Editing Donatism

{{Short description|Christian sect}}
{{Distinguish |Docetism}}
[[Image:Augustine and donatists.jpg|thumb|alt=Painting of Augustine of Hippo arguing with a man before an audience|[[Charles-André van Loo]]'s 18th-century ''Augustine arguing with Donatists'']]
'''Donatism''' was a [[schism]] from the [[Catholic Church]] in the [[Archdiocese of Carthage]] from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that [[Christianity|Christian]] clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and [[sacrament]]s to be valid. Donatism had its roots in the long-established Christian community of the [[Roman province]] [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa Proconsularis]] (present-day [[Tunisia]], the northeast of [[Algeria]], and the western coast of [[Libya]]) and [[Mauretania Tingitana]] (roughly with the northern part of present-day [[Morocco]]),<ref>{{cite book|title=Morocco, a Country Study|first=Harold|last=D. Nelson|year=1985|isbn=9780313332890|page=8|publisher=University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Press}}</ref> in the [[Diocletianic Persecution|persecutions of Christians under Diocletian]]. Named after the Berber Christian bishop [[Donatus Magnus]], Donatism flourished during the fourth and fifth centuries.{{Sfn | Cantor | 1995 | pp = 51f}} Donatism mainly spread among the indigenous [[Berber people|Berber]] population,<ref>{{cite book|title=Ancient African Christianity: An Introduction to a Unique Context and Tradition|first=Toyin|last=Falola|year=2017|isbn=9781135121426|page=344-345|publisher=Taylor & Francis}}</ref> and Donatists were able to blend Christianity with many of the Berber local customs.<ref>{{cite book|title=Key Events in African History: A Reference Guide|first=David|last=E. Wilhit|year=2002|isbn=9780313313233|page=68|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic}}</ref>

=={{anchor|Origins and controversy}}Origin and controversy==
The Roman governor of North Africa, lenient to the large Christian minority under his rule throughout [[Diocletianic Persecution|the Diocletianic Persecutions]], was satisfied when Christians handed over their [[scripture]]s as a token repudiation of faith. When the persecution ended, Christians who did so were called ''[[traditors|traditores]]''—"those who handed (the holy things) over"—by their critics (who were mainly from the poorer classes).{{Sfn | Cantor | 1995 | p = 51}}

Like third-century [[Novatianism]],<ref>{{citation | contribution = Novatianism | editor-last = Cross | editor-first = FL | title = The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church | place = New York | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | year = 2005}}.</ref> the Donatists were [[rigorists]]; the church must be a church of "saints" (not "sinners"), and sacraments administered by ''traditores'' were invalid. In 311 [[Caecilianus|Caecilian]] (a new bishop of [[Carthage]]) was consecrated by [[Felix of Aptungi]], an alleged ''traditor''. His opponents consecrated [[Majorinus]], a short-lived rival who was succeeded by Donatus.<ref name=Chapman>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05121a.htm Chapman, John. "Donatists." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 15 March 2021{{PD-notice}}</ref>

Two years later, a commission appointed by [[Pope Miltiades]] condemned the Donatists. They persisted, seeing themselves as the true church with valid sacraments. Because of their association with the [[Circumcellions]], the Donatists were repressed by Roman authorities. Although they had local support, their opponents were supported by Rome and by the rest of the [[Catholic Church]]. The Donatists were still a force during the lifetime of [[Augustine of Hippo]], and disappeared only after the seventh- and eighth-century [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|Muslim conquest]].<ref name = "Donatism">{{citation | contribution = Donatism | editor-last = Cross | editor-first = FL | title = The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church | place = New York | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 2005}}.</ref> The Donatists refused to accept the sacraments and [[apostolic succession|spiritual authority]] of priests and bishops who were ''traditores'' during the persecution. The ''traditores'' had returned to positions of authority under [[Constantine I]]; according to the Donatists, sacraments administered by the ''traditores'' were invalid.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Whether the [[sacrament of Penance]] could reconcile a ''traditor'' to full communion was questioned, and the church's position was that the sacrament could. The church still imposed years- (sometimes decades-) long public [[penance]] for serious sins. A penitent would first beg for the prayers of those entering a church from outside its doors. They would next be permitted to kneel inside the church during the [[Divine Liturgy|Liturgy]]. After being allowed to stand with the congregation, the penitent would finally be allowed to receive the [[Eucharist]] again. According to Donatists, apostasy would permanently disqualify a man from church leadership.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 12, 2021|title=Forgive Us, as We Forgive: The Donatist Controversy|url=https://www.vanderbilt.edu/olli/class-materials/Forgive_Us_Our_Sins_Week4.pdf|url-status=live|access-date=31 Aug 2021|website=Vanderbilt.edu|publisher=Osher Institute, Vanderbilt University|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420070555/https://www.vanderbilt.edu/olli/class-materials/Forgive_Us_Our_Sins_Week4.pdf |archive-date=2021-04-20 }}</ref>

