Germanus of Auxerre Against the Pelagian Heresy
By Simonetta Carr - Posted at Place for Truth:
Published February 25, 2026
Many Christians are familiar with Pelagius, the Celtic monk who challenged Augustine of Hippo’s prayer, “Give what you command, and command what you will.” According to Pelagius, this was a useless prayer, because human beings already have what is necessary to obey God’s commands. All have, he said, the free will and ability to save themselves, but only those who “by the right use of free will merit the Lord’s grace and keep His commandments” “deserve to be rewarded” and are “assisted by grace.”[1] which is something they need to merit.Fiercely opposed by Augustine, who believed that grace is an unmerited gift of God to sinners who are unable to help themselves, Pelagius’s teachings were condemned first at the Council of Carthage (418) and then at the Council of Ephesus (431).
These teachings, however, continued to have a significant influence in his native British islands, prompting the local bishops to ask the church on the continent for help. The principal man chosen to combat this heresy was Germanus of Auxerre.
Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus was born around 389 to a prominent family of Auxerre, southeast of Paris. After studying law and rhetoric in Rome, he served as a lawyer until the emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Flavius Honorius, appointed him as provincial governor in Armorica (now Britanny), Gaul.Germanus’s biographer, Constantius (a priest from Lyons) wrote of Germanus’s love for hunting. It was a common pastime, but when Germanus hung his hunting trophies on a tree associated with pagan rites, the bishop of Auxerre, Amador, thought he had crossed a line. Swiftly, Amador cut down the tree and burned it together with the trophies. According to some accounts, he later motivated Germanus to devote his life to Christ. Encouraged by the young man’s progress, he eyed him as a potential successor to his seat.
Amador’s hopes materialized in 418, when Germanus was chosen as bishop of Auxerre. As was the case with other bishops at that time, we read that Germanus resisted the appointment until he yielded to the insistence of the people. Once elected, he took his new vocation seriously. He gave his possessions to the poor, ate sparingly, often fasted for several days, slept on a hard bed, and wore monastic clothing.
