Augustine’s greatest contribution to theology was his doctrine of divine control over human destiny. The Greek Fathers maintained that a certain power of free will existed, in contrast to the pagan doctrine of fate. It seemed to them possible that a person could cooperate with God for salvation. But the tendency in the West was to emphasize humanity’s fall in Adam and a consequent inability to choose the right. Salvation depended, therefore, on God’s willingness to save. Augustine’s teaching on election was opposed by Pelagius, a British monk, who claimed that humanity was not helpless in the hands of a partial, predestinating God, but that we have free will. The Pelagian controversy raged in the Church for a time both in the West and the East. Both decided against Pelagius, but the Church in the East always held that humanity and God could cooperate in human salvation. John Cassian, once a pupil of Chrysostom, and his school in southern Gaul were semi-Pelagian in claiming that humankind has the power to take the initiative in approaching God.
Impact: The Synod of Orange in 529 decreed in favor of Augustine’s view on election. The Roman Catholic Church did not enforce uniformity on these questions, however, as the Eastern councils did.