La pretesa di salvarsi da sé

Attualità della controversia pelagiana di Agostino

Abstract

The papal Magisterium, in the recent years, has reminded many times both the faithful and pastors the danger of living the Christian faith with an attitude that mixes a serious doctrinal and ascetic commitment with a clear and presuming complacency, that is, the unconfessed conviction of being better than others and the desire to be so recognized publically. The Pope defines all these with the term “neopelagianism”, referring to the Pelagianism of the fifth Century, against which Augustine fought a fierce battle. The article tries to compare the old and the new Pelagianism in order to bring into light the possible elements of continuity without neglecting the unavoidable differences between the two phenomena.