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Document Details : Title: Le fantôme semi-pélagien Subtitle: Lecture du traité De gratia de Fauste de Riez Author(s): MATTEI, Paul Journal: Augustiniana Volume: 60 Issue: 1-2 Date: 2010 Pages: 87-117 DOI: 10.2143/AUG.60.1.3294614 Abstract : From the beginning Faustus' views on grace have had a varied reception. They have been considered, now as fundamentally orthodox, then as roughly pelagian. Today, seen as a whole, the critics are more irenic. But temptations remain to endorse a non-historical, normative (that is to say, haunted by Augustine's great shade) theology, and the issue is still a bit shrouded in mist. A reappraisal seems necessary. Consequently, this paper first puts the De gratia back in its context, both doctrinal (reactions among the African and Provençal monks faced with augustinian theories) and factual (short data regarding Faustus' biography). Then it gives an analysis of the treatise's contents. On these bases, a fresh scrutiny is set out concerning the themes and argumentations. The conclusion reads as follows: «Faustus was not a 'semipelagian'; his thought, notably about the antecedence and prevalence of grace, is consistent. It is time to stop discussion and to shake off old dogmatic patterns. However, at least in language, the bishop yields to inaccuracies that tend to obscure his purpose. Sometimes he also displays somewhat shy or stiff attitudes that cannot but deceive. Above all, one feature remains prima facie surprising: Faustus distinguishes between two economies of grace and asserts that original graces persist in the present economy (viz. the Redeemer's one) - in a way that does not shed clear light on the 'centrality' of Christ (viz. the incarnate Son, the Saviour through his death and resurrection). Yet, such a feature is not inorganic, nor is it ambiguous in substance, even though the wording may seem so. For it is totally in line with Faustus' global teaching, and it has to be understood within the common way of thinking in the patristic age.» |
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