On the Grace of Christ, and on Original Sin — Book II

St. Augustine of Hippo

  1. 0. Greeting
  2. 1. [I.]— Caution Needed in Attending to Pelagius' Deliverances on Infant Baptism.
  3. 2. [II.]— Cœlestius, on His Trial at Carthage, Refuses to Condemn His Error; The Written Statement Which He Gave to Zosimus.
  4. 3. [III.]— Part of the Proceedings of the Council of Carthage Against Cœlestius.
  5. 4. — Cœlestius Concedes Baptism for Infants, Without Affirming Original Sin.
  6. 5. [V.]— Cœlestius' Book Which Was Produced in the Proceedings at Rome.
  7. 6. [VI.]— Cœlestius the Disciple is In This Work Bolder Than His Master.
  8. 7. — Pope Zosimus Kindly Excuses Him.
  9. 8. [VII.]— Cœlestius Condemned by Zosimus.
  10. 9. [VIII.]— Pelagius Deceived the Council in Palestine, But Was Unable to Deceive the Church at Rome.
  11. 10. [IX.]— The Judgment of Innocent Respecting the Proceedings in Palestine.
  12. 11. [X.]— How that Pelagius Deceived the Synod of Palestine.
  13. 12. [XI.]— A Portion of the Proceedings of the Synod of Palestine in the Cause of Pelagius.
  14. 13. [XII.]— Cœlestius the Bolder Heretic; Pelagius the More Subtle.
  15. 14. [XIII.]— He Shows That, Even After the Synod of Palestine, Pelagius Held the Same Opinions as Cœlestius on the Subject of Original Sin.
  16. 15. [XIV.]— Pelagius by His Mendacity and Deception Stole His Acquittal from the Synod in Palestine.
  17. 16. [XV.]— Pelagius' Fraudulent and Crafty Excuses.
  18. 17. — How Pelagius Deceived His Judges.
  19. 18. [XVII.]— The Condemnation of Pelagius.
  20. 19. — Pelagius' Attempt to Deceive the Apostolic See; He Inverts the Bearings of the Controversy.
  21. 20. — Pelagius Provides a Refuge for His Falsehood in Ambiguous Subterfuges.
  22. 21. [XIX.]— Pelagius Avoids the Question as to Why Baptism is Necessary for Infants.
  23. 22. [XX.]— Another Instance of Pelagius' Ambiguity.
  24. 23. [XXI.]— What He Means by Our Birth to an Uncertain Life.
  25. 24. — Pelagius' Long Residence at Rome.
  26. 25. [XXII.]— The Condemnation of Pelagius and Cœlestius.
  27. 26. [XXIII.]— The Pelagians Maintain that Raising Questions About Original Sin Does Not Endanger the Faith.
  28. 27. [XXIII.]— On Questions Outside the Faith — What They Are, and Instances of the Same.
  29. 28. [XXIV.]— The Heresy of Pelagius and Cœlestius Aims at the Very Foundations of Our Faith.
  30. 29. — The 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 Old.
  31. 30. [XXVI]— Pelagius and Cœlestius Deny that the Ancient Saints Were Saved by Christ.
  32. 31. — Christ's Incarnation Was of Avail to the Fathers, Even Though It Had Not Yet Happened.
  33. 32. [XXVII.]— He Shows by the Example of Abraham that the Ancient Saints Believed in the Incarnation of Christ.
  34. 33. [XVIII.]— How Christ is Our Mediator.
  35. 34. [XXIX.]— No Man Ever Saved Save by Christ.
  36. 35. [XXX.]— Why the Circumcision of Infants Was Enjoined Under Pain of So Great a Punishment.
  37. 36. [XXXI]— The Platonists' Opinion About the Existence of the Soul Previous to the Body Rejected.
  38. 37. [XXXII.]— In What Sense Christ is Called Sin.
  39. 38. [XXXIII.]— Original Sin Does Not Render Marriage Evil.
  40. 39. [XXXIV.]— Three Things Good and Laudable in Matrimony.
  41. 40. [XXXV.]— Marriage Existed Before Sin Was Committed. How God's Blessing Operated in Our First Parents.
  42. 41. [XXXVI.]— Lust and Travail Come from Sin. Whence Our Members Became a Cause of Shame.
  43. 42. [XXXVII.]— The Evil of Lust Ought Not to Be Ascribed to Marriage. The Three Good Results of the Nuptial Ordinance: Offspring, Chastity, and the Sacramental Union.
  44. 43. [XXXVIII.]— Human Offspring, Even Previous to Birth, Under Condemnation at the Very Root. Uses of Matrimony Undertaken for Mere Pleasure Not Without Venial Fault.
  45. 44. [XXXIX.]— Even the Children of the Regenerate Born in Sin. The Effect of Baptism.
  46. 45. — Man's Deliverance Suited to the Character of His Captivity.
  47. 46. — Difficulty of Believing Original Sin. Man's Vice is a Beast's Nature.
  48. 47. [XLI.]— Sentences from Ambrose in Favour of Original Sin.
  49. 48. — Pelagius Rightly Condemned and Really Opposed by Ambrose.

Wherein Augustine shows that Pelagius really differs in no respect, on the question of original sin and the baptism of infants, from his follower Cœlestius, who, refusing to acknowledge original sin and even daring to deny the doctrine in public, was condemned in trials before the bishops — first at Carthage, and afterwards at Rome; for this question is not, as these heretics would have it, one wherein persons might err without danger to the faith. Their heresy, indeed, aimed at nothing else than the very foundations of Christian belief. He afterwards refutes all such as maintained that the blessing of matrimony is disparaged by the doctrine of original depravity, and an injury done to God himself, the Creator of man who is born by means of matrimony.