174PEIRCE, CHARLES SANDERS
often led Paul to defend his authenticity
as an apostle; however, Paul’s influence
has remained strong through today while
the arguments of most of his opponents
have been lost.
PEIRCE, CHARLES SANDERS (1839–
1914). A philosopher, semiotician, logi-
cian, and mathematician who defended
pragmatism and a theistic metaphysic. He
believed that truth is a matter of ideal
inquiry as opposed to a matter of corre-
spondence between theories and the
way the world is. Peirce is the father of
modern semiotics (the interpretation
of signs and symbols) and of the logic of
abduction. He wrote extensively on the
relationship between religion and science.
Peirce’s writings argue for fallibilism in
belief, the importance of community,
the reality of God, the real possibility of
miracles, the idea that miracles are a
genuine part of any religion, and the
likelihood that anyone who claims to be
an atheist is in fact mistaken. Peirce held
that creeds were largely written as tools
of political exclusion and that what was
needed was a religious community akin
to the scientific community, i.e., one
based on mutual respect, a desire to find
things out, and a fallibilistic willingness
to have one’s pet theories proven wrong.
Peirce was raised a Unitarian and was
in frequent contact with prominent
Transcendentalists in his youth, but in
adulthood converted to the Episcopal
Church and remained a Trinitarian
throughout his adult life. In his fifties
he had what he described as a “mystical”
experience, and he devoted some time
to an attempted revision of the Book of
Common Prayer and to notes for training
clergy. In his “Neglected Argument for
the Reality of God,” Peirce offers a series
of original arguments for the reality of
God, concluding that God is real and has
real effects in the world. Peirce claims that
one may discover God through “muse-
ment” or the free play of the mind, and
that it is not just the mind that perceives
God, but also the “heart” which, he says,
“is also a perceptive organ.” His works
include The Collected Papers of C. S. Peirce
(vols. 1–6 ed. C. Hartshorne and P. Weiss
(1931–1935); vols. 7–8, ed. A. Burks,
(1958)), Letters to Lady Welby (ed. I. Lieb
(1953)), The Essential Peirce (vols. 1–2, ed.
Christian Kloesel and Nathan Houser,
(1992, 1998)), Writings of Charles S. Peirce:
A Chronological Edition, (vols. 1–6, 8; ed.
Peirce Edition Project, (1982–2009)). See
also ABDUCTION and REALITY.PELAGIANISM. Pelagianism is a set
of ideas on grace and human nature asso-
ciated with the British monk Pelagius,
opposed by St. Augustine, and condemned
by the Church in the fifth century.
According to Pelagius, the grace needed
for salvation comes from God through
creation (which gives humans the capac-
ity to do good) and from revelation
(which teaches and encourages them
toward goodness). Sin does not invalidate