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Julian of Eclanum (
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: ''Iulianus Aeclanensis''; it, Giuliano di Eclano; c. 386 – c. 455) was bishop of Eclanum, near today's
Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and ''comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...
(Italy). He was a distinguished leader of the
Pelagians Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius ( – AD), an ascetic and philosopher from th ...
of 5th century.


Life

Julian was born in
Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...
. His father was an Italian bishop named Memor or Memorius and his mother a noblewoman named Juliana.
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
was intimate with the family, and wrote of them in terms of great affection and respect. Around 404 Julian became a lector in the church over which his father presided, and while holding that office married a layperson named Ia. Paulinus, afterwards bishop of Nola, composed an elaborate Epithalamium, which represents him as on terms of great intimacy with the family. By Julian had become a
deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
, but whether he was then living does not appear. He was consecrated to the episcopate by
Innocent I Pope Innocent I ( la, Innocentius I) was the bishop of Rome from 401 to his death on 12 March 417. From the beginning of his papacy, he was seen as the general arbitrator of ecclesiastical disputes in both the East and the West. He confirmed the ...
, but the name of his see is variously given.
Marius Mercator Marius Mercator (born probably in Northern Africa about 390; died shortly after 451) was a Latin Christian ecclesiastical writer best known for his advocacy of Augustinianism, Augustinian theology during the Pelagianism, Pelagian controversy. In 41 ...
, who was his contemporary, distinctly speaks of him as "Episcopus Eclanensis". Innocent I died on 12 March 417. Up to that date Julian had maintained a high reputation for ability, learning, and orthodoxy, and Mercator concludes that he must have sympathized with Innocent's condemnation of the
Pelagians Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius ( – AD), an ascetic and philosopher from th ...
. Yet there is reason to believe that even Innocent had ground for at least suspecting his connection with
Pelagianism Pelagianism is a Christian theological position that holds that the original sin did not taint human nature and that humans by divine grace have free will to achieve human perfection. Pelagius ( – AD), an ascetic and philosopher from th ...
.


