4156 
P E L A G l U S. 
tins left that city, and went to join Pelagius in the eaft. 
In Palefline our monks met with mere favourable treat¬ 
ment, fupported as they were by the bilhop of Jerufalem, 
who, from his attachment to the principles of Origen, 
was naturally led to countenance thofe of Pelagius, on 
account of the conformity that there was in fome leading 
points between the two fyftems. Under his powerful 
prote&ion, Pelagius made a public profefTion of his opi¬ 
nions, and gained numerous adherents. In theyear4i5, 
Auguftine Cent Orolius, a Spanifh prefbyter, into Palef¬ 
tine, with letters in which Pelagius was accufed of here¬ 
by. This charge was immediately taken into confidera- 
tion by a council of bilhops at Jerufalem, who, after hear¬ 
ing Augultine’s letter read, as well as the defence of Pe¬ 
lagius, broke up without palling any cenfure on the 
latter, after deliberating about referring the matter to the 
judgment of Innocent I. bilhop of Rome. Towards the 
dole of the year, another council, confiding of fourteen 
bilhops, was held at Diofpolis; before which Pelagius 
was fummoned, tried, and fully acquitted of all errors. 
Among his powerful friends in thefe councils, was the 
learned and illultrious Theodore bilhop of Mopfueftia. 
The acquittal of Pelagius highly incenled his enemies, 
who reflefted on the bilhop of Jerufalem, imputing it to 
his improper influence ; and Jerome reviled the council 
that pronounced in his favour, flyling it, “ the pitiful 
fynod of Diofpolis.” Augultine alfo wrote to John, en¬ 
deavouring, though in vain, to excite his prejudices 
againft the perfecuted monks. What he could not effeft 
in the eaft, however, he fucceeded in carrying according 
to his w illies in Africa. In a council held at Carthage in 
the year 416, he and his friends procured the opinions of 
Pelagius to be condemned; and their judgment was foon 
afterwards confirmed by the bilhops of Numidia, afleru¬ 
bied at Milevum- They then wrote letters to Innocent 
bilhop of Rome, to perfuade him to accede to their fen- 
tence. In thefe circumftances, Pelagius was advifed to 
appeal to Rome, and he lent a confefllon of his faith to 
the pontiff, which was accompanied with a letter from 
Praylus, fucceflor to John in the fee of Jerufalem, which 
recommended the cafe of the perfecuted monks to him, 
in very affeftionate terms. Thefe letters and confefiion 
did not reach Rome before the death of Innocent, who 
was fucceeded by Zofimus in the year 417. The new 
pontiff, fully fatisfied with thefe letters and confeflion, 
declared the monks found in the faith ; unjuftly perfecu¬ 
ted by their adverfaries ; and received them under his 
protection at Rome. 
The African bilhops, with Auguftine at their head, 
little alfedfed by this declaration, continued obftinately 
to maintain the judgment which they had formed in this 
matter, and to llrengthen it by their exhortations, their 
letters, and their writings. They alfo fucceeded in gain¬ 
ing the emperor Honorius to their fide ; and their re- 
monftrances, fupported by his authority, produced a 
wonderful converfion in the mind of Zofimus, who con¬ 
demned, with the utmoft feverity, the men whole prin¬ 
ciples he had publicly approved, and whom he had co¬ 
vered with his proteftion. From this time our two 
monks and thofe who adopted their opinions were perfe¬ 
cuted with the utmoft rigour and cruelty, and condemned 
by no lefs than twenty-four councils in different parts of 
the world. Thus proferibed in Afia, Africa, and on the 
continent of Europe, Pelagius and Caeleftius took refuge 
in Britain, where they met with a fupporter in Agricola,' 
the fon of Severian, who was a favourer of their opinions, 
as were alfo multitudes, if not the great mafs of the in¬ 
habitants of the illand. This country, therefore, being 
confidered as the principal remaining afylum of Pelagia- 
r.ilm, Germanus bilhop of Auxerre, and Lupus bilhop of 
Troyes, were deputed by a fynod in Gaul to pafs over 
into it, and eftablilh the inhabitants in the faith of Rome 
and of St. Auguftine. Accordingly, they undertook this 
million in the year 420, and fucceeded in gaining the 
Britilh prelates, who condemned the opinions of their 
1 
countrymen, and, by fo doing, contributed to promote 
the afpiring views of the papal fee. However, after the 
return of the miflionary bilhops to Gaul, Pelagianifm pre¬ 
vailed^ much again, that, in the year 427, it was judged 
expedient that Germanus fliould vifit Britain once more, 
accompanied by Severus bilhop of Treves, and the difei- 
ple of Lupus of Troyes. So fuccefsfully did thefe prelates 
exert themfelves during this million, that they procured 
a more folemn condemnation of Pelagianifm, by the de¬ 
crees of a council aftembled at Verulam, or St. Alban’s; 
and, it is faid, obtained the confent of the inhabitants to 
the banilhment from the illand of s all who would not re¬ 
nounce the proferibed principles. 
