- Description
- 1 online resource (xviii, 342 pages)
- Summary
- Pelagius, the first known British author, is famous for his defence of free will as the Roman Empire disintegrated. A persuasive advocate of two ideas - that human nature was inclined to goodness, and that man had free will - Pelagius was excommunicated in 418 after a campaign to vilify him for inventing a new and dangerous heresy. Setting this accusation of heresy against Pelagius in the context of recent scholarship, The Myth of Pelagianism proves that Pelagius did not teach the ideas attributed to him or propose anything new. In showing that Pelagius defended what was the mainstream understanding of Christianity, Bonner explores the notion that rather than being the leader of a separatist group, he was one of many propagandists for the ascetic movement that swept through Christianity and generated medieval monasticism. Ground-breaking in its interdisciplinarity and in its use of manuscript evidence, The Myth of Pelagianism presents a significant revision of our understanding of Pelagius and of the formation of Christian doctrine.
- Series Statement
- A British Academy monograph
- Uniform Title
- Myth of Pelagianism (Online)
- British Academy monograph.
- Alternative Title
- Myth of Pelagianism (Online)
- Subject
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-328) and indexes.
- Access (note)
- Access restricted to authorized users.
- Contents
- The caricature of Pelagius' teaching and its disjunction from the reality of texts written by Pelagius -- Pelagius did not invent anything: all the teachings in his writings had already been widely dissemieminated in ascetic paraenesis (part I) -- Pelagius did not invent anything: all the teachings in his writings had already been widely dissemieminated in ascetic paraenesis (part II and III) -- No organised movement existed, and no individual held the collection of attributed to 'Peglagianism' -- Systremic problems of definition and classification -- The invention of 'Pleagianism': motive and means -- The manuscript evidence and its implications -- Conclusion -- Appendix: Translation of the y-text of Ambrosiaster's Commentary on the Pauline Epistles, on Rom 9:11-16.
- LCCN
- 2018410407
- OCLC
- ssj0002152554
- Author
Bonner, Ali.
- Title
The myth of Pelagianism [electronic resource] / Ali Bonner.
- Imprint
Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2018.
- Series
A British Academy monograph
British Academy monograph.
- Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 315-328) and indexes.
- Access
Access restricted to authorized users.
- Connect to: