5th century – 529

The Semi-Pelagian Controversy and the Council of Orange (529)

Augustine's doctrine of grace and predestination met resistance in southern Gaul, especially in Marseilles. John Cassian, Vincent of Lérins and Faustus of Riez condemned Pelagius and accepted original sin and the necessity of grace, but held that the first step of faith depends on human freedom, that Christ died for all, and that predestination rests on foreknowledge; they accused Augustine and his defender Prosper of Aquitaine of fatalism. The controversy lasted about a century and ended with the Council of Orange in 529 under Caesarius of Arles: its canons, drawn mainly from Augustine and Prosper, declared that even the beginning of faith and the desire to be cleansed are gifts of the Spirit, that grace precedes conversion, and the doctrine of predestination to evil was anathematized. According to the canons, free will is restored by the grace of baptism; the council was silent about predestination by God's sovereign decision and about irresistible grace.