23. [XI.]—The Seventh Item of the Accusation: the Breviates of Cœlestius Objected to Pelagius.

Then follow sundry statements charged against Pelagius, which are said to be found among the opinions of his disciple Cœlestius: how that “Adam was created mortal, and would have died whether he had sinned or not sinned; that Adam’s sin injured only himself and not the human race; that the law no less than the gospel leads us to the kingdom; that there were sinless men previous to the coming of Christ; that new-born infants are in the same condition as Adam was before the fall; that the whole human race does not, on the one hand, die through Adam’s death or transgression, nor, on the other hand, does the whole human race rise again through the resurrection of Christ.” These have been so objected to, that they are even said to have been, after a full hearing, condemned at Carthage by your holiness and other bishops associated with you.68    Compare Augustin’s work De Peccato Originali, ch. xi. (12). I was not present on that occasion, as you will recollect; but afterwards, on my arrival at Carthage, I read over the Acts of the synod, some of which I perfectly well remember, but I do not know whether all the tenets now mentioned occur among them. But what matters it if some of them were possibly not mentioned, and so not included in the condemnation of the synod when it is quite clear that they deserve condemnation? Sundry other points of error were next alleged against him, connected with the mention of my own name.69    See same treatise as before, and same chapter. They had been transmitted to me from Sicily, some of our Catholic brethren there being perplexed by questions of this kind; and I drew up a reply to them in a little work addressed to Hilary,70    See Augustin’s letter to Hilary, in Epist 157. who had consulted me respecting them in a letter. My answer, in my opinion, was a sufficient one. These are the errors referred to: “That a man is able to be without sin if he wishes. That infants, even if they die unbaptized, have eternal life. That rich men, even if they are baptized, unless they renounce all, have, whatever good they may seem to have done, nothing of it reckoned to them; neither can they possess the kingdom of God.”

CAPUT XI.

23. Haec enim sequuntur objecta Pelagio, quae in doctrina Coelestii discipuli ejus referuntur inventa. «Adam mortalem factum, qui sive peccaret, sive non peccaret, moriturus esset. Quoniam peccatum Adae ipsum solum laeserit, et non genus humanum. Quoniam Lex sic mittit ad regnum, quemadmodum Evangelium. Quoniam ante adventum 0334 Christi fuerunt homines sine peccato. Quoniam infantes nuper nati in illo statu sunt, in quo Adam fuit ante praevaricationem. Quoniam neque per mortem vel praevaricationem Adae omne genus hominum moriatur, neque per resurrectionem Christi omne genus hominum resurgat.» Haec ita objecta sunt, ut etiam apud Carthaginem a Sanctitate tua et ab aliis tecum episcopis dicerentur audita atque damnata. Ubi quidem, ut recolis, ipse non fui, sed postea cum venissem Carthaginem, eadem gesta recensui, ex quibus aliqua memini: sed nescio utrum eis haec omnia teneantur. Quid autem interest, utrum aliqua inibi non sint forte commemorata, et ideo nec damnata, cum constet esse damnanda? Deinde objecta sunt et alia quaedam capitula, commemoratione mei nominis interposita, quae mihi de Sicilia missa fuerant, cum ibi fratres catholici hujusmodi quaestionibus turbarentur, quibus per librum ad Hilarium scriptum, qui ea mihi in epistola sua consulens miserat, satis sufficienter, ut mihi videtur, respondi (Epistola 157, ad Hilarium scripta). Ista sunt autem: «Posse hominem sine peccato, si velit, esse. Infantes, etsi non baptizentur, habere vitam aeternam. Divites baptizatos, nisi omnibus abrenuntient, si quid boni visi fuerint facere, non reputari illis, neque regnum Dei posse eos habere.»