In Augustine’s view the Pelagians, like the Donatists, were undermining the whole point of the Christian faith. If, as they claimed, the human will is sovereign and capable of resisting sin all on its own, then why does God need to send His son and allow him to be sacrificed? In fact God doesn’t need to do anything at all. He can just wait to see who achieves goodness and who doesn’t, through the exercise of free will, and then dispense reward and punishment as appropriate. On the Pelagian view, Christ seems to be sent as a moral teacher who encourages us towards virtue, rather than as the
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