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Pelagianism
Pelagianism
derives its name from Pelagius who lived in the 5th century A.D. and was a
teacher in Rome, though he was British by birth. It is a heresy
dealing with the nature of man. Pelagius, whose family name was
Morgan, taught that people had the ability to fulfill the commands of God
by exercising the freedom of human will apart from the grace of God.
In other words, a person's free will is totally capable of choosing God
and/or to do good or bad without the aid of Divine intervention.
Pelagianism teaches that man's nature is basically good. Thus
it denies
original
sin, the doctrine that we have
inherited a sinful nature from Adam. He said that Adam only hurt
himself when he fell and all of his descendents were not affected by
Adam's sin. Pelagius taught that a person is born with the same
purity and moral abilities as Adam was when he was first made by
God. He taught that people can choose God by the exercise of their
free will and rational thought. God's grace, then, is merely an aid
to help individuals come to Him.
Pelagianism
fails to understand man's nature and weakness. We are by nature
sinners (Eph. 2:3; Psalm
51:5). We all have sinned
because sin entered the world through Adam: "Therefore,
just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and
in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Rom.
5:12, NIV). Furthermore, Romans 3:10-12 says, “There is
none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who
understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have
turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who
does good, There is not even one.” Therefore, we are unable to do God's will (Rom.
6:16; 7:14). We
were affected by the fall of Adam, contrary to what Pelagius taught.
See also Semi-Pelagianism.
Condemned as a
heresy
Pelagius
has been condemned by many councils throughout church history
including the following:
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Councils of
Carthage (412, 416 and 418)
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Council of Ephesus
(431)
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The Council of
Orange (529)
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Council of Trent
(1546) Roman Catholic
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2nd Helvetic
(1561/66) 8-9. (Swiss-German Reformed)
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Augsburg
Confession (1530) Art. 9, 18 (Lutheran)
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Gallican
Confession (1559) Art. 10 (French Reformed)
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Belgic Confession
(1561) Art. 15 (Lowlands, French/Dutch/German Reformed)
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The Anglican
Articles (1571), 9. (English)
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Canons of Dort
(1618-9), 3/4.2 (Dutch/German/French Reformed)1.
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1. The list of councils was taken from http://public.csusm.edu/guests/rsclark/Pelagius.htm
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