409–430

Original Sin and Free Will: Augustine against Pelagius, Celestius and Julian of Eclanum

According to Pelagius, Adam was created mortal and neutral, with an equal capacity for good and evil; his fall harmed only himself, there is no inherited guilt, and a person is born in the state of Adam before the fall; sin is passed on by imitation, not by birth. Augustine taught that Adam was able not to sin but needed the help of grace; in his sin the whole race sinned (Rom. 5:12 in the Latin reading "in whom all sinned"), and original sin is transmitted through carnal generation. Fallen nature is damaged but not destroyed; the will is free only to sin: a person sins inevitably, yet "freely" and willingly. The question arose in connection with infant baptism: both sides accepted it but explained it differently. Julian of Eclanum called Augustine's teaching Manichaean.