The validity of sacraments administered by priests and bishops who had been ''traditores'' was denied by the Donatists. According to Augustine, a sacrament was from God and ''ex opere operato'' (Latin for "from the work carried out"). A priest or bishop in a state of [[mortal sin]] could continue to administer valid sacraments.<ref>[http://catholicstraightanswers.com/if-a-priest-is-in-the-state-of-mortal-sin-can-he-still-offer-the-mass-and-perform-the-other-sacraments Catholic Answers]</ref> The Donatists believed that a repentant apostate priest could no longer consecrate the Eucharist. Some towns had both Donatist and orthodox congregations.{{cn|date=July 2023}}

=={{anchor|Political impact}}Impact==
The sect developed and grew in North Africa, with unrest and threatened riots in Carthage connected to the bishop controversy.{{Sfn |Frend |1952 |pp=144–45}}{{Efn |The remainder of this paragraph comes from {{Harvnb | Frend | 1952}}, who derived his chronology primarily from [[Optatus]]' ''Against the Donatists'' (one of the only surviving primary sources).}} Constantine, hoping to defuse the unrest, gave money to the non-Donatist bishop [[Caecilianus|Caecilian]] as payment for churches damaged or confiscated during the persecution. Nothing was given to the Donatists; Constantine was apparently not fully aware of the seriousness of the dispute, which his gift exacerbated.{{sfn|Frend |1952 |pp=144–45}} The Donatists appealed to Rome for equal treatment; Constantine tasked Miltiades with resolving the issue, which led to the 313 commission. The Donatists refused to abide by the decision of the Roman council, demanding that a local council adjudicate the dispute and appealing directly to Constantine. In a surviving letter, a frustrated Constantine called for what became the [[Synod of Arles (314)|first Council of Arles]] in 314. The council ruled against the Donatists, who again appealed to Constantine. The emperor ordered all parties to Rome for a hearing, ruled in favour of Caecilian and warned against unrest.{{sfn|Frend |1952 |p=156}} A delegation from Rome travelled to Carthage in a vain attempt to seek compromise. The Donatists fomented protests and street violence,{{sfn|Frend |1952 |p=157}} refusing to compromise in favor of the orthodox bishop.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

After the [[Constantinian shift]], when other Christians accepted the emperor's decision, the Donatists continued to demonize him. After several attempts at reconciliation, in 317 Constantine issued an edict threatening [[capital punishment|death]] to anyone who disturbed the imperial peace; another edict followed, calling for the confiscation of all Donatist church property. Donatus refused to surrender his buildings in [[Carthage]], and the local Roman governor sent troops to deal with him and his followers. Although the historical record is unclear, some Donatists were apparently killed and their clergy exiled.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Outside Carthage, Donatist churches and clergy were undisturbed.{{sfn|Frend |1952 |pp=159 60}} Constantine's efforts to unite the church and the Donatists failed, and by 321 he asked the bishops to show moderation and patience to the sect in an open letter.{{Sfn |Frend |1952 |pp=161 62 | ps =; from the letters of Constantine preserved by Optatus.}} During the brief reign of [[Julian the Apostate|Julian]], the Donatists were revitalized and, due to imperial protection, occupied churches and carried out atrocities.{{sfn|Lohr|2007|p=40, 43}} Laws against the Donatists were decreed by [[Valentinian I]] after the defeat of the Donatist [[Roman usurper|usurper]] [[Firmus (4th-century usurper)|Firmus]] in North Africa.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Walter E. Roberts |date=18 August 1998 |title=Firmus (ca.372-ca.375 A.D.) |url=https://roman-emperors.sites.luc.edu/firmus.htm |website=[[De Imperatoribus Romanis]]}}</ref>

