Pelagianism
You are Pelagianism! Named after its most famous proponent, the British monk Pelagius, Pelagianism taught that human nature is not compromised by original sin and that the will is therefore capable of choosing to follow the moral good without God’s aid. Pelagius’s fiercest opponent was St Augustine of Hippo, whose writings insisted upon the reality of original sin and the need for divine grace to perform any good works. Augustine’s position won out over that of Pelagius, and Pelagianism was condemned as a heresy by the Council of Carthage in 418, a decision that was confirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431. Despite this apparent victory for Augustinianism, the precise relationship between grace and free will remained controversial, and a variety of “semi-Pelagian” positions were taught throughout the fifth and early sixth centuries.


