Prosper

• A native of Aquitaine, not certainly known to have been in the priesthood.
• He attended Gallo-Roman schools which provided him with a solid classical education.
• About 426-429, he moved to Marseilles, where he lived as a monk until 440.
• He was at Marseilles when the Semi-Pelagian Controversy broke out ca. 426 and was an ardent defender of Augustine, to whom he wrote together with Hilary.
• Some time between 420 and 427 John Cassian put forth in his Collationes, a doctrine concerning grace and free will contrary to that taught by St. Augustine. This doctrine was taken up warmly by many monks at Marseilles, and both Prosper and Hilary, afraid lest a doctrine they believed erroneous should become prevalent among the monks, were thinking of writing to Augustine to request him to explain some of his statements. In the meantime came out Augustine’s Correptione et Gratia, by which Prosper hoped all doubts would be settled. Although Prosper had never seen Augustine, he had written to him.
• At the death of St. Augustine in 430, and the opponents of his doctrine in Gaul professing willingness to abide by the decision of the Roman pontiff, Hilary and Prosper went to Rome and brought back a letter from Celestine I to the Gallic bishops.
• He returmed to Marseilles, rejoined the polemic, and, between 432 and 434, published his major works.
• In 440 when Leo I (Leo the Great) returned from his mission into Gaul to be made pope, he persuaded Propser to accompany him to Rome, and employed him as his secretary.
• Photius says that he confuted the Pelagians at Rome in the time of Leo.
• According to Gennadius, he assisted in the composition of the letters of Leo I, especially the Tomus ad Flavianum

(PL 54, 755).

• Prosper dedicated the better part of his life to defending and disseminating the teachings of St. Augustine in prose and verse.
• Although he respected St. Augustine’s thought, he also transformed and updated it.
• Prosper is considered responsible for transmitting Augustinianism to the Middle Ages, and assured its approval at the Council of Orange in 529.
• In the year 455 he took part in the Easter controversy, and must have died shortly after this.

1. Works in Verse

• The longest of Prosper’s works in verse is the poem De ingratis Carmen, a term by which he describes those who teach erroneous doctrine about grace, namely the Pelagians and Semi-Pelagians. It was composed in 429- 430, and is a passionate exposition on St. Augustine’s doctrine of grace.
• He wrote poems of an epigrammatic kind, which contributed notably to his literary success: the Epigrammata in obtrectatorem Augustini; the Epigrammata ex sententiis; and the Epitaphium Nestoriane et Pelagianae haereson. 2. Historical Works
• (a)The Chronicle: Probably the best known of the works of Prosper, is attributed to him without hesitation. He worked on it until the end of his life. It extends from the earliest age to the capture of Rome by the Vandals; it ends in the year 455 and consists of three parts.
• (b)Chronicle of Tiro Prosper: Besides the Chronicle just described, another much shorter and relating to the latest period only, bearing the name of Prosper. 3. Theological Works
• Responsions pro Augustino ad Capitula Gallorum: A statement under 15 heads of the objections of the Gallic bishops to the doctrines of St. Augustine on Predestination, with answers to each.
• Responsiones ad Capitula Objectionum Vincentiarum: A similar work in 16 chapters.
• Responsiones ad Excerpta Genuensium: Some clergymen of Genoa had misunderstood various passages from the two treatises of St. Augustine, Prosper addresses a courteous explanation.
• Contra Collatorem: John Cassian had written a book entitled Spiritual Conferences (Collationes), in number, in the 13th of which, entitled de Protectione

Die, he condemned severely St. Augustine’s doctrine on predestination. This is defended by Prosper.

• An Exposition of Psalms 100-150, taken substantially and often verbally, though much abridged, from St. Augustine’s Enarrationes Psalmos.
• Book of Sentences taken from the Works of St. Augustine : An index to the opinions of St. Augustine; 392 in number. 9. Doctrinal Works
• The De vocatione ominium gentium is the first work of Christian literature dedicated to the question of salvation of the heathen. 4. Letters 23