From these premises Pelagius drew certain important theological conclusions.
At Rome, Pelagius had been received with favor; at Carthage, at the instigation of St.Augustine, he was denounced.

By a synod, held at Diospolis, he was acquitted of heresy, but, on referring the matter to the Bishop of Rome, Innocent I., he was, on the contrary, condemned.

It happened that at this moment Innocent died, and his successor, Zosimus, annulled his judgment and declared the opinions of Pelagius to be orthodox.

These contradictory decisions are still often referred to by the opponents of papal infallibility.

Things were in this state of confusion, when the wily African bishops, through the influence of Count Valerius, procured from the emperor an edict denouncing Pelagins as a heretic; he and his accomplices were condemned to exile and the forfeiture of their goods.