“Concupiscence” is saying “yes” when we should have said “no”.

To some, that sounds like “addiction”.  To others, it is the way they live.  To still others, it’s the way “the one they love” lives.

Peters discussed this in the section “addiction and grace”.  In addiction, our bodies become attuned to the finite end that pretends to be a transcendent end.  Whatever it is, we need it.  And always, we need more and more as the body adapts.  The same goes for the soul.  The only feature that is different is the nature of the finite end.

St. Augustine was once addicted to sex.  He knew the yearning.  No doubt, his youthful Manichean machismo was seductive and led to his ruin (that is, his becoming a Christian philosopher.  Think of it from the Manichean perspective.).  His former addiction of the body gave him insight into recognizing Pelagius’ addiction of the soul.

Pelagius was addicted to “being regarded as perfect”.  What British monk wouldn’t be, given enough adoration?  Pelagius was a “celebrity”.  He knew all the right people.  He said all the right things.  But unlike Augustine, whose celebrity was originally founded on his potency rather than potential, Pelagius never repented.  He was fully justified; I mean, self-justified.

Pelagius would never be caught writing something as humiliating as The Confessions.

Pelagius was the golden calf.