1. Lecture : The Society of the Church
Dr. Ann T. Orlando

2. Outline North African Ecclesiology Prior to Augustine Donatists
Augustine’s Response
Duties of a bishop
Relationship of bishop to See of Peter
Assignments

3. Tertullian’s Montanists View
Did not believe in spousal remarriage
Encouraged martyrdom
Tertullian held there were three classes of sins
Unforgivable sins: idolatry, apostasy, adultery (No readmittance to Church)
Grave but forgivable sins: murder
Daily sins: anger, evil speech
Broke with Catholic bishop of Carthage (Agrippinus) over forgiveness of sins; felt bishop could not forgive adultery
Tertullian, North African Christianity

4. St. Cyprian Teacher of Rhetoric before his conversion c. 248
Almost immediately, he was elected bishop of Carthage
Tertullian was a major influence on him
During Decian persecutions, he fled Carthage, but remained in contact with the Church there
Martyred in persecutions of Valerian, 257 (as was Novation)
St. Cyprian will be a major influence on the greatest of Western theologians: Augustine

5. Cyprian’s Works De Lapsi (Concerning the Lapsed)
Written 251
Supported Cornelius (over Novation) as Bishop of Rome
Specified types of lapsed and length of repentance required for each. Example: those who lapsed under torture had least time of repentance
De catholicae ecclesiai unitate (On the Unity of the Catholic Church)
Written in 251 in support of Cornelius
Key is Chapter 4 on primacy of Peter, although there are 2 versions of this chapter
Letters
81 survive from third century

6. Novation Roman priest, opposed election of Pope Cornelius in 251
Thought Cornelius too lax in re-admitting lapsed (lapsi) Christians back into Church
Set himself up as a rival Pope, drawing support from around Empire, especially from Montanists
Driving force opposing Novation: St. Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage

7. St. Cyprian and Re-Baptism
As noted above, Cyprian accepted lapsed into the Church with appropriate penance
However, he did not recognize the validity of Baptism by heretics or schismatics
This put him in conflict with Pope Stephen; the Roman Church seems to have always recognized Baptism by anyone as long as water and the Trinitarian formula were used
Cyprian thought the orthodoxy and validity of the minister was important in administering the sacrament
Note, Cyprian also opposed the forgiveness of sins by martyrs (libelli martyrum) for the same reason: the validity of the minister
Cyprian, and many others, wanted Christians Baptized by heretics to be re-Baptized (see Letter 74 Against Stephen)
Pope St. Stephen prevailed

8. Donatism
Started c. 313 in North Africa, named for a Christian Bishop in North Africa who protested the ordination of presbyters by a lapsed bishop
Followers of Montanist and Novatian joined with Donatists to form a schismatic Church, more numerous than the Catholic Church in North Africa.
Looked to Tertullian and Cyprian as ‘fathers in faith’
Wanted the Church to be the ‘Church of the Pure’ especially the ministers
There are unforgivable sins
Furthermore, such sins is a bishop calls his ordination and subsequent ministerial actions into question
By late 4th C, seemed to believe that the only ‘pure’ Church was in North Africa

9. Who Owns Baptism
For Cyprian, and especially the Donatists, the key moment in formation of Church is found in John 20:22-23
By receiving the Holy Spirit the apostles receive the power to confer or retain forgiveness of sins
Thereafter it is the ministers of Church who govern reception of grace
Augustine is vehemently opposed to this interpretation and instead looks to John 1:33
Christ always ‘owns’ Baptism
The minister is only the (imperfect) way that the Holy Spirit travels to the baptized
See Homily 5 in Tractates on John’s Gospel

10. Augustine’s Key Points Against Donatists
Validity of sacrament is not dependent on worth of minister
Dependent on God’s grace
Church is universal (catholic) not particular to one region
Since no one is sinless, there can be no Church ‘of the pure’
The pilgrim Church will always be mixed wheat and tares
The complex political and ecclesial situation is seen in Letter 185 “To Boniface”
Donatists are Christian majority
But imperial decree had outlawed Donatists

