Pelagianism is a belief that original sin did not taint human nature (which, being created from God, was divine), and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without Divine aid. Thus, Adam's sin was "to set a bad example" for his progeny, but his actions did not have the other consequences imputed to Original Sin. Pelagianism views the role of Jesus as "setting a good example" for the rest of us (thus counteracting Adam's bad example). In short, humanity has full control, and thus full responsibility, for its own salvation in addition to full responsibility for every sin (the latter insisted upon ...

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• Pelagianism - Pelagius

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Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (also Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam) (October 27, probably 1466 – July 12, 1536) was a Dutch humanist and theologian. Erasmus - Biography. Erasmus was born with the name Gerrit Gerritszoon (Dutch for Gerhard Gerhardson), probably in Rotterdam, although recent discoveries suggest he was actually born in Gouda, the Netherlands. Although much associated with this city, he lived there for only four years, never to return. Information on his family and early life ...

Including:

• Erasmus - Biography
• Erasmus - Writings
• Erasmus - Legacy
• Erasmus - Representations of Erasmus
• Erasmus - Notes
• Erasmus - Critical Bibliography

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An objective view of Pelagius and his effect is most difficult. His name has been maligned and used as an ephithet for centuries by both Protestants and Catholics alike, and he has had few defenders. The Roman Catholic church denounced his work in word and yet the Reformation accused Catholics of succumbing to his ideas regardless and condemns both Pelagius and the Catholic Church. Meanwhile the Greek Orthodox Church is silent. Regardless, Pelagius stands, both in reality and in icon, as a radical from the traditional thoughts on original si ...

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Pelagius, Pelagius - Beginnings, Pelagius - Persecutions, Pelagius - Augustine, Pelagius - Jerome, Pelagius - Diospolis, Pelagius - Pope Innocent I, Pelagius - Pope Zosimus, Pelagius - Pelagius and the Doctrine of Free Will, Pelagius - Death and Later, Pelagius - Possible Influences on Pelagius, Pelagius - Pelagius in Literature and Film

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Little or nothing is known about the life of the monk Pelagius. Augustine says that he lived in Rome "for a very long time," and that he was originally from Britain. (St. Jerome suggests he was Scottish or perhaps from Ireland.) He was certainly well known in the Roman province, both for the harsh asceticism of his public life, as well as the power and persuasiveness of his speech. Until his more radical ideas saw daylight, even such pillars of the Church as Augustine referred to him as “saintly.” Pelagius taught that the human wi ...

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Pelagianism, Pelagianism - Pelagius

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Pelagius was born c. 354. Although the exact location is disputed, most ancient authorities place his birth somewhere in the British Isles. He became known c. 400 when he moved to Rome, where he wrote a number of his major works — "De fide Trinitatis libri III," "Eclogarum ex divinis Scripturis liber unus," and "Commentarii in epistolas S. Pauli," a commentary of Paul's epistles. Unfortunately, most of his work only survives in the quotations of his opponents. In Rome, Pelagius became concerned about the moral laxity of society. He blamed this laxity on the theology of divine gra ...

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Pelagius, Pelagius - Beginnings, Pelagius - Persecutions, Pelagius - Augustine, Pelagius - Jerome, Pelagius - Diospolis, Pelagius - Pope Innocent I, Pelagius - Pope Zosimus, Pelagius - Pelagius and the Doctrine of Free Will, Pelagius - Death and Later, Pelagius - Possible Influences on Pelagius, Pelagius - Pelagius in Literature and Film

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Heresy, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is a "theological or religious opinion or doctrine maintained in opposition, or held to be contrary, to the catholic or orthodox doctrine of the Christian Church, or, by extension, to that of any church, creed, or religious system, considered as orthodox. By extension, [heresy is an] opinion or doctrine in philosophy, politics, science, art, etc., at variance with those generally accepted as authoritative." Heresy - Etymology. The word "heresy" comes from ...

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• Heresy - Etymology
• Heresy - Religious heresy
• Heresy - Christianity
• Heresy - Heresy in Judaism
• Heresy - Heresy in Islam
• Heresy - Contemporary heresy

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Saint Vincent of Lerins (in Latin, Vincentius) was a Gallic author of early writings on Christianity. In earlier life he had been engaged in secular pursuits, whether civil or military is not clear, though the term he uses, "secularis militia," might possibly imply the latter. He refers to the Council of Ephesus, held in the summer and early autumn of 431, as having been held some three years previously to the time at which he was writing "ante triennium ferme." This gives the date of the Commonitory 434. Cyril, bishop o ...

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• Vincent of Lerins - The Commonitory

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After his acquittal in Diospolis, Pelagius wrote two major treatises which are no longer extant, "On Nature" and "On Free Will." In these, he defends his position on sin and sinlessness, and accuses Augustine of being under the influence of Manicheanism by elevating evil to the same status as God and teaching pagan fatalism as if it were a Christian doctrine. Augustine had been converted to Christianity from the religion of Manicheanism, which stressed that the spirit was God-created, while the flesh was corrupt and evil, since it had ...

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Pelagius, Pelagius - Beginnings, Pelagius - Persecutions, Pelagius - Augustine, Pelagius - Jerome, Pelagius - Diospolis, Pelagius - Pope Innocent I, Pelagius - Pope Zosimus, Pelagius - Pelagius and the Doctrine of Free Will, Pelagius - Death and Later, Pelagius - Possible Influences on Pelagius, Pelagius - Pelagius in Literature and Film

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He probably died in Palestine around 420, as reported by some. Others mention him living as many as twenty years later. The cause his death is unknown, but the prevailing rumours suggest either that he was killed by his enemies in the Roman Catholic Church, or (perhaps more grounded) that he left Rome in frustration and headed into Africa or the Middle East. His death did not end his teachings, although those who followed him may have modified those teachings. Because little information remains with regard to Pelagius' actual teaching ...

