Nozomu Yamada - Origin of Pelagian Monastic Ethos: ‘exemplum Christi’, ‘sapientia’ and ‘imperturbabilitas’

The Christian monastic practices, which were common to Pelagius and the Pelagians, were to imitate the example of Christ, know the wisdom of God and have their minds purified for the Holy Spirit’s dwelling. This article  clarifies the possibilities of the origin of the pelagian monastic ethos, particularly from which former patristic works Pelagius and his followers succeeded to the key concepts of ‘exemplum Christi’, ‘sapientia’ and ‘imperturbabilitas’. Moreover, as an origin of the Pelagianism, ‘Liber de fide’ written by ‘Rufinus the Syrian’ has been well known, particularly concerning the denial of original sin. Recently, W. Dunphy suggested that the person called the ‘Syrian’ did not exist. Through the investigation about the origin of the Pelagian monastic ethos in this article, it stands out in relief that Aquileians, namely Rufinus of Aquileia and Chromatius of Aquileia, had definite influences through their writing and translation of works on pelagian monastic key concepts. 

        The concept of ‘exemplum Christi’ played one of the most important roles for Pelagian monastic practices. It is generally admitted that Pelagius took over the concept of ‘exemplum Christi’ from Origen’s Roman Commentary translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. Nevertheless, we can not deny the high possibility that Pelagius learned this concept also from several sermons and tracts of Chromatius of Aquileia. Chromatius also emphasized this concept many times before Rufinus and Pelagius. Although Garcia Allen studied some theological relations between Pelagius and Chromatius approximately 30 years ago, no researcher including Garcia Allen has till date pointed out that Pelagius and Chromatius similarly used this key concept frequently. 

    Concerning ‘sapientia’ mediated by the Holy Spirit, we can indicate the same notions and understandings in the works of St. Basil and Didymus. In particular, St. Basil developed an understanding about the two folds of aspects of ‘sapientia’, i.e. a transcendental power of God’s wisdom and an inherent function to human beings. Rufinus of Aquileia translated several main works of St. Basil, from which Pelagians adopted this notion.

    Pelagius and the Pelagians used the word ‘imperturbabilitas (apatheia in Greek)’ itself only several times, but they repeatedly emphasized similar concepts and contents in order to remove the evil mind and have their minds purified for the Holy Spirit’s dwelling. Rufinus of Aquileia translated ‘Sententiae’ of Evagrius, in which we can recognize many resources of Pelagian usage concerning ‘imperturbabilitas’.