Iberian Fathers, Volume 3

Book in Defense against the Pelagians

1. Literally, “most blessed priests” (beatissimi sacerdotes). 2. The image of the heretic as a wolf menacing the Christian flock, based on biblical precedents (esp. Acts 20.29) and common in patristic polemics, is applied to the Pelagians also by Augustine in his later treatise, Contra duas epistolas pelagianorum 4.34. 3. An early Christian formula expressing modesty, derived from earlier pagan and biblical usages. Cf., for example, Pope Gelasius, Ep. 3.4: Ego quidem sum omnium hominum minimus. BOOK IN DEFENSE AGAINST THE PELAGIANS ost reverend fathers,1 this is not something which I have instigated nor is it a mark of my own presumption, but rather, as you yourselves recognize, it is of the most dire and even desperate necessity that I now appear. Indeed, I have been forced to do this because of an injustice done to me, and now I stand not only as a defender of my faith but also as a witness to another’s faithlessness. For just as I should strive to exonerate myself out of good conscience—I mean, not my own conscience, but that of another person—so, too, am I forced out of faith and zeal—not my own zeal, but that for Christ—to call your attention to the wolves2 caught within the flock of sheep. Yet I do not presume anything recklessly, since I am the most insigni ficant of all persons.3 It is a matter of necessity for me to make known the injustice which I have suffered. Let it be evident to all those who have inflicted it. For it is both God’s will and his command that an evil which was patiently endured be necessarily disclosed, and that there occur not only the censure of the most wicked doctrines but also the identification of the individuals who ought to be reproached, as they themselves by their pursuit of madness receive the proper reward for their error—as is fitting! For the Fathers—both those who have already found eternal rest as martyrs and confessors, Cyprian, Hilary, and Ambrose , as well as those for whom it is still necessary to remain in the flesh and who are the pillars and foundations of the Catholic 115 116 OROSIUS OF BRAGA 4. Although this passage can be interpreted in other ways, Orosius here seems to be contrasting contemporary Jerusalem, the current place of refuge and support (by Bishop John) for the heretic Pelagius, with the eternal, incorruptible , heavenly Zion. Church, Aurelius Augustine and Jerome—have already published much in their most admirable writings against this wicked heresy without specifying the names of the heretics. And yet this abomination of the most poisonous doctrines even turns people now living into the dead and the dead into the living! For Origen , Priscillian, and Jovinian, who for their part have been dead for some time, now live in them and not only live, but also speak through them. And behold! As if those who are dead have continued to live in them, Pelagius and Caelestius now in fact hiss against the Church—which is contemptible—and hiss openly from within the Church—which is even more contemptible; and these impious serpents, licking their putrid mouths with their darting tongues while taking up residence at the holy and inviolable episcopal see unto which they stealthily crept,4 terrify all the faithful with the fear that we may not come one day with each other to that unshakable refuge on Zion. Since the stench from their mouths is spreading far and wide, it turns the fragrance of life into death for all those to whom the fragrance of life used to be for life everlasting. 2. Against this serpent and its suffocating stench, those most blessed men, whom we have mentioned above, have undoubtedly furnished the many and varied fragrant perfumes of the Scriptures and set alight the most sweet-smelling incense with their offering of prayer, so that the hearts of people agitated by doubt might be calmed. But it is not enough merely to argue against a virtually hidden opponent, trading charges for countercharges in order to moderate an atmosphere tainted by such a pernicious stench, if the serpents themselves are not dragged out into the light and trampled underfoot. When, for the purpose of protecting only their head, they expose the rest of their body to mutilation and injury, judging that it is no loss even if all of their parts are cut off—leaving only...