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Pelagius, Pelagius - Beginnings, Pelagius - Persecutions, Pelagius - Augustine, Pelagius - Jerome, Pelagius - Diospolis, Pelagius - Pope Innocent I, Pelagius - Pope Zosimus, Pelagius - Pelagius and the Doctrine of Free Will, Pelagius - Death and Later, Pelagius - Possible Influences on Pelagius, Pelagius - Pelagius in Literature and Film

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The Pelagius Book by Paul Morgan is a historical novel that presents Pelagius as a gentle humanist emphasizing individual responsibility in contrast to Augustine's fierce fatalism. Pelagius is referred to in Stephen Lawhead's book, The Black Rood, and makes an appearance in Patrick where he has a discussion with the Anglo-Irish saint. Pelagius is frequently referred to in Jack Whyte's series of books known as A Dream of Eagles, where a major character's belief in Pelagius' ideas of Free Will and the laxity of the Roman Catholic Church eventually ...

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Pelagius, Pelagius - Beginnings, Pelagius - Persecutions, Pelagius - Augustine, Pelagius - Jerome, Pelagius - Diospolis, Pelagius - Pope Innocent I, Pelagius - Pope Zosimus, Pelagius - Pelagius and the Doctrine of Free Will, Pelagius - Death and Later, Pelagius - Possible Influences on Pelagius, Pelagius - Pelagius in Literature and Film

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Erasmus was born with the name Gerrit Gerritszoon (Dutch for Gerhard Gerhardson), probably in Rotterdam, although recent discoveries suggest he was actually born in Gouda, the Netherlands. Although much associated with this city, he lived there for only four years, never to return. Information on his family and early life comes mainly from vague references in his writings. He was almost certainly illegitimate. His father was a priest named Roger Gerard. Little is known of his mother other than the fact that her name was Margaret and s ...

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Erasmus, Erasmus - Biography, Erasmus - Writings, Erasmus - Legacy, Erasmus - Representations of Erasmus, Erasmus - Notes, Erasmus - Critical Bibliography

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Heresy - Christianity. The use of the term heresy in the context of Christianity is less common today, with some notable exceptions: see for example Rudolf Bultmann and the character of debates over ordaining women and gay priests. Popular imagination relegates "heresy" to the Middle Ages, when the Church's power in Europe was at its height, but the case of the scholar and humanist Giordano Bruno was not the last execution for heresy. Heresy remained an officially punishable offense in Roman Catholi ...

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Heresy, Heresy - Etymology, Heresy - Religious heresy, Heresy - Christianity, Heresy - Heresy in Judaism, Heresy - Heresy in Islam, Heresy - Contemporary heresy

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The extraordinary popularity of his books, however, has been shown in the number of editions and translations that have appeared since the 16th century, and in the undiminished interest excited by his elusive but fascinating personality. Ten columns of the catalogue of the British Library are taken up with the bare enumeration of the works and their subsequent reprints. The greatest names of the classical and patristic world are among those translated, edited or annotated by Erasmus, including as Saint Ambrose, Aristotle, Saint Augustine, Saint Basil, Saint John Chr ...

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Erasmus, Erasmus - Biography, Erasmus - Writings, Erasmus - Legacy, Erasmus - Representations of Erasmus, Erasmus - Notes, Erasmus - Critical Bibliography

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The word "heresy" comes from the Greek αιρεσις, hairesis (from αιρεομαι, haireomai, "choose"), which means either a choice of beliefs or a faction of dissident believers. It was given wide currency by Irenaeus in his tract Contra Haereses (Against Heresies) to describe and discredit his opponents in the early Christian Church. He described his own position as orthodox (from ortho- "straight" + doxa "thinking") and his position eventually evolved into the pos ...

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Heresy, Heresy - Etymology, Heresy - Religious heresy, Heresy - Christianity, Heresy - Heresy in Judaism, Heresy - Heresy in Islam, Heresy - Contemporary heresy

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Today, heresy can be without a religious context as the holding of ideas that are in fundamental disagreement with the status quo in any practice and branch of knowledge. Religion is not a necessary component of the term's definition. [1] For example, Charles Darwin of natural selection fame was considered a heretic of his day. Other people considered heretics were Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, Copernicus, and many others. The revisionist paleontologist Robert T. Bakker, who published his findings as The Dinosaur Heresies, jokingly treated the mainstream ...

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Heresy, Heresy - Etymology, Heresy - Religious heresy, Heresy - Christianity, Heresy - Heresy in Judaism, Heresy - Heresy in Islam, Heresy - Contemporary heresy

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Other works: Colloquia which appeared at intervals from 1500 on. Apophthegmatum opus Adagia The portraitist Hans Holbein the Younger made a profile half-length portrait in 1523, and Albrecht Dürer made an engraving of Erasmus in 1526. ...

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Erasmus, Erasmus - Biography, Erasmus - Writings, Erasmus - Legacy, Erasmus - Representations of Erasmus, Erasmus - Notes, Erasmus - Critical Bibliography

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Erasmus wrote both on ecclesiatic subjects and those of general human interest. He seems to have regarded the latter as trifling, a leisure activity. His more serious writings begin early with the Enchiridion Militis Christiani, the "Handbook of the Christian Soldier" (1503). In this short work, Erasmus outlines the views of the normal Christian life, which he was to spend the rest of his days in elaborating. The chief evil of the day, he says, is formalism, a respect for traditions without consideration for the true teaching o ...

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Erasmus, Erasmus - Biography, Erasmus - Writings, Erasmus - Legacy, Erasmus - Representations of Erasmus, Erasmus - Notes, Erasmus - Critical Bibliography

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