Caelestius (or Celestius) was the major follower of the Christian teacher Pelagius and the Christian doctrine of Pelagianism, which was opposed to Augustine of Hippo and his doctrine in original sin, and was later declared to be heresy.
It is believed Caelestius met Pelagius in the late 4th century in the city of Rome. Pelagius emphasized that Christians were required by God to struggle against evil behavior using the teachings of the Bible and the example of the Christian saints (although he also affirmed repeatedly in Church proceedings and in a letter to the pope that grace assisted the will in all good actions).
For several decades before the doctrine of sin was fully worked out by the Roman Catholic Church, this teaching brought both of them into numerous theological disputes about the nature of sin with several leaders in the Christian church. Among them were the Bishop of the northern African Roman province of Hippo, Augustine (later known as Saint Augustine) and the theologian Jerome. Augustine especially did more than any other Father of the Church to develop the doctrine of original sin, mostly in reaction to his disputes with Pelagius and Caelestius, which remain in Augustine's numerous writings.
It should be mentioned when assessing the alleged teachings and sayings of Caelestius and Pelagius that the works of neither exist today, although fragments of what is believed to be their writings are quoted in the works of Augustine and Jerome.
Caelestius also went much further than Pelagius in stating that the sin of Adam, as chronicled in the Biblical Book of Genesis, had only harmed himself, and not all of humanity, as Augustine had taught in his writings and sermons. (Pelagius has been accused of starting this teaching, but in fact he anathematized the opinions of Caelestius at the Synod of Lydda in 415, as well as in a letter to the pope shortly afterwards.) In several books on the topic, Augustine also argued that Pelagius and Caelestius neglected to take God's divine grace into account. Augustine believed Adam's sin ("Fall") in the Garden of Eden had caused human beings to lose the ability to not sin ("non posse non peccare" in Latin) and therefore, all good deeds done by Christians come from them being enabled by God to do good. In contrast, Pelagius believed that God gave the power of free will to all men, not just Christians, in such a way that no one was forced into sin (Augustine even wrote certain remarks that seemed to imply that any such forced action would not in fact be sinful). Caelestius again appears to have gone beyond this and denied that Christian goodness is due to grace, on the grounds that this would imply that if any Christian sinned, it was because God's grace had failed; once again at the Synod of Lydda Pelagius anathematized this position (although he stated that he did not mean to indicate whether they were Caelestius' opinions or not).
After they left Rome when it was attacked and burned by the Visigoths in 410, Pelagius and Caelestius faced constant attacks against their teachings by Augustine, Jerome and their followers, who sought to have the Pope declare their views "heretical," or contrary to Christian teachings.
In 411, the same year they arrived in North Africa, Caelestius faced a council in Carthage to defend his views. His accuser, the deacon Paulinus of Milan, listed six of Caelestius' ideas to be counted as heresies, but it is worth noting there is no recorded confirmation that Caelestius identified his views in the same way:
The fragmented transcripts of this council can be found under the section below entitled Related links and sources.
Caelestius refused to retract his views and when the above six points were condemned, the synod denied him ordination. He first intended to object and appeal to the Pope but instead left for Ephesus and was ordained there. Throughout their career, both Pelagius and Caelestius found a more welcome reception in the Eastern Roman Empire for their teachings than in the west. This same view is also shared by the German Protestant theologian Hans von Campenhausen in his book "The Fathers of the Church" when discussing the relationship of Pelagianism with the orthodox champion Saint Augustine. [1]
Later, it is recorded that Pelagius claimed in a synod that he did not agree with all of Caelestius' teachings. In Carthage, two local synods formed and condemned Pelagius and Caelestius without their presence. After being banished from Constantinople and condemned by Pope Innocent, Caelestius brought his case to Pope Zosimus, who was initially impressed by Caelestius' confessions of faith. However, after a new synodal letter of the African council of May 1, 418 to the pope and steps were taken by Emperor Honorius against the Pelagians, Zosimus was convinced both Caelestius and Pelagius were heretics. Zosimus issued his Tractoria in which Pelagianism and its authors were finally condemned. No further information is known about Caelestius afterward.
Caelestius was again condemned at the First Council of Ephesus in 431.
The teachings of Pelagius and Caelestius were taken up by the Bishop Julian of Eclanum (ca. 386 - 454.)
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Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature with a proclivity to sinful conduct in need of regeneration. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3, in a line in Psalm 51:5, and in Paul's Epistle to the Romans, 5:12-21.
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby God's omniscience seems incompatible with human free will. In this usage, predestination can be regarded as a form of religious determinism; and usually predeterminism, also known as theological determinism.
Pope Innocent I was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the prerogatives of the Archbishop of Thessalonica, and issued a decretal on disciplinary matters referred to him by the Bishop of Rouen. He defended the exiled John Chrysostom and consulted with the bishops of Africa concerning the Pelagian controversy, confirming the decisions of the African synods. The Catholic priest-scholar Johann Peter Kirsch, 1500 years later, described Innocent as a very energetic and highly gifted individual "...who fulfilled admirably the duties of his office".
