correct: that the church was a mixed body that contained both
the imperfect and the perfect.o Are the sacraments valid only when performed by those
who are personally holy (ex opere operantis), or are they
valid through the performance of any legitimate minister, no
matter how holy (ex opere operato)? Once more, the tradition
substantially agreed with Augustine: The minister who baptizes
may be a moral wreck, but the ritual of baptism takes its
effect nevertheless.Pelagianism
• The second major controversy, Pelagianism, is named for a British
monk named Pelagius who taught in Rome in the early 5th century.
When the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410, he fled to Carthage—
encountering a highly resistant Augustine—and then to Palestine.
• As a monk and a moralist, Pelagius taught an optimistic view of
human capability; even after the fall of Adam, he said, humans
could please God on their own merit. Grace aided humans but was
not strictly necessary for them to lead virtuous lives.
o Pelagius declared that Adam was a mortal even without
sin and would have died in any case. Augustine saw this as
contradicting the plain sense of Scripture that death came into
the world because of sin.o Pelagius stated that humans can live without sin and can please
God through their own effort. This offended Augustine’s own
experience of not being able to free himself from his passions
until a dramatic intervention by God. Grace for Augustine was
always necessary in all circumstances.o A synod held at Carthage in 411 condemned Pelagius and these
propositions; the monk’s appeal to Rome was rejected by Pope
Innocent I, and his condemnation was repeated by the Council
of Ephesus in 431.