which sanctification, when perfected at last (for it is at present only advancing and growing day by day), shall take away from us for ever all the remains of our infirmity.
CHAP. XIX. (40.) THE NINTH P.ASSAGE.
" This passage, too," says he, " is quoted by them: ' It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.' " ^ And he observes that the answer to be given to them is derived from the same apostle's words in another passage: " Let him do what he will." s And he adds another passage from the Epistle to Philemon, where, speaking of Onesimus, [St. Paul says]: "'Whom I would have retained with me, that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of • I John iii. 6.
2 Rom. Lx. i5.
3 I Cor. vii. 36.
the gospel. But without thy mind would I do nothing; that thy benefit should not be as it were of necessity, but willingly.' ■* Likewise, in Deuteronomy: ' Life and death hath He set before thee, and good and evil:...choose thou life, that thou mayest live.' 5 So in the book of Solomon: ' God from the beginning made man, and left him in the hand of His counsel; and He added for him commandments and precepts: if thou wilt — to perform acceptable faithfulness for the time to come, they shall save thee. He hath set fire and water before thee: stretch forth thine hand unto whether thou wilt. Before man are good and evil, and life and death; poverty and honour are from the Lord God.' ^ So again in Isaiah we read: ' If ye be willing, and hearken unto me, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye be not willing, and hearken not to me. the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken this.' " ^ Now with all their efforts of disguise they here betray their purpose; for they plainly attempt to controvert the grace and mercy of God, which we desire to obtain whenever we offer the prayer, " Thv will be done in earth as it is in heaven: " * or again this, " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." ^ For indeed why do we present such petitions in earnest supplication, if the result is of him that willeth, and him that runneth, but not of God that showeth mercy?
Not that the result is without our will, but that our will does not accomplish the result, unless it receive the divine assistance. Now the wholesomeness of faith is this, that it makes us " seek, that we may find; ask, that we may receive; and knock, that it may be opened to us." '" Whereas the man who gainsays it, does really shut the door of God's mercy against himself. I am unwilling to say more touching so important a matter, because I do better in committing it to the groans of the faithful, than to words of my own. ^— (41.) SPECIMENS OF PELAGIAN EXEGESIS.
But I beg of you to see what kind of objection, after all, he makes, that to him who " willeth and runneth " there is no necessity for God's mercy, which actually anticipates him in order that he may run, — because, forsooth, the apostle says concerning a certain person, " Let him do what he will," ^ — in the matter, as I suppose, which he goes on to treat, when he says, " He sinneth not, let him marry!"-' As if indeed it should be regarded as a great matter to be willing to marry, when the subject is a laboured discussion concerning the assistance of God's grace, or that it is of any great advantage 5 Dent. XXX. i5, tg. ^ Matt. vi. lo.
9 Matt. vi. 13.
Chap. 43.]
to will it, unless God's providence, which governs all things, joins together the man and the woman. ^ Or, in the case of the apostle's writing to Philemon, that " his kindness should not be as it were of necessity, but voluntary," — as if any good act could indeed be voluntary otherwise than by God's "working in us both to will and to do of His own good pleasure." ' Or, when the Scripture says in Deuteronomy, " Life and death hath j He set before man, and good and evil," and admonishes him " to choose life; " as if, forsooth, this very admonition did not come from God's mere)-, or as if there were any advantage in choosing life, unless God inspired love to make such a choice, and gave the possession of it when chosen, concerning which it is said: " For anger is in His indignation, and in His pleasure is Hfe." ^ Or again, because it is said, " The commandments, if thou wilt, shall save thee," ^ — as if a man ought not to thank God, because he has a will to keep the commandments, since, if he wholly lacked the light of truth, it would not be possible for him to possess such a will. " Fire and water being set before him, a man stretches forth his hand towards which he pleases; "■* and 1 yet higher is He who calls man to his higher vocation than any thought on man's own part, inasmuch as the beginning of correction of the heart lies in faith, even as it is written, " Thou shalt come, and pass on from the beginning of faith." 5 Every one makes his choice of good, " according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith; " ^ and as the Prince of faith says, " No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him." 7 And that He spake this in reference to the faith which believes in Him, He subsequently explains with sufficient clearness, when He says: " The words that 1 speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are hfe; yet there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray Him. And He said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father." ** j (42.) god's promises conditional, saints of' the old testament were saved bv the GRACE OF CHRIST. j He, however, thought he had discovered a| great support for his cause in the prophet Isaiah; because by him God said: " If ye be willing, and hearken unto me, ye shall eat the good of j the land; but if ye be not willing, and hearken not to me, the sword shall devour you: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken this." ^ As if ' Jolui VI. 44.
