Pelagianism
Outside historic orthodoxy
The teaching that Adam's sin harmed only himself, and that people are born able to obey God and earn salvation without inward grace.
Also called: Pelagian, Pelagius
What it means
Pelagianism takes its name from Pelagius, a British monk who taught in Rome around AD 400. He held that every person is born as Adam was created, morally neutral and fully able to choose good or evil. Adam's sin set a bad example, but it did not corrupt his descendants or bring guilt on them. God's "grace," in this view, is mainly His law and the good example of Christ, which people are able to follow by their own power.
Augustine opposed this teaching from Scripture, and the church condemned it at the Council of Carthage in 418 and at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Every major Christian tradition since has rejected it. Today it rarely appears under its own name, but its main idea, that people are basically good and need only better instruction or a better example, is common in popular religion and in moralistic preaching.
What Scripture says
No one is righteous; no one seeks God; all have turned aside.
We were dead in sins until God made us alive with Christ by grace.
The mind set on the flesh cannot submit to God's law and cannot please Him.
No one can come to Christ unless the Father draws him.
Apart from Christ we can do nothing.
What is wrong with it
Scripture says plainly that sin came into the world through Adam and spread to all, that we are dead in sin, and that the natural mind cannot submit to God's law. Pelagianism contradicts each of these. It treats Christ as an example to copy rather than a Savior who rescues the helpless, and it treats grace as an aid to people who could, in principle, manage without it.
How it undermines the truth
It undermines original sin, the necessity of inward grace, and finally the gospel itself. If people can obey God by their own strength, the cross becomes a moving example rather than a necessary rescue, and salvation becomes a reward for effort. It also undermines assurance, since standing with God rests on one's own performance.
How it can harm a church
A church shaped by Pelagian ideas preaches moral improvement instead of Christ. It breeds pride in those who seem to succeed and despair in those who know they fail. It cannot explain why people keep sinning despite good teaching, and it leaves the struggling without the comfort that God saves sinners who cannot save themselves.
This page describes a teaching, not the faith of any person who holds it.
History
Condemned at the Council of Carthage (418), at the Council of Ephesus (431), and again in its milder form at the Council of Orange (529).
Where it comes up
Confessions: WCF 6.2-4; WCF 9.3; LBCF 1689 9.3; Canons of Dort 3/4.3
On this site: Creation & the fall
Related terms
Semi-PelagianismSerious error
The teaching that sinners can take the first step toward God by their own power, after which God's grace helps them the rest of the way.
Original sinHistoric orthodoxy
Because of Adam's first sin, every person is born both guilty before God and corrupt in nature.
Total depravityHistoric orthodoxy
Sin has affected every part of fallen human nature, so that no one can turn to God or please Him without His grace.
RegenerationHistoric orthodoxy
The work of the Holy Spirit by which a person dead in sin is made spiritually alive, given a new heart that turns to God in faith and repentance.