Donatism
Sign in to savethumb|alt=Painting of Augustine of Hippo arguing with a man before an audience|Charles-André van Loo's 18th-century Augustine arguing with Donatists Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid. Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of the Roman province Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the western coast of Libya) and M
AI overview
Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in North Africa (fourth to sixth centuries) based on the belief that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry, prayers, and sacraments to be valid. The dispute mattered because it challenged the Church's authority and raised fundamental questions about whether a priest's personal morality affected the spiritual power of religious ceremonies.
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Article
14 sectionsContents
- {{anchor|Origins and controversy}}Origin and controversy
- {{anchor|Political impact}}Impact
- {{anchor|Doctrinal polemic}}Opposition
- Decline
- {{anchor|Splinter groups}}Related groups and individuals
- {{anchor|Carthaginian bishops}}Bishops
- Later influence
- Epithet
- See also
- Notes
- References
- Sources
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|alt=Painting of Augustine of Hippo arguing with a man before an audience|Charles-André van Loo's 18th-century Augustine arguing with Donatists Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and sacraments to be valid. Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of the Roman province Africa Proconsularis (present-day Tunisia, the northeast of Algeria, and the western coast of Libya) and Mauretania Tingitana (roughly with the northern part of present-day Morocco), in the persecutions of Christians under Diocletian. Named after the Berber Christian bishop Donatus Magnus, Donatism flourished during the fourth and fifth centuries. Donatism mainly spread among the indigenous Berber population, and Donatists were able to blend Christianity with many of the Berber local customs.
==Origin and controversy== The Roman governor of Africa, lenient to the large Christian minority under his rule throughout the Diocletianic Persecutions, was satisfied when Christians handed over their scriptures as a token repudiation of faith. When the persecution ended, Christians who did so were called traditores—"those who handed (the holy things) over"—by their critics (who were mainly from the poorer classes).