[PART THREE Introduction]

This introductory chapter to this part of the book briefly discusses the polemic against Pelagius and Caelestius between 411-418, his other works from the period 411- 430 and the polemic against Julian of Eclanum between 419 and 430. The anti-Pelagian controversy, which had engaged Augustine for more than the last fifteen years of his life, was not only a theological dispute but also an ecclesiastical-political one. In 411, Augustine set about a written polemic against Caelestius' views, following the request of the imperial commissioner Marcellinus, and he soon went on to become acquainted with Pelagius' expositions of the Pauline letters and, later on, with his other works as well. At the end of 418, Julian of Eclanum was excommunicated and followed Pelagius and Caelestius to the East, where he went on trying to act in the Pelagian matter. Augustine characterises the Pelagians as opponents of the grace of God. Keywords:anti-Pelagian; Augustine; Caelestius; God; grace; Julian of Eclanum; polemic