The history of Christianity follows the Christian religion as it developed from its earliest beliefs and practices in the first-century, spread geographically in the Roman Empire and beyond, and became a global religion in the twenty-first century.
Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the fall 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.
Pelagius was a 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 historical 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.
Brinley Roderick Rees was a Welsh academic. He wrote extensively on classics, particularly the study of the Greek language. His early work was devoted to Greek papyri; a later publication was devoted to the life and letters of Pelagius.
The history of the Calvinist–Arminian debate begins in the 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.
Martin Litchfield West, was a British philologist and classical scholar. In recognition of his contribution to scholarship, he was awarded the Order of Merit in 2014.
De libero arbitrio voluntatis, often shortened to De libero arbitrio, is a book by Augustine of Hippo which seeks to resolve the problem of evil in Christianity by asserting that free will is the cause of all suffering. The first of its three volumes was completed in 388; the second and third were written between 391 and 395. The work is structured as a dialogue between Augustine and his companion Evodius; it ranges over several topics, and includes an attempted proof of the existence of God.
Sidney H. Griffith is a professor of Early Christian Studies at the Catholic University of America. His main areas of interest are Arabic Christianity, Syriac monasticism, medieval Christian-Muslim encounters and ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.
Dennis Kennedy, is an author of books on theater and performance. He is also a playwright, director, and fiction writer. He holds dual citizenship in the USA and Ireland. His recent book on audiences, The Spectator and the Spectacle, was widely and positively reviewed.
Jane Jebb Mansbridge is an American political scientist. She is the Charles F. Adams Professor of Political Leadership and Democratic Values in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Caroline Humfress, FRHS, FSLS, is a legal historian who is professor at the University of St Andrews and a former director of its Institute of Legal and Constitutional Research. In 2020 she was appointed L. Bates Lea Global Professor of Law, University of Michigan Law School, where she teaches on the history of the Civil Law tradition.
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.
Augustinian soteriology, influenced by Augustine of Hippo early engagements with Stoicism, Neoplatonism, and Manichaeism, played a crucial role in shaping Christian theology. Initially opposing deterministic views, Augustine later integrated aspects of these philosophies, especially during his disputes with the Pelagians. His doctrines, such as predestination by predeterminism, laid the groundwork for later theological developments. Augustine's influence on John Calvin was particularly significant in shaping Calvinist soteriology and understanding of divine providence.
Rufinus the Syrian or Rufinus of Syria was a Christian theologian, priest and author, generally identified as a Pelagian.
Gerald Bonner was a conservative Anglican Early Church historian and scholar of religion, who lectured at the Department of Theology of Durham University from 1964 to 1988. He was also an author and an internationally distinguished scholar of patristic studies.
Ali Bonner is Associate Professor of Celtic History in the Medieval period in the Department for Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic, Cambridge University. She is a Fellow of Queens' College, Cambridge. Bonner is a specialist on Pelagius and the manuscript transmission of his writings, as well as ascetic literature of the fourth and fifth centuries CE.
Divine Grace and Human Agency: A Study of the Semi-Pelagian Controversy (1996) is a book about the semi-Pelagian controversy published by Mercer University Press. Its author is Rebecca Harden Weaver, professor emerita of church history at Union Presbyterian Seminary. The book got mainly favorable reviews.
Priest of Nature: The Religious Worlds of Isaac Newton is a 2017 book by science historian Rob Iliffe on the religious views of Isaac Newton.