^ Ps. XXX. 5.
5 Cant. iv. 8. ^ John vi. 62-65.
the entire law were not full of conditions of this sort; or as if its commandments had been given to proud men for any other reason than that " the law was added because of transgression, until the seed should come to whom the promise was made." '° " It entered, therefore, that the offence might abound; but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound." " In other words. That man might receive commandments, trusting as he did in his own resources, and that, failing in these and becoming a transgressor, he might ask for a deliverer and a saviour; and that the fear of the law might humble him, and bring him, as a schoolmaster, to taith and grace. Thus " their weaknesses being multiplied, they hastened after; " '^ and in order to heal them, Christ in due season came. In His grace even righteous men of old believed, and by the same grace were they helped; so that with joy did they receive a foreknowledge of Him, and some of them even foretold His coming, — whether they were found among the people of Israel themselves, as Moses, and Joshua the son of Nun, and Samuel, and David, and other such; or outside that people, as Job; or previous to that people, as Abraham, and Noah, and all others who are either mentioned or not in Holy Scripture. " For there is but one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus," '3 without whose grace nobody is delivered from condemnation, whether he has derived that condemnation from him in whom all men sinned, or has afterwards aggravated it by his own iniquities.
CHAP. XX. (43.) NO MAN IS ASSISTED UNLESS HE DOES HLMSELF ALSO WORK. OUR COURSE IS A CONSTANT PROGRESS.
But what is the import of the last statement which he has made: " If any one say, ' May it possibly be that a man sin not even in word? ' then the answer," says he, " which must be given is, ' Quite possible, if God so will; and God does so will, therefore it is possible.' " See how unwilling he was to say, " If God give His help, then it would be possible;" and yet the Psalmist thus addresses God: " Be Thou my helper, forsake me not; " '-^ where of course help is not sought for procuring bodily advantages and avoiding bodily evils, but for practising and fulfilling righteousness. Hence it is that we say: "' Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." '5 Now no man is assisted unless he also himself does something; assisted, however, he is, if he prays, if he believes, if he is " called according to God's purpose; " "" for " whom He did foreknow. He also did predestinate to be conformed '^ Gnl iii. ig. " I rim. li. 5. "> Rom. via. 28.
'= Ps. xvi. 4. 'S Matt. vi. 13.
[Chap. 44.
to the image of His Son, that He might be the J first-born among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called; and whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified." ' We run, therefore, whenever we make advance; and our wholeness runs with us in our advance (just as a sore is said to run - when the wound is in process of a sound and careful treatment), in order that we may be in every respect perfect, without any infirmity of sin whatever, — a result which God not only wishes, but even causes and helps us to accomplish. And this God's grace does, in co-operation with ourselves, through Jesus Christ our Lord, as well by commandments, sacraments, and examples, as by His Holy Spirit also; through whom there is hiddenly shed abroad in our hearts ^ that love, " which maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered," * until wholeness and salvation be perfected in us, and God be manifested to us as He will be seen in His eternal truth.
CHAP. XXI. (44.) CONCLUSION OF THE WORK. IN THE REGENERATE IT IS NOT CONCUPISCENCE, BUT CONSENT, WHICH IS SIN.
