Augustine in His Own Words
Against the Pelagians 395 human race, "Today a savior has been born to you" (Lk 2:11); only a Redeemer whose blood has paid off our debts. These children, even if they have no sin of their own because of age, have original sin and are, "by nature, children of wrath" (Eph 2:3). Now who would dare to say that Christ is not the Savior of infants nor their Redeemer? From what does He rescue them if they do not have within them the disease of original sin? From what does He redeem them if they have not been put up for sale through their sin-subjected origin from the first human being? In our judgment, therefore, one should not go promising infants eternal salvation outside the bounds of Christ's baptism— nothing beyond what Holy Scripture promises, preferring it over all human ingenuity.49
Sin and the Will
The second issue from Caelestius's trial was the place of the will in the Christian pursuit of holiness. The circle around Pelagius was fond of citing Old Testament notables as possible candidates for sinlessness. Augustine granted sinlessness as a theoretical possibility, but insisted that such an unlikely possibility would only be possible with the infused grace of God. Both Augustine and his opponents located the problem of sin in the will. But for Augustine, moral decision-making always seemed more subtle than it was for others. Knowing moral rules was not enough. We need God to enlighten our minds and to ignite our hearts. From On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins and On Infant Baptism, Book 2:
(17.26) Since human beings are able to live in this life without sin so long as divine grace helps the human will, then why don't we? This I can easily and truthfully answer: Because people are unwilling to. But if I am asked why they are unwilling, . . . I would briefly say this: People do not will to do what is right either because they do not know what is right or because they find no delight in it. For we will something more passionately depending on how much certainty we have in knowing that it is good and how burning our delight in it is. Therefore, ignorance and weakness are faults that hinder the will either from being moved to do a good work or to refrain from an evil one. But that what was hidden may come to light and what did not delight us may become sweet, this belongs to the grace of God, which helps people's wills. The reason why they are not helped by grace lies in them, not in God, whether they be predestined to be condemned on account of the sin of pride or wheth-
49. Pecc. mer. 1.18.23–23.33 (CSEL 60:23–33); my trans. On this, see William Harmless, "Christ the Pediatrician: Augustine on the Diagnosis and Treatment of the Injured Vocation of the Child," in The Vocation of the Child, ed. Patrick McKinley Brennan (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 127–53.