian since Marsili and Olphe-Galliard in 1936, recent scholarship has tended to
focus on Cassian’s transformation of Evagrius’ term ἀπά ε α—which we earlier saw
22
After introducing the issue at hand in the first chapter of this dissertation, I did not use the term
“Pelagian Controversy” or “Pelagianism” because, as I stated earlier, it oversimplifies the complexity of
thought of the individuals involved. As the monks of Hadrumetum do not present a similar issue, I have no
problem using the phrase “Hadrumetum Controversy.”
172
Raasch, Ousley, and Clark describe as simultaneously the end of π α and the
beginning of εω —into the more biblical phrase puritas cordis, in order to purge it
of any suspicious connotations. In addition to this instance, we saw here that Evagrius
also asserted considerable influence on Cassian’s understanding of εω α, which is the
end of εω . Cassian refashioned Evagrius’ εω α into impeccantia and then said,
against Pelagius, that such a state is impossible to achieve. This project, therefore, points
to the need for scholars to branch outside the ἀπά ε α / puritas cordis issue, which, in
recent decades, has drawn a tremendous amount of scholarly attention, and to continue to
explore what other ideas Cassian borrowed from Evagrius, even if he did not use
Evagrius’ exact same vocabulary.
This dissertation did not commence the debate about the intended target of
Cassian’s Conf. 13, nor will it put it to rest. Several implications, however, do arise from
the arguments made here. As we have seen, over the past fifty years or so, there have
been many arguments made that contradict the tradition, established by Prosper of
Aquitaine, that Cassian wrote it against Augustine, claiming that it was written against
Pelagius, Prosper himself, or even anonymous Gallic authors. The pendulum, it seems,
has swung too far and is beginning to come back. Scholars now must reconsider
Augustine as Cassian’s anonymous interlocutor, because we have been that Cassian was
also critical of Jerome, Jerome disapproved of Augustine, and Augustine was cautious
about Jerome. These three men were almost as critical of each other as they were of
Pelagius. Why, then, should we not suppose that Conf. 13 was written against
Augustine? Also, scholars must look outside of Conf. 13 when searching for an answer
173
to this question. What about other ones? Cassian’s De incarnatione shed significant
light on this question when we saw that his criticisms of Pelagius dealt with the questions
of sinlessness and Christology, not the definition of grace. How can the De institutis
coenobiorum help address this issue? What other pieces of evidence may be gleaned
from outside of Cassian’s oeuvre? There are many more avenues to explore.
The final implication for Cassian is in reference to our exploration of his critique
of Pelagius’ Christology. Very little work has been done in this area and there is much
room for elaboration.23 We saw that neither Augustine nor Jerome made any serious
charges that Pelagius had a deficient Christology. Cassian, however, keenly saw the
Christological implications of Pelagius’ theological anthropology. In fact, there is much
more to be said about Christology, in general, in this debate. Dewart has argued that
Christology was not an issue,24 but evidence indicates that it played a much larger role in
this debate than scholars have appreciated.25 While there is no doubt that the central
issues in this debate were anthropological and soteriological, Christology has been an
underappreciated element for far too long. Even Cassian’s own Christology deserves a
fresh look, if it is taken on its own terms. While most scholars have dismissed it,26 it can
23
Hanby, Augustine and Modernity, 73-81.
24
Dewart, "The Christology of the Pelagian Controversy," 1240.
25
Dodaro, "Sacramentum Christi: Augustine on the Christology of Pelagius," 274-80; Hanby,
Augustine and Modernity, 72-133; Lamberigts, “Competing Christologiesμ Julian and Augustine on Jesus
Christ,” 1ηλ-94; William E. Phipps, "The Heresiarch: Pelagius or Augustine?," 125; Rees, "Pelagius: A
Reluctant Heretic" in Pelagius: Life and Letters, 25.
26
Chadwick, John Cassian: A Study in Primitive Monasticism, 153-67; Grillmeier, Christ in
Christian Tradition: From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451), 468-72; Rousseau, "Cassian: Monastery
and World," 84; Stewart, Cassian the Monk, 31.
174
give us a picture of a pre-Chalcedonian Christology by someone who has been influenced
by the east and was writing in the west.27 Despite the fact that he rightly should be
criticized for writing De incarnatione without having a clear understanding of σestorius’
thought, this should not inhibit us from considering it as a worthy object of study.
Implications for Scholarship: Jerome
This dissertation has implications for Hieronymian scholarship as well. The first
addresses the relationship between Augustine and Jerome, continuing a theme on which I
have published elsewhere.28 As we saw earlier, scholars have previously argued that
Jerome’s animosity against Augustine during their correspondence at the turn of the fifth
century had abated, and that he had grown fond of Augustine. This certainly is not the
case. Jerome’s personal feelings against Augustine had not changed, and he thought
Augustine’s theology was suspect. Although he did not believe that Augustine was as
dangerous as Pelagius, and at the very end of his life did seem to warm to Augustine (a
deathbed conversion?),29 at the time of this debate Jerome believed that Augustine
misunderstood some fundamental aspects of the Gospel message.
Furthermore, our argument that Book III of the Dialogi was written against
Augustine, not Pelagius, calls into question Jerome’s view of Augustine, and forces
scholars to reconsider Jerome’s role in this debate. We saw earlier that many scholars
27
Casiday, Tradition and Theology in St John Cassian, 215-58.
28
Squires, "Jerome's Animosity against Augustine,” 1κ1-99.
29
Augustine, Ep. 202.
175
have pointed to the fact that he has been ignored in favor of Augustine. Now, we must
conclude that, in addition to this, Jerome’s writings have not been understood properly, as
it had been assumed that he stood in harmony with Augustine against Pelagius. Scholars,
then, must continue to investigate the nuances of the relationship between these two Latin
doctors of the Church, as there are few examples in history, Christian or otherwise, when
two towering figures of this quality danced with each other in such an awkward fashion.
What else can we learn about their interactions with each other, either through their
theological treatises or their correspondence? How does this relationship (or lack
thereof) shape our understanding of the Church Fathers?30
Furthermore, we know from Augustine’s earliest letters to Jerome that he had
read several texts of his and was an admirer.31 Jerome’s intellectual prowess had been
well known since his days in Rome.32 How did Jerome’s writings shape Augustine’s
understanding of the Bible? Augustine’s main influences generally are listed as
Ambrose, Ambrosiaster, the “books of the Platonists,” and Tyconius. Jerome is almost
never included. Although he was not as much of an influence as these authors
mentioned, I speculate that Jerome was a larger influence on Augustine than previously
acknowledged.
30
Carolinne White and Andrew Cain have explored this question, but I believe that more
questions need to be answered. White, The Correspondence (394-419) Between Jerome and Augustine of
Hippo; Cain, The Letters of Jerome: Asceticism, Biblical Exegesis, and the Construction of Christian
Authority in Late Antiquity.
31
Augustine, Ep. 28, for example.
32
Kelly, Jerome: His Life, Writings, and Controversies, 81-3.
176
Conclusion
We have seen in this conclusion that there is work left to be done. There are
issues—such as the role that Orosius of Braga played, and the question of who our
authors thought was the founding thinker of Pelagius’ circle—that need much more
attention. Furthermore, this dissertation has implications for wider scholarly endeavors.
We should now be suspicious of how these three authors portrayed their interlocutors; we
saw that they thought in different ways on the of question sinlessness, including how our
authors conceived of the issue from the start; how they challenged each other, which
resulted in an understanding that they did not stand together as a unified whole; that the
question of the arc of Augustine’s intellectual growth is still open for discussion; that we
now must be cautious of Augustine’s portrayal of all of his opponents, not just Pelagius;
that Cassian should not be exiled to the “Semi-Pelagian” debateν that Conf. 13 was
written against Augustine, while Conf. 23 was written against Pelagius; that Christology,
in this debate, needs to be studied much more closely; that the relationship between
Augustine and Jerome is far from clear, Jerome’s exact role in this debate, and the
question of Jerome’s influence on Augustine. The implications of this dissertation extend
beyond the question of sinlessness. They penetrate into our overall understanding of these
three authors, and how their influence shaped the subsequent thinking of the Church.
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