Connections with Pelagianism

When the cases of
Pelagius Pelagius (; c. 354–418) was a British theologian known for promoting a system of doctrines (termed Pelagianism by his opponents) which emphasized human choice in salvation and denied original sin. Pelagius and his followers abhorred the moral s ...
and Coelestius were reopened by
Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alchem ...
, shortly after the death of Innocent, Julian seems to have expressed himself strongly in their favour in the hearing of Mercator; and when Zosimus issued his ''Epistola Tractoria'' 577 against the Pelagians (417 CE) and sent it to the major sees of the East and West for subscription, with the notable exception of
Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
, Julian was among those who refused. He was accordingly deposed, and afterwards exiled under the edicts issued by the
emperor Honorius Honorius (9 September 384 – 15 August 423) was Roman emperor from 393 to 423. He was the younger son of emperor Theodosius I and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla. After the death of Theodosius, Honorius ruled the western half of the empire while ...
in March 418. Julian now addressed two letters to
Zosimus Zosimus, Zosimos, Zosima or Zosimas may refer to: People * * Rufus and Zosimus (died 107), Christian saints * Zosimus (martyr) (died 110), Christian martyr who was executed in Umbria, Italy * Zosimos of Panopolis, also known as ''Zosimus Alchem ...
,August. Op. Imp. i. 18. one of which was very generally circulated throughout Italy before it reached the pontiff. Of this
Mercator __NOTOC__ Mercator (Latin for "merchant") may refer to: People * Marius Mercator (c. 390–451), a Catholic ecclesiastical writer * Arnold Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer * Gerardus Mercator, a 16th-century cartographer ** Mercator 1569 ...
has preserved some fragments. Of the other we have no remains. About the same time Julian addressed a letter to Rufus, bishop of Thessalonica (410–431), on his own behalf and that of 18 fellow-recusants. Rufus was vicarius of the Roman see in Illyricum and just then in serious collision with Atticus the patriarch of Constantinople. As Atticus was a strenuous opponent of the Pelagians, Julian and his brethren perhaps thought Rufus might be persuaded to favour them. Zosimus died on 26 December 418 and was succeeded by Boniface I on 10 April 419. The letter of Julian to Rufus, with another to the clergy of Rome which he denied to be his, were answered by Augustine in his ''Contra Duas Epistolas Pelagianorum''. Julian avows an earnest desire to gain the aid of the Oriental bishops against the "profanity of Manicheans," for so he styles the Catholics; accuses Zosimus of tergiversation and the Roman clergy of having been unduly influenced in their condemnation of the Pelagians; charges both with various heresies; and protests that by their means the subscriptions of nearly all the Western bishops had been uncanonically extorted to a dogma which he characterizes as "non minus stultum quam impium". Garnier assigns the letter to Rufus and the two to Zosimus to 418 CE. When Julian addressed his two letters to Zosimus he was preparing a reply to the first of Augustine's two books ''de Nuptiis et Concupiscentia'', which he addressed to a fellow-recusant named Turbantius, whose prayers he earnestly asks that the church may be delivered from the defilement of
Manicheism Manichaeism (; in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian prophet Mani (AD ...
. He sent some extracts from the work, which was in four books, and apparently entitled ''Contra eos qui nuptias damnant et fructus earum diabolo assignant'', to Valerius, who forwarded them to his friend Augustine, who at once rejoined in a second book ''de Nuptiis et Concupiscentia''. When Julian's work subsequently came into his hands, Augustine published a fuller rejoinder in his ''contra Julianum Pelagianum''. Augustine freely quotes his antagonist, and Julian again insisted upon the Manicheism of his opponents; again charged Zosimus with prevarication, and elaborated the whole anthropology for which he contended. When driven from the West, Julian and some of his fellow-exiles went into
Cilicia Cilicia (); el, Κιλικία, ''Kilikía''; Middle Persian: ''klkyʾy'' (''Klikiyā''); Parthian: ''kylkyʾ'' (''Kilikiyā''); tr, Kilikya). is a geographical region in southern Anatolia in Turkey, extending inland from the northeastern coa ...
and remained for a time with Theodorus, bishop of Mopsuestia, who is charged by Mercator with having been one of the originators of Pelagianism and who wrote against Augustine. Meanwhile, the rejoinder of Augustine had reached Julian, who answered it in 8 books, addressed to Florus, a fellow-recusant. Mercator has given various extracts, but it is best known from Augustine's elaborate ''Opus Imperfectum'', which was evoked by it, but left incomplete. On the death of Boniface I and the succession of
Celestine I Pope Celestine I ( la, Caelestinus I) (c. 376 – 1 August 432) was the bishop of Rome from 10 September 422 to his death on 1 August 432. Celestine's tenure was largely spent combatting various ideologies deemed heretical. He supported the missi ...
in September 422, Julian apparently left Cilicia and returned to Italy, probably hoping that the new pontiff might reconsider the case of the Pelagians, especially as a variance had then arisen between the Roman see and the African bishops. Celestine repulsed him, and caused him to be exiled a second time. Julian was also condemned, in his absence, by a council in Cilicia, Theodorus concurring in the censure). On this Julian went to
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, where the same fate awaited him both from Atticus and his successor Sisinnius (426, 427 CE). On the accession of Nestorius to the patriarchate in 428 CE, the expectations of Julian were again raised, and he appealed both to Nestorius and to the emperor Theodosius II. Both at first gave him some encouragement, which may be why there is no mention of the Pelagians in the celebrated edict which the emperor issued against heresies at the instance of Nestorius. The patriarch wrote to Celestine more than once on his behalf and that of his friends, but the favour he shewed them necessitated his defending himself in a public discourse delivered in their presence, and translated by Mercator. In 429 Mercator presented his ''Commonitorium de Coelestio'' to the emperor, wherein he carefully relates the proceedings against the Pelagians and comments severely upon their teaching. Julian and his friends were then driven from Constantinople by an imperial edict. Towards the close of 430 Celestine convened a council at Rome, which condemned Julian and others once more.


