Best Books on Augustine & Pelagius
In the early fifth century the British monk Pelagius taught that people have the natural moral ability to obey God and be saved without inward grace, denying that Adam's sin corrupted the whole human race. Augustine of Hippo answered him with a robust doctrine of original sin, total inability, and sovereign grace that became a cornerstone of later Reformed theology.
Start Here
basic
The Pelagian Controversy: An Introduction to the Enemies of Grace and the Conspiracy of Lost Souls
Top pickStuart Squires · 2019
A short, student-friendly narrative explaining who Pelagius was and exactly what the fight with Augustine involved.
Confessions
Augustine; trans. Henry Chadwick · 397
Augustine's own vivid account of his conversion, the personal experience of grace behind his later theology.
Augustine: A Very Short Introduction
Henry Chadwick · 2001
A compact, readable overview of Augustine's life and thought, including his dispute with Pelagius.
Augustine on the Christian Life: Transformed by the Power of God
Gerald Bray · 2015
A Reformed introduction connecting Augustine's theology of grace and sin to ordinary Christian living.
Augustine's Confessions: A Biography
Garry Wills · 2021
A brief, accessible biography of Augustine's most famous book and the world that produced it.
Go Deeper
intermediate
On Free Choice of the Will
Top pickAugustine; trans. Thomas Williams · 1993
Augustine's key philosophical dialogue on human freedom and moral responsibility, in a clean modern translation.
Augustine: On the Free Choice of the Will, On Grace and Free Choice, and Other Writings
Augustine; ed. Peter King · 2010
Primary texts spanning Augustine's early and late views on grace and will, with a scholarly introduction.
Selected Writings on Grace and Pelagianism
Augustine; trans. Boniface Ramsey · 2011
Modern translations of Augustine's key anti-Pelagian treatises gathered into one accessible volume.
Augustine and the Pelagian Controversy
Benjamin B. Warfield · 1930
The classic Reformed (Princeton) account of the historical dispute and its theology, still foundational.
For Study
advanced
Augustine of Hippo: A Biography
Top pickPeter Brown · 2000
The definitive scholarly biography, situating the Pelagian controversy within Augustine's full life and world.
Four Anti-Pelagian Writings
Augustine · 1992
Primary-source translations of Augustine's own technical treatises against Pelagius and Julian of Eclanum.
Pelagius: A Reluctant Heretic
B. R. Rees · 1988
The standard scholarly study representing Pelagius's own theology fairly, essential for weighing both sides.
Grace for Grace: The Debates after Augustine and Pelagius
Alexander Y. Hwang, Brian J. Matz, Augustine Casiday (eds.) · 2014
Advanced scholarly essays tracing how the grace and free will debate developed after Augustine's death.
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A tiered reading guide of the best books on Augustine & Pelagius.