Whosoever, then, supposes that any man or any men (except the one Mediator between God and man') have ever lived, or are yet living in this present state, who have not needed, and do not need, forgiveness of sins, he opposes Holy Scripture, wherein it is said by the apostle: " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, in which all have sinned."^ And he must needs go on to assert, with an impious contention, that there may possibly be men who are freed and saved from sin without the liberation and salvation of the one Mediator Christ. Whereas He it is who has said: " They that be whole need Hot a physician, but they that are sick; "7 "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."^ He, moreover, who says that any man, after he has received remission of sins, has ever lived in this body, or still is living, so righteously as to have no sin at all, he contradicts the Apostle John, who declares that " If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." ^ Observe, the expression is not we liad, but " n'e havcy If, however, anybody contend that the apostle's statement concerns the sin which dwells in our mortal flesh according to the defect which was caused by the will of the first man when he sinned, and concerning which the Apostle Paul enjoins us "not" to "obey it in the lusts thereof," '° — so that he does not sin who altogether withholds his consent from this same indwelling sin, and so brings it to no evil work, — either in deed, or word, or thought, — although the lusting after it may be excited (wliich in another sense has received the name of sin, inasmuch as consenting to it would amount to sinning), but excited against our will, — he certainly is drawing subtle distinctions, and should" consider what relation all this bears to the Lord's Prayer, wherein we say, " Forgive us our debts." " Now, if I judge aright, it would be unnecessary to put up such a prayer as this, if we never -in the least degree consented to the lusts of the before-mentioned sin, either in a slip of the tongue, or in a wanton thought; all that it would be needful to say would be, " Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." '^ Nor could the Apostle James say: " In many things we all offend." '' For in truth only that man offends whom an evil concupiscence persuades, either by deception or by force, to do or say or think something which he ought to avoid, by directing his appetites or his aversions contrary to the rule of righteousness. Finally, if it be asserted that there either have been, or are in this present life, any persons, wath the sole exception of our Great Head, " the Saviour of His body," '-* who are righteous, without any 3in, — and this, either by not consenting to the lusts thereof, or because that must not be accounted as any sin which is such that God does not impute it to them by reason of their godly lives (although the blessedness of being without sin is a different thing from the blessedness of not having one's sin imputed to him), '5 — I do not deem it necessary to contest the point over much. I am quite aware that some hold this opinion,'^ whose views on the subject I have not the courage to censure, although, at the same time, I cannot defend them. But if any man says that we ought not to use the prayer, " Lead us not into temptation " (and he says as much who maintains that God's help is unnecessary to a person for the avoidance of sin. and that human will, after accepting only the law, is sufficient for the purpose), then I do not hesitate at once to affirm that such a man ought to be removed from the public ear, and to be anathematized by every mouth.
" Matt. vi. 12. '2 Matt. vi.
'° Rom. vi. 12.
'^ Jas. ill. 2.
'5 Ps. xxxii. 2.
'0 See Augustin's treatise, Dc Natura et Gratia, 74, 75.
13- A WORK ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF PELAGIUS.
Book II. Chap. 45, "DE GESTIS PELAGIL" " About the same time, in the East (that is to say, in Palestinian Syria), Pelagius was summoned by certain catholic brethren ' before a tribunal of bishops, and was heard on his trial by fourteen prelates, in the absence of his accusers, who were unable to be present on the day of the synod. On his condemning the very dogmas which were read from the indictment against him, as assailing the grace of Christ, they pro- ' Their names were Heros and Lazarus.
novmced him to be a catholic. But when the Acts of this synod found their way into our hands, I wrote a treatise on them, to prevent the idea gaining ground that, because he had been in a manner acquitted, his opinions also were approved by the bishops; or that the accused could by any chance have escaped condemnation at their hands, unless he had condemned the opinions charged against him. This treatise of mine begins with these words: ' After there came into my hands.' " PREFACE TO THE BOOK ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF PELAGIUS.
In the year of Christ 415, Pelagius was accused of heresy in Palestine, and brought to trial on one or two occasions. At the first trial, which was held on or about the 30th of July, at a congress of his presbyters, by John, bishop of Jerusalem, no regular record was kept of the proceedings, as we are informed by Augustin in the following work (sec. 39 and 55). The hour and the day of this assembly we may learn from Orosius, a presbyter of Spain, who was present at the congress, and has in his Apology committed to writing some of its most memorable acts. We are informed by him that "after a great deal of earnest proceeding on both sides, the bishop John proposed the last resolution, that certain brethren should be sent with a letter to blessed Innocent, Pope of Rome, to the intent that he might decide on all the points which were to follow."
The second trial took place afterwards at Diospolis,' a city in Palestine, before fourteen bishops, at which was kept an accurate record of the proceedings. The bishops are severally mentioned by Augustin in his work against /nlianus, Book i. chs. v. and vii. (19, 32), in the followmg order: " Eulogius, John, Ammonianus, Porphyry, Eutonius, another Porphyry, Fidus, Zoninus, Zoboennus, Nymphidius, Chromatins, Jovinus, Eleutherius, and Clematius. There can be no doubt that Eulogius, bishop of Cssarea, was also primate of the province of Palestine, because he is constantly mentioned by Augustin as occupying the first place before the other thirteen bishops, and even before John himself, bishop of Jerusalem.
