Fourth Century "Heretics" - Donatus and Arius
The Church Divided
Times of persecution seemed to produce schisms in the church. What to do about Christians who had "lapsed" in their faith during persecution vexed the bishops (see the discussion on Second Repentance in the second century). In the East, where the persecution had been most severe, there tended to be a more lenient treatment of those who had failed in some way. In the West, especially in North Africa, a more strident view held the day. While some bishops had been able to satisfy the authorities by surrendering non-biblical Greek manuscripts to be burned, in some parts of North Africa handing over any document to be burned (even a medical book) was considered apostasy - even the appearance of cooperating was seen as a denial of the faith.
Emperor Constantine involved himself in church affairs when he discovered the schisms discussed on this page. This is a common criticism offered mostly by Protestant Christians. This is misunderstood topic that needs to be addressed. In the Roman Empire the emperor took on the title Pontifex Maximus.
Pontifex Maximus
In the Roman Empire the emperor took on the title Pontifex Maximus, the "greatest priest" of the empire. As with every other significant societal topic, the Emperor was to give his "wisdom," guidance and oversight. The President of the United States is, by definition, the "Commander-in-Chief" of the U.S. military. In the same way, the Romand Emperor was the "Pontifex Maximus" and as such was responsible for the well-being of the Roman cults so that the worship of the "gods" was maintained. The Romans were a very "religious" people. If the worship of the various "gods" waned it was believed that disasters would fall on the empire.
See Livius.org for a balanced presentation.
Donatus and Donatism
In Carthage a dispute arose around the bishop Caecilian who had been consecrated by a traditor (a "betrayer"), someone who had either made sacrifice to the emperor or had delivered books over to the authorities to be burned. More was involved in this situation, but during this time a man named Donatus was moving around the region of Numidia rebaptizing priests who had lapsed and giving them a commission to preach and administer the Eucharist again. In previous times of persecution it had been determined that it was not necessary to rebaptize people, even if they had been baptized into a less than orthodox sect. But here Donatus was doing this within the region of a "catholic" bishop and he was acting without authority. It caused a great stir.
The more strident movement of believers following Donatus would not accept the sacraments from someone who had been tainted by any hint of a lapse during persecution. The Numidian bishops called a council in 312 and deposed Caecilian, but the controversy was not over. Shortly after this local council, Constantine was told about this schism. New to Christianity, he just wanted the Christians to be at peace, so he overruled in favor of Caecilian and his appointees. The Donatists appealed to the Emperor for another council to decide on the controversy, asking that he get bishops from Gaul who had not been involved in persecutions. Constantine granted this request and had Miltiades, the bishop of Rome, as the head of the council.
This council decided in favor of Caecilian, but the Donatists appealed on the grounds that Miltiades had been initially appointed by Marcellinus, who had also lapsed during persecution. Constantine relented, calling for a larger council to meet at Arles, hoping to put the issue to rest. Constantine attended the Council of Arles along with thirty-three bishops (three from Britain) and passed various canons, or judgements - again Donatus was condemned for his actions. After the Donatus issue the canons mostly dealt with the date to celebrate Easter, regulations regarding clergy moving from one region to another, and they decided that the churches would not rebaptize the lapsed or those who came from heretical sects.
In the end, Donatus and his churches continued, and kept growing. The Donatist movement continued into the fifth century and was the majority church in North Africa. Augustine of Hippo made the Donatist movement one of his focal points, urging the "state" to force the Donatists to join with the "catholic" churches.
The Donatists [You can read a more detailed account of the Donatist crisis and the actions taken by Constantine.]
Arius and the Arian Controversy
The story of Arius, like that of Donatus, begins in the fire of Roman persecution and how to treat the lapsed. During the Diocletian persecution bishops in Egypt were divided on how strictly lapsed believers were to be treated during recovery. In an Alexandrian prison Peter, the bishop of Alexandria and Meletius, a bishop from Upper Egypt, came into such sharp disagreement that they hung a curtain within the prison cell to disassociate themselves from one another. Bishop Meletius, who represented monks from the Egyptian desert, held to a fairly strict regime - Peter was seen by the Meletian group as lax.
When the intense persecution ended these men were released from prison, but their dispute continued and developed into a significant church problem. A well-educated and charismatic man named Arius rose up in the Meletian ranks, even being excommunicated by at least two councils for his support of Meletius. In a strange turn of events, Peter was again arrested and martyred. In the aftermath Arius began to argue in favor of the "catholic" side and was eventually ordained to be a presbyter by Peter's successor. The Meletians considered him like a traditor (a "betrayer") and wanted to defeat his influence - Arius had begun to build a reputation as a scholarly orator.
The Origenist Controversy - Part II
We have only touched on the controversy that revolved around some of the writings of the great Alexandrian father, Origen [see the introduction to Origen, and the introduction to the trinity which also flows from Origen's thought]. The conflict with Arius brings Origen back into the picture - this conflict is the first major theological struggle over the definition of the trinity and is the main reason Emperor Constantine called the first "catholic" council of church leaders, the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.
After Origen's death, church leaders and thinkers continued to struggle with the concepts of how the Father and Son fit together. Following the transcendence of Clement and Origen, Arius held that the only "unbegotten" being was the Father, thus no other creature was like Him. Jesus, the Son, was begotten, so Arius maintained that the Son was created. If he was created, then "there was a time when he was not," there was a time when the Son did not exist. THIS was his undoing. The Meletians demanded that Arius be disciplined - a council was called in 318 AD - one hundred bishops attended and condemned Arius to be exiled. By the time we get to the Nicean Council a true struggle for power was taking place in Alexandria. The Arians had established their own churches and their own leaders - two separate churches (denominations) had already started to develop in Egypt. This was a situation that Emperor Constantine would not accept.
Like the Donatist issue, the Arian controversy continued into the fifth century. THIS issue was huge with respect to the development of theology and the trinity. We will see that possibly THE ISSUE in the second half of the fourth century flows from the struggle with Arius...and "orthodoxy."
Questions, Comments or Criticisms:
You can send an email to directly to me Al Baker, CH101.
CH101 retains the right to edit and post comments/questions unless you specifically ask that your comments NOT be posted. Comments that are personal or private are never posted...only questions about Church History, the Bible, etc.
