Predestination of the elect and non-elect was taught by the Jewish Essene sect,[4] Gnosticism,[5] and Manichaeism.[6] In Christianity, the doctrine that God unilaterally predestines some persons to heaven and some to hell originated with Augustine of Hippo during the Pelagian controversy in 412 CE.[7] Pelagius and his followers taught that people are not born with original sin and can choose to be good or evil. The controversy caused Augustine to radically reinterpret the teachings of the apostle Paul, arguing that faith is a free gift from God rather than something humans can choose. Noting that not all will hear or respond to God's offered covenant, Augustine considered that "the more general care of God for the world becomes particularised in God’s care for the elect".[3] He explicitly defended God's justice in sending newborn and stillborn babies to hell if they died without baptism.[8]