DONATISM must be distinguished from the heresies in the church, inasmuch as the Donatists held the same doctrines as Christians generally, but deemed it right to separate on account of the corruptions in the church; but whether the corruptions were really their chief reasons for separation, is now a doubtful question.
During the Diocletian persecution (A.D. 303) one thing especially demanded by the pagans was that the sacred books should be given up to be destroyed. Mensurius, was bishop of Carthage, and, on his books being demanded, he hid the sacred books, and gave up some heretical books instead. This was deception, and not to be commended; but he said he was disgusted with the professed faithfulness of many would-be martyrs whose conduct did not correspond. Thus it is recorded: "The cells were full of debtors unable to meet their creditors, of fanatics, idlers, who were fed by injudicious devotees;" and he discountenanced in every way such so-called martyrs. Whether he went too far, so as to discredit every honest effort to obey God rather than man, cannot now be ascertained. At any rate, he made a great many enemies in the church, and a paper was afterward issued denouncing his apparent slight upon the virtues and the sufferings of the martyrs.
Cæcilian succeeded Mensurius at Carthage (A.D. 311). He had worked with Mensurius and had the same judgment in these matters, and now things came to an issue. His ordination was called in question, principally because he had been ordained by Felix who was a "traditor."
Secundus, bishop of Tigisis, was his principal opponent, and this was the more inconsistent, as he himself was a traditor. At a synod held at Cirta (A.D. 305), presided over by Secundus, it is said there was not one who had clean hands. "One had thrown the gospels into the fire; another had offered incense to the gods, and a third had given up his small papers, but kept his codices." A charge of murder being brought against bishop Purpurius, he broke out furiously, saying to Secundus: "Do you wish to frighten me, as you frighten others? Not only have I killed, but I do kill all who thwart me. Take care not to provoke me too much, or I shall have to declare what you did when the curator demanded of you to deliver up the scriptures." Terror filled the whole assembly of bishops, and all received with joy the proposition that, as God had not punished them, they should not punish one another: let each give an account to God, and nothing more be said of their failures!
A sad picture surely of a number of bishops, and yet these were the men who now opposed Cæcilian because he had been, as they said, ordained by a traditor, and they proceeded to consecrate another bishop, Majorinus, in his place. This completed the schism, which eventually wrought much mischief and no little bloodshed.
The point insisted on was, that any sacred act done by an excommunicated person was invalid; and a traditor was held to be in the same position as an excommunicate.
The question whether Felix was a traditor was thoroughly investigated afterward, and he was cleared of the charge yet the Donatists, as they were afterward called, would not credit it, nor cease their opposition.
There were two bishops of the name of Donatus: the first was of Casæ Nigræ: he agreed with Secundus. The other succeeded Majorinus as bishop of Carthage (A.D. 315), and was called Donatus the Great. He became the vigorous leader of the separatists.
The bishop of Rome was asked to investigate the question at issue in A.D. 313. He, in association with a few others, condemned the Donatists.
An appeal from their decision to Constantine was made in A.D. 314, and again in A.D. 316; but they were again and again condemned, and an edict at the later date took away their churches, and some of them even lost their lives.
The Donatists, under their leader, defended themselves, and anyone who had a grievance against the church or the civil authorities, rallied to their standard. Among these were the Circumcelliones.
These are described by Augustine as "a class of men who followed no useful employment; they held their own lives in fanatical contempt, and thought no death too cruel for those who differed from them; they wandered about from place to place, chiefly in the country districts, and haunted the cottages of the peasants for the purpose of obtaining food." The better class of the Donatists turned away in horror from such murderous associates; but they had been accepted by others. The faction gathered strength daily, and threatened a civil war. Thereupon the emperor revoked his laws against the Donatists, and all were left free to be what they pleased.
When Constans succeeded Constantine the Great in Africa, he sought to reclaim the Donatists. But Donatus the Great, and others with him, refused all union with those called orthodox. And the Circumcelliones were again stirred up to their outrages, but were overcome in an attack by one of Constans' officials. Persecution was now again put in force against the Donatists and carried on with great cruelty.
Julian, when he came to the throne (A.D. 361), recalled the exiles, and again gave liberty, and the Donatists once more rapidly increased.
Gratian reversed the order of things again, and drove the Donatists from their churches.
Thus these separatists were from time to time tolerated, and again persecuted; sometimes were flourishing, and at others brought low.
As to their doctrines it is not easy to obtain a clear account. In general they held the same doctrines as other Christians, as even their opponents confess; nor were their morals in any way inferior—excepting the Circumcelliones, who were not really Donatists, and whose actions were detested by the best of the Donatists. Their great crime was being separatists. They contended that this was needful because of the corruptions in the church generally; they re-baptized those coming to their communion, and re-ordained the ministers, because they could not own anything done by the church which they now judged to be corrupt, and, because of evil men being allowed within, they declared it had ceased to be the true church.
In A.D. 395, Augustine was consecrated bishop of Hippo. Here he found the Donatists very strong, and he at once took up the question warmly. He lamented that there was such division, exclaiming, "What has Christ done to us, that we rend His members asunder? Consider how sad a division reigns in christian households and families. Husband and wife, who, in their married state, know no division, separate themselves at the altar of Christ." An evil, alas! that has increased a hundred-fold in this our day!
