77. Ep. 176.2–4 (CSEL 44:664–67); my trans., based on Parsons, FOTC 30:91–93.
gard a few years ago.76 Pelagius, however, as we learn from letters sent by some of our brethren, has set up residence at Jerusalem and is said to lead many astray. But many more, who have been able to examine more carefully the meaning of his teaching, are actively opposing him in defense of the grace of Christ and the truth of the Catholic faith; in the vanguard of these is your holy son, our brother and fellow priest, Jerome.77
Rome's Reply (417)
On January 27, 417, Innocent answered the North African councils with letters confirming their condemnations. From Pope Innocent I, Letter to Silvanus, Primate of Numidia, preserved as Letter 182 in Augustine's corpus:
(3) The authors of the new heresy should be shunned. What more bitter attack could they imagine against the Lord than to take away the reason for daily prayer, after having nullified divine assistance? This is the same as saying: "What need have I of God?" Let the Psalmist say of them with good reason: "Behold human beings who have not made God their helper!" (Ps 51:9) Therefore, by denying the help of God they say that a human being is self-sufficient, that he has no need of divine grace, the deprivation of which necessarily entangles him in the snares of the devil and makes him fall, while at the same time they claim that human liberty alone is enough to enable him to fulfill all the commandments of life. O perverse doctrine of utterly depraved minds! . . .
(4) When we read on every divine page nothing else except that the help of God must be added to our free will, and that, deprived of these heavenly safeguards, it can do nothing, how can Pelagius and Caelestius so obstinately defend the power of the will alone, persuading themselves of its truth, as you assert? . . .
(5) That other doctrine which your Fraternity claims that they preach, that little children can attain the reward of eternal life without the grace of baptism, is very foolish. . . . Those who claim this [eternal life] for them without rebirth seem to me to want to nullify baptism, since they teach that these children have what faith holds is bestowed on them only by baptism. If, then, they do not wish anything to stand in their way, let them confess that there is no need for rebirth and that the sacred stream of regeneration has no effect. But in order to disarm the vicious doctrine of useless human beings by the swift reasoning of truth, the Lord proclaims this in the Gospel by saying: "Let the little children come to me and do not prohibit them from me" (Mt 19:4).
76. "On the actions taken . . . a few years ago": Caelestius's trial in 411. 77. Ep. 176.2–4 (CSEL 44:664–67); my trans., based on Parsons, FOTC 30:91–93.