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On the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin

St. Augustine of Hippo

3h 59m read
Post-Nicene

Two books addressed to Albina, Pinianus, and Melania (c. 418) defending the grace of Christ against Pelagius and the doctrine of original sin against Celestius.

Table of Contents

1Extract from Augustin’s Retractations1On the Grace of Christ1Introductory2Suspicious Character of Pelagius’ Confession as to the Necessity of Grace for Every Single Act of Ours3Grace According to the Pelagians4Pelagius’ System of Faculties5Pelagius’ Own Account of the Faculties, Quoted6Pelagius and Paul of Different Opinions7Pelagius Posits God’s Aid Only for Our 'Capacity.'8Grace, According to the Pelagians, Consists in the Internal and Manifold Illumination of the Mind9The Law One Thing, Grace Another. The Utility of the Law10What Purpose the Law Subserves11Pelagius’ Definition of How God Helps Us: 'He Promises Us Future Glory.'12The Same Continued: 'He Reveals Wisdom.'13Grace Causes Us to Do14The Righteousness Which is of God, and the Righteousness Which is of the Law15He Who Has Been Taught by Grace Actually Comes to Christ16We Need Divine Aid in the Use of Our Powers. Illustration from Sight17Does Pelagius Designedly Refrain from Openly Saying that All Good Action is from God?18He Discovers the Reason of Pelagius’ Hesitation So to Say19The Two Roots of Action, Love and Cupidity; And Each Brings Forth Its Own Fruit20How a Man Makes a Good or a Bad Tree21Love the Root of All Good Things; Cupidity, of All Evil Ones22Love is a Good Will23Pelagius’ Double Dealing Concerning the Ground of the Conferrence of Grace24Pelagius Places Free Will at the Basis of All Turning to God for Grace25God by His Wonderful Power Works in Our Hearts Good Dispositions of Our Will26The Pelagian Grace of ‘Capacity’ Exploded. The Scripture Teaches the Need of God’s Help in Doing, Speaking, and Thinking, Alike27What True Grace Is, and Wherefore Given. Merits Do Not Precede Grace28Pelagius Teaches that Satan May Be Resisted Without the Help of the Grace of God29When He Speaks of God’s Help, He Means It Only to Help Us Do What Without It We Still Could Do30What Pelagius Thinks is Needful for Ease of Performance is Really Necessary for the Performance31Pelagius and Cœlestius Nowhere Really Acknowledge Grace32Why the Pelagians Deemed Prayers to Be Necessary. The Letter Which Pelagius Despatched to Pope Innocent with an Exposition of His Belief33Pelagius Professes Nothing on the Subject of Grace Which May Not Be Understood of the Law and Teaching34Pelagius Says that Grace is Given According to Men’s Merits. The Beginning, However, of Merit is Faith; And This is a Gratuitous Gift, Not a Recompense for Our Merits35Pelagius Believes that Infants Have No Sin to Be Remitted in Baptism36Cœlestius Openly Declares Infants to Have No Original Sin37Pelagius Nowhere Admits the Need of Divine Help for Will and Action38A Definition of the Grace of Christ by Pelagius39A Letter of Pelagius Unknown to Augustin40The Help of Grace Placed by Pelagius in the Mere Revelation of Teaching41Restoration of Nature Understood by Pelagius as Forgiveness of Sins42Grace Placed by Pelagius in the Remission of Sins and the Example of Christ43The Forgiveness of Sins and Example of Christ Held by Pelagius Enough to Save the Most Hardened Sinner44Pelagius Once More Guards Himself Against the Necessity of Grace45To What Purpose Pelagius Thought Prayers Ought to Be Offered46Pelagius Professes to Respect the Catholic Authors47Ambrose Most Highly Praised by Pelagius48Ambrose is Not in Agreement with Pelagius49Ambrose Teaches with What Eye Christ Turned and Looked Upon Peter50Ambrose Teaches that All Men Need God’s