Letter to Demetrias

E42542

Letter to Demetrias is a theological treatise by the British monk Pelagius, written as spiritual guidance to a young Roman noblewoman and known for articulating key Pelagian views on free will and moral responsibility.


Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Christian text
theological treatise
advises moral rigor
personal effort in virtue
virginity
approximateDate early 5th century
associatedWith Roman aristocratic family of Anicia Demetrias
author Pelagius
circulatedAmong Latin Christian intellectuals
countryOfOrigin Western Roman Empire
doctrinalPosition affirms natural human capacity to choose good
denies inherited guilt of original sin
emphasizes human free will
human moral responsibility
the possibility of living without sin
ethicalTheme cultivation of virtue through discipline
imitation of Christ through moral effort
responsibility for one’s own sins
genre pastoral letter
spiritual guidance
hasInfluenced Pelagianism
surface form: Pelagian controversy

later debates on grace and free will
historicalPeriod late antiquity
influencedBy Pelagius's ascetic background
language Latin
literaryForm epistolary treatise
mainSubject Christian ethics
Pelagianism
asceticism
free will
moral responsibility
opposesDoctrine predestinarian views
strong doctrines of original sin
preservedIn medieval Latin manuscripts
recipient Demetrias
relatedEvent Pelagianism
surface form: Pelagian controversy
relatedWork Commentary on the Epistles of Paul
surface form: Pelagius's commentaries on Paul
religiousTradition Christianity
settingDescribed Roman aristocratic Christian milieu
studiedIn historical theology
late antique studies
patristics
targetAudience Christian ascetics
young Roman noblewoman
theologicalTradition Pelagian theology
writtenFor Demetrias

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Pelagius notableWork Letter to Demetrias