529 and the Question of Grace

The second council of Orange met in 529 at the dedication of a church, with Caesarius of Arles presiding and only fourteen bishops present, which makes the reach of its decisions altogether out of proportion to its size. The argument it closed had run for a century. Augustine had taught that grace precedes and enables every good act, including the first movement toward faith; monks in southern Gaul, John Cassian among them, held that the initial turning could come from the person, with grace completing what the person had begun.

The council found for the Augustinian side on that point, ruling that even the beginning of faith and the desire to be cleansed are themselves the work of grace, and that human nature after the fall cannot of itself will the good. It then stopped well short of where some of Augustine's followers had gone, stating explicitly that it does not believe anyone is predestined to evil, and holding baptismal grace sufficient for the salvation of all who are baptised and willing. Boniface II confirmed the canons in 531. The decisions were largely forgotten during the middle ages and recovered in the sixteenth century, when Catholic and Reformed writers alike found the council quotable, which is why a small provincial gathering is still cited in arguments about grace.