Heros of Arles was installed as bishop in the face of local opposition,[1] and then lost his see in the reprisals which followed the defeat and execution of Constantine III.
[2] Together with Lazarus of Aix, who had likewise been appointed by Constantine and then deposed by Constantius, he then spent several years in Palestine.
With Jerome at the time was Orosius, a visiting pupil of Augustine, who had similar views on the dangers of Pelagianism.
A more moderate form of Pelagianism claimed that man's faith was an act of free will unassisted by prevenient grace.
The term "Semi-Pelagianism" was unknown in antiquity, appearing for the first time only in the last quarter of the 16th century in connection with Luis de Molina's doctrine of grace: opponents of this theologian believed they saw a close resemblance to the views advocated by monks of Southern Gaul at and around Marseille after 428.
Even after this confusion had been exposed as an error, the newly coined term "Semi-Pelagianism" was retained in learned circles as an apt designation for the views of those monks, most notably John Cassian.