Research Article
BibTex RIS Cite

Arianism and Pelagianism: Two Great Heresies of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries

Year 2022, Volume: 8 Issue: 4, 1172 - 1178, 22.12.2022
https://doi.org/10.21551/jhf.1178210

Abstract

At a time in Western civilization when differing religious theologies were at odds with each another, opposing schools of thought attempted to reformulate and rationalize some of the most fundamental teachings at the heart of early Christianity. As the founders of these schools were branded as radicals and heretics for defying the orthodoxy and authority of the Roman Empire and at the same time, of the Roman Catholic Church, these teachers were soon ostracized and harshly punished for their flawed and erroneous beliefs. Focusing on the fourth and fifth centuries of the Common Era specifically, this paper will introduce two great heresies that belonged to those historical periods namely, Arianism and Pelagianism, and the highly influential, yet controversial thinkers behind them. Formulated by the Cyrenaic (modern-day Libya) presbyter, Arius (256-336 CE) and the British monk and theologian, Pelagius (390-418 CE), these two religious figures whose nonconformist theological positions are still being debated today, dared in their own defiant ways to challenge the firmly established rules and doctrines of Crown and Church.

Supporting Institution

Gunma University

Thanks

Dear Editor and Reviewers: I would like to thank you for considering my article for publication in "Journal of History and Future." I look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions in due course. Sincerely yours, Sylvain Bergeron

References

  • Reference1 Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993, “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” last modified November 4, 2003, https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7C.HTM.
  • Reference2 J.W.C. Wand, The Four Great Heresies (New York: A.R. Mowbray & Co. Limited, 1957), 40.
  • Reference3 Wand, Heresies, 38.
  • Reference4 Wand, Heresies, 40.
  • Reference5 Wand, Heresies, 43.
  • Reference6 John 1:14
  • Reference7 J.W.C. Wand, The Four Great Heresies (New York: A.R. Mowbray & Co. Limited, 1957), 41.
  • Reference8 Richard E. Rubenstein, When Jesus Became God (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999), 75.
  • Reference9 Rubenstein, Jesus, 73-74.
  • Reference10 Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), 174.
  • Reference11 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 51.
  • Reference12 Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), 197.
  • Reference13 Richard E. Rubenstein, When Jesus Became God (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999), 78.
  • Reference14 Rubenstein, Jesus, 78-81.
  • Reference15 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 52.
  • Reference16 Bokenkotter, Concise, 52.
  • Reference17 Walter Bauer, Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971), 19.
  • Reference18 B.R. Rees, Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1988), xiv.
  • Reference19 John N. Hrtizu, The Fathers of the Church: St. Jerome: Dogmatic and Polemical Works V. 53 (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1965), 223-225.
  • Reference20 B.R. Rees, Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1988), xi-1.
  • Reference21 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 160.
  • Reference22 Liguori G. Muller (Rev), The De Haerisibus of Saint Augustine: A Translation with an Introduction and Commentary (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1956), 210.
  • Reference23 John N. Hrtizu, The Fathers of the Church: St. Jerome: Dogmatic and Polemical Works V. 53 (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1965), 223-224.
  • Reference24 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 164.
  • Reference25 Ferguson, Pelagius, 172-174.
  • Reference26 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 64.
  • Reference27 Eugene F. Rice, Jr., Saint Jerome in the Renaissance (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1985), 20.
  • Reference28 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 159.
  • Reference29 Ferguson, Pelagius, 69.
  • Reference30 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 82.
  • Reference31 Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), 197.
  • Reference32 1 Corinthians 15:45.
  • Reference33 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 82-83.
  • Reference34 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 115.
  • Reference35 Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), 159.
  • Reference36 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 182.
  • Reference37 Ferguson, Pelagius, 182.
  • Reference38 Ferguson, Pelagius, 182.

