The Myth of Pelagianism?

The Pelagian heresy was the last great controversy of the Western Church in Late Antiquity. Its outcome shaped the future of that Church for centuries to come and its various theological positions were still being debated at the time of the Reformation. Central to the controversy were the figures of Pelagius and Augustine, with their respective supporters. In recent times, however, the debate has taken a dramatic new turn: the very existence of ‘Pelagianism’ as a body of ideas has been flatly denied, and the theological beliefs supposedly espoused by Pelagius himself have been dismissed as fabrications conjured up by Augustine and his followers as part of a massive conspiracy. This radical new theory offers the opportunity to reassess the scholarly discussion of the question over the last fifty years and to offer a verdict on the latest theory about Pelagius and Pelagianism.