They say that the law of the Old Testament was not given to justify those who obeyed it, but to become a…

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They say that the law of the Old Testament was not given to justify those who obeyed it, but to become a cause of more serious sin.

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Surviving material from the bishops’ letter; not a recovered complete text. Open the Latin source witness on each section.

Julian of Eclanum (c. 386–c. 455) was bishop of Eclanum in southern Italy until 418, when he was deposed and exiled for refusing to condemn Pelagius. The most learned Pelagian controversialist, he pursued Augustine across a decade of pamphlet war.

None of Julian's works survives directly; what remains is preserved in the long quotations of Augustine, who answered him book by book. Reconstructed from those hostile pages, Julian emerges as a formidable defender of free will, marriage, and the goodness of creation.

EditionAgainst Two Letters of the Pelagians II–IV

Surviving material from the bishops’ letter as Augustine quotes it in Against Two Letters of the Pelagians II–IV. Not a recovered complete letter.

Printed text used

Fragments Augustine, Against Two Letters of the Pelagians II – IV (Latin · Collective letter)

We have not yet re-checked this work against its source. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Latin on any section, or the Latin source link, to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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