"It was because God wished to bestow on the rational creature the gift of doing good of his own free will and the capacity to exercise free choice, by implanting in man the possibility of choosing either alternative. ... He could not claim to possess the good of his own volition, unless he was the kind of creature that could also have possessed evil. Our most excellent creator wished us to be able to do either but actually to do only one, that is, good, which he also commanded, giving us the capacity to do evil only so that we might do His will by exercising our own. That being so, this very capacity to do evil is also good – good, I say, because it makes the good part better by making it voluntary and independent, not bound by necessity but free to decide for itself."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 38
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pelagius
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Pelagius
Pelagius (c. 390-418) was an Irish or British ascetic moralist, who became well known throughout the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity. He was declared a heretic by the Council of Carthage. His doctrine became known as Pelagianism.
17 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Pelagius →
Related Quotes
"Their faith alone will not profit them, because they have not done works of righteousness."
"Unless a man has despised worldly things, he shall not receive those which are divine."
"Let no man judge himself to be a Christian, unless he is one who both follows the teaching of Christ and imitates his…"
"Do you consider a man to be a Christian by whose bread no hungry man is ever filled?"
"He is a Christian"
"Whenever I have to speak on the subject of moral instruction and conduct of a holy life, it is my practice first to d…"
"Yet we do not defend the good of nature to such an extent that we claim that it cannot do evil, since we undoubtedly …"
"Nothing impossible has been commanded by the God of justice and majesty. ... Why do we indulge in pointless evasions,…"
"Whenever I have to speak on the subject of moral instruction and the conduct of a holy life, it is my practice first …"
"We can never enter upon the path to virtue unless we have hope as our guide and companion."