Letter 172: 1. That honourable man, my brother, and your Excellency's son, the presbyter Orosius, I have, both on his own account and in obedience to your request, made welcome. But a most trying time has come upon us, in which I have found it better for me to hold my peace than to speak, so that our studies have ceased, lest what Appius calls the eloquenc...

Augustine to Jerome, greetings. I am writing about Pelagius. I know you have encountered his teachings — perhaps more directly than I have, since he has been in the East for some time. You have read his works. You have spoken with his followers. I want to know what you think. Here is what troubles me: Pelagius teaches that human beings, by the natural power of their will, can live sinless lives. He teaches that Adam's sin harmed only Adam — that it was a bad example, not a transmitted corruption. He teaches that grace is helpful but not strictly necessary — that a person could, in principle, choose the good and avoid all evil without any special intervention from God. If this is true, then the entire structure of the faith collapses. If we can save ourselves by our own effort, we do not need a savior. If Adam's sin was merely a bad example, original sin is a fiction, and infant baptism is meaningless. If grace is optional, the cross was unnecessary — because a good teacher would have been sufficient. I cannot accept this. Everything I have learned about myself — everything I know from the depths of my own heart — tells me that I am incapable of choosing the good consistently without God's help. The will is real, but it is wounded. It can turn toward the good, but only with the strength that comes from grace. Left to itself, it turns toward sin as inevitably as water flows downhill. "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God" [2 Corinthians 3:5]. This is not a metaphor. It is the literal truth of the human condition. Write to me, Jerome. On this, I think we agree completely — and I could use an ally. Farewell.

From Jerome to Augustine (A.D. 416) To Augustine, My Truly Pious Lord and Father, Worthy of My Utmost Affection and Veneration, Jerome Sends Greeting in Christ. 1. That honourable man, my brother, and your Excellency's son, the presbyter Orosius, I have, both on his own account and in obedience to your request, made welcome. But a most trying time has come upon us, in which I have found it better for me to hold my peace than to speak, so that our studies have ceased, lest what Appius calls the eloquence of dogs should be provoked into exercise. For this reason I have not been able at the present time to give to those two books dedicated to my name — books of profound erudition, and brilliant with every charm of splendid eloquence — the answer which I would otherwise have given; not that I think anything said in them demands correction, but because I am mindful of the words of the blessed apostle in regard to the variety of men's judgments, Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Certainly, whatever can be said on the topics there discussed, and whatever can be drawn by commanding genius from the fountain of sacred Scripture regarding them, has been in these letters stated in your positions, and illustrated by your arguments. But I beg your Reverence to allow me for a little to praise your genius. For in any discussion between us, the object aimed at by both of us is advancement in learning. But our rivals, and especially heretics, if they see different opinions maintained by us, will assail us with the calumny that our differences are due to mutual jealousy. For my part, however, I am resolved to love you, to look up to you, to reverence and admire you, and to defend your opinions as my own. I have also in a dialogue, which I recently published, made allusion to your Blessedness in suitable terms. Be it ours, therefore, rather to rid the Church of that most pernicious heresy which always feigns repentance, in order that it may have liberty to teach in our churches, and may not be expelled and extinguished, as it would be if it disclosed its real character in the light of day. 2. Your pious and venerable daughters, Eustochium and Paula, continue to walk worthy of their own birth and of your counsels, and they send special salutations to your Blessedness: in which they are joined by the whole brotherhood of those who with us labour to serve the Lord our Saviour. As for the holy presbyter Firmus, we sent him last year to go on business of Eustochium and Paula, first to Ravenna, and afterwards to Africa and Sicily, and we suppose that he is now detained somewhere in Africa. I beseech you to present my respectful salutations to the saints who are associated with you. I have also sent to your care a letter from me to the holy presbyter Firmus; if it reaches you, I beg you to take the trouble of forwarding it to him. May Christ the Lord keep you in safety, and mindful of me, my truly pious lord and most blessed father. (As a postscript.) We suffer in this province from a grievous scarcity of clerks acquainted with the Latin language; this is the reason why we are not able to comply with your instructions, especially in regard to that version of the Septuagint which is furnished with distinctive asterisks and obelisks; for we have lost, through some one's dishonesty, the most of the results of our earlier labour. About this page Source. Translated by J.G. Cunningham. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 1. Edited by Philip Schaff. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1887.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102172.htm>. Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is feedback732 at newadvent.org. (To help fight spam, this address might change occasionally.) Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.