On the Proceedings of Pelagius

St. Augustine of Hippo

1. 1. — Introduction
2. 2. [I.]— The First Item in the Accusation, and Pelagius' Answer
3. 3. — Discussion of Pelagius' First Answer
4. 4. [II.]— The Same Continued
5. 5. [III.]— The Second Item in the Accusation; And Pelagius' Answer
6. 6. — Pelagius' Answer Examined
7. 7. — The Same Continued
8. 8. — The Same Continued
9. 9. — The Third Item in the Accusation; And Pelagius' Answer
10. 10. — Pelagius' Answer Examined. On Origen's Error Concerning the Non-Eternity of the Punishment of the Devil and the Damned
11. 11. — The Same Continued
12. 12. [IV.]— The Fourth Item in the Accusation; And Pelagius' Answer
13. 13. [V.]— The Fifth Item of the Accusation; And Pelagius' Answer
14. 14. — Examination of This Point. The Phrase Old Testament Used in Two Senses. The Heir of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament There Were Heirs of the New Testament
15. 15. — The Same Continued
16. 16. [VI.]— The Sixth Item of the Accusation, and Pelagius' Reply
17. 17. — Examination of the Sixth Charge and Answers
18. 18. — The Same Continued
19. 19. — The Same Continued
20. 20. — The Same Continued. Pelagius Acknowledges the Doctrine of Grace in Deceptive Terms
21. 21. [IX.]— The Same Continued
22. 22. [X.]— The Same Continued. The Synod Supposed that the Grace Acknowledged by Pelagius Was that Which Was So Thoroughly Known to the Church
23. 23. [XI.]— The Seventh Item of the Accusation: the Breviates of Cœlestius Objected to Pelagius
24. 24. — Pelagius' Answer to the Charges Brought Together Under the Seventh Item
25. 25. — The Pelagians Falsely Pretended that the Eastern Churches Were on Their Side
26. 26. — The Accusations in the Seventh Item, Which Pelagius Confessed
27. 27. [XII.]— The Eighth Item in the Accusation
28. 28. — Pelagius' Reply to the Eighth Item of Accusation
29. 29. [XIII.]— The Ninth Item of the Accusation; And Pelagius' Reply
30. 30. [XIV.]— The Tenth Item in the Accusation. The More Prominent Points of Cœlestius' Work Continued
31. 31. — Remarks on the Tenth Item
32. 32. — The Eleventh Item of the Accusation
33. 33. — Discussion of the Eleventh Item Continued
34. 34. — The Same Continued. On the Works of Unbelievers; Faith is the Initial Principle from Which Good Works Have Their Beginning; Faith is the Gift of God's Grace
35. 35. — The Same Continued
36. 36. — The Same Continued. The Monk Pelagius. Grace is Conferred on the Unworthy
37. 37. — The Same Continued. John, Bishop of Jerusalem, and His Examination
38. 38. [XV.]— The Same Continued
39. 39. [XVI.]— The Same Continued. Heros and Lazarus; Orosius
40. 40. [XVII.]— The Same Continued
41. 41. — Augustine Indulgently Shows that the Judges Acted Incautiously in Their Official Conduct of the Case of Pelagius
42. 42. [XVIII.]— The Twelfth Item in the Accusation. Other Heads of Cœlestius' Doctrine Abjured by Pelagius
43. 43. [XIX.]— The Answer of the Monk Pelagius and His Profession of Faith
44. 44. [XX.]— The Acquittal of Pelagius
45. 45. [XXI.]— Pelagius' Acquittal Becomes Suspected
46. 46. [XXII.]— How Pelagius Became Known to Augustine; Cœlestius Condemned at Carthage
47. 47. [XXIII.]— Pelagius' Book, Which Was Sent by Timasius and Jacobus to Augustine, Was Answered by the Latter in His Work On Nature and Grace.
48. 48. [XXIV.]— A Letter Written by Timasius and Jacobus to Augustine on Receiving His Treatise On Nature and Grace.
49. 49. [XXV.]— Pelagius' Behaviour Contrasted with that of the Writers of the Letter
50. 50. — Pelagius Has No Good Reason to Be Annoyed If His Name Be at Last Used in the Controversy, and He Be Expressly Refuted
51. 51. [XXVI.]— The Nature of Augustine's Letter to Pelagius
52. 52. [XXVII. And XXVIII.]— The Text of the Letter
53. 53. [XXIX.]— Pelagius' Use of Recommendations
54. 54. [XXX.]— On the Letter of Pelagius, in Which He Boasts that His Errors Had Been Approved by Fourteen Bishops
55. 55. — Pelagius' Letter Discussed
56. 56. [XXXI.]— Is Pelagius Sincere?
57. 57. [XXXII.]— Fraudulent Practices Pursued by Pelagius in His Report of the Proceedings in Palestine, in the Paper Wherein He Defended Himself to Augustine
58. 58. — The Same Continued
59. 59. [XXXIV.]— Although Pelagius Was Acquitted, His Heresy Was Condemned
60. 60. [XXXV.]— The Synod's Condemnation of His Doctrines
61. 61. — History of the Pelagian Heresy. The Pelagian Heresy Was Raised by Sundry Persons Who Affected the Monastic State
62. 62. — The History Continued. Cœlestius Condemned at Carthage by Episcopal Judgment. Pelagius Acquitted by Bishops in Palestine, in Consequence of His Deceptive Answers; But Yet His Heresy Was Condemned by Them
63. 63. — The Same Continued. The Dogmas of Cœlestius Laid to the Charge of Pelagius, as His Master, and Condemned
64. 64. — How the Bishops Cleared Pelagius of Those Charges
65. 65. — Recapitulation of What Pelagius Condemned
66. 66. — The Harsh Measures of the Pelagians Against the Holy Monks and Nuns Who Belonged to Jerome's Charge

After there came into my hands, holy father Aurelius, the ecclesiastical proceedings, by which fourteen bishops of the province of Palestine pronounced Pelagius a catholic, my hesitation, in which I was previously reluctant to make any lengthy or confident statement about the defense which he had made, came to an end. This defense, indeed, I had already read in a paper which he himself forwarded to me. Forasmuch, however, as I received no letter therewith from him, I was afraid that some discrepancy might be detected between my statement and the record of the ecclesiastical proceedings; and that, should Pelagius perhaps deny that he had sent me any paper (and it would have been difficult for me to prove that he had, when there was only one witness), I should rather seem guilty in the eyes of those who would readily credit his denial, either of an underhanded falsification, or else (to say the least) of a reckless credulity. Now, however, when I am to treat of matters which are shown to have actually transpired, and when, as it appears to me, all doubt is removed whether he really acted in the way described, your holiness, and everybody who reads these pages, will no doubt be able to judge, with greater readiness and certainty, both of his defense and of this my treatment of it.