We find from the epistle of Lucian,^ De revelatione corporis Stephani martyris, that this synod was held at the approach of Christmas. In this epistle he tells us of three visions which God had shown him in the year 415, — the first on December 3d, and the other two on the loth and 17th of the same month; that he then reported the matter to John, bishop of Jerusalem, who sent him in quest of the martyr's sepulchre. He further informs us that he discovered the sepulchre, and at once returned to John, " who (says he) was attending a synod at Lydda, which is Diospolis." This must have happened about the 21st of the month, since Lucian goes on cu say that John came, in the company of two more bishops, Eutonius of Sebaste and Eleutherius of Jericho, and that in their presence the relics of the martyr were removed on the 26th day of the same month of December.
A certain deacon, called Annianus, is supposed to have pleaded the cause of Pelagius at the synod; some learned men finding it easier to interpret of this deacon than of Pelagius what Jerome writes in a letter addressed to Alypius and Augustin {Epist. Augustijiian. 202, 2): " For every thing which he denies having ever uttered in that miserable synod of Diospolis he professes to hold in this work." Jerome bestowed the epithet of " miserable " on this synod of Diospolis, for no other reason (as we suppose) than because he discovered from its Acts how miserably the synod had been duped by Pelagius. Pope Innocent, after a sight of these Acts, expressly owned (see Epist. Augustinian. 183, 4) that " he could not bring himself to refuse either blame or praise of those bishops." Augustin, however, in the following treatise (see chs. 4 and 8), docs not hesitate to call them " pious judges," and (in his first book against Julianus, i. ch. v. 19) " catholic judges," who, when Pelagius abjured the errors attributed to him, pronounced him a catholic, and acquitted him; indeed, he frequently cites these fourteen bishops as witnesses of the catholic faith in opposition to Julianus.
In his letters addressed to Pope Innocent in the year 416 (see Epist. Augustinian. 175, 4, and 177, 2), Augus-,tin intimated that he knew nothing of the Proceedings of the synod except from hearsay; and in a letter to John, bishop of Jerusalem (Epist. 179, 4), he earnestly requested him to forward them to him. But the report was in his hands about midsummer in 417, \vhei>he wrote his Epistle to Paulinus (Epist. 1S6, 31); so that the date of the following treatise is thus traced to the commencement of the year 417, supposing it to have been published immediately after he had received the Proceedings.
The title given to this work by Augustin, in his book On Original Sin (15), stands De Gestis Pahtstinis [On the Proceedings which took place in Palestine]; by this title Prosper likewise refers to the work (m his book Adv.
* That is, Lydda. * To be found in Mi?ne's Patrologia Latina, vol. vii., Appendix.
i8o PREFACE.
CoUatorem, 43); but yet we ought to retain the inscription De Gestis Pelagii, which is prefixed both to the ancient editions and to the particular Retractation in which Augustin reviewed this work. The treatise had this title given to it, no doubt, either because it had been already commonly accepted as a description of these proceedings of Pelagius and his vindication, which led to his boast that he had been acquitted; or else from the fact that an examination had become necessary of those jiroceedings, which the accused party had himself published in an abridged and garbled form. Hence Possidonius named the treatise by the title, Contra Gesta Pelagii [A Protest, or Vindication, against the Proceedings of Pelagius].
Out of this book Photius copied a very accurate account of the Synod of Diospolis and inserted it in his Bibliothera (cod. 54). One may therefore conclude that this work of Augustin's is one of those which Possidonius, in his Life, ch. xi. or xxi.. No. 59, mentions as having been " translated into the Greek tongue." The Aurelius to whom the work is dedicated is mentioned by Photius in the passage just cited, and by Prosper before him (in the 43d chapter of the above-quoted Adversus CoUatorem), z.% " the bishop of Carthage." If the title-page of old did not give them this information, they could both of thera discover it from reading this book, especially ch. 23 [XI.].
CONTENTS OF THE TREATISE "ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF PELAGIUS."
