Letter 6014: Your Charity, being anxious to learn our opinion, has been at the pains of writing to us to ask what we think of the book against the presbyter Athanasius which was sent to us. Having thoroughly perused some parts of it, we find that he has fallen into the dogma of Manichæus. But he who has noted some places as heretical by a mark set against th...

Gregory to the Count Narses. Your Charity, anxious to have our opinion, took the trouble to write and ask what we think of the book sent to us against the priest Athanasius. Having examined portions of it thoroughly, I find that the author has fallen into the heresy of Manichaeus. But the person who marked certain passages as heretical with annotations in the margin has himself slipped into Pelagian heresy -- because he has flagged as heretical some statements that are in fact perfectly Catholic and orthodox. For instance, the book states that when Adam sinned, his soul died. The author then explains what this death means: Adam lost the blessedness of his original condition. Whoever denies this is not a Catholic. God had said, "In the day you eat of it, you shall surely die." We know that Adam did not die physically on that day -- he went on to have children and lived many more years. If, then, his soul did not die either, the impious conclusion follows that God Himself lied when He foretold that Adam would die on the day he sinned. The truth is that death occurs in two ways: either by ceasing to live entirely, or by a change in the quality of one's life. When we say Adam's soul died by eating the forbidden fruit, we mean not that it ceased to exist but that his way of living changed -- from the happiness for which he was created to a life of pain. The annotator who marked this passage as heretical in the book sent to me by my brother Bishop John is therefore a Pelagian. His position is clearly that of Pelagius, which the Apostle Paul plainly refutes in his epistles -- I need not cite the specific passages, since I am writing to someone who knows them well. Pelagius, who was condemned at the Council of Ephesus, maintained this view in order to argue that our redemption by Christ was not real -- that we were not truly condemned, and therefore not truly saved.

Book VI, Letter 14 To the Count Narses. Gregory to Narses, etc. Your Charity, being anxious to learn our opinion, has been at the pains of writing to us to ask what we think of the book against the presbyter Athanasius which was sent to us. Having thoroughly perused some parts of it, we find that he has fallen into the dogma of Manichæus. But he who has noted some places as heretical by a mark set against them slips also himself into Pelagian heresy; for he has marked certain places as heretical which are Catholicly expressed and entirely orthodox. For when this is written; that when Adam sinned his soul died, the writer shows afterwards how it is said to have died, namely that it lost the blessedness of its condition. Whosoever denies this is not a Catholic. For God had said, In the hour you eat thereof, in death you shall die Genesis 2:17. When, therefore, Adam ate of the forbidden tree, we know that he did not die in the body, seeing that after this he begot children and lived many years. If, then, he did not die in the soul, the impious conclusion follows that He himself lied who foretold that in the day that he sinned he should die. But it is to be understood that death takes place in two ways; either from ceasing to live, or with respect to the mode of living. When, then, man's soul is said to have died in the eating of the forbidden thing, it is meant, not in the sense of ceasing to live, but with regard to the mode of living;— that he should live afterwards in pain who had been created to live happily in joy. He, then, who has marked this passage in the book sent to me by my brother the bishop John as heretical is a Pelagian; for his view is evidently that of Pelagius, which the apostle Paul plainly confutes in his epistles. The particular passages in his epistle I need not quote, as I write to one who knows. But Pelagius, who was condemned in the Ephesine synod, maintained this view with the intention of showing that we were redeemed by Christ unreally. For, if we did not through Adam die in the soul, we were redeemed unreally, which it were impious to say. Further, having examined the acts of the synod of Ephesus, we find nothing at all about Adelphius and Sava, and the others who are said to have been condemned there, and we think that, as the synod of Chalcedon was in one place falsified by the Constantinopolitan Church, so something of the kind has been done with regard to the synod of Ephesus. Wherefore let your Charity make a thorough search for old copies of the acts of this synod, and thus see whether anything of the kind is found there, and send such copy as you may find to me, which I will return as soon as I have read it. For recent copies are not entirely to be trusted; and it is for this reason that I have been in doubt, and have not wished as yet to reply in this case to my aforesaid brother the bishop John. Further, the Roman copies are much more correct than the Greek ones, since, as we have not your cleverness, so neither have we any impostures. Now concerning the presbyter John, know that his case has been decided in synod, whereby I have clearly ascertained that his adversaries have wished and long endeavoured to make him out a heretic, but have entirely failed. Salute in my name your friends, who are ours: ours also, who are yours, salute you heartily through me. May Almighty God protect you with His hand in the midst of so many thorns, that you may, unhurt, gather those flowers which the Lord has chosen. About this page Source. Translated by James Barmby. From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 12. Edited by Philip Schaff and Henry Wace. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1895.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight. <https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/360206014.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.