On Baptismal Regeneration:

“When we offer as objection to these arguments the countless multitude of infants, who, except for original sin, under which all men alike are born into the condemnation of the first man, have as yet no will, no proper actions, and who, not without a judgment of God, are cut off and are to be carried away before any experience of this life gives them a discernment of good and evil, so that some, through rebirth, are enrolled among the heirs of the heavenly kingdom, while others, without Baptism, pass over among the debtors of eternal death: such are lost, they say, and such are saved, according to what the divine knowledge foresees they would have done in their adult years, if they had been preserved to a responsible age!” –Letter of Prosper of Aquitaine to Augustine of Hippo 225: 5 (Written 428 A.D.)

“For in that ruin of the universal fall neither the substance nor the will of human nature has been snatched away; but it has been deprived of the light and glory of its virtues by the deceit of the Envious One. But when it had lost that by which it would have been able to achieve eternity and an incorruption of body and soul that could not be lost, what did it have left except that which pertains to temporal life, the whole of which belongs to damnation and punishment? That is why those born in Adam need to be reborn in Christ, lest they be found in that generation which perishes.” –The Grace of God and Free Choice: A Book Against the Conference Master 9:3 (Written 433 A.D.)

On Predestination & Justification:

“Just as good works are to be referred to Him that inspires them, God, so too evil works are to be referred to those who are sinning. For sinners have not been abandoned by God so that they might themselves abandon God; rather, they have abandoned and have been changed from good to evil by their own will; and consequently, although they may have been reborn, although they may have been justified, they are not, however, predestined by Him who foreknew what kind of persons they would be.” –Responses on Behalf of Augustine to the Articles of Objections Raised by his Calumniators in Gaul, 3 (Written in 431 A.D.)

“It is a detestable and abominable opinion that makes God the author of any kind of evil will or evil action. His predestination is never outside His goodness, never outside His justice. Plainly He predestined His judgment, in which recompense will be made to each one for what he has done, whether good or whether evil. But if it were by God’s will that men sin, there would be no future judgment at all.” –Resposes on Behalf of Augustine to the Articles of Objections Raised by the Vincentianists, chap 10 (Written 431 A.D.)

On Grace & Merit:

“Indeed, a man who has been justified, that is, who from impious has been made pious, since he had no antecedent good merit, receives a gift, by which gift he may also acquire merit. Thus, what was begun in him by Christ’s grace can also be augmented by the industry of his free choice, but never in the absence of God’s help, without which no one is able either to progress or to continue in doing good.” –Responses on Behalf of Augustine to the Articles of Objections Raised by his Calumniators in Gaul, 6 (Written in 431 A.D.)

“Indeed, some of these [Massilians] are so far from abandoning Pelagian paths that, when they are obliged to confess the grace of Christ, which is antecedent to any human merits, -for, were it given in view of merit, it would not be right to call it grace- they hold that the situation of every man is this: when man has no prior merits because he has no previous existence, the grace of the Creator makes him rational and gives him free choice, so that through his discernment of good and evil, he may be able to direct his own will to the knowledge of God and to obedience to His commands; and through the use of a natural faculty, by asking, by seeking, and by knocking, he is able to attain even to that grace by which we are reborn in Christ: and thus he can receive, he can find, and he can enter in, because, having made good use of a good gift of nature, he has merited, with the help of initial grace, to attain to the grace of salvation.” –Letter of Prosper of Aquitaine to Augustine of Hippo 225: 4 (Written 428 A.D.)

“Truth says: ‘No one comes to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draw him.’ If, then, no one comes unless he is drawn, all who come in whatever way are drawn. The contemplation of the elements and the most orderly beauty of all that is in them surely draws us to God. For his invisible attributes, from the creation of the world, are clearly perceived by the intellect, through the things that were made. And who can perceive or tell through what sentiments the visitation of God can lead the human soul, so that what it fled, it follows; what it hated, it loves; what it felt distasteful, it longs for; and by a sudden and marvelous change, what was closed to it is opened; what was burdensome is light; what was bitter is sweet; what was hidden is made clear?” –The Grace of God and Free Choice: A Book Against the Conference Master 7:2 (Written 433 A.D.)

On Predestination vs Double Predestination:

“Since there can be no doubt that perseverance to the end is a gift of God, -which, it is clear, that some from the very fact that they have not persevered, never had, – it is in no way a calumniation of God to say that these were not given what was given to others; rather, it is to be confessed both that He gave mercifully what He did give, and He withheld justly what He did not give, so that, although the cause of a man’s falling away originates in free choice, the cause of his standing firm is a gift from God. If falling away is done by human effort, standing firm is accomplished by means of a divine gift.” –Responses on Behalf of Augustine to the Articles of Objections Raised by his Calumniators in Gaul, 7 (Written in 431 A.D.)

“Again, whoever says that God does not will all men to be saved, but only the certain number of the predestined, is saying a harsher thing than ought to be said of the inscrutable depth of the grace of God, who both wills that all should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, and fulfills the proposal of His will in those whom, when He foreknew them, He predestined, when He predestined them, He called, when He called them, He justified, and, when He justified them, He glorified. And thus, those who are saved are saved because God willed them to be saved, and those who perish do perish because they deserved to perish.” –Responses on Behalf of Augustine to the Articles of Objections Raised by his Calumniators in Gaul, 8 (Written in 431 A.D.)

“These, however, of whom it is said: ‘They have gone forth from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us’ went forth voluntarily and voluntarily they fell. And because it was foreknown that they would fall, they were not predestined. But they would have been
predestined if they were going to return and remain in holiness and truth. And consequently, God’s predestination is the cause of the standing firm of many, but for no one is the cause of their falling.” –Resposes on Behalf of Augustine to the Articles of Objections Raised by the Vincentianists, chap 12 (Written 431 A.D.)