1. Introduction 183 2. The first item in the accusation; and Pelagius' answer 183 3. Discussion of Pelagius' first answer, 184 4. The same continued 184 5. The second item in the accusation; and Pelagius' answer, 185 6. Pelagius' answer examined 185 7. The same continued 186 8. The same continued 186 9. The third item in the accusation; and Pelagius' answer 186 10. Pelagius' answer examined. On Origen's error concerning the non-eternity of the punishment of the devil and the damned 187 11. The same continued,.. 187 12. The fourth item in the accusation; and Pelagius' answer 1S8 13. The fifth item of the accusation; and Pelagius' answer iSS 14. Examination of this point. The phrase "Old Testament" used in two senses. The heir of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament there were heirs of the New Testament 188 15. The same continued 189 16. The sixth item of the accusation; and Pelagius' reply 190 17. Examination of the sixth charge and answers, 190 18. The same continued. " 190 19. The same continued 191 20. The same continued. Pelagius acknowledges the doctrine of grace in deceptive terms 191 21. The same continued = 192 22. The same continued. The synod supposed that the grace acknowledged by Pelagius w^AS that which was so thoroughly known to the Church 193 23. The seventh item of the accusation: the breviates of Ccelesti us objected to Pelagius, 193 24. Pelagius' answer to the charges brought together under the seventh item...193 25. The Pelagians falsely pretended that the Eastern Churches were on their side.. 194 26. The accusations in the seventh item, which Pelagius confessed 194 27. The eighth item in the accusation '95 28. Pelagius' reply to the eighth item of accusation i9S 29. The ninth item of the accusation; and Pelagius' reply i9S 30. The tenth item in the accusation. The more prominent points of Ccelestius' work continued '96 31. Remarks on the tenth item ^9^ i82 CONTENTS.
chapter pagh 32. The eleventh item of the accusation 197 22i- Discussion of the eleventh item continued 198 34. The same continued. On the works of unbelievers; faith is the initial principle from which good works have their beginning; FAITH IS THE GIFT OF God'S GRACE. I98 35. The same continued 199 36. The same continued. The monk Pelagius. Grace is conferred on the unworthy.. 199 37. The same continued. John, bishop of Jerusalem, and his examination 200 38. The same continued 200 39. The same continued. Herds and Lazarus; Orosius 200 40. The same continued 201 41. Augustin indulgently shows that the judges acted incautiously in their official conduct of the case of Pelagius 201 42. The twelfth item in the accusation. Other heads of Ccelestius' doctrine abjured by Pelagius 202 43. The answer of the monk Pelagius and his profession of faith 202 44. The acquittal of Pelagius 202 45. Pelagius' acquittal becomes suspected 20J 46. How Pelagius became known to Augustin; Ccelestius condemned at Carthage...203 47. Pelagius' book, which was sent by Timasius and Jacobus to Augustin, was answered by THE latter in HIS WORK " ON NATURE AND GrACE " 203 48. A LETTER WRITTEN BY TlMASIUS AND JaCOBUS TO AUGUSTIN ON RECEIVING HIS TREATISE " ON Nature and Grace" 204 49. Pelagius' behaviour contrasted with that of the writers of the letter 204 50. Pelagius has no good reason to be annoyed if his name be at last used in the controversy, and he be expressly refuted 204 51. The nature of Augustin's letter to Pelagius 205 52. The text of the letter 205 53. Pelagius' use of recommendations 205 54. On the letter of Pelagius, in which he boasts that his errors had been approved by fourteen bishops 206 55. Pelagius' letter discussed 206 56. Is Pelagius sincere? 207 57. Fraudulent practices pursued by Pelagius in his report of the proceedings in Palestine, IN THE paper wherein HE DEFENDED HIMSELF TO AUGUSTIN 207 58. The same continued 208 59. Although Pelagius was acquitted, his heresy was condemned 209 60. The synod's condemnation of his doctrines 209 61. History of the Pelagian heresy. The Pelagian heresy was raised by sundry persons who affected the monastic state 209 62. The hfstory continued. Ccelestius condemned at Carthage by episcopal judgment.