Last years

Whither he went from Constantinople does not appear, but he with other Pelagians seem to have accompanied
Nestorius Nestorius (; in grc, Νεστόριος; 386 – 451) was the Archbishop of Constantinople from 10 April 428 to August 431. A Christian theologian, several of his teachings in the fields of Christology and Mariology were seen as controve ...
to the convent of
Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...
, 431 CE, and took part in the
Conciliabulum {{italic title ''Conciliabulum'' (English synonyms conciliable, conciliabule) is a Latin word meaning a place of assembly. Its implication transferred to a gathering, such as a conventicle or conference. In the history of the Catholic Church, it i ...
held by Joannes of Antioch.
Baronius Cesare Baronio (as an author also known as Caesar Baronius; 30 August 1538 – 30 June 1607) was an Italian cardinal and historian of the Catholic Church. His best-known works are his ''Annales Ecclesiastici'' ("Ecclesiastical Annals"), whi ...
infers from one of the letters of
Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...
that the "Conciliabulum" absolved Julian and his friends, 578 but
Cardinal Noris Henry Noris (29 August 1631 – 23 February 1704), or Enrico Noris, was an Italian church historian, theologian and Cardinal. Biography Noris was born at Verona, and was baptized with the name Hieronymus (Girolamo). His ancestors were Irish. ...
has shown that the council repeat their condemnation of the Pelagians, expressly mentioning Julian by name.
Sixtus III Pope Sixtus III was the bishop of Rome from 31 July 432 to his death on 18 August 440. His ascension to the papacy is associated with a period of increased construction in the city of Rome. His feast day is celebrated by Catholics on 28 March. ...
, the successor of Celestine (31 July 432) when a presbyter, had favoured the Pelagians, much to the grief of Augustine. Julian attempted to recover his lost position through him, but Sixtus evidently treated him with severity, mainly at the instigation of Leo, then a presbyter, who became his successor, 440 CE. When pontiff himself, Leo showed the same spirit toward the Pelagians, especially toward Julian. We hear no more of Julian until his death in Sicily, c. 454). Some years after his death Julian was again condemned by Joannes Talaia, bishop of
Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian worship. ...
around 484. Julian was an able and a learned man. Gennadius speaks of him as "vir acer ingenio, in divinis Scripturis doctus, Graeca et Latina lingua scholasticus". He was of high character, and especially distinguished for generous benevolence, and seems actuated throughout the controversy by a firm conviction that he was acting in the interests of what he held to be the Christian faith and of morality itself. Besides his works already mentioned,
Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
speaks of his Opuscula on the Canticles, and among them of a "libellus" de Amore, and a "libellus" de Bono Constantiae, both of which he charges with Pelagianism, giving from each some extracts. Garnier claims Julian as the translator of the ''Libellus Fidei a Rufino Palaestinae Provinciae Presbytero'', which he has published in his edition of Marius Mercator, and as the author of the liber ''Definitionum seu Ratiocinationem'', to which Augustine replied in his ''de Perfectione Justitiae''.Note 6 in Mar. Merc. Subnot. Migne, 145, 146). Cf. A: Bruckner, Julian von Eclanum (Leipz. 1897) in Texte und Untersuch. xv. 3.


