Augustine in His Own Words
Against the Pelagians 405 of nature and the choice of his will. And so we would be able to say, "Then Christ died in vain" (Gal 2:21), for this [salvation by one's nature and free will] would be something that everyone could do, even if Christ had not died. And if they were unjust, it would be because they wished to be, and not because they could not be just. If, however, one could not be justified in any way without the grace of Christ, let [the author of On Nature] absolve him, if he dares, in accordance with his statement that, "If one was as one was because one could not have been otherwise, then one would have to be free from blame."66
Wounded Human Nature
The debate between Augustine and Pelagius was, in part, a debate about the human condition. In On Nature, Pelagius argued that the healthy do not need a doctor. This turn-of-phrase provided Augustine an opening to draw on his image of Christ the Doctor. Augustine invokes the image repeatedly throughout On Nature and Grace (as well in other anti-Pelagian treatises) to articulate his view of our current condition and Christ's saving action. Augustine argues as much by image as by logic, using medical metaphors to draw out his theological stance. In what follows, I have highlighted this essential thread with excerpts that run the length of the treatise. Note how Augustine invokes Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan to speak of Christian life as a convalescence within the "Inn" of the Church. From On Nature and Grace:
(30.34) What does [Pelagius] mean in the following passage?67 "Next, how can people be answerable to God for the guilt of some sin which they know is not theirs? For if it is necessary, it is not theirs. Or if it is theirs, it is voluntary; and if it is voluntary, it can be avoided." We answer: Beyond all doubt [Adam's sin] is theirs, but the fault through which it was committed has not yet been completely healed. And the fact that it increases in us happens because we have abused the good health we were endowed with. Because of this injury, people are now increasingly in bad condition and, through weakness or blindness, commit more sins. They ought to pray that they may be healed and that from here on they may enjoy a life of unending good health, not becoming proud, as if human beings could be healed by the very same power [of will] they became injured by. . . .
(34.39) When [Pelagius] thinks that he is pleading God's case by defend-
66. Nat. et. gr. 3.3–9.10 (BA 21:248–52); trans. Mourant and Collinge, FOTC 86:24–26 (modified). 67. "[Pelagius]": Augustine consciously chose not to cite Pelagius's name, speaking only of "the author," "he," "him," etc. Translators typically insert Pelagius's name here and elsewhere for clarity's sake. I have added square brackets to try and balance Augustine's concern to protect the anonymity of his opponent with contemporary readers' need for clarity of reference.
ing nature, he forgets that in declaring this nature to be healthy he rejects the mercy of the Doctor. But the God who created [Pelagius] is also his Savior. Therefore, we should not so praise the Creator that we are compelled to say (or rather be convicted of saying) that there is no need for a Savior. Therefore, let us honor human nature with fitting praise and let us attribute these praises to the glory of the Creator, but let us not be grateful to Him for having created us in such a way that we seem ungrateful to Him for having healed us. Let us attribute our defects . . . not to God's actions, but to the human will and God's just punishment. Nevertheless, we must admit that it was once in our power that these defects should not have come about, just as we confess that their cure depends upon His mercy more than upon our own power. [Pelagius], however, reduces this mercy and healing aid of the Savior to the fact "that He forgives the transgressions of the past, not that He will help us to avoid sins in the future." Here he is most dangerously mistaken, for without realizing it, he hinders us from being careful and from praying that we enter "not into temptation," (Mt 6:13) since he maintains that it is entirely within our power that it should not happen to us. . . .
(39.46) Let [Pelagius] faithfully and obediently listen to what [Scripture] says: "Through one man sin entered the world, and through sin death, and thus it was passed on to all human beings, in whom all have sinned" (Rom 5:12), and let him not weaken the grace of so great a Doctor in refusing to admit that human nature has been corrupted. How I wish he would read [Scripture] as a Christian should: that apart from that of Jesus Christ, "there is no other name under heaven in which we can be saved" (Acts 4:12), and not defend the power of human nature to the point of believing that human beings can be saved by free will even without that name [of Christ]. . . .
(43.50) For who does not know that humankind was created healthy and faultless, endowed with a free will and a free ability to live a just life? But now we are concerned with human beings [like the man in Jesus' parable] whom the thieves left half-dead on the road, who, being injured and pierced with serious wounds, cannot ascend to the heights of justice as they were once able to descend from [the City of God], even though they are now undergoing treatment in the inn [of the Church] (Lk 10:33–35). God then does not command the impossible, but by His commandments He counsels you to do what you can do and to pray for His aid for what you cannot do. Now let us see where the ability comes from and where the inability comes from. [Pelagius] declares, "Natural ability does not come from the will." But I say: A human being is not just as a result of the will if he can be so by nature, but one will be able to be just as a result of the medicine [of grace], something one cannot be [on one's own] as a result of one's injury. . . .