have suggested that Pelagianism in Britain was understood as an attack on Roman decadence and corruption, but this idea has not gained general acceptance. Pelagius' teachings Free will and original sin The idea that God had created anything or anyone who was evil by nature struck Pelagius as Manichean. Pelagius taught that humans were free of the burden of original sin, because it would be unjust for any person to be blamed for another's actions. According to Pelagianism, humans were created in the image of God and had been granted conscience and reason to determine right from wrong, and the ability to carry out correct actions. If "sin" could not be avoided it could not be considered sin. In Pelagius' view, the doctrine of original sin placed too little emphasis on the human capacity for self-improvement, leading either to despair or to reliance on forgiveness without responsibility. He also argued that many young Christians were comforted with false security about their salvation leading them to relax their Christian practice. Pelagius believed that Adam's transgression had caused humans to become mortal, and given them a bad example, but not corrupted their nature, while Caelestius went even further, arguing that Adam had been created mortal. He did not even accept the idea that original sin had instilled fear of death among humans, as Augustine said. Instead, Pelagius taught that the fear of death could be overcome by devout Christians, and that death could be a release from toil rather than a punishment. Both Pelagius and Caelestius reasoned that it would be unreasonable for God to command the impossible, and therefore each human retained absolute freedom of action and full responsibility for all actions. Pelagius did not accept any limitation on free will, including necessity, compulsion, or limitations of nature. He believed that teaching a strong position on free will was the best motivation for individuals to reform their conduct. Sin and virtue In the Pelagian view, by corollary, sin was not an inevitable result of fallen human nature, but instead came about by free choice and bad habits; through repeated sinning, a person could corrupt their own nature and enslave themself to sin. Pelagius believed that God had given man the Old Testament and Mosaic Law in order to counter these ingrained bad habits, and when that wore off over time God revealed the New Testament. However, because Pelagius considered a person