Post by calixar on Feb 14, 2005 11:01:30 GMT -5
Endnotes
[1] Pelagius is frequently referred to as either British or a "Scot" (a term, usually derisive, which meant "Irish"). John Ferguson, "In Defence of Pelagius," in Theology (Vol. 83, March 1980), p. 115. The name "Pelagius" is probably the Greek form (pelagios, "of the sea") of the Welsh name Morgan or Morien. H. Forthomme Nicholson, "Celtic Theology: Pelagius," in An Introduction to Celtic Christianity, James P. Mackay, ed. (T & T Clark, Edinburgh, 1989), p. 386.
[2] Nicholson, p. 388.
[3] B.R. Rees, Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic (The Boydell Press: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1988), p. 20.
[4] B.R. Rees, The Letters of Pelagius and His Followers (The Boydell Press: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1989), p. 2.
[5] Rees, Reluctant Heretic, p. xii.
[6] Ferguson, "In Defence," p. 115. He comments: "This, in the end, was the issue. Pelagius did not say that we could be saved by our own efforts. He did insist that we have still freely to turn to the saving grace of God."
[7] Rees, Reluctant Heretic, p. 138.
[8] Ibid., p. 17.
[9] Ferguson, "In Defence," p. 117.
[10] Rees, Reluctant Heretic, p. 20.
[11] Ferguson presents the compelling idea that Pelagius found refuge first in Lérins and then in Wales (p. 392). Wherever the venerable monk ended up, it is almost certain that he remained in communion with the Church.
[12] Rees, Reluctant Heretic, p. xv.
[13] All references to the text of the Letter to Demetrias are to the translation by B.R. Rees, contained in The Letters of Pelagius and His Followers, pp. 35-70.
[14] Georges de Plinval, as cited by Rees, Letters of Pelagius, p. 34.
[15] Rees, Letters of Pelagius, p. 35.
[16] Ibid., p. 32.
[17] Ibid., p. 33. Equally ironic is the fact that another of Pelagius's writings, his statement of faith and defence of the Nicene Trinitarian and Christological doctrines, the Libellus Fidei, has only been preserved because the Vatican, until recently, believed it to be one of Augustine's sermons. William E. Phipps, "The Heresiarch: Pelagius or Augustine?," in The Anglican Theological Review (Vol. 62, April 1980), p. 125.
[18] Rees, Letters of Pelagius, p. 33.
[19] Fr Stanley Harakas, Toward Transfigured Life (Light and Life Publications: Minneapolis, 1986), p. 34.
[20] As one commentator has noted, "Pelagius is not more optimistic about human nature than his opponents; he is more pessimistic. To say that there is a right way to choose and we do not choose it is 'a really harsh and bitter word for sinners'." Ferguson, "In Defence," p. 118.
[21] Rees, Reluctant Heretic, p. 136.
[22] We are disappointed to read that an otherwise brilliant theologian, Fr Michael Azkoul, dismisses Pelagius as having "denied the necessity of Grace and true Faith for salvation." The Teachings of the Holy Orthodox Church, Vol. I (Dormition Skete Publications: Buena Vista, Colorado, 1986), p. 227. Here and elsewhere Fr Azkoul fails to distinguish between Pelagius himself and later "Pelagianism." In effect, Pelagius himself was more "semi-Pelagian" than "Pelagian"!
[23] It must be remembered that Pelagius never disputed the necessity of baptism, nor did he reject infant baptism. What he argued against was Augustine's teaching that infants needed to be baptised in order to remit inherited guilt and that unbaptised babies were damned to hell.
[24] Pelagius often refers in his writings to the doctrine of "synergy" established by St Paul; cf. Romans 8:28, "We know that in everything God works for good with (synergeo) those who love him." This paradox of grace and free will — so misunderstood by Augustine — Pelagius championed at the Synods of Jerusalem and Diospolis (to the satisfaction of the Eastern bishops), quoting I Corinthians 15:10, "I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me." Phipps, pp. 130-131.
[25] Cf. Vigen Guroian's statement that "Orthodoxy speaks of an imitatio Christi but does not accept or express in this a Pelagian rationalism. The old Adam is not capable on his own power to imitate Christ perfectly and fashion himself into a new Adam." Incarnate Love: Essays in Orthodox Ethics, p. 15.
[26] Pelagius surely refers to the nous, not the brain.
[27] Rees, Letters of Pelagius, p. 33.
[28] Ibid., p. 6.
Bibliography
Azkoul, Fr Michael, "Peccatum Originale: the Pelagian Controversy," in Patristic and Byzantine Review. Vol. 3, no. 1, 1984.
Azkoul, Fr Michael, The Teachings of the Holy Orthodox Church. Vol. I. Dormition Skete Publications: Buena Vista, Colorado, 1986.
Chadwick, Henry, The Early Church. Penguin Books: London, 1967.
Evans, Robert Franklin, Pelagius: Inquiries and Reappraisal. The Seabury Press: New York, 1968.
Ferguson, John, Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study. W. Heffer and Sons: Cambridge, 1956.
Ferguson, John, "In Defence of Pelagius," in Theology. Vol. 83, March 1980.
Harakas, Fr Stanley, Toward Transfigured Life: The Theoria of Eastern Orthodox Ethics. Light and Life Publishing: Minneapolis, 1983.
Meyendorff, Fr John, Byzantine Theology: Historical Trends and Doctrinal Themes. Fordham University Press: New York, 1979.
Nicholson, M. Forthomme, "Celtic Theology: Pelagius," in An Introduction to Celtic Christianity, James P. Mackay, ed. T & T Clark: Edinburgh, 1989.
Phipps, William E., "The Heresiarch: Pelagius or Augustine?", in The Anglican Theological Review. Vol. 62, April 1980.
Rees, B.R., The Letters of Pelagius and His Followers. The Boydell Press: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1991.
Rees, B.R., Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic. The Boydell Press: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1988.