Contention arises again in the Christian church over Pelagius' teaching that man is capable of leading a moral life without divine help.

Bishop John Cassian of Jerusalem receives him sympathetically in Palestine, but in July 415 the Latin biblical scholar Jerome and an emissary from Augustine of Hippo denounce him as heretical at the Jerusalem synod.

When Augustine's disciples invoke the authority of their master against Pelagius, John retorts that in Jerusalem he alone is the Christian authority.

He then devises a compromise formula, distasteful to Jerome, declaring that God can enable the earnest man to avoid sin.

Pelagius is judged free of doctrinal error, which is confirmed in December 415 at the metropolitan Council of Diospolis.