Augustine & Pelagius: The Battle over Free Will

There seem to be many controversial and perpetual points of contention within the Christian faith in regard to philosophy. The concept of the Trinity and the idea of Original Sin has fractured coalitions, and shifted the realm of theological debate. One of these themes that had been of the utmost importance at the time was Augustine’s concept of Original Sin. Augustine, while a late adherent to the Church, made consequential contributions to the ethos of charitability in the Western Church, the interpretation of the Trinity, and the idea of Original Sin. Original Sin was not his only revolutionary idea, in fact he seemed to be at the center of many of these revolutionary ideas. Augustine reformed the idea of the Trinity around the logos; substituting the Father, Son & Holy Spirit with Memory, Understanding, and Will (MacCulloch, 310). Augustine too played a part in arguing to the rich that by giving to the poor, they themselves could earn goodwill to get themselves into heaven (MacCulloch, 297). Perhaps in fact, Augustine’s most pivotal contribution to Christianity was his idea of Original Sin. It was this idea of Original Sin, and subsequently free will, that led to the major debate between the Pelagians.

The theory of Original Sin is that the original sin of Adam and Eve is inherited by every person and therefore inescapable. This idea, while extreme at the time, would become central to Christianity in later generations. Augustine’s idea of Original Sin would be the basis for the Lutheran and Calvinist doctrine of “Total Depravity,” giving credence to the idea that humans are born with sin, and need God to alleviate it (Ables, Thematic Lecture, Week 3). This too can be seen in Romans 13, in which in verses 13-14 it is asked that followers embrace the God in order to be free from sin. These two verses seem to signify that in order to absolve from sin (“no provision for the flesh”), embracing God is imperative (“put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Coogan, et al., eds., 2031)). As MacCulloch notes that these verses Augustine read during his internal struggle with sin and sexuality (MacCulloch, 303).  While Original Sin would become prominent in later generations, that did not mean that it was without pushback at the time. Pelagius, a theologian whose theology might have been the antithesis to original sin, wrote extensively at the time in rebuke of Augustine’s theory (Bettenson, 58). Pelagius’s philosophy shows the enormous philosophical shift that Augustine pushed. 

Still, Augustine’s views on Original Sin seem to have caused the most outrage and debate, both for and against his position. As written in The Council of Carthage, the African Church rebuked the views held by the Pelagians and came to the defense of Augustine’s views. They believed that in declaring Adam, a mortal man, to have died from natural causes rather than from sin would have been preposterous; The Council of Carthage went so far as to say that anyone who might believe that must be cast as anathema (Bettenson, 64). The Synod of Arles attempted to take a middle-road approach and believed that free will was not attainable as Augustine might suggest but was rather severely weakened through the sins of Adam, and therefore still must embrace God (Betterson, 66). While various denominations have adapted different balances between the Augustine and Pelagian philosophies of will, there is no doubt that Augustine challenged the prevailing orthodoxy in ways still felt today.

It seems that while both were arguing about the same topic, their philosophies were critical to other areas of the human experience. Free will in Pelagian philosophy seems palatable for a social and political philosophy, but makes a tough theological case to reconcile. Meanwhile, Augustine’s case on free will was more easily reconcilable within the Church.

It is interesting that Augustine would go on to win this debate, because centuries later the ideals and philosophy of the enlightenment seem to have many Pelagian elements to them. Perhaps most important of the Pelagian ideals was that humans are not inherently evil and are capable of living up to their highest ideals. Augustine was a firm denier of this Pelagian belief and believed that humans are fallible and in need of God to attain a higher purpose. Pelagius further rebuked Augustine by emphasizing that free choice is a gift from God.

Perhaps it is a product of the American lens through which we see Pelagianism, that gives it the charitable view that it does. This philosophy has much in common with the American idea that one has free will over their own actions and their own future. Pelagianism is certainly still a force in American society as senator Josh Hawley notes the Justice Anthony Kennedy drew from Pelagian philosophy in his 1992 Planned Parenthood opinion. “At the heart of liberty is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life,” writes Justice Kennedy in his opinion (Hawley, 2019). Justice Kennedy’s opinion sounds like the identical twin of the American ethos.

It is however not hard to see how the Pelagian philosophy led to the ousting of Pelagius and his teachings labelled as heretical. From a religious perspective, to have free will to achieve perfection can be seen as negating the need for God. If one can use free will to attain perfection, God is not only no longer the singular perfect being, but his work is unnecessary. Augustine holds that God is perfect, and evil is a result of original sin and inherent human nature. According to Augustine, evil exists due to the abuse of free will by people. Both Augustine and Pelagius’s philosophies bring them to polar opposite ends of eachother. Where Pelagius states that free will is the vessel to perfection and betterment, Augustine argues that the human exercise of free will inevitably leads to evil.

During their lifetimes, Augustine won the debate over free will, but in the modern-day there are still plenty of traces of Pelagianism within our societies. While there are no Pelagians here anymore today, there are still those that argue for, and argue against, Augustine’s implications of free will. Both of these figures were indeed revolutionary in their own ways, one perhaps made the more easily reconcilable theological argument.