Pelagius: A Historical and Theological Study

by John Ferguson

Genres: Theology

206 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 1977

About the author

John Ferguson (b. Manchester, 2 March 1921; d. Birmingham, 22 May 1989) studied Classics and Theology, becoming Professor of Classics at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He was subsequently founding Dean of Arts at the Open University, and President of the Selly Oak Colleges, Birmingham. Ferguson took part in the Dunblane Consultations from 1962 onwards (see Dunblane Praises*). He was a lay preacher in the Congregational Church, after 1972 in the United Reformed Church. He was a committed Christian pacifist, and did much work for the Fellowship of Reconciliation (he was co-editor, with his wife, of Reconciliation Quarterly). Author of more than 50 books.

Reviews

[Christina]

I found this to be a helpful source to better understand Pelagius. The author is critical of Pelagius while also presenting his arguments in a balanced light. The same could be said if his treatment of Augustine's arguments throughout the text. In his conclusion he states "If a heretic is one who emphasizes one truth to the exclusion of others, it would at any rate appear he was no more a heretic than Augustine" (pg 182).

Because this work is a dissertation it is written with an academic lense and assumes a certain level of knowledge. Many of the quotes throughout are quoted in their original languages (usually Latin, though at least one instance of Greek) and are not translated to English. I struggled to follow some of the discussion, particularly around baptism, since I do not possess a robust understanding of Augustine's/the Church's theology of baptism at that time. Overall it was a helpful work hear Pelagius's arguments within his own historical setting.

[Miles Foltermann]

Ferguson should be commended for so thoroughly researching the life and times of Pelagius, and he should also be commended for his commitment to presenting Pelagius in a just light. Nevertheless, he extends no such grace to Augustine—for whom he has an obvious disdain. Throughout the latter part of the book, Ferguson seems to assign the most gracious interpretation to everything spoken by Pelagius, while casting suspicion on everything spoken by Augustine. In the concluding chapter, he makes a telling statement, signifying, I believe, something quite different than what he intends:

“And, as a matter of fact, though there are occasional Augustinians among the Catholic leaders, Leo I, Gregory I, or the Venerable Bede, Augustinianism never asserted itself as Catholic orthodoxy, except under the impact of the man’s own personality, and it was the heretics Luther and Calvin, not the orthodox Catholics, who were the real heirs of Augustine.”

Post Tenebras Lux. Soli Deo Gloria.