Julian's theology

A sympathetic and accessible account of Julian's Pelagian theology can be found in chapter 32 of Peter Brown's ''Augustine of Hippo: A Biography'' (1967, 2000). From the year 419 on, Julian and St. Augustine waged a well-matched war of books, pamphlets, letters, and sermons from which we gain a clear idea of their contrasting views. Their debate is still alive today: Sin and will: Some Pelagians denied that the original sin of Adam was transmitted to all humans at birth. Babies, therefore, need not be baptized: they are born innocent. Adult baptism does remit sins, but for the Pelagian, this meant that the baptized Christian, after this dramatic fresh start, was now free to perfect himself alone, with or without the aid of the Church. It is worth noting that in the surviving fragments of Pelagius' writings, Pelagius writes that infants must be baptized and that there is no goodness without grace. Julian himself wrote a letter to Rome in which he said “We confess that the grace of Christ is necessary to all, both to grown-up people and to infants; and we
anathema Anathema, in common usage, is something or someone detested or shunned. In its other main usage, it is a formal excommunication. The latter meaning, its ecclesiastical sense, is based on New Testament usage. In the Old Testament, anathema was a cr ...
tize those who say that a child born of two baptized people ought not to be baptized.” He also affirmed that grace was necessary for all: “We maintain that men are the work of God, and that no one is forced unwillingly by His power either into evil or good, but that man does either good or ill of his own will; but that in a good work he is always assisted by God’s grace, while in evil he is incited by the suggestions of the devil.” This is in contrast to Augustinian views of original sin. Pelagians viewed sin as a matter of will and not of nature, as a choice that can be reversed. Strengthened by baptism, everyone possesses enough self-control to reject evil. (In this, Pelagians drew on pagan Stoicism.) For Augustine, such optimism was dangerously naive: human will is caught in a dark internal labyrinth of untamable compulsions. No one is strong enough to save himself without God's grace and the
sacrament A sacrament is a Christianity, Christian Rite (Christianity), rite that is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments ...
s of the
Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...
. The equity of God: Julian drew on the Jewish equation of divinity and law. For him, our concept of law as something rational, sensible, and proportionate is divine in origin, and mirrors the attributes of God himself. An unjust God is inconceivable as God. For Pelagians, God would not condemn every human because of one sin committed by Adam; God would not condemn to infinite torment those whose sins were finite or who had simply never heard of Christ (again, Pelagius appears to have felt differently in some of his fragments, as he claimed baptism was required for salvation for anyone). Augustine dismissed such notions of justice as too fallible to be attributed to God, whose ways are inscrutable. Pelagians rejected predestination as incompatible with the freedom of each person to effect his own salvation. Julian charged that Augustine was still Manichean, if only in temperament. A charge argued against by Augustine in Against Julian. Sexuality: As Brown puts it, “Julian spoke boldly of the sexual instinct as a sixth sense of the body, as a orallyneutral energy that might be used well...delicately poised between reason and animal feeling.” (1), . Julian said “We say that the sexual impulse—that is, that the virility itself, without which there can be no intercourse—is ordained by God.”. Social reform: Julian's Pelagianism presented itself as a purifying reform movement that sought to inspire morally perfected Christians to remake Roman society from the inside out, countering its brutality and injustice.


Notes


References

* This article includes content derived from the public domain Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, 1914. * Brown, Peter, ''Augustine of Hippo: A Biography'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000), p. 393. * Josef Loessl, ''Julian von Aeclanum. Studien zu seinem Leben, seinem Werk, seiner Lehre und ihrer Ueberlieferung'' (Leiden, Brill, 2001) (Vigiliae Christianae, Supplements, 60). * Mathjis Lamberigts, "The Philosophical and Theological Background of Julian of Aeclanum's Concept of Concupiscence", in Therese Fuhrer (hg), ''Die christlich-philosophischen Diskurse der Spätantike: Texte, Personen, Institutionen: Akten der Tagung vom 22.-25. Februar 2006 am Zentrum für Antike und Moderne der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg'' (Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2008) (Philosophie der Antike, 28). * Squires, Stuart. The Pelagian Controversy: An Introduction to the Enemies of Grace and the Conspiracy of Lost Souls. Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2019.


External links


Letter To Rome
by Julian of Eclanum

by Julian of Eclanum {{DEFAULTSORT:Julian Of Eclanum 386 births 455 deaths Bishops in Campania People from Apulia 5th-century Italian bishops 5th-century Latin writers Pelagians