Pelagius

[Patristic]

I spent a good deal of time this afternoon in the library ploughing through a couple of Patristic commentaries on Romans. One particular commentary I read was Pelagius' commentary on the book of Romans. After reading through parts of it and comparing it to Chrysostom's homilies on Romans I found that there were many similarities and points of agreement between the two. To be honest, this shocked and amazed me. It pains me to think that Pelagius could be so similar to any great teacher from the East because I have been trained from a young age to equate Pelagius with heresy and virtually perceive his name as a slanderous curse word. Anyways, besides his erroneous exegesis of Romans 5 where he seriously downplays the effects of the fall, his other ideas were pretty sound. His commentary on Romans 3 and 4 and 7-9 is so close to Chrysostom and many other Eastern Fathers it is sometimes scary. It almost seems that if Pelagius had been reared in the East he never would have been condemned, and if he had just come in contact with a Chrysostom or a Basil his views on original sin could have been corrected and he would have been considered orthodox. What is everyone else's view on this subject? Do you think Pelagius could be rehabilitated or should his condemnation as a gross heretic by Western standards still stand in the East?

[Reader Nilus]

I spent a good deal of time this afternoon in the library ploughing through a couple of Patristic commentaries on Romans. One particular commentary I read was Pelagius' commentary on the book of Romans. After reading through parts of it and comparing it to Chrysostom's homilies on Romans I found that there were many similarities and points of agreement between the two. To be honest, this shocked and amazed me. It pains me to think that Pelagius could be so similar to any great teacher from the East because I have been trained from a young age to equate Pelagius with heresy and virtually perceive his name as a slanderous curse word. Anyways, besides his erroneous exegesis of Romans 5 where he seriously downplays the effects of the fall, his other ideas were pretty sound. His commentary on Romans 3 and 4 and 7-9 is so close to Chrysostom and many other Eastern Fathers it is sometimes scary. It almost seems that if Pelagius had been reared in the East he never would have been condemned, and if he had just come in contact with a Chrysostom or a Basil his views on original sin could have been corrected and he would have been considered orthodox. What is everyone else's view on this subject? Do you think Pelagius could be rehabilitated or should his condemnation as a gross heretic by Western standards still stand in the East?Here is a couple of articles that shed some light on Pelagius, He should be a Saint, and no doubt is one.
Pelagius: To Demetrias by Deacon Geoffrey Ó Riada (http://www.biblical-theology.com/calvinism2/pelagius2.htm)

Pelagius – To Demetrias: An Orthodox Perspective on the West's Chief Heresiarch – by Father Geoffrey Ready (http://www.orthodoxireland.com/Members/FrGeoffrey/pelagius/view)

Jeff the Finn

[NewToLife]

I cant really comment on Pelagius as I've not read his work to any extent but if we look for a thoroughly Orthodox counter to Blessed Augustine's errors the obvious figure is of course St John Cassian whose Conferences are one of the key texts for anyone wishing to follow an ascetic lifestyle.

[Patristic]

I cant really comment on Pelagius as I've not read his work to any extent but if we look for a thoroughly Orthodox counter to Blessed Augustine's errors the obvious figure is of course St John Cassian whose Conferences are one of the key texts for anyone wishing to follow an ascetic lifestyle.
Yes, I've read Cassian and he does take the middle road as far as original sin is concerned falling between Pelagius and Augustine. I wonder if the West realized that when it promoted the synod of Orange to the status of a council it was basically anathematizing the entire East along with Cassian.

[Philip]

I wonder if the West realized that when it promoted the synod of Orange to the status of a council it was basically anathematizing the entire East along with Cassian.

I don't think they realize it. :cry: