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ST. AUGUSTINE

THE CORRECTION OF THE DONATISTS; OR EPISTLE CLXXXV.(1)


A LETTER OF AUGUSTIN(2) TO BONIFACE, WHO, AS WE LEARN FROM EPISTLE 220, WAS
TRIBUNE, AND AFTERWARDS COUNT IN AFRICA. IN IT AUGUSTIN SHOWS THAT THE
HERESY OF THE DONATISTS HAS NOTHING IN COMMON WITH THAT OF ARIUS; AND
POINTS OUT THE MODERATION WITH WHICH IT WAS POSSIBLE TO RECALL THE HERETICS
TO THE COMMUNION OF THE CHURCH THROUGH AWE OF THE IMPERIAL LAWS. HE ADDS
REMARKS CONCERNING THE SAVAGE CONDUCT OF THE DONATISTS AND CIRCUMCELLIONES,
CONCLUDING WITH A DISCUSSION OF THE UNPARDONABLE NATURE OF THE SIN AGAINST
THE HOLY GHOST.(3)

   CHAP. 1.--1. I must express my satisfaction, and congratulations, and
admiration, my son Boniface,(4) in that, amid all the cares of wars and
arms, you are eagerly anxious to know concerning the things that are of
God. From hence it is clear that in you it is actually a part of your
military valor to serve in truth the faith which is in Christ. To place,
therefore, briefly before your Grace the difference between the errors of
the Arians and the Donatists, the Arians say that the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost are different in substance; whereas the Donatists do not say
this, but acknowledge the unity of substance in the Trinity. And if some
even of them have said that the Son was inferior to the Father, yet they
have not denied that He is of the same substance; whilst the greater part
of them declare that they hold entirely the same belief regarding the
Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost as is held by the Catholic Church.
Nor is this the actual question in dispute with them; but they carry on
their unhappy strife solely on the question of communion, and in the
perversity of their error maintain rebellious hostility against the unity
of Christ. But sometimes, as we have heard, some of them, wishing to
conciliate the Goths, since they see that they are not without a certain
amount of power, profess to entertain the same belief as they. But they are
refuted by the authority of their own leaders; for Donatus himself, of
whose party they boast themselves to be, is never said to have held this
belief.

   2. Let not, however, things like these disturb thee, my beloved son.
For it is foretold to us that there must needs be heresies and stumbling-
blocks, that we may be instructed among our enemies; and that so both our
faith and our love may be the more approved,--our faith, namely, that we
should not be deceived by them; and our love, that we should take the
utmost pains we can to correct the erring ones themselves; not only
watching that they should do no injury to the weak, and that they should be
delivered from their wicked error, but also praying for them, that God
would open their understanding, and that they might comprehend the
Scriptures. For in the sacred books, where the Lord Christ is made
manifest, there is also His Church declared; but they, with wondrous
blindness, while they would know nothing of Christ Himself save what is
revealed in the Scriptures, yet form their notion of His Church from the
vanity of human falsehood, instead of learning what it is on the authority
of the sacred books.

   3. They recognize Christ together with us in that which is written,
"They pierced my hands and my feet. They can tell all my bones: they look
and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my
vesture;" and yet they refuse to recognize the Church in that which follows
shortly after: "All the ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the
Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee. For
the kingdom is the Lord's; and He is the Governor among the nations."(1)
They recognize Christ together with us in that which is written, "The Lord
hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten Thee;" and
they will not recognize the Church in that which follows: "Ask of me, and I
shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts
of the earth for Thy possession."(2) They recognize Christ together with us
in that which the Lord Himself says in the gospel, "Thus it behoved Christ
to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day;" and they will not
recognize the Church in that which follows: "And that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem."(3) And the testimonies in the sacred books are
without number, all of which it has not been necessary for me to crowd
together into this book. And in all of them, as the Lord Christ is made
manifest, whether in accordance with His Godhead, in which He is equal to
the Father, so that, "In the beginning was the Word, and; the Word was with
God, and the Word was God;" or according to the humility of the flesh which
He took upon Him, whereby "the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us;"(4)
so is His Church made manifest, not in Africa alone, as they most
impudently venture in the madness of their vanity to assert, but spread
abroad throughout the world.

   4. For they prefer to the testimonies of Holy Writ their own
contentions, because, in the case of Caecilianus, formerly a bishop of the
Church of Carthage, against whom they brought charges which they were and
are unable to substantiate, they separated themselves from the Catholic
Church,--that is, from the unity of all nations. Although, even if the
charges had been true which were brought by them against Caecilianus, and
could at length be proved to us, yet, though we might pronounce an anathema
upon him even in the grave,(5) we are still bound not for the sake of any
man to leave the Church, which rests for its foundation on divine witness,
and is not the figment of litigious opinions, seeing that it is better to
trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.(6) For we cannot allow
that if Caecilianus had erred,--a supposition which I make without
prejudice to his integrity,--Christ should therefore have forfeited His
inheritance. It is easy for a man to believe of his fellow-men either what
is true or what is false; but it marks abandoned impudence to desire to
condemn the communion of the whole world on account of charges alleged
against a man, of which you cannot establish the truth in the face of the
world.

   5. Whether Caecilianus was ordained by men who had delivered up the
sacred books, I do not know. I did not see it, I heard it only from his
enemies. It is not declared to me in the law of God, or in the utterances
of the prophets, or in the holy poetry of the Psalms, or in the writings of
any one of Christ's apostles, or in the eloquence of Christ Himself. But
the evidence of all the several scriptures with one accord proclaims the
Church spread abroad throughout the world, with which the faction of
Donatus does not hold communion. The law of God declared, "In thy seed
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."(7) The Lord said by the
mouth of His prophet, "From the rising of the sun, even unto the going down
of the same, a pure sacrifice shall be offered unto my name: for my name
shall be great among the heathen."(8) The Lord said through the Psalmist,
"He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the
ends of the earth."(9) The Lord said by His apostle, "The gospel is come
unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit."(1) The Son
of God said with His own mouth, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in
Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and even unto the uttermost
part of the earth."(2) Caecilianus, the bishop of the Church of Carthage,
is accused with the contentiousness of men; the Church of Christ,
established among all nations, is recommended by the voice of God. Mere
piety, truth, and love forbid us to receive against Caecilianus the
testimony of men whom we do not find in the Church, which has the testimony
of God; for those who do not follow the testimony of God have forfeited the
weight which otherwise would attach to their testimony as men.

   CHAP. 2.--6. I would add, moreover, that they themselves, by making it
the subject of an accusation, referred the case of Caecilianus to the
decision of the Emperor Constantine; and that, even after the bishops had
pronounced their judgment,(3) finding that they could not crush
Caecilianus, they brought him in person before the above-named emperor for
trial, in the most determined spirit of persecution. And so they were
themselves the first to do what they censure in us, in order that they may
deceive the unlearned, saying that Christians ought not to demand any
assistance from Christian emperors against the enemies of Christ. And this,
too, they did not dare to deny in the conference which we held at the same
time in Carthage nay, they even venture to make it a matter of boasting
that their fathers had laid a criminal indictment against Caecilianus
before the emperor; adding furthermore a lie, to the effect that they had
there worsted him, and procured his condemnation. How then can they be
otherwise than persecutors, seeing that when they persecuted Caecilianus by
their accusations, and were overcome by him, they sought to claim false
glory for themselves by a most shameless life; not only considering it no
reproach, but glorying in it as conducive to their praise, if they could
prove that Caecilianus had been condemned on the accusation of their
fathers? But in regard to the manner in which they were overcome at every
turn in the conference itself, seeing that the records are exceedingly
voluminous, and it would be a serious matter to have them read to you while
you are occupied in other matters that are essential to the peace of Rome,
perhaps it may be possible to have a digest(4) of them read to you, which I
believe to be m the possession of my brother and fellow-bishop Optatus; or
if he has not a copy, he might easily procure one from the church at
Sitifa; for I can well believe that even that volume will prove wearisome
enough to you from its lengthiness, amid the burden of your many cares.

   7. For the Donatists met with the same fate as the accusers of the holy
Daniel.(5) For as the lions were turned against them, so the laws by which
they had proposed to crush an innocent victim were turned against the
Donatists; save that, through the mercy of Christ, the laws which seemed to
be opposed to them are in reality their truest friends; for through their
operation many of them have been, and are daily being reformed, and return
God thanks that they are reformed, and delivered from their ruinous
madness. And those who used to hate are now filled with love; and now that
they have recovered their right minds, they congratulate themselves that
these most wholesome laws were brought to bear against them, with as much
fervency as in their madness they detested them; and are filled with the
same spirit of ardent love towards those who yet remain as ourselves,
desiring that we should strive in like manner that those with whom they had
been like to perish might be saved. For both the physician is irksome to
the raging madman, and a father to his undisciplined son,--the former
because of the restraint, the latter because of the chastisement which he
inflicts; yet both are acting in love. But if they were to neglect their
charge, and allow them to perish, this mistaken kindness would more truly
be accounted cruelty. For if the horse and mule, which have no
understanding, resist with all the force of bites and kicks the efforts of
the men who treat their wounds in order to cure them; and yet the men,
though they are often exposed to danger from their teeth and heels, and
sometimes meet with actual hurt, nevertheless do not desert them till they
restore them to health through the pain and annoyance which the healing
process gives,--how much more should man refuse to desert his fellow-man,
or brother to desert his brother, test he should perish everlastingly,
being himself now able to comprehend the vastness of the boon accorded to
himself in his reformation, at the very time that he complained of
suffering persecution?

   8. As then the apostle says, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us
do good unto all men, not being weary in well-doing,"(1) so let all be
called to salvation, let all be recalled from the path of destruction,--
those who may, by the sermons of Catholic preachers; those who may, by the
edicts of Catholic princes; some through those who obey the warnings of
God, some through those who obey the emperor's commands. For, moreover,
when emperors enact bad laws on the side of falsehood, as against the
truth, those who hold a right faith are approved, and, if they persevere,
are crowned; but when the emperors enact good laws on behalf of the truth
against falsehood, then those who rage against them are put in fear, and
those who understand are reformed. Whosoever, therefore, refuses to obey
the laws of the emperors which are enacted against the truth of God, wins
for himself a great reward; but whosoever refuses to obey the laws of the
emperors which are enacted in behalf of truth, wins for himself great
condemnation. For in the times, too, of the prophets, the kings who, in
dealing with the people of God, did not prohibit nor annul the ordinances
which were issued contrary to God's commands, are all of them censured; and
those who did prohibit and annul them are praised as deserving more than
other men. And king Nebuchadnezzar, when he was a servant of idols, enacted
an impious law that a certain idol should be worshipped; but those who
refused to obey his impious command acted piously and faithfully. And the
very same king, when converted by a miracle from God, enacted a pious and
praiseworthy law on behalf of the truth, that every one who should speak
anything amiss against the true God, the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego, should perish utterly, with all his house.(2) If any persons
disobeyed this law, and justly suffered the penalty imposed, they might
have said what these men say, that they were righteous because they
suffered persecution through the law enacted by the king: and this they
certainly would have said, had they been as mad as these who make divisions
between the members of Christ, and spurn the sacraments of Christ, and take
credit for being persecuted, because they are prevented from doing such
things by the laws which the emperors have passed to preserve the unity of
Christ and boast falsely of their innocence, and seek from men the glory of
martyrdom, which they cannot receive from our Lord.

   9. But true martyrs are such as those of whom the Lord says. "Blessed
are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake."(3) It is not,
therefore, those who suffer persecution for their unrighteousness, and for
the divisions which they impiously introduce into Christian unity, but
those who suffer for righteousness' sake, that are truly martyrs. For Hagar
also suffered persecution at the hands of Sarah;(4) and in that case she
who persecuted was righteous, and she unrighteous who suffered persecution.
Are we to compare with this persecution which Hagar suffered the case of
holy David, who was persecuted by unrighteous Saul?(5) Surely there is in
essential difference, not in respect of his suffering, but because he
suffered for righteousness' sake. And the Lord Himself was crucified with
two thieves;(6) but those who were joined in their suffering were separated
by the difference of its cause. Accordingly, in the psalm, we must
interpret of the true martyrs, who wish to be distinguished from false
martyrs, the verse in which it is said, "Judge me, O Lord, and
distinguish(7) my cause from an ungodly nation."(8) He does not say,
Distinguish my punishment, but "Distinguish my cause." For the punishment
of the impious may be the same; but the cause of the martyrs is always
different. To whose mouth also the words are suitable, "They persecute me
wrongfully; help Thou me;"(9) in which the Psalmist claimed to have a right
to be helped in righteousness, because his adversaries persecuted him
wrongfully; for if they had been right in persecuting him, he would have
deserved not help, but correction.

   10. But if they think that no one can be justified in using violence,--
as they said in the course of the conference that the true Church must
necessarily be the one which suffers persecution, not the one inflicting
it,--in that case I no longer urge what I observed above; because, if the
matter stand as they maintain that it does, then Caecilianus must have
belonged to the true Church, seeing that their fathers persecuted him, by
pressing his accusation even to the tribunal of the emperor himself. For we
maintain that he belonged to the true Church, not merely because he
suffered persecution, but because he suffered it for righteousness' sake;
but that they were alienated from the Church, not merely because they
persecuted, but because they did so in unrighteousness. This, then, is our
position. But if they make no inquiry into the causes for which each person
inflicts persecution, or for which he suffers it, but think that it is a
sufficient sign of a true Christian that he does not inflict persecution,
but suffers it, then beyond all question they include Caecilianus in that
definition, who did not inflict, but suffered persecution; and they equally
exclude their own fathers from the definition, for they inflicted, but did
not suffer it.

   11. But this, I say, I forbear to urge. Yet one point I must press: If
the true Church is the one which actually suffers persecution, not the one
which inflicts it, let them ask the apostle of what Church Sarah was a
type, when she inflicted persecution on her hand-maid. For he declares that
the free mother of us all, the heavenly Jerusalem, that is to say, the true
Church of God, was prefigured in that woman who cruelly entreated her hand-
maid.(1) But if we investigate the story further, we shall find that the
handmaid rather persecuted Sarah by her haughtiness, than Sarah the
handmaid by her severity: for the handmaid was doing wrong to her mistress;
the mistress only imposed on her a proper discipline in her haughtiness.
Again I ask, if good and holy men never inflict persecution upon any one,
but only suffer it, whose words they think that those are in the psalm
where we read, "I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them; neither
did I turn again till they were consumed?"(2) If, therefore, we wish either
to declare or to recognize the truth, there is a persecution of
unrighteousness, which the impious inflict upon the Church of Christ; and
there is a righteous persecution, which the Church of Christ inflicts upon
the impious. She therefore is blessed in suffering persecution for
righteousness' sake; but they are miserable, suffering persecution for
unrighteousness. Moreover, she persecutes in the spirit of love, they in
the spirit of wrath; she that she may correct, they that they may
overthrow: she that she may recall from error, they that they may drive
headlong into error. Finally, she persecutes her enemies and arrests them,
until they become weary in their vain opinions, so that they should make
advance in the truth; but they, returning evil for good, because we take
measures for their good, to secure their eternal salvation, endeavor even
to strip us of our temporal safety, being so in love with murder, that they
commit it on their own persons, when they cannot find victims in any
others. For in proportion as the Christian charity of the Church endeavors
to deliver them from that destruction, so that none of them should die, so
their madness endeavors either to slay us, that they may feed the lust of
their own cruelty, or even to kill themselves, that they may not seem to
have lost the power of putting men to death.

   CHAP. 3.--12. But those who are unacquainted with their habits think
that they only kill themselves now that all the mass of the people are
freed from the fearful madness of their usurped dominion, in virtue of the
laws which have been passed for the preservation of unity. But those who
know what they were accustomed to do before the passing of the laws, do not
wonder at their deaths, but call to mind their character; and especially
how vast crowds of them used to come in procession to the most frequented
ceremonies of the pagans, while the worship of idols still continued,--not
with the view of breaking the idols, but that they might be put to death by
those who worshipped them. For if they had sought to break the idols under
the sanction of legitimate authority, they might, in case of anything
happening to them, have had some shadow of a claim to be considered
martyrs; but their only object in coming was, that while the idols remained
uninjured, they themselves might meet with death. For it was the general
custom of the strongest youths among the worshippers of idols, for each of
them to offer in sacrifice to the idols themselves any victims that he
might have slain. Some went so far as to offer themselves for slaughter to
any travellers whom they met with arms, using violent threats that they
would murder them if they failed to meet with death at their hands.
Sometimes, too, they extorted with violence from any passing judge that
they should be put to death by the executioners, or by the officer of his
court. And hence we have a story, that a certain judge played a trick upon
them, by ordering them to be bound and led away, as though for execution,
and so escaped their violence, without injury to himself or them. Again, it
was their daily sport to kill themselves, by throwing themselves over
precipices, or into the water, or into the fire. For the devil taught them
these three modes of suicide, so that, when they wished to die, and could
not find any one whom they could terrify into slaying them with his sword,
they threw themselves over the rocks, or committed themselves to the fire
or the eddying pool. But who can be thought to have taught them this,
having gained possession of their hearts, but he who actually suggested to
our Saviour Himself as a duty sanctioned by the law, that He should throw
Himself down from a pinnacle of the temple?(3) And his suggestion they
would surely have thrust far from them, had they carried Christ, as their
Master, in their hearts. But since they have rather given place within them
to the devil, they either perish like the herd of swine, whom the legion of
devils drove down from the hill-side into the sea,(1) or, being rescued
from that destruction, and gathered together in the loving bosom of our
Catholic Mother, they are delivered just as the boy was delivered by our
Lord, whom his father brought to be healed of the devil, saying that
ofttimes he was wont to fall into the fire, and oft into the water.(2)

   13. Whence it appears that great mercy is shown towards them, when by
the force of those very imperial laws they are in the first instance
rescued against their will from that sect in which, through the teaching of
lying devils, they learned those evil doctrines, so that afterwards they
might be made whole in the Catholic Church, becoming accustomed to the good
teaching and example which they find in it. For many of the men whom we now
admire in the unity of Christ, for the pious fervor of their faith, and for
their charity, give thanks to God with great joy that they are no longer in
that error which led them to mistake those evil things for good,--which
thanks they would not now be offering willingly, had they not first, even
against their will, been severed from that impious association. And what
are we to say of those who confess to us, as some do every day, that even
in the olden days they had long been wishing to be Catholics; but they were
living among men among whom those who wished to be Catholics could not be
so through the infirmity of fear, seeing that if any one there said a
single word in favor of the Catholic Church, he and his house were utterly
destroyed at once? Who is mad enough to deny that it was right that
assistance should have been given through the imperial decrees, that they
might be delivered from so great an evil, whilst those whom they used to
fear are compelled in turn to fear, and are either themselves corrected
through the same terror, or, at any rate, whilst they pretend to be
corrected, they abstain from further persecution of those who really are,
to whom they formerly were objects of continual dread?

   14. But if they have chosen to destroy themselves, in order to prevent
the deliverance of those who had a right to be delivered, and have sought
in this way to alarm the pious hearts of the deliverers, so that in their
apprehension that some few abandoned men might perish, they should allow
others to lose the opportunity of deliverance from destruction, who were
either already unwilling to perish, or might have been saved from it by the
employment of compulsion; what is in this case the function of Christian
charity, especially when we consider that those who utter threats of their
own violent and voluntary deaths are very few in number in comparison with
the nations that are to be delivered? What then is the function of
brotherly love? Does it, because it fears the shortlived fires of the
furnace for a few, therefore abandon all to the eternal fires of hell? and
does it leave so many, who are either already desirous, or hereafter are
not strong enough to pass to life eternal, to perish everlastingly, while
taking precautions that some few should not perish by their own hand, who
are only living to be a hindrance in the way of the salvation of others,
whom they will not permit to live in accordance with the doctrines of
Christ, in the hopes that some day or other they may teach them too to
hasten their death by their own hand, in the manner which now causes them
themselves to be a terror to their neighbors, in accordance with the custom
inculcated by their devilish tenets? or does it rather save all whom it
can, even though those whom it cannot save should perish in their own
infatuation? For it ardently desires that all should live, but it more
especially labors that not all should die. But thanks be to the Lord, that
both amongst us--not indeed everywhere, but in the great majority of
places--and also in the other parts of Africa, the peace of the Catholic
Church both has gained and is gaining ground, without any of these madmen
being killed. But those deplorable deeds are done in places where there is
an utterly furious and useless set of men, who were given to such deeds
even in the days of old.

   CHAP. 4.--15. And indeed, before those laws were put in force by the
emperors of the Catholic faith, the doctrine of the peace and unity of
Christ was beginning by degrees to gain ground, and men were coming over to
it even from the faction of Donatus, in proportion as each learned more,
and became more willing, and more master of his own actions; although, at
the same time, among the Donatists herds of abandoned men were disturbing
the peace of the innocent for one reason or another in the spirit of the
most reckless madness. What master was there who was not compelled to live
in dread of his own servant, if he had put himself under the guardianship
of the Donatists? Who dared even threaten one who sought his ruin with
punishment? Who dared to exact payment of a debt from one who consumed his
stores, or from any debtor whatsoever, that sought their assistance or
protection? Under the threat of beating, and burning, and immediate death,
all documents compromising the worst of slaves were destroyed, that they
might depart in freedom. Notes of hand that had been extracted from debtors
were returned to them. Any one who had shown a contempt for their hard
words were compelled by harder blows to do what they desired. The houses of
innocent persons who had offended them were either razed to the ground or
burned. Certain heads of families of honorable parentage, and brought up
with a good education were carried away half dead after their deeds of
violence, or bound to the mill, and compelled by blows to turn it round,
after the fashion of the meanest beasts of burden. For what assistance from
the laws rendered by the civil powers was ever of any avail against them?
What official ever ventured so much as to breathe in their presence? What
agents ever exacted payment of a debt which they had been unwilling to
discharge? Who ever endeavored to avenge those who were put to death in
their massacres? Except, indeed, that their own madness took revenge on
them, when some, by provoking against themselves the swords of men, whom
they obliged to kill them under fear of instant death, others by throwing
themselves over sundry precipices, others by waters, others by fire, gave
themselves over on the several occasions to a voluntary death, and gave up
their lives as offerings to the dead by punishments inflicted with their
own hands upon themselves.

   16. These deeds were looked upon with horror by many who were firmly
rooted in the same superstitious heresy; and accordingly, when they
supposed that it was sufficient to establish their innocence that they were
ill contented with such conduct, it was urged against them by the
Catholics: If these evil deeds do not pollute your innocence, how then do
you maintain that the whole Christian world has been polluted by the
alleged sin of Caecilianus, which are either altogether calumnies, or at
least not proved against him? How come you, by a deed of gross impiety, to
separate yourselves from the unity of the Catholic Church, as from the
threshing-floor of the Lord, which must needs contain, up to the time of
the final winnowing, both corn which is to be stored in the garner, and
chaff that is to be burned up with fire?(1) And thus some were so convinced
by argument as to come over to the unity of the Catholic Church, being
prepared even to meet the hostility of abandoned men; whilst the greater
number, though equally convinced, and though desirous to do the same, yet
dared not make enemies of these men, who were so unbridled in their
violence, seeing that some who had come over to us experienced the greatest
cruelty at their hands.

   17. To this we may add, that in Carthage itself some of the bishops of
the same party, making a schism among themselves, and dividing the party of
Donatus among the lower orders of the Carthaginian people, ordained as
bishop against bishop a certain deacon named Maximianus, who could not
brook the control of his own diocesan. And as this displeased the greater
part of them, they condemned the aforesaid Maximinus, with twelve others
who had been present at his ordination, but gave the rest that were
associated in the same schism a chance of returning to their communion on
an appointed day. But afterwards some of these twelve, and certain others
of those who had had the time of grace allowed to them, but had only
returned after the day appointed, were received by them without degradation
from their orders; and they did not venture to baptize a second time those
whom the condemned ministers had baptized outside the pale of their
communion. This action of theirs at once made strongly against them in
favor of the Catholic party, so that their mouths were wholly closed. And
on the matter being diligently spread abroad, as was only right, in order
to cure men's souls of the evils of schism, and when it was shown in every
possible direction by the sermons and discussions of the Catholic divines,
that to maintain the peace of Donatus they had not only received back those
whom they had condemned, with full recognition of their orders, but had
even been afraid to declare that baptism to be void which had been
administered outside their Church by men whom they had condemned or even
suspended; whilst, in violation of the peace of Christ, they cast in the
teeth of all the world the stain conveyed by contact with some sinners, it
matters little with whom, and declared baptism to be consequently void
which had been administered even in the very Churches whence the gospel
itself had come to Africa;--seeing all this, very many began to be
confounded, and blushing before what they saw to be mostly manifest truth,
they submitted to correction in greater numbers than was their wont; and
men began to breathe with a somewhat freer sense of liberty from their
cruelty, and that to a considerably greater extent in every direction.

   18. Then indeed they blazed forth with such fury, and were so excited
by the goadings of hatred, that scarcely any churches of our communion
could be safe against their treachery and violence and most undisguised
robberies; scarcely any road secure by which men could travel to preach the
peace of the Catholic Church in opposition to their madness, and convict
the rashness of their folly by the clear enunciation of the truth. They
went so far, besides, in proposing hard terms of reconciliation, not only
to the laity or to any of the clergy, but even in a measure to certain of
the Catholic bishops. For the only alternative offered was to hold their
tongues about the truth, or to endure their savage fury. But if they did
not speak about the truth, not only was it impossible for any one to be
delivered by their silence, but many were even sure to be destroyed by
their submitting to be led astray; while if, by their preaching the truth,
the rage of the Donatists was again provoked to vent its madness, though
some would be delivered, and those who were already on our side would be
strengthened, yet the weak would again be deterred by fear from following
the truth. When the Church, therefore, was reduced to these straits in its
affliction, any one who thinks that anything was to be endured, rather than
that the assistance of God, to be rendered through the agency of Christian
emperors, should be sought, does not sufficiently observe that no good
account could possibly be rendered for neglect of this precaution.

   CHAP. 5.--19. But as to the argument of those men who are unwilling
that their impious deeds should be checked by the enactment of righteous
laws, when they say that the apostles never sought such measures from the
kings of the earth, they do not consider the different character of that
age, and that everything comes in its own season. For what emperor had as
yet believed in Christ, so as to serve Him in the cause of piety by
enacting laws against impiety, when as yet the declaration of the prophet
was only in the course of its fulfillment, "Why do the heathen rage, and
the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and
their rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His
Anointed;" and there was as yet no sign of that which is spoken a little
later in the same psalm: "Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be
instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice
with trembling."(1) How then are kings to serve the Lord with fear, except
by preventing and chastising with religious severity all those acts which
are done in opposition to the commandments of the Lord? For a man serves
God in one way in that he is man, in another way in that he is also king.
In that he is man, he serves Him by living faithfully; but in that he is
also king, he serves Him by enforcing with suitable rigor such laws as
ordain what is righteous, and punish what is the reverse. Even as Hezekiah
served Him, by destroying the groves and the temples of the idols, and the
high places which had been built in violation of the commandments of
God;(2) or even as Josiah served Him, by doing the same things in his
turn;(3) or as the king of the Ninevites served Him, by compelling all the
men of his city to make satisfaction to the Lord;(4) or as Darius served
Him, by giving the idol into the power of Daniel to be broken, and by
casting his enemies into the den of lions;(5) or as Nebuchadnezzar served
Him, of whom I have spoken before, by issuing a terrible law to prevent any
of his subjects from blaspheming God.(6) In this way, therefore, kings can
serve the Lord, even in so far as they are kings, when they do in His
service what they could not do were they not kings.

   20. Seeing, then, that the kings of the earth were not yet serving the
Lord in the time of the apostles, but were still imagining vain things
against the Lord and against His Anointed, that all might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophets, it must be granted that at that time acts
of impiety could not possibly be prevented by the laws, but were rather
performed under their sanction. For the order of events was then so rolling
on, that even the Jews were killing those who preached Christ, thinking
that they did God service in so doing, just as Christ had foretold,(7) and
the heathen were raging against the Christians, and the patience of the
martyrs was overcoming them all. But so soon as the fulfillment began of
what is written in a later psalm, "All kings shall fall down before Him;
all nations shall serve Him,"(8) what sober-minded man could say to the
kings, "Let not any thought trouble you within your kingdom as to who
restrains or attacks the Church of your Lord; deem it not a matter in which
you should be concerned, which of your subjects may choose to be religious
or sacrilegious," seeing that you cannot say to them, "Deem it no concern
of yours which of your subjects may choose to be chaste, or which unchaste
?" For why, when free-will is given by God to man, should adulteries be
punished by the laws, and sacrilege allowed? Is it a lighter matter that a
soul should not keep faith with God, than that a woman should be faithless
to her husband? Or if those faults which are committed not in contempt but
in ignorance of religious truth are to be visited with lighter punishment,
are they therefore to be neglected altogether ?

   CHAP. 6.--21. It is indeed better (as no one ever could deny) that men
should be led to worship God by teaching, than that they should be driven
to it by fear of punishment or pain; but it does not follow that because
the former course produces the better men, therefore those who do not yield
to it should be neglected. For many have found advantage (as we have
proved, and are daily proving by actual experiment), in being first
compelled by fear or pain, so that they might afterwards be influenced by
teaching, or might follow out in act what they had already learned in word.
Some, indeed, set before us the sentiments of a certain secular author, I
who said,

  "'Tis well, I ween, by shame the young to train,
   And dread of meanness, rather than by pain."[1]

This is unquestionably true. But while those are better who are guided
aright by love, those are certainly more numerous who are corrected by
fear. For, to answer these persons out of their own author, we find him
saying in another place,

  "Unless by pain and suffering thou art taught,
   Thou canst not guide thyself aright in aught." [2]

But, moreover, holy Scripture has both said concerning the former better
class, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; "[3]
and also concerning the latter lower class, which furnishes the majority,
"A servant will not be corrected by words; for though he understand, he
will not answer." [4] In saying, "He will not be corrected by words," he
did not order him to be left to himself, but implied an admonition as to
the means whereby he ought to be corrected; otherwise he would not have
said, "He will not be corrected by words," but without any qualification,"
He will not be corrected." For in another place he says that not only the
servant, but also the undisdained son, must be corrected with stripes, and
that with great fruits as the result; for he says, "Thou shall beat him
with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell; "[5] and elsewhere he
says, "He that spareth the rod hateth his son." [6] For, give us a man who
with right faith and true understanding can say with all the energy of his
heart, "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come
and appear before God? "[7] and for such an one there is no need of the
terror of hell, to say nothing of temporal punishments or imperial laws,
seeing that with him it is so indispensable a blessing to cleave unto the
Lord, that he not only dreads being parted from that happiness as a heavy
punishment, but can scarcely even bear delay in its attainment. But yet,
before the good sons can say they have "a desire to depart, and to be with
Christ," [8] many must first be recalled to their Lord by the stripes of
temporal scourging, like evil slaves, and in some degree like good-for-
nothing fugitives.

   22. For who can possibly love us more than Christ, who laid down His
life for His sheep?[9] And yet, after calling Peter and the other apostles
by His words alone, when He came to summon Paul, who was before called
Saul, subsequently the powerful builder of His Church, but originally its
cruel persecutor, He not only constrained him with His  voice, but even
dashed him to the earth with His power; and that He might forcibly bring
one who was raging amid the darkness of infidelity to desire the light of
the heart, He first struck him with physical blindness of the eyes. If that
punishment had not been inflicted, he would not afterwards have been healed
by it; and since he had been wont to see nothing with his eyes open, if
they had remained unharmed, the Scripture would not tell us that at the
imposition of Ananias' hands, in order that their sight might be restored,
there fell from them as it had been scales, by which the sight had been
obscured.[10] Where is what the Donatists were wont to cry: Man is at
liberty to believe or not believe? Towards whom did Christ use violence?
Whom did He compel? Here they have the Apostle Paul. Let them recognize in
his case Christ first compelling, and afterwards teaching; first striking,
and afterwards consoling. For it is wonderful how he who entered the
service of the gospel in the first instance under the compulsion of bodily
punishment, afterwards labored more in the gospel than all they who were
called by word only; [11] and he who was compelled by the greater influence
of fear to love, displayed that perfect love which casts out fear.

   23. Why, therefore, should not the Church use force in compelling her
lost sons to return, if the lost sons compelled others to their
destruction? Although even men who have not been compelled, but only led
astray, are received by their loving mother with more affection if they are
recalled to her bosom through the enforcement of terrible but salutary
laws, and are the objects of far more deep congratulation than those whom
she had never lost. Is it not a part of the care of the shepherd, when any
sheep have left the flock, even though not violently forced away, but led
astray by tender words and coaxing blandishments, to bring them back to the
fold of his master when he has found them, by the fear or even the pain of
the whip, if they show symptoms of resistance; especially since, if they
multiply with growing abundance among the fugitive slaves and robbers, he
has the more right in that the mark of the master is recognized on them,
which is not outraged in those whom we receive but do not rebaptize? For
the wandering of the sheep is to be corrected in such wise that the mark of
the Redeemer should not be destroyed on it. For even if any one is marked
with the royal stamp by a deserter who is marked with it himself, and the
two receive forgiveness,[1] and the one returns to his service, and the
other begins to be in the service in which he had no part before, that mark
is not effaced in either of the two, but rather it is recognized in both of
them, and approved with the honor which is due to it because it is the
king's. Since then they cannot show that the destination is bad to which
they are compelled, they maintain that they ought to be compelled by force
even to what is good. But we have shown that Paul was compelled by Christ;
therefore the Church, in trying to compel the Donatists, is following the
example of her Lord, though in the first instance she waited in the hopes
of needing to compel no one, that the prediction of the prophet might be
fulfilled concerning the faith of kings and peoples.

   24. For in this sense also we may interpret without absurdity the
declaration of the blessed Apostle Paul, when he says, " Having in a
readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled."
[2] Whence also the Lord Himself bids the guests in the first instance to
be invited to His great supper, and afterwards compelled; for on His
servants making answer to Him, "Lord, it is done as Thou hast commanded,
and yet there is room," He said to them, "Go out into the highways and
hedges, and compel them to come in."[3] In those, therefore, who were first
brought in with gentleness, the former obedience is fulfilled; but in those
who were compelled, the disobedience is avenged. For what else is the
meaning of "Compel them to come in," after it had previously said, "Bring
in," and the answer had been made, "Lord, it is done as Thou commanded, and
yet there is room "? If He had wished it to be understood that they were to
be compelled by the terrifying force of miracles, many divine miracles were
rather wrought in the sight of those who were first called, especially in
the sight of the Jews, of whom it was said, "The Jews require a sign; "[4]
and, moreover, among the Gentiles themselves the gospel was so commended by
miracles in the time of the apostles, that had these been the means by
which they were ordered to be compelled, we might rather have had good
grounds for supposing, as I said before, that it was the earlier guests who
were compelled. Wherefore, if the power which the Church has received by
divine appointment in its due season, through the religious character and
the faith of kings, be the instrument by which those who are found in the
highways and hedges--that is, in heresies and schisms--are compelled to
come in, then let them not find fault with being compelled, but consider
whether they be so compelled. The supper of the Lord is the unity of the
body of Christ, not only in the sacrament of the altar, but also in the
bond of peace. Of the Donatists themselves, indeed, we can say that they
compel no man to any good thing; for whomsoever they compel, they compel to
nothing rise but evil.

   CHAP. 7.--25. However, before those laws were sent into Africa by which
men are compelled to come in to the sacred Supper, it seemed to certain of
the brethren, of whom I was one, that although the madness of the Donatists
was raging in every direction, yet we should not ask of the emperors to
ordain that heresy should absolutely cease to be, by sanctioning a
punishment to be inflicted on all who wished to live in it; but that they
should rather content themselves with ordaining that those who either
preached the Catholic truth with their voice, or established it by their
study, should no longer be exposed to the furious violence of the heretics,
And this they thought might in some measure be effected, if they would take
the law which Theodosius of pious memory, enacted generally against
heretics of all kinds, to the effect that any heretical bishop or
clergyman, being found in any place, should be fined ten pounds of gold,
and confirm it in more express terms against the Donatists, who denied that
they were heretics; but with such reservations, that the fine should not be
inflicted upon all of them, but only in those districts where the Catholic
Church suffered any violence from their clergy, or from the
Circumcelliones, or at the hands of any of their people; so that. after a
formal complaint had been made by the Catholics who had suffered the
violence the bishops or other ministers should forthwith be obliged, under
the commission given to the officers, to pay the fine. For we thought that
in this way, if they were terrified and no longer dared do anything of the
sort the Catholic truth might be freely taught and held under such
conditions, that while no one was compelled to it, any one might follow it
who was anxious to do so without intimidation, so that we might not have
false and pretended Catholics. And although a different view was held by
other brethren, who either were more advanced in years, or had experience
of many states and places where we saw the true Catholic Church firmly
established, which had, however, been planted and confirmed by God's great
goodness at a time when men were compelled to come in to the Catholic
communion by the laws of previous emperors, yet we carried our point, to
the effect that the measure which I have described above should be sought
in preference from the emperors: it was decreed in our council,[1] and
envoys were sent to the court of the Count.

   26. But God in His great mercy, knowing how necessary was the terror
inspired by these laws, and a kind of medicinal inconvenience for the cold
and wicked hearts of many men, and for that hardness of heart which cannot
be softened by words, but yet admits of softening through the agency of
some little severity of discipline, brought it about that our envoys could
not obtain what they had undertaken to ask. For our arrival had already
been anticipated by the serious complaints of certain bishops from other
districts, who had suffered much ill-treatment at the hands of the
Donatists themselves, and had been thrust out from their sees; and, in
particular, the attempt to murder Maximianus, the Catholic bishop of the
Church of Bagai, under circumstances of incredible atrocity, had caused
measures to be taken which left our deputation nothing to do. For a law had
already been published, that the heresy of the Donatists, being of so
savage a description that mercy towards it really involved greater cruelty
than its very madness wrought, should for the future be prevented not only
from being violent, but from existing with impunity at all; but yet no
capital punishment was imposed upon it, that even in dealing with those who
were unworthy, Christian gentleness might be observed, but a pecuniary fine
was ordained, and sentence of exile was pronounced against their bishops or
ministers.

   27. With regard to the aforesaid bishop of Bagai, in consequence of his
claim being allowed in the ordinary courts, after each party had been heard
in turn, in a basilica[2] of which the Donatists had taken possession, as
being the property of the Catholics, they rushed upon him as he was
standing at the altar, with fearful violence and cruel fury, beat him
savagely with cudgels and weapons of every kind, and at last with the very
boards of the broken altar. They also wounded him with a dagger in the
groin so severely, that the effusion of blood would have soon put an end to
his life, had not their further cruelty proved of service for its
preservation; for, as they were dragging him along the ground thus severely
wounded, the dust forced into the spouting vein stanched the blood, whose
effusion was rapidly on the way to cause his death. Then, when they had at
length abandoned him, some of our party tried to carry him off with psalms;
but his enemies, inflamed with even greater rage, tore him from the hands
of those who were carrying him, inflicting grievous punishment on the
Catholics, whom they put to flight, being far superior to them in numbers,
and easily inspiring terror by their violence. Finally, they threw him into
a certain elevated tower, thinking that he was by this time dead, though in
fact he still breathed. Lighting then on a soft heap of earth, and being
espied by the light of a lamp by some men who were passing by at night, be
was recognized and picked up, and being carried to a religious house, by
dint of great care, was restored in a few days from his state of almost
hopeless danger. Rumor, however, had carried the tidings even across the
sea that he had been killed by the violence of the Donatists; and when
afterwards he himself went abroad, and was most unexpectedly seen to be
alive, he showed, by the number, the severity, and the freshness of his
wounds, how fully rumor had been justified in bringing tidings of his
death.

   58. He sought assistance, therefore, from the Christian emperor, not so
much with any desire of revenging himself, as with the view of defending
the Church entrusted to his charge. And if he had omitted to do this, he
would have deserved not to be praised for his forbearance, but to be blamed
for negligence. For neither was the Apostle Paul taking precautions on
behalf of his own transitory life, but for the Church of God when he caused
the plot of those who had conspired to slay him to be made known to the
Roman captain, the effect of which was that he was conducted by an escort
of armed soldiers to the place where they proposed to send him, that he
might escape the ambush of his foes.[1] Nor did he for a moment hesitate to
invoke the protection of the Roman laws, proclaiming that he was a Roman
citizen, who at that time could not be scourged;[2] and again, that he
might not be delivered to the Jews who sought to kill him, he appealed to
Caesar,[3]--a Roman emperor, indeed, but not a Christian. And by this he
showed sufficiently plainly what was afterwards to be the duty of the
ministers of Christ, when in the midst of the dangers of the Church they
found the emperors Christians. And hence therefore, it came about that a
religious and pious emperor, when such matters were brought to his
knowledge, thought it well, by the enactment of most pious laws, entirely
to correct the error of this great impiety, and to bring those who bore the
standards of Christ against the cause of Christ into the unity of the
Catholic Church, even by terror and compulsion, rather than merely to take
away their power of doing violence, and to leave them the freedom of going
astray, and perishing in their error.

   29. Presently, when the laws themselves arrived in Africa, in the first
place those who were already seeking an opportunity for doing so, or were
afraid of the raging madness of the Donatists, or were previously deterred
by a feeling of unwillingness to offend their friends, at once came over to
the Church. Many, too, who were only restrained by the force of custom
handed down in their homes from their parents, but had never before
considered what was the groundwork of the heresy itself,--had never,
indeed, wished to investigate and contemplate its nature,--beginning now to
use their observation, and finding nothing in it that could compensate for
such serious loss as they were called upon to suffer, became Catholics
without any difficulty; for, having been made careless by security, they
were now instructed by anxiety. But when all these had set the example, it
was followed by many who were less qualified of themselves to understand
what was the difference between the error of the Donatists and Catholic
truth.

   30. Accordingly, when the great masses of the people had been received
by the true mother With rejoicing into her bosom, there remained outside
cruel crowds, persevering with unhappy animosity in that madness. Even of
these the greater number communicated in feigned reconciliation, and others
escaped notice from the scantiness of their numbers. But those who feigned
conformity, becoming by degrees accustomed to our communion, and hearing
the preaching of the truth, especially after the conference and disputation
which took place between us and their bishops at Carthage, were to a great
extent brought to a right belief. Yet in certain places, where a more
obstinate and implacable body prevailed, whom the smaller number that
entertained better views about communion with us could not resist, or where
the masses were under the influence of a few more powerful leaders, whom
they followed in a wrong direction, our difficulties continued somewhat
longer. Of these places there are a few in which trouble still exists, in
the course of which the Catholics, and especially the bishops and clergy,
have suffered many terrible hardships, which it would take too long to go
through in detail, seeing that some of them had their eyes put out, and one
bishop his hands and tongue cut off, while some were actually murdered. I
say nothing of massacres of the most cruel description, and robberies of
houses, committed in nocturnal burglaries, with the burning not only of
private houses, but even of churches,--some being found abandoned enough to
cast the sacred books into the flames.

   31. But we were consoled for the suffering inflicted on us by these
evils, by the fruit which resulted from them. For wherever such deeds were
committed by unbelievers, there Christian unity has advanced with greater
fervency and perfection, and the Lord is praised with greater earnestness
for having  deigned to grant that His servants might win their brethren by
their sufferings, and might gather together into the peace of eternal
salvation through His blood His sheep who were dispersed abroad in deadly
error. The Lord is powerful and full of compassion, to whom we daily pray
that He will give repentance to the rest as well, that they may recover
themselves out of the snare of the devil, by whom they are taken captive at
his will,[1] though now they only seek materials for calumniating us, and
returning to us evil for good; because they have not the knowledge to make
them understand what feelings and love we continue to have towards them,
and how we are anxious, in accordance with the injunction of the Lord,
given to His pastors by the mouth of the prophet Ezekiel, to bring again
that which was driven away, and to seek that which was lost.[1]

   CHAP. 8.--32. But they, as we have sometimes said before in other
places, do not charge themselves with what they do to us; while, on the
other hand, they charge us with what they do to themselves. For which of
our party is there who would desire, I do not say that one of them should
perish, but should even lose any of his possessions? But if the house of
David could not earn peace on any other terms except that Absalom his son
should have been slain in the war which he was waging against his father,
although he had most carefully given strict injunctions to his followers
that they should use their utmost endeavors to preserve him alive and safe,
that his paternal affection might be able to pardon him on his repentance,
what remained for him except to weep for the son that he had lost, and to
console himself in his sorrow by reflecting on the acquisition of peace for
his kingdom?[3] The same, then, is the case with the Catholic Church, our
mother; for when war is waged against her by men who are certainly
different from sons, since it must be acknowledged that from the great
tree, which by the spreading of its branches is extended over all the
world, this little branch in Africa is broken off, whilst she is willing in
her love to give them birth, that they may return to the root, without
which they cannot have the true life, at the same time if she collects the
remainder in so large a number by the loss of some, she soothes and cures
the sorrow of her maternal heart by the thoughts of the deliverance of such
mighty nations; especially when she considers that those who are lost
perish by a death which they brought upon themselves, and not, like
Absalom, by the fortune of war. And if you were to see the joy of those who
are delivered in the peace of Christ, their crowded assemblies, their eager
zeal, the gladsomeness with which they flock together, both to hear and
sing hymns, and to be instructed in the word of God; the great grief with
which many of them recall to mind their former error, the joy with which
they come to the consideration of the truth which they have learned, with
the indignation and detestation which they feel towards their lying
teachers, now that they have found out what falsehoods they disseminated
concerning our sacraments; and how many of them, moreover, acknowledge that
they long ago desired to be Catholics, but dared not take the step in the
midst of men of such violence,--if, I say, you were to see the
congregations of these nations delivered from such perdition, then you
would say that it would have been the extreme of cruelty, if in the fear
that certain desperate men, in number not to be compared with the
multitudes of those who were rescued, might be burned in fires which they
voluntarily kindled for themselves, these others had been left to be lost
for ever, and to be tortured in fires which shall not be quenched.

   33. For if two men were dwelling together in one house, which we knew
with absolute certainty to be upon the point of falling down, and they were
unwillingly to believe us when we warned them of the danger, and persisted
in remaining in the house; if it were in our power to rescue them, even
against their will, and we were afterwards to show them the ruin
threatening their house, so that they should not dare to return again
within its reach, I think that if we abstained from doing it, we should
well deserve the charge of cruelty. And further, if one of them should say
to us. Since you have entered the house to save our lives, I shall
forthwith kill myself; while the other was not indeed willing to come forth
from the house, nor to be rescued, but yet had not the hardihood to kill
himself: which alternative should we choose,--to leave both of them to be
overwhelmed in the ruin, or that, while one at any rate was delivered by
our merciful efforts, the other should perish by no fault of ours, but
rather by his own? No one is so unhappy as not to find it easy enough to
deride what should be done in such a case. And I have proposed the question
of two individuals,--one, that is to say, who is lost, and one who is
delivered; what then must we think of the case where some few are lost, and
an innumerable multitude of nations are delivered? For there are actually
not so many persons who thus perish of their own free will, as there are
estates, villages, streets, fortresses, municipal towns, cities, that are
delivered by the laws under consideration from that fatal and eternal
destruction.

   34. But if we were to consider the matter under discussion with yet
greater care, I think that if there were a large number of persons in the
house which was going to fall, and any single one of them could be saved,
and whet we endeavored to effect his rescue, the others were to kill
themselves by jumping out of the windows, we should console ourselves in
our grief for the loss of the rest by the thoughts of the safety of the
one; and we should not allow all to perish without a single rescue, in the
fear lest the remainder should destroy themselves. What then should we
think of the work of mercy to which we ought to apply ourselves, in order
that men may attain eternal life and escape eternal punishment, if true
reason and benevolence compel us to give such aid to men, in order to
secure for them a safety which is not only temporal, but very short,--for
the brief space of their life on earth ?

   CHAP. 9.--35. As to the charge that they bring against us, that we
covet and plunder their possessions, I would that they would become
Catholics, and possess in peace and love with us, not only what they call
theirs, but also what confessedly belongs to us. But they are so blinded
with the desire of uttering calumnies, that they do not observe how
inconsistent their statements are with one another. At any rate, they
assert, and seem to make it a subject of most invidious complaint among
themselves, that we constrain them to come in to our communion by the
violent authority of the laws,--which we certainly should not do by any
means, if we wished to gain possession of their property. What avaricious
man ever wished for another to share his possessions? Who that was inflamed
with the desire of empire, or elated by the pride of its possession, ever
wished to have a partner? Let them at any rate look on those very men who
once belonged to them, but now are our brethren joined to us by the bond of
fraternal affection, and see how they hold not only what they used to have,
but also what was ours, which they did not have before; which yet, if we
are living as poor in fellowship with poor, belongs to us and them alike;
whilst, if we possess of our private means enough for our wants, it is no
longer ours, inasmuch as we do not commit so infamous an act of usurpation
as to claim for our own the property of the poor, for whom we are in some
sense the trustees.

   36. Everything, therefore, that was held in the name of the churches of
the party of Donatus, was ordered by the Christian emperors, in their pious
laws, to pass to the Catholic Church, with the possession of the buildings
themselves.[1] Seeing, then, that there are with us poor members of those
said churches who used to be maintained by these same paltry possessions,
let them rather cease themselves to covet what belongs to others whilst
they remain outside, and so let them enter within the bond of unity, that
we may all alike administer, not only the property which they call their
own, but also with it what is asserted to be ours. For it is written "All
are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is God's."[2] Under Him as our
Head, let us all be one in His one body; and in all such matters as you
speak of, let us follow the example which is recorded in the Acts of the
Apostles: "They were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them
that aught of the things which he possessed was his own; but they bad all
things common."[3] Let us love what we sing: "Behold, how good and how
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! "[4] that so they
may know, by their own experience, with what perfect truth their mother,
the Catholic Church, calls out to them what the blessed apostle writes to
the Corinthians: "I seek not yours, but you."[5]

   37. But if we consider what is said in the Book of Wisdom, "Therefore
the righteous spoiled the ungodly;"[6] and also what is said in the
Proverbs, "The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just;"[7] then we
shall see that the question is not, who are in possession of the property
of the heretics? but who are in the society of the just? We know, indeed,
that the Donatists arrogate to themselves such a store of justice, that
they boast not only that they possess it, but that they also below it upon
other men. For they say that any one whom they have baptized is justified
by them, after which there is nothing left for them but to say to the
person who is baptized by them that he must needs believe on him who has
administered the sacrament; for why should he not do so, when the apostle
says, "To him that believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith
is counted for righteousness?"[8] Let him believe, therefore, upon the man
by whom he is baptized,, if it be none else that justifies him. that his
faith may be counted for righteousness. But I think that even they
themselves would look with horror on themselves, if they ventured for a
moment to entertain such thoughts as these. For there is none that is just
and able to justify, save God alone. But the stone might be said of them
that the apostle says of the Jews, that "being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going a bout to establish their own righteousness, they
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." [1]

   38. But far be it from us that any one of our number should call
himself in such wise just, that he should either go about to establish his
own righteousness, as though it were conferred upon him by himself, whereas
it is said to him, "For what hast thou that thou didst not receive ?" [2]
or venture to boast himself as being without sin in this world, as the
Donatists themselves declared in our conference that they were members of a
Church which has already neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing,[3]--
not knowing that this is only fulfilled in those individuals who depart out
of this body immediately after baptism, or after the forgiveness of sins,
for which we make petition in our prayers; but that for the Church, as a
whole, the time will not come when it shall be altogether without spot or
wrinkle, or any such thing, till the day when we shall hear the words, "O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of
death is sin." [4]

   39. But in this life, when the corruptible body presseth down the
soul,[5] if their Church is already of such a character as they maintain,
they would not utter unto God the prayer which our Lord has taught us to
employ: "Forgive us our debts." [6] For since all sins have been remitted
in baptism, why does the Church make this petition, if already, even in
this life, it has neither spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing? They would
also have a fight to despise the warning of the Apostle John, when he cries
out in his epistle, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"
[7] On account of this hope, the universal Church utters the petition,
"Forgive us our debts," that when He sees that we are not vainglorious, but
ready to confess our sins, He may cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and
that so the Lord Jesus Christ may show to Himself in that day a glorious
Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, which now He
cleanses with the washing of water in the word: because, on the one hand,
there is nothing that remains behind in baptism to hinder the forgiveness
of every bygone sin (so long, that is, as baptism is not received to no
effect without the Church, but is either administered within the Church,
or, at least, if it has been already administered without, the recipient
does not remain outside with it); and, on the other hand, whatever
pollution of sin, of whatsoever kind, is contracted through the weakness of
human nature by those who live here after baptism, is cleansed away in
virtue of the same laver's efficacy. For neither is it of any avail for one
who has not been baptized to say, "Forgive us our debts."

   40. Accordingly, He so now cleanses His Church by the washing of water
in the word, that He may hereafter show it to Himself as not having spot,
or wrinkle, or any such thing,--altogether beautiful, that is to say, and
in absolute perfection, when death shall be "swallowed up in victory." [8]
Now, therefore, in so far as the life is flourishing within us that
proceeds from our being born of God, living by filth, so far we are
righteous; but in so far as we drag along with us the traces of our mortal
nature as derived from Adam, so far we cannot be free from sin. For there
is truth both in the statement that "whosoever is born of God doth not
commit sin,"9 and also in the former statement, that "if we say that we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." [10] The
Lord Jesus, therefore, is both righteous and able to justify; but we are
justified freely by no other grace than His.[11] For there is nothing that
justifieth save His body, which is the Church; and therefore, if the body
of Christ bears off the spoils of the unrighteous, and the riches of the
unrighteous are laid up in store as treasures for the body of Christ` the
unrighteous ought not therefore to remain outside, but rather to enter
within, that so they may be justified.

   41. Whence also we may be sure that what is written concerning the day
of judgment, "Then shall the righteous man stand in great boldness before
the face of such as have afflicted him, and made no account of his labors,"
[12] is not to be taken in such a sense as that the Canaanite shall stand
before the face of Israel, though Israel made no account of the labors of
the Canaanite; but only as that Naboth shall stand before the face of Ahab,
since Ahab made no account of the labors of Naboth, since the Canaanite was
unrighteous, while Naboth was a righteous man. In the same way the heathen
shall not stand before the face of the Christian, who made no account of
his labors, when the temples of the idols were plundered and destroyed; but
the Christian shall stand before the face of the heathen, who made no
account of his labors, when the bodies of the martyrs were laid low in
death. In the same way, therefore, the heretic shall not stand in the face
of the Catholic, who made no account of his labors, when the laws of the
Catholic emperors were put in force; but the Catholic shall stand in the
face of the heretic, who made no account of his labors when the madness of
the ungodly Circumcelliones was allowed to have its way. For the passage of
Scripture derides the question in itself, seeing that it does not say, Then
shall men stand, but "Then shall the righteous stand;" and they shall stand
"in great boldness" because they stand in the power of a good conscience.

   42. But in this world no one is righteous by his own righteousness,--
that is, as though it were wrought by himself and for himself; but as the
apostle says, "According as God hath dealt to every man the measure of
faith." But then he goes on to add the following: "For as we have many
members in one body, and all members have not the same office; so we, being
many, are one body in Christ."[1] And according to this doctrine, no one
can be righteous so long as he is separated from the unity of this body.
For in the same manner as if a limb be cut off from the body of a living
man, it cannot any longer retain the spirit of life; so the man who is cut
off from the body of Christ, who is righteous, can in no wise retain the
spirit of righteousness, even if he retain the form of membership which he
received when in the body. Let them therefore come into the framework of
this body, and so possess their own labors, not through the lust of
lordship, but through the godliness of using them aright. But we, as has
been said before, cleanse our wills from the pollution of this
concupiscence, even in the judgment of any enemy you please to name as
judge, seeing that we use our utmost efforts in entreating the very men of
whose labors we avail ourselves to enjoy with us, within the society of the
Catholic Church, the fruits both of their labors and of our own.

   CHAP. 10.--43. But this, they say, is the very thing which disquiets
us,--If we are unrighteous, wherefore do you seek our company? To which
question we answer, We seek the company of you who are unrighteous, that
you may not remain unrighteous; we seek for you who are lost, that we may
rejoice over you as soon as you are found, saying, This our brother was
dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.[2] Why, then, he
says, do you not baptize me, that you might wash me from my sins? I reply:
Because I do not do despite to the stamp of the monarch, when I correct the
ill-doing of a deserter. Why, he says, do I not even do penance in your
body? Nay truly, except you have done penance, you cannot be saved; for how
shall you rejoice that you have been reformed, unless you first grieve that
you had been astray?? What, then, he says, do we receive with you, when we
come over to your side? I answer, You do not indeed receive baptism, which
was able to exist in you outside the framework of the body of Christ,
although it could not profit you; but you receive the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace[3]  without which no one can see God; and you receive
charity, which, as it is written, "shall cover the multitude of sins."[4]
And in regard to this great blessing, without which we have the apostle's
testimony that neither the tongues of men or of angels, nor the
understanding of all mysteries, nor the gift of prophecy, nor faith so
great as to be able to remove mountains, nor the bestowal of all one's
goods to feed the poor, nor giving one's body to be burned, can profit
anything;[5] if, I say, you think this mighty blessing to be worthless or
of trifling value, you are deservedly but miserably astray; and deservedly
you must necessarily perish, unless you come over to Catholic unity.

   44. If, then, they say, it is necessary that we should repent of having
been outside, and hostile to the Church, if we would gain salvation, how
comes it that after the repentance which you exact from us we still
continue to be clergy, or it may be even bishops in your body? This would
not be the case, as indeed, in simple truth, we must confess it should not
be the case, were it not that the evil is cured by the compensating power
of peace itself. But let them give themselves this lesson, and most
especially let those feel sorrow in their hearts, who are lying in this
deep death of severance from the Church, that they may recover their life
even by this sort of wound inflicted on our Catholic mother Church. For
when the bough that has been cut off is grafted in, a new wound is made in
the tree, to admit of its reception, that life may be given to the branch
which was perishing for lack of the life that is furnished by the root. But
when the newly-received branch has become identified with the stock in
which it is received, the result is both vigor and fruit; but if they do
not become identified, the engrafted bough withers, but the life of the
tree continues unimpaired. For there is further a mode of grafting of such
a kind, that without cutting away any branch that is within, the branch
that is foreign to the tree is inserted, not indeed without a wound, but
with the slightest possible wound inflicted on the tree. In like manner,
then, when they come to the root which exists in the Catholic Church,
without being deprived of any position which belongs to them as clergy or
bishops after ever so deep repentance of their error, there is a kind of
wound inflicted as it were upon the bark of the mother tree, breaking in
upon the strictness of her discipline; but since neither he that planteth
is anything, neither he that watereth,[1] so soon as by prayers poured
forth to the mercy of God peace is secured through the union of the:
engrafted boughs with the parent stock, charity then covers the multitude
of sins.

   45. For although it was made an ordinance in the Church, that no one
who had been called upon to do penance for any offense should be admired
into holy orders, or return to or continue in the body of the clergy,[2]
this was done not to cause despair of any indulgence being granted, but
merely to maintain a rigorous discipline; otherwise an argument will be
raised against the keys that were given to the Church, of which we have the
testimony of Scripture: "Whatsoever thou shall loose on earth shall be
loosed in heaven.'' [3] But lest it should so happen that, after the
detection of offenses, a heart swelling with the  hope of ecclesiastical
preferment might do penance in a spirit of pride, it was determined, with
great severity, that after doing penance for any mortal sin, no one should
be admitted to the number of the clergy, in order that, when all hope of
temporal preferment was done away, the medicine of humility might be
endowed with greater strength and truth. For even the holy David did
penance for deadly sin, and yet was not degraded from his office. And we
know that the blessed Peter, after shedding the bitterest of tears,
repented that he had denied his Lord, and yet remained an apostle. But we
must not therefore be induced to think that the care of those in later
times was in any way superfluous, who, when there was no risk of
endangering salvation, added something to humiliation, in order that the
salvation might be more a thoroughly protected,--having, I suppose,
experienced a feigned repentance on the part of some who were influenced by
the desire of the power attaching to office. For experience in many
diseases necessarily brings in the invention of many remedies. But in cases
of this kind, when, owing to the serious ruptures of dissensions in the
Church, it is no longer a question of danger to this or that particular
individual, but whole nations are lying in ruin, it is right to yield a
little from . our severity, that true charity may give her aid in healing
the more serious evils.

