In April of 2024 a chapter by me was published in a book entitled Ruined Sinners to Reclaim: Sin and Depravity in Historical, Biblical, Theological, and Pastoral Perspective, edited by David Gibson and Jonathan Gibson. My essay comprises Chapter Four (pages 83-104) and is entitled “Ruined Sinners in a Pseudo-Augustinian Treatise on Predestination.”
I first introduce the text, which is from the early fifth century and is part of a larger work called the Hypomnesticon against Pelagians and Celestians. This work was attributed to Augustine for a long time, but scholarship is unanimous in believing that it does not belong to him. There is a strong case to be made that it is a work of his friend, Prosper of Aquitaine.
After discussing the date and authorship of the text, I examine its contents regarding the fall of humanity into sin, the consequences of that sin (mortality and condemnation), and the fall’s effect the human will. The chapter ends with a translation, never published in English before, of four chapters of that fifth-century treatise on predestination.
The translation was done by Zachary Maxcey, a former student of mine, who now teaches Greek in a classical school in New England.
I hope you will purchase a copy of the book, which you can find by clicking here.