Pelagius acquitted by bishops in Palestine, in consequence of his deceptive ANSWERS; but YET HIS HERESY WAS CONDEMNED BY THEM 2IO 63. The SAME CONTINUED. The dogmas of Ccelestius laid to the charge of Pelagius, as his MASTER, AND CONDEMNED 2IO 64. How THE BISHOPS CLEARED PeLAGIUS OF THOSE CHARGES 211 65. Recapitulation of what Pelagius condemned. 211 66. The harsh measures of the Pelagians against the holy monks and nuns who belonged TO Jerome's charge 212 A WORK ON THE PROCEEDINGS OF PELAGIUS," In One Book, ADDRESSED TO BISHOP AURELIUS [OF CARTHAGE], BY AURELIUS AUGUSTIN.
WRITTEN ABOUT THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE YEAR A.D. 417.
THE SEVERAL HEADS OF ERROR WHICH WERE ALLEGED AGAINST PELAGIUS AT THE SYNOD IN PALESTINE, WITH HIS ANSWERS TO EACH CHARGE, ARE MINUTELY DISCUSSED. AUGUSTIN SHOWS THAT, ALTHOUGH PELAGIUS WAS ACQUITTED BY THE SYNOD, THERE STILL CLAVE TO HIM THE SUSPICION OF HERESY; AND THAT THE ACQUITTAL OF THE ACCUSED BY THE SYNOD WAS SO CONTRIVED, THAT THE HERESY ITSELF WITH WHICH HE WAS CHARGED WAS UNHESITATINGLY CONDEMNED, CHAP. I.
•.INTRODUCTION.
After there came into my hands, holy father Aurelius, the ecclesiastical proceedings, by which fourteen bishops of the province of Palestine pronounced Pelagius a catholic, my hesitation, in which I was previously reluctant to make any lengthy or confident statement about the defence which he had made, came to an end. This defence, indeed, I had already read in a paper which he himself forwarded to me. Forasmuch, however, as I received no letter therewith from him, I was afraid that some discrepancy might be detected between my statement and the record of the ecclesiastical proceedings; and that, should Pelagius perhaps deny that he had sent me any paper (and it would have been difficult for me to prove that he had, when there was only one witness), I should rather seem guilty in the eyes of those who would readily credit his denial, either of an underhanded folsification, or else (to say the least) of a reckless credulity. Now, however, when I am to treat of matters which are shown to have actually transpired, and when, as it appears to me, all doubt is removed whether he really acted in the way described, your holi- ' More properly called On the Palestinian Proceedings.
ness, and everybody who reads these pages, will no doubt be able to judge, with greater readiness and certainty, both of his defence and of this my treatment of it.
CHAP. 2 [l.] — THE FIRST ITEM IN THE ACCUSA- TION, AND pelagius' ANSWER.
First of all, then, I offer to the Lord my God, who is also my defence and guide, unspeakable [ tnanks, because I was not misled in my views! respecting our holy brethren and fellow-bishops who sat as judges in that case. His answers, indeed, they not without reason approved; because they had not to consider how he had in his writings stated the points which were objected against him, but what he had to say about them in his reply at the pending examination. A case ■ of unsoundness in the faith is one thing, one of incautious statement is another thing. Now sunj dry objections were urged against Pelagius out j of a written complaint, which our holy brethren j and fellow-bishops in Gaul, Heros and Lazarus, presented, being themselves unable to be present, I owing (as we afterwards learned from credible information) to the severe indisposition of one of them. The first of these was, that he writes, in a certain book of his, this: " No man can be 1 84 [Chap. 3.
1 84 [Chap. 3.
without sin unless he has acquired a knowledge of the law." After this had been read out, the synod inquired: " Did you, Pelagius, express yourself thus?" Then in answer he said: "I certainly used the words, but not in the sense in which they understand them. I did not say that a man is unable to sin who has acquired a knowledge of the law; but that he is by the knowledge of the law assisted towards not sinning, even as it is written, ' He hath given them a law for help.' " ' Upon hearing this, the synod declared: " The words which have been spoken by Pelagius are not different from the Church." Assuredly they are not different, as he expressed them in his answer; the statement, however, which was produced from his book has a different meaning. But this the bishops, who were Greek-speaking men, and who heard the words through an interpreter, were not concerned with discussing. All they had to consider at the moment was, what the man who was under examination said was his meaning, — not in what words his opinion was alleged to have been expressed in his book.
CHAP. 3. — DISCUSSION OF PELAGIUS* FIRST ANSWER.