Help51Ambrose Teaches that It is God that Does for Man What Pelagius Attributes to Free Will52If Pelagius Agrees with Ambrose, Augustin Has No Controversy with Him53In What Sense Some Men May Be Said to Live Without Sin in the Present Life54Ambrose Teaches that No One is Sinless in This World55Ambrose Witnesses that Perfect Purity is Impossible to Human Nature2On Original Sin1Caution Needed in Attending to Pelagius’ Deliverances on Infant Baptism2Cœlestius, on His Trial at Carthage, Refuses to Condemn His Error; The Written Statement Which He Gave to Zosimus3Part of the Proceedings of the Council of Carthage Against Cœlestius4Cœlestius Concedes Baptism for Infants, Without Affirming Original Sin5Cœlestius’ Book Which Was Produced in the Proceedings at Rome6Cœlestius the Disciple is In This Work Bolder Than His Master7Pope Zosimus Kindly Excuses Him8Cœlestius Condemned by Zosimus9Pelagius Deceived the Council in Palestine, But Was Unable to Deceive the Church at Rome10The Judgment of Innocent Respecting the Proceedings in Palestine11How that Pelagius Deceived the Synod of Palestine12A Portion of the Proceedings of the Synod of Palestine in the Cause of Pelagius13Cœlestius the Bolder Heretic; Pelagius the More Subtle14He Shows That, Even After the Synod of Palestine, Pelagius Held the Same Opinions as Cœlestius on the Subject of Original Sin15Pelagius by His Mendacity and Deception Stole His Acquittal from the Synod in Palestine16Pelagius’ Fraudulent and Crafty Excuses17How Pelagius Deceived His Judges18The Condemnation of Pelagius19Pelagius’ Attempt to Deceive the Apostolic See; He Inverts the Bearings of the Controversy20Pelagius Provides a Refuge for His Falsehood in Ambiguous Subterfuges21Pelagius Avoids the Question as to Why Baptism is Necessary for Infants22Another Instance of Pelagius’ Ambiguity23What He Means by Our Birth to an ‘Uncertain’ Life24Pelagius’ Long Residence at Rome25The Condemnation of Pelagius and Cœlestius26The Pelagians Maintain that Raising Questions About Original Sin Does Not Endanger the Faith27On Questions Outside the Faith—What They Are, and Instances of the Same28The Heresy of Pelagius and Cœlestius Aims at the Very Foundations of Our Faith29The Righteous Men Who Lived in the Time of the Law Were for All that Not Under the Law, But Under Grace. The Grace of the New Testament Hidden Under the Old30Pelagius and Cœlestius Deny that the Ancient Saints Were Saved by Christ31Christ’s Incarnation Was of Avail to the Fathers, Even Though It Had Not Yet Happened32He Shows by the Example of Abraham that the Ancient Saints Believed in the Incarnation of Christ33How Christ is Our Mediator34No Man Ever Saved Save by Christ35Why the Circumcision of Infants Was Enjoined Under Pain of So Great a Punishment36The Platonists’ Opinion About the Existence of the Soul Previous to the Body Rejected37In What Sense Christ is Called 'Sin.'38Original Sin Does Not Render Marriage Evil39Three Things Good and Laudable in Matrimony40Marriage Existed Before Sin Was Committed. How God’s Blessing Operated in Our First Parents41Lust and Travail Come from Sin. Whence Our Members Became a Cause of Shame42The Evil of Lust Ought Not to Be Ascribed to Marriage. The Three Good Results of the Nuptial Ordinance: Offspring, Chastity, and the Sacramental Union43Human Offspring, Even Previous to Birth, Under Condemnation at the Very Root. Uses of Matrimony Undertaken for Mere Pleasure Not Without Venial Fault44Even the Children of the Regenerate Born in Sin. The Effect of Baptism45Man’s Deliverance Suited to the Character of His Captivity46Difficulty of Believing Original Sin. Man’s Vice is a Beast’s Nature47Sentences from Ambrose in Favour of Original Sin48Pelagius Rightly Condemned and Really Opposed by Ambrose