The Myth of Pelagianism - An Interview With Dr Ali Bonner

THE MYTH OF PELAGIANISM

Warren McGrew of Idol Killer sits down with Dr Ali Bonner to discuss Pelagius in light of recent scholarship.

What is Pelagianism? Where did it come from? Did Pelagius believe in "Pelagianism"? Why did Augustine condemn Pelagius and Pelagianism? All of these questions and more are explored in this interview.

After reading Classics at Oxford, Alice Bonner studied Anglo Saxon, Norse, and Celtic in Cambridge, where she gained a BA (Aff.) and MPhil, followed by a PhD on the manuscript transmission of Pelagius' Letter to Demetrias. Subsequently she was a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford, before being appointed to the Lectureship in Celtic History at Cambridge. Her research focuses on Pelagius and Faustus of Riez, two British authors of the fifth century who wrote in Latin, and she has published on St Patrick and Pelagius. She currently teaches on Celtic history, that is, the history of the Brittonic speaking peoples and the Gaelic speaking peoples from AD 380 to 1170

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📚 The Fear of Freedom (Rowan A. Greer)

#Pelagian #Pelagianism #SemiPelagian

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Idol Killer is committed to spreading the Gospel and making disciples of Christ. We are dedicated to promoting classic orthodox Christian doctrine (pre-Augustinian) and in doing so exposing extra-Biblical corrupt philosophies and presuppositions.

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FAIR USE NOTICE

[leepretorius]

Came here via Soteriology 101. Good stuff.

[rlpsychology]

Mr. McGrew, I so appreciate you as an interviewer asking Dr. Bonner succinct and pertinent questions and allowing her to answer uninterrupted. Although I appreciate Dr. Flowers' work, I wish he, among others, on YouTube didn't use interviews for his own opportunity for simultaneously extended lectures. Thank you.

[scottheath]

Nothing like going back to school for history lesson... and it was free

[terenceandmalloryjones]

My question regarding all of this is... How can we view Augustine in a positive light when all 14 of his arguments against Pelagius were so false to Pelagius's actual beliefs? Even worse that Augustine stated he didn't care if those points were accurate to Pelagius's actual beliefs or not...

So slandering and false accusations against a brother in Christ to destroy his life, make a caricature of his views and ultimately create a boogeyman to further his own new theology onto the church should... what? Be looked over? Be defended even?

The only thing I can logically conclude is that Augustine was a manipulative theological tyrant who ultimately changed the course of Christian orthodoxy for the worse... supposedly for God's glory...

[BoSS-dwon]

I’m thrilled to have found your channel through Dr Flowers’ channel. Your testimony is revelatory to mine recently. Gen 3 has been revolutionary for me to see how the knowledge of good and evil and eternal life are the reason Adam was kicked out of the garden. Ever since, man has been mortal and will die. Mortality was given to mankind since we don’t have access to God’s tree of life. Eternal life is available only through faith in Jesus so that we can be presented to the Father blameless. This also ties in tightly to the age at which a child understands good and evil. If a fetus is aborted or an infant dies or a mentally disabled person dies while they don’t know good and evil, they are still innocent and I believe are acceptable to God and are in heaven.

[ardraithneach]

By far the best exposition of Pelagius I've come across on YouTube. A brilliant scholar questioned by a fantastic interviewer. Thanks so much.

[ShowCat]

Great guest, Warren. Now, I must say, you are probably one of, or possibly, THE best interviewer I have ever observed. Perfect restraint, excellent input and guidance. So glad I found your channel. New sub.

[jonathanm]

It’s so nice not listening to an emotionally charged polemic. What I have found is real academic facts about a subject tend to much more in the middle in terms of what we actually know. Much less binary and n terms of for or against. It certainly doesn’t raise my blood pressure the same way debate normally does. Thanks for this calm thoughtful discussion on a controversial topic! I want more :)

[phiangleflip]

This was an incredibly interesting and helpful discussion, and you did a great job leading the interview. Thanks for sharing this! I'm going to have to go look at those books.

[jotink]

What an amazing piece of history and something I have never heard before. I have heard the phrase Pelagian and semi Pelagian along with heresy but never heard such a clear historical explanation why as shown here.

[yllowbird]

Wow, brother this was great quite exquisite and a must see for anyone who wants to know more on this issue. She is very humble. And she did her best to stay unbiased and just give us the facts. Great show.

[troymahan]

My understanding of why Augustine went after Pelagius in the first place is because Pelagius preached against his immorality.

[dusttalking]

An absolutely fascinating discussion and terrific interview. I only wish I could have understood more of what Dr. Bonner was saying, but my poor hearing simply didn’t permit me to understand everything she said because I couldn’t make out what she was saying with her British accent. I’ll need to listen to this interview multiple times to catch some of what she says, but I plan to purchase her book. Thank you for sharing this interview with us.

[thecouple]

Very interesting, thank you for sharing this discussion.

[collectiblesu]

I found you because it's soteriology 101 you popped up in my suggestions really pleased so far with the channel keep doing the great work.

[ThaNewDealer]

You said it perfectly, that in Christiam debate we often don't consider why the other person believes what they believe and is there any merit behind it. Also, that it's just "I'm going to defend my side no matter" and generally lacking empathy. I am not due any more credit than the next man, but what separates my position from others is the ability to ask those questions "Why did the believe that? Is there any merit? Where are they coming from?"... This stance has allowed me to learn an incredible amount that I otherwise wouldn't have. The only downside is facing some Truths you may be more comfortable not recognizing, but this is not about comfortabolity, and we must seek Truth no matter our feelings.

Thanks Warren for this great interview!

[AaronR.Williams]

First time hearing from Dr Ali Bonner and I really thoroughly enjoyed this.

[oprophetisfake]

In general I am very glad to see the idols of Monica, Augustine and Calvin all pulled down.

[waitingandwatching]

thanks Warren. Yes the title 'Fear of Freedom' caught my attention as well.

[alfonrizaldi]

Luther excommunicated and get famous, but this pelagian is different. I think we should research more about this man. An Objective point of view r really needed...