   46. Let them therefore feel bitter grief for their detestable error of
the past, as Peter did for his fear that led him into falsehood, and let
them come to the true Church of Christ, that is, to the Catholic Church our
mother; let them be in it clergy, let them be bishops unto its profit, as
they have been hitherto in enmity against it. We feel no jealousy towards
them, nay, we embrace them; we wish, we advise, we even compel those to
come in whom we find in the highways and hedges, although we fail as yet in
persuading some of them that we are seeking not their property, but
themselves. The Apostle Peter, when he denied his Savior, and wept, and did
not cease to be an apostle, had not as yet received the Holy Spirit that
was promised; but much more have these men not received Him, when, being
severed from the framework of the body, which is alone enlivened by the
Holy Spirit, they have usurped the sacraments of the Church outside the
Church and in hostility to the Church, and have fought against us in a kind
of civil war, with our own arms and our own standards raised in opposition
to us. Let them come; let peace be concluded in the virtue of Jerusalem,
which virtue is Christian charity,--to which holy city it is said, "Peace
be in thy virtue, and plenteousness within thy palaces." Let them not exalt
themselves against the solicitude of their mother, which she both has
entertained and does entertain with the object of gathering within her
bosom themselves, and all the mighty nations whom they are, or recently
were, deceiving; at them not be puffed up with pride, that she receives
them in such wise; let them not attribute to the evil of their own
exaltation the good which she on her part does in order to make peace.

   47. So it has been her wont to come to the aid of multitudes who were
perishing through schisms and heresies. This displeased Lucifer,[5] when it
was carried out in receiving and healing those who had perished beneath the
poison of the Arian heresy; and, being displeased at it, he fell into the
darkness of schism, losing the light of Christian charity. In accordance
with this principle the Church of Africa has recognized the Donatists from
the very beginning, obeying herein the decree of the bishops who gave
sentence in the Church at Rome between Caecilianus and the party of
Donatus; and having condemned one bishop named Donatus,[1] who was proved
to have been the author of the schism, they determined that the others
should be received, after correction, with full recognition of their orders
even if they had been ordained outside the Church,--not that they could
have the Holy Spirit even outside the unity of the body of Christ, but, in
the first place, for the sake of those whom it was possible they might
deceive while they remained outside, and prevent from obtaining that gift;
and, secondly, that their own weakness also being mercifully received
within, might thus be rendered capable of cure, no obstinacy any longer
standing in the way to dose their eyes against the evidence of truth. For
what other intention could have given rise to their own conduct, when they
received with full recognition of their orders the followers of Maximianus,
whom they had condemned as guilty of sacrilegious schism, as their
council[2] shows, and to fill whose places they had already ordained other
men, when they saw that the people did not depart from their company, that
all might not be involved in ruin? And on what other ground did they
neither speak against nor question the validity of the baptism which had
been administered outside by men whom they had condemned? Why, then, do
they wonder, why do they complain, and make it the subject of their
calumnies, that we receive them in such wise to promote the true peace of
Christ, while yet they do not remember what they themselves have done to
promote the false peace of Donatus, which is opposed to Christ? For if this
act of theirs be borne in mind, and intelligently used in argument against
them, they will have no answer whatsoever that they can make.

   CHAP. 11.--48. But as to what they say, arguing as follows: If we have
sinned against the Holy Ghost, in that we have treated your baptism with
contempt, why is it that you seek us, seeing that we cannot possibly
receive remission of this sin, as the Lord says, "Whosoever speaketh
against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this
world, neither in the world to come?"[3]--they do not perceive that
according to their interpretation of the passage none can be delivered. For
who is there that does not speak against the Holy Ghost and sin against,
him, whether we take the case of one who is not yet a Christian, or of one
who shares in the heresy of Arius, or of Eunomius, or of Macedonius, who
all say that He is a creature; or of Photinus, who denies that He has any
sub stance at all, saying that there is only one God, the Father; or of any
of the other heretics, whom it would now take too long a time to mention in
detail? Are none, therefore, of these to be delivered? Or if the Jews
themselves, against whom the Lord directed His reproach, were to believe in
Him, would they not be allowed to be baptized? for the Saviour does not
say, Shall be forgiven in baptism: but "Shall not be forgiven, nether in
this world, neither in the world to come."

   49. Let them understand, therefore, that it is not every sin, but only
some sin, against the Holy Ghost which is incapable of forgiveness. For
just as when our Lord said, "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they
had not had sin,"[4] it is clear that He did not wish it to be understood
that they would have been free from all sin, since they were filled with
many grievous sins, but that they would have been free from some special
sin, the absence of which would have left them in a position to receive
remission of all the sins which yet remained in them, viz., the sin of not
believing in Him when He came to them; for they could not have had this
sin, had He not come. In like manner, also, when He said, "Whosoever
sinneth against the Holy Ghost," or, "Whosoever speaketh against the Holy
Ghost;" it is dear that He does. not refer to every sin of whatsoever kind
against the Holy Ghost, in word or deed, but would have us understand some
special and peculiar sin. But this is the hardness of heart even to the end
of this life, which leads a man to refuse to accept remission of his sins
in the unity of the body of Christ, to which life is given by the Holy
Ghost. For when He had said to His disciples "Receive the Holy Ghost,"`
immediately added, Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them;
and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained." [5] Whosoever therefore
has resisted or fought against this gift of the grace of God, or has been
estranged from it in any way whatever to the end of this mortal life, shall
not receive the remission of that sin, either in this world, or in the
world to come, seeing that it is so great a sin that in it is included
every sin; but it cannot be proved to have been committed by any one, till
he has passed away from life. But so long as he lives here, "the goodness
of God," as the apostle says, "is leading him to repentance;" but if he
deliberately, with the utmost perseverance in iniquity, as the apostle adds
in the succeeding verse, "after his hardness and impenitent heart,
treasures up unto himself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God," [1] he shall not receive forgiveness,
neither in this world, neither in that which is to come.

   50. But those with whom we are arguing, or about whom we are arguing,
are not to be despaired of, for they are yet in the body; but they cannot
seek the Holy Spirit, except in the body of Christ, of which they possess
the outward sign outside the Church, but they do not possess the actual
reality itself within the Church of which that is the outward sign, and
therefore they eat and drink damnation to themselves.[2] For there is but
one bread which is the sacrament of unity, seeing that,  as the apostle
says, "We, being many, are one bread, and one body."[3] Furthermore, the
Catholic Church alone is the body of Christ, of which He is the Head and
Saviour of His body.[4] Outside this body the Holy Spirit giveth life to no
one seeing that, as the apostle says himself, "The love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us;"[5] but he
is not a partaker of the divine love who is the enemy of unity. Therefore
they have not the Holy Ghost who are outside the Church; for it is written
of them, "They separate themselves being sensual, having not the Spirit." 6
But neither does he receive it who is insincerely in the Church, since this
is also the intent of what is written: "For the Holy Spirit of discipline
will flee deceit."[7] If any one, therefore, wishes to receive the Holy
Spirit, let him beware of continuing in alienation from the Church, let him
beware of entering it in the spirit of dissimulation; or if he has already
entered it in such wise, let him beware of persisting in such
dissimulation, in order that he may truly and indeed become united with the
tree of life.

   51. I have despatched to you a somewhat lengthy epistle, which may
prove burdensome among your many occupations. If, therefore, it may be read
to you even in portions, the Lord will grant you understanding, that you
may have some answer which you can make for the correction and healing of
those men who are commended to you as to a faithful son by our mother the
Church, that you may correct and heal them, by the aid of the Lord wherever
you can, and howsoever you can, either by speaking and replying to them in
your own person, or by bringing them into communication with the doctors of
the Church.


Taken from "The Early Church Fathers and Other Works" originally published
by Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co. in English in Edinburgh, Scotland, beginning in
1867. (LNPF I/IV, Schaff). The digital version is by The Electronic Bible
Society, P.O. Box 701356, Dallas, TX 75370, 214-407-WORD.

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