Of the perfonal hiftory of Pelagius, or of his aflociate 
Caeleftius, after their return to Britain, we are not fur- 
nilhed with any particulars. The following fummary of 
their doctrines is given in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 
1. That Adam was by nature mortal; and, whether he 
had finned or not, would certainly have died. 2. That 
the confequences of Adam’s fin were confined to his own 
perfon. 3. That new-born infants are in the fame fix¬ 
ation with Adam before the fall. 4. That the law quali¬ 
fied men for the kingdom of heaven, and was founded 
upon equal promifes with the gofpel. 5. That the gene¬ 
ral refurreftion of the dead does not follow in virtue of 
our Saviour’s refurreftion. 6. That the grace of God is 
given according to our merits. 7. That this grace is not 
granted for the performance of every moral aft; the 
liberty of the will, and information in points of duty, 
being fufiicient, See. 
Dr. Kerry obferves, that both Pelagius and Caeleftius 
were efteemed by St. Auguftine and Jerome, and main¬ 
tained a friendly correfpondence with them. But Pela¬ 
gius, after he had difeovered his opinions on the fubjeft 
of grace and of baptifm, is reprefented b)' thefe good fa¬ 
thers, in the heat of their zeal, as a very ugly fellow; 
“ broad-lhouldered, thick-necked, fat-headed, lame of a 
leg, and blind of an eye.” And Caeleftius, the indefati¬ 
gable and undaunted champion of thefe herefies, brought 
upon himfelf many very bad names. St. Jerome, whofe 
Commentaries on the Ephefians he had prefurned to cri- 
ticife, calls him “ an ignorant ftupid fool, having his belly 
fvvelled and diftended with Scots pottage ; a great corpu¬ 
lent barking dog, who was fitter to kick with heels than 
to bite with his teeth ; a Cerberus, who, with his mailer 
Pluto (Pelagius), deierved to be knocked on the head, 
that they might be put to eternal filence.” Such were 
the flowers of rhetoric which thefe good fathers employed 
againll the enemies of the orthodox faith ! Both Pela¬ 
gius and Caeleftius were very great travellers ; having vi- 
fited many different countries of Afiaand Africa, as well 
as Europe, with a view to elude the perfecutions of their 
enemies, and to propagate their opinions. It is no in- 
confiderable evidence of their fuperior learning and abi¬ 
lities, that their opinions gained great ground in all the 
provinces both of the eaftern and weftern empire, in fpite 
of the writings of many learned fathers, and the decrees 
of many councils againft them. “The Pelagian and 
Caeleltian herefy (fays Photius) not only flouriftied in 
great vigour in the weft, but was alfo propagated into 
the eaft.” 
The works of Pelagius dill extant, confift of, 1. Ex- 
pofitionum in Epiftolas Paulinas, lib. xiv. which are in- 
ierted in the works of St. Jerome, and were for a long 
time attributed to that father. 2. Epiftola ad Demetria- 
dem de Virginitate; which is preferved in the works of St. 
Jerome and St. Auguftine, and has been by turns aferibed 
to each of them. 3, Explanation^ Symboliad Damafum. 
4. Epillolae ad Viduam duae. 5. De Libero Arbitrio. 6. 
Libellus Fidei ad Innocentium Papam; annexed to the 
Letter of Pope Zofimus to the African Bilhops, in the 2d 
vol. of the Colleft. Concil. For an account of his other 
pieces which are loft, and the works in which fragments 
of them may be found, we refer our readers to Cave’s 
Hift. Lit. vol. i. Molli. Hill. Eccl. flee. v. and Prieltley’s 
Hill 
