Pelagianism

[The Good]

Without me having to search up Wikipedia right now (I'd rather hear from someone here), could someone explain Pelagianism to me? From what I know of it, it was an ancient denomination, so to speak, that became common among the Christians of Fifth Century AD Britannia, and it emphasized the doctrine of free will. I know there's more to it than just that though.

I thought it would be interesting to note that the fairly recent King Arthur movie (related in a way to my namesake) makes a mention of Pelagius and Pelagianism as well. Arthur himself (according to the movie) was supposedly taught by Pelagius (not that this actually happened, but for this purpose, I'm speaking of only the 2004 movie).

[MaximiIian]

IIRC, it's the Christian ethical philosophy that Adam's sin did not taint humankind; merely that he set a "bad example." And that man is capable, through free will, of accepting good or evil with or without divine aid.

Which is pretty big, because the whole basis of salvation, and thus Christ, in Christianity, is that Adam's sin has tainted mankind and humans are thus necessarily and intrinsically sinful and in need of salvation via Christ. So...Pelagius kinda hits his own religion in the shins with a golf club.

[The Good]

IIRC, it's the Christian ethical philosophy that Adam's sin did not taint humankind; merely that he set a "bad example." And that man is capable, through free will, of accepting good or evil with or without divine aid.

Which is pretty big, because the whole basis of salvation, and thus Christ, in Christianity, is that Adam's sin has tainted mankind and humans are thus necessarily and intrinsically sinful and in need of salvation via Christ. So...Pelagius kinda hits his own religion in the shins with a golf club.

While I do believe that mankind was tainted by Adam's (and Eve's) original sin, I agree with some aspects of Pelagian thought. It strikes me as a very liberal approach to Christianity, but I agree with the free will doctrine. Every man or woman has the free will to do whatever they are able, but in my perspective, people should strive to do what is right. Just because I agree with the free will doctrine, doesn't mean I don't oppose anything, however. There are limits. Why should I allow a man to murder someone if he told me, for instance?

[Dayman]

Which is pretty big, because the whole basis of salvation, and thus Christ, in Christianity, is that Adam's sin has tainted mankind and humans are thus necessarily and intrinsically sinful and in need of salvation via Christ. So...Pelagius kinda hits his own religion in the shins with a golf club.

Pelegianism actually came around the same time Augustinian theology was...so it hit's the shins of modern Christianity but not so much Christianity of the 4th century. Original sin was put forth by Augustine of Hippo, so they appear to be two different theories developed at the same time, not a heresy of an established church doctrine.