semipelagianism

Semi-Pelagianism refers to a historical set of views in Western Christianity about how grace and human will cooperate in salvation. The label arose in late antiquity as a critique of Pelagianism, describing positions that allowed a significant role for human free will in beginning faith, while still affirming that divine grace is needed for salvation. In semi-Pelagian thought, the human will is capable of initiating a response to the gospel without prior grace, and grace then aids and completes the process of justification and sanctification through a cooperative effort between God and the believer.

Historically, semi-Pelagian ideas circulated in the Western Church during the late 4th to 6th centuries, especially among theologians in Gaul and Italy. They were contrasted with Augustine of Hippo’s views, which emphasized the primacy of divine grace as the sole mover enabling faith and salvation. The issue was a major point of contention in the debates over the nature of grace and free will in the period following Pelagius’s teachings.

The Council of Orange (529) condemned semi-Pelagian positions, affirming that grace is necessary for salvation and that even the beginning of faith is a gift of God, not a purely human achievement. The canons rejected the idea that the will can believe or be saved apart from divine grace and insisted on the centrality of grace in both justification and sanctification, while leaving room for human cooperation under grace.

In modern scholarship, the term remains debated. Some scholars view it as a helpful historical label, while others consider it a contested characterization of a broader spectrum of early Christian thought about grace and free will.