11. General Aspects of Augustine’s Ecclesiology
The Church began with Cain and Abel (see CoG XV)
Cain founder of city of man
Abel, first member of City of God
The Church can be said to begin in the OT due to the action of the Holy Spirit
Three periods of the Church (Sermon 72, and 272B)
Before the law
During the law
During the time of grace
In this time of grace, we are a pilgrim Church travelling toward our true homeland
Within this pilgrim society there are mixed good and bad
No pilgrim is completely without sin
Society of Church is guided by Holy Spirit (Sermon 267)

12. Relation Between Terrestrial and Celestial Church
Church here below and the Church above are genuinely the same Church
The basis of both is the same: Grace (see CoG XV)
But the terrestrial Church is struggling to rejoin the stable, unchanging celestial Church.
The angels are a key component of the celestial Church
Members of the celestial Church pray for and try to help the pilgrim Church

13. Duties of the Bishop Teach
Especially by properly interpreting Scripture
The sign of a bishop is his teaching chair (cathedra)
Sign of local unity of Church within the unity of the universal (catholic) Church
Minister the sacraments, especially
Baptism
The Sacrifice
Ordain clergy
Bishops are the Church (and sometimes civil) leaders within their diocese
Confer with other bishops on regional issues

14. The Bishop and His Flock Sermons 46 and 47, and 340
Both sermons form a commentary on Ezekiel
Primarily in opposition to a Donatist understanding of Church
Sermon 46 emphasizes the relation between the people and their bishop
Sermon 47 focuses on what it means for people and bishop to be part of the flock of Christ
Sermon 340 on the anniversary of Augustine’s ordination
“For you I am a bishop, with you, after all, I am a Christian.”

15. The Bishop and the Broader Church
Church as keeper of canon of Scripture
That is, as the keeper of the Truth
See Answer to the Letter of Mani Known as the Foundation for a personal statement of belief in Church
Teaching authority of bishops and Rome at stake in Donatist and Pelagian controversy
See Letter 177 from North African Bishops to Innocent I, and his reply in Letter 181
Importance of See of Rome as Catholic unity in Donatist controversy, Letter 53
In both cases, note the importance placed on being in communion with the See of Rome
And papacy as successor of Peter

16. Roma Locuta Est – Cause Finita Est…
Context: Pelagian condemnation by two African Councils, supported by Pope Innocent I.
That is, the context of Letters 177 and 181
Paraphrase (misquote?) from Sermon
“iam enim de hac causa duo concillia missa sunt ad sedem apostolicam; inde etiam rescripta venerunt; causa finita est”
For already concerning this case two councils have sent to the apostolic see, from there also (furthermore) rescripts were sent; the case is finished.

17. Reformation and Ecclesiology
An attack on the Catholic Church as such
Catholic Church in dogma and practice strayed from true Church of Christ
Pope not the vicar of Christ on earth
Clerical celibacy of little or no value
Priesthood of all believers (really no ministerial priesthood)
Reformers need to build a different ecclesiology than the Catholic one
Core issue is one of in the Church external (visible) or internal (invisible within each believing Christian)
As usual in Reformation disputes, all sides claim Augustine

18. Ratzinger and Ecclesiology
Based upon his doctoral dissertation on Augustine and Ecclesiology
Informed much of Vatican II ecclesiology
See also Communio article on Holy Spirit and Church icr.com/articles/PDF/ratzinger25-2.pdf

19. Benedict XVI on Church and State: Deus Caritas Est
Published December 25, 2005
Eight months after Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI
Available at xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben- xvi_enc_ _deus-caritas-est_en.html

20. Assignments Homily 5 in Tractates on John’s Gospel
Letter 185 “To Boniface”
Sermon 72, 267 and 272B
Sermons 46 and 47, and 340
Answer to the Letter of Mani Known as the Foundation
Letters 177 and 181
Letter 53

21. Some works consulted
Sehorn, John. “Monica as Synecdoche for the Pilgrim Church in the Confessions,” Augustinian Studies 46:2 (2015) pp
Ployd, Adam. “The Power of Baptism: Augustine’s Pro-Nicene Response to the Donatists,” Journal of Early Christian Studies, Vol 22, No 4 Winter Pp