This essay explores an episode of the fifth-century Semi-Pelagian controversy over the roles of the divine will and human freedom in salvation.
In the Psalms commentary of Arnobius the Younger, several passages show that he is agitated over an accusation against him that he does not give a proper place to grace in the economy of salvation. Defending himself, Arnobius affirms that grace precedes free will, but asserts that the will is still free to accept or reject Christ.
Prosper of Aquitaine
The essay translates from Latin to English the relevant passages, and suggests through textual and circumstantial evidence that his accuser was in all likelihood Prosper of Aquitaine, who defended Augustine’s theology of grace in the decades after that bishop’s death.
I am preparing the essay to deliver as a conference paper at the annual North American Patristics Society meeting this May (2012) in Chicago. Click to read an abstract of the essay in a PDF file. Gumerlock, Abstract, Arnobius against the Predestined One (PDF)