Pope Zosimus was the bishop of Rome from 18 March 417 to his death on 26 December 418. He was born in Mesoraca, Calabria. Zosimus took a decided part in the protracted dispute in Gaul as to the jurisdiction of the See of Arles over that of Vienne, giving energetic decisions in favour of the former, but without settling the controversy. His fractious temper coloured all the controversies in which he took part, in Gaul, Africa and Italy, including Rome, where at his death the clergy were very much divided.
Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius, an ascetic and philosopher from the British Isles, taught that God could not command believers to do the impossible, and therefore it must be possible to satisfy all divine commandments. He also taught that it was unjust to punish one person for the sins of another; therefore, infants are born blameless. Pelagius accepted no excuse for sinful behaviour and taught that all Christians, regardless of their station in life, should live unimpeachable, sinless lives.
The Council of Ephesus was a council of Christian bishops convened in Ephesus in AD 431 by the Roman Emperor Theodosius II. This third ecumenical council, an effort to attain consensus in the church through an assembly representing all of Christendom, confirmed the original Nicene Creed, and condemned the teachings of Nestorius, Patriarch of Constantinople, who held that the Virgin Mary may be called the Christotokos, "Christ-bearer" but not the Theotokos, "God-bearer". It met in June and July 431 at the Church of Mary in Ephesus in Anatolia.
Concupiscence is an ardent, usually sensual, longing. In Christianity, particularly in Catholic and Lutheran theology, concupiscence is the tendency of humans to sin.
Vincent of Lérins was a Gallic monk and author of early Christian writings. One example was the Commonitorium, c. 434, which offers guidance in the orthodox teaching of Christianity. Suspected of semi-Pelagianism, he opposed the Augustinian model of grace and was probably the recipient of Prosper of Aquitaine's Responsiones ad Capitula Objectionum Vincentianarum. His feast day is celebrated on 24 May.
In Western Christian theology, grace is created by God who gives it as help to one because God desires one to have it, not necessarily because of anything one has done to earn it. It is understood by Western Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to people – "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" – that takes the form of divine favor, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, grace is the uncreated Energies of God. Among Eastern Christians generally, grace is considered to be the partaking of the Divine Nature described in 2 Peter 1:4 and grace is the working of God himself, not a created substance of any kind that can be treated like a commodity.
Pelagius was a Romano-British theologian known for promoting a system of doctrines which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin. Pelagius was accused of heresy at the synod of Jerusalem in 415 and his doctrines were harshly criticized by Augustine of Hippo, especially the Pelagian views about mankind's good nature and individual responsibility for choosing asceticism. Pelagius especially stressed the freedom of human will. Very little is known about the personal life and career of Pelagius.
Semi-Pelagianism is a Christian theological and soteriological school of thought about the role of free will in salvation. In semipelagian thought, a distinction is made between the beginning of faith and the increase of faith. Semi-Pelagian thought teaches that the latter half – growing in faith – is the work of God, while the beginning of faith is an act of free will, with grace supervening only later. Semi-Pelagianism in its original form was developed as a compromise between Pelagianism and the teaching of Church Fathers such as Saint Augustine. Adherents to Pelagianism hold that people are born untainted by sin and do not need salvation unless they choose to sin, a belief which had been dismissed as heresy. In contrast, Augustine taught that people cannot come to God without the grace of God. Like pelagianism, semipelegianism was labeled heresy by the Western Church at the Second Council of Orange in 529.
The Councils of Carthage were church synods held during the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries in the city of Carthage in Africa. The most important of these are described below.
Julian of Eclanum was bishop of Eclanum, near today's Benevento (Italy). He was a distinguished leader of the Pelagians of 5th century.
The history of the Calvinist–Arminian debate begins in early 17th century in the Netherlands with a Christian theological dispute between the followers of John Calvin and Jacobus Arminius, and continues today among some Protestants, particularly evangelicals. The debate centers around soteriology, or the study of salvation, and includes disputes about total depravity, predestination, and atonement. While the debate was given its Calvinist–Arminian form in the 17th century, issues central to the debate have been discussed in Christianity in some form since Augustine of Hippo's disputes with the Pelagians in the 5th century.
Synod of Diospolis was a 415 synod in Diospolis in which Pelagius was accused of heresy by the exiled Gallic bishops. It followed a council held earlier that year.
Paulinus the Deacon, also Paulinus of Milan was the notary of Ambrose of Milan, and his biographer. His work is the only life of Ambrose based on a contemporary account, and was written at the request of Augustine of Hippo; it is dated to 422 AD.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the Catholic Ecumenical Councils.
The Second Council of Orange was held in 529 at Orange, which was then part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom. It affirmed much of the theology of Augustine of Hippo, and made numerous proclamations against what later would come to be known as semi-Pelagian doctrine.
Augustinianism is the philosophical and theological system of Augustine of Hippo and its subsequent development by other thinkers, notably Boethius, Anselm of Canterbury and Bonaventure. Among Augustine's most important works are The City of God, De doctrina Christiana, and Confessions.
Rufinus the Syrian or Rufinus of Syria was a Christian theologian, priest and author, generally identified as a Pelagian.