Arianizm ve Pelagianizm: Dördüncü ve Beşinci Yüzyılların İki Büyük Sapkınlığı

Year 2022, Volume: 8 Issue: 4, 1172 - 1178, 22.12.2022
https://doi.org/10.21551/jhf.1178210

Abstract

Batı medeniyetinde, farklı dini teolojilerin birbiriyle çeliştiği bir zamanda, karşıt düşünce okulları, erken Hıristiyanlığın kalbindeki en temel öğretilerden bazılarını yeniden formüle etmeye ve rasyonalize etmeye çalıştı. Bu okulların kurucuları, Roma İmparatorluğu’nun ve aynı zamanda Roma Katolik Kilisesi’nin ortodoksluğuna ve otoritesine meydan okudukları için radikaller ve sapkınlar olarak damgalandıklarından, bu öğretmenler kısa sürede dışlandı ve kusurlu ve hatalı inançları nedeniyle sert bir şekilde cezalandırıldı. Özellikle milattan sonra dördüncü ve beşinci yüzyıllara odaklanan bu makale, bu tarihsel dönemlere ait iki büyük sapkınlığı, Arianizm ve Pelagianizm’i ve bunların arkasındaki oldukça etkili, ancak tartışmalı düşünürleri tanıtacaktır. Kirene (günümüz Libya’sı) papazı Arius (MS 256-336) ve İngiliz keşiş ve ilahiyatçı Pelagius (MS 390-418) tarafından formüle edilen ve konformist olmayan teolojik görüşleri bugün hâlâ tartışılan bu iki dini şahsiyet, Kraliyet ve Kilise’nin kesin olarak belirlenmiş kurallarına ve doktrinlerine meydan okumaya cesaret ettiler

References

  • Reference1 Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1993, “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” last modified November 4, 2003, https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7C.HTM.
  • Reference2 J.W.C. Wand, The Four Great Heresies (New York: A.R. Mowbray & Co. Limited, 1957), 40.
  • Reference3 Wand, Heresies, 38.
  • Reference4 Wand, Heresies, 40.
  • Reference5 Wand, Heresies, 43.
  • Reference6 John 1:14
  • Reference7 J.W.C. Wand, The Four Great Heresies (New York: A.R. Mowbray & Co. Limited, 1957), 41.
  • Reference8 Richard E. Rubenstein, When Jesus Became God (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999), 75.
  • Reference9 Rubenstein, Jesus, 73-74.
  • Reference10 Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), 174.
  • Reference11 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 51.
  • Reference12 Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), 197.
  • Reference13 Richard E. Rubenstein, When Jesus Became God (New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1999), 78.
  • Reference14 Rubenstein, Jesus, 78-81.
  • Reference15 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 52.
  • Reference16 Bokenkotter, Concise, 52.
  • Reference17 Walter Bauer, Orthodoxy and Heresy in Earliest Christianity (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1971), 19.
  • Reference18 B.R. Rees, Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1988), xiv.
  • Reference19 John N. Hrtizu, The Fathers of the Church: St. Jerome: Dogmatic and Polemical Works V. 53 (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1965), 223-225.
  • Reference20 B.R. Rees, Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic (Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 1988), xi-1.
  • Reference21 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 160.
  • Reference22 Liguori G. Muller (Rev), The De Haerisibus of Saint Augustine: A Translation with an Introduction and Commentary (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1956), 210.
  • Reference23 John N. Hrtizu, The Fathers of the Church: St. Jerome: Dogmatic and Polemical Works V. 53 (Washington: The Catholic University of America Press, 1965), 223-224.
  • Reference24 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 164.
  • Reference25 Ferguson, Pelagius, 172-174.
  • Reference26 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 64.
  • Reference27 Eugene F. Rice, Jr., Saint Jerome in the Renaissance (Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press, 1985), 20.
  • Reference28 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 159.
  • Reference29 Ferguson, Pelagius, 69.
  • Reference30 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 82.
  • Reference31 Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), 197.
  • Reference32 1 Corinthians 15:45.
  • Reference33 Thomas Bokenkotter, The Concise History of the Catholic Church (New York: Doubleday, 2004), 82-83.
  • Reference34 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 115.
  • Reference35 Robert R. Williams, A Guide to the Teachings of the Early Church Fathers (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1960), 159.
  • Reference36 John Ferguson, Pelagius. A Historical and Theological Study (Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons Ltd., 1956), 182.
  • Reference37 Ferguson, Pelagius, 182.
  • Reference38 Ferguson, Pelagius, 182.
There are 38 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Sylvain Bergeron 0000-0002-8715-4189

Publication Date December 22, 2022
Published in Issue Year 2022 Volume: 8 Issue: 4

Cite

Chicago Bergeron, Sylvain. “Arianism and Pelagianism: Two Great Heresies of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries”. Tarih Ve Gelecek Dergisi 8, no. 4 (December 2022): 1172-78. https://doi.org/10.21551/jhf.1178210.

The Journal of International Peer Reviewed History Researches