Augustine in His Own Words (continued)
er they are to be judged and corrected over their pride if they are children of mercy. . . .
(18.28) We human beings struggle to find in our will some good that is ours, some good in us not from God, but I do not know how one can possibly find it. For the Apostle says this, when speaking of human goods: "For what do you have that you have not received? And if you have received it, why do you glory as if you did not receive it?" (1 Cor 4:7)50
Phase Two: The Debate with
Pelagius (414–418)
Early Impressions of Pelagius
Augustine had close friends in Italy who knew Pelagius well and who had spoken highly of him. Even after the affair of Caelestius, Augustine was wary of attributing the disciple's failings to his spiritual mentor. In this passage, Augustine speaks of his brief glimpses of Pelagius and his own early hesitations. From On the Deeds of Pelagius: (22.46) To refer especially to my own case, I first became acquainted with Pelagius's name and the great reputation he had, when he was away and established at Rome. Later, reports began to reach us that he was arguing against the grace of God. Although I deplored this and believed those who told it to me, I still desired to observe something of this sort from him directly, or in one of his books, so that if I began to refute it, he could not disavow it. But afterwards, when he arrived in Africa during my absence, he was received on our coast, that is, that of Hippo, where, as I learned from our friends, nothing of this nature was heard from him, for he left from there more quickly than was expected. Later, as I remember, I saw his face once or twice at Carthage, when I was preoccupied with preparations for the conference which we were about to have with the heretical Donatists,51 but he had hastened away from there across the sea. Meanwhile, these doctrines were seething, spread by the mouths of those who were regarded as his disciples, to the point where Caelestius appeared before an ecclesiastical tribunal and incurred a verdict worthy of his perverse opinions. At any rate, we thought it a more helpful way of proceeding against them if, without mentioning the names of any individuals, we were to challenge and refute the errors them-
50. Pecc. mer. 2.17.26–18.28 (CSEL 60:98–100); my trans. 51. "Preparations for the conference . . .": Augustine is referring to the Conference of Carthage in 411, which ended the Donatist schism. On this, see chapter 7.