Donatus died in exile, and Parmenian succeeded him. Between the latter and Augustine a long controversy followed and several writings were issued for and against. The Donatists quoted 1 Cor. 5 as their authority for putting evil out of the church. Augustine admitted this in the main, but said it could not be done entirely, as was shown by the parables, such as that of the Wheat and the Tares. The Donatists replied that this was what would be in the world, and was not to be in the church.
Surely in this the Donatists were right; but, if the historians are to be relied on, it was party spirit that ruled the Donatists and not a real desire for a holy assembly. It is said that they received with open arms those who had been, on account of the laxity of their lives, dealt with in discipline by the orthodox church.
They were also greatly to blame in having connection with the Circumcelliones, after having once seen their true character; but again, about A.D. 401, they allowed these fanatics to join them, and, once more, they set fire and sword at work to destroy churches and slay those that opposed them. They principally sought out those who had left the Donatist party, and the orthodox clergy. Augustine had a narrow escape.
An effort was made to hold a conference; but the Donatists replied that "the sons of the martyrs, and the brood of traditors can never meet." The emperor was now appealed to, and severe edicts were issued against the Donatists. This caused many to return to those called orthodox, where they were received "with love and forgiveness." On the other hand, it roused the fanatics to still greater excesses, and the city of Hippo and its neighborhood suffered fearfully.
In A.D. 411, a conference was suggested and now it was accepted by all. There were present 286 Catholics and 279 Donatists, shewing that the latter were still strong in numbers. It met at Carthage, each choosing seven persons to speak. After a good deal of quarreling, the Donatists presented their side of the question in writing. They objected to the doctrine that the church must to the end contain both good and bad; they quoted scriptures to prove that the church must be pure and without spot; they objected to the examples quoted by the catholics from the prophets as in applicable to that day; they dissented from the view that Judas received the Lord's supper, and that that was a proof of allowed evil; and to the interpretation of the parable of the Wheat and Tares as applying to the church; or that Rom. 1:1818For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; (Romans 1:18) was to the point.
Augustine replied that scripture did not contemplate the church being free from evil: he repeated in substance what he had previously written: "We cannot separate ourselves while in the body from the wicked; but we must use all the greater diligence in heart and will to separate ourselves from their mode of life. It is our duty to recognize this, and not to imperil love by passionate division, or dissever unity by pride. Let us be diligent to hold the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace: for he who gathers outside this unity, gathers not with Christ; and he who gathers not with Christ, destroys." In another place he says, "The church grows and cannot perish, even if wicked men are mixed in it with the good; for this mixture does not lose its character.”
It will be seen that this raises important issues that have had to be discussed many times since, namely, What is the church? Is that necessarily the church of God that calls itself such? And is it always wrong and schism to separate from that which bears the name of the church of God when it has lost the essential characteristics of that church as put forth in scripture?
As we have said, the Donatists were more consistent in their doctrine, however they may have failed in practice, and however blinded by party spirit, and joining with evildoers to gain their ends. In these things they were surely guilty. As the Spirit of God is a Holy Spirit, the unity of the Spirit we are exhorted to keep, must be in separation from evil.
Another point that was discussed in the above council was whether persecution for differences in the church was right. The Donatists contended that it could not be justified; Augustine-perhaps because of his connection with the church called orthodox—contended that it was at times needful.
Persecution again followed this council, under Honorius the emperor. It has been judged that though the Donatists seem not to be mentioned after Gregory the Great (A.D. 590-604), they continued to exist until Africa was overrun by the Saracens in the seventh century, when they are lost sight of.
Augustine. a.D. 354-430.
Having mentioned Augustine in his connection with the Donatists, the reader will like to learn a little more of this great champion for the truth, as he was called. His mother, Monica, was a Christian, and prayed earnestly and constantly for his conversion. When young, indeed until near his conversion, he led an irregular life, according to his own "Confessions." For about ten years he was joined to the Manichæans (whom he afterward attacked); but their immorality disgusted him, and their shallowness could not satisfy his longing for something better. He went to Milan where, out of curiosity, he heard Ambrose, and there he was converted in his thirty-fourth year (A.D. 386). On the death of his mother, which deeply affected him, he sold his property and became an ascetic; but in A.D. 391, he was called to be a presbyter at Hippo, and in 395 he became bishop. Here he continued about thirty-five years with but few remarkable incidents except his defense of the faith. Shortly before his death, the Vandals overran the North of Africa and assailed Hippo; but Augustine closed his earthly career (A.D. 430), before the city was taken.
The two principal works of Augustine are his "Confessions," which give his own history of his conversion, and his "City of God," an elaborate work which represents the church of God as surviving the decline and fall of the Roman empire. He defended the doctrine of the Trinity, and has been thought to have ended the great controversy against the Arians, although some still held the doctrine and do to this day. He was also the champion of grace against Pelagianism, and what has been called semi-Pelagianism, which we hope to look at presently. And thus he has often been held up to be the defender of the truth, standing, as it were, midway between the apostles and the Reformers.
On the other hand, he was a great champion for the church considered orthodox in his day, and in his works many of the errors of the Church of Rome are either laid down or can be easily drawn there from, so that he has also been constantly appealed to by Roman Catholics as well as by Protestants.