Quote:
Originally posted by RACooper
Pelagius teachings were considered heretical for esentially two reasons: that man isn't born with original sin, and that man could deal with God directly... without the oversight of the church.. so in a way the movie was somewhat accurate...
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I'd have to quibble with that. The concept of original sin, promulgated particularly by Augustine, is basic in the Western Church, but the Eastern Orthodox churches never have accepted the western idea of original sin, yet they are not considered heretical.
It's a little more subtle -- Pelagius taught that Adam's sin affected him alone -- which is a little different from saying that man is born without original sin. Again, the Eastern Orthodox reject the idea of original sin yet teach, along with Western Christianity, that Adam's sin brought death to humanity -- that is, the result of Adam's sin was death not only for Adam but for his descendents (whether understood literally or metaphorically). Pelagius taught that Adam would have died even if he had not sinned.
The crux (no pun intended) of Pelagius's teachings that were (and still are) considered heretical was that a person's salvation was achieved through his own good works and righteousness, not through the atonement and resurrection of Christ. It really is not so much a matter of dealing with God directly without the established church -- although that can flow from Pelagius's teachings. It is really a rejection of what had come to be considered, from Paul on, perhaps the central defining tenet of Christianity.
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