=={{anchor|Doctrinal polemic}}Opposition==

[[Augustine of Hippo]] campaigned against Donatism as bishop; through his efforts, orthodoxy gained the upper hand. According to Augustine and the church, the validity of sacraments was a property of the priesthood independent of individual character. Influenced by the [[Old Testament]], he believed in discipline as a means of education.<ref>Brown, P. 1967. ''Augustine of Hippo''.  London: Faber & Faber.</ref>

In his letter to Vincentius, Augustine used the [[New Testament]] [[Parable of the Great Banquet]] to justify using force against the Donatists: "You are of opinion that no one should be compelled to follow righteousness; and yet you read that the householder said to his servants, 'Whomsoever ye shall find, compel them to come in.{{'"}}<ref>{{cite web 
|author=Augustine |url=http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/public/augustine_letter_93_to_vincentius_cogite_intrare.htm |title=How it is legitimate to 'coerce' Donatist Christians to join the Catholic Church |access-date=September 25, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140925054046/http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/public/augustine_letter_93_to_vincentius_cogite_intrare.htm|archive-date= September 25, 2014 |url-status= live}}</ref>

In 409, Emperor [[Honorius (emperor)|Honorius]]'s secretary of state, [[Marcellinus of Carthage]],  issued a decree which condemned the Donatists as [[Heresy#Christianity|heretical]] and demanded that they surrender their churches. This was made possible by a ''collatio'' in which St. Augustine legally proved that Constantine had chosen the Nicene church over the Donatists as the imperial church. The Donatists were persecuted by the Roman authorities to such a degree that Augustine protested their treatment.<ref>{{Citation | author = Augustine | title = Letter | number = 134 | section = 2}}.</ref>

The [[Council of Trent]] (1545-1563) taught that in the divine sacrifice of the [[Mass in the Catholic Church#Communion rite|Holy Mass]] "is contained and immolated, in an unbloody manner, the same Christ that offered Himself in a bloody manner upon the [[Altar#antiquity|altar]] of the Cross. Hence, it is the same victim, the same sacrificing-priest who offers Himself now through the ministry of priests and who once offers Himself upon the Cross." The worth of the sacrifice does not depend on the celebrating priest (or bishop), but on the "worth of the victim and on the dignity of the ''[[High Priest of Israel|chief priest]]''- none other than Jesus Christ Himself".<ref>{{cite book | author = Adolphe D. Tanquerey| url = https://archive.org/details/TanquereySpiritualLife | title = The Spiritual life. A treatise on spiritual and mystical theology | language = en | via = [[Internet Archive|archive.org]] | publisher = Society of St John the Evangelist, [[Desclée family|Desclée & Co]] (printers for the Holy See and the Sacred Congr. of Rites) | location = Tournai (BG) | year = 1930 | edition = 2nd | page = [https://archive.org/details/TanquereySpiritualLife/page/n186 139]| archive-url = https://archive.today/20181216233523/https://archive.org/stream/TanquereySpiritualLife/Tanquerey%20--%20Spiritual%20Life_djvu.txt | archive-date = December 16, 2018 | url-status = live}}, with the ''[[Imprimatur#Catholic Church|imprimatur]]'' of [[Michael Joseph Curley|Michael J. Curley]], Roman Catholic Archbishop of Baltimore</ref>

==Decline==
The effects of Augustine's theological success and the emperor's legal action were somewhat reversed when the [[Vandals]] conquered North Africa. Donatism may have also gradually declined because Donatists and orthodox Christians were equally marginalised by the [[Arian]] Vandals,<ref>{{cite book| last=Mitchell|first=Stephen|title=A History of the Later Roman Empire|year=2007|publisher=Blackwell|page=282}}</ref> but it survived the Vandal occupation and [[Justinian I]]'s [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] [[Vandalic War|reconquest]]. Although it is unknown how long Donatism persisted, some Christian historians believe that the schism and its ensuing unrest in the Christian community facilitated the seventh-century [[Muslim conquest of the Maghreb|Muslim conquest]] of the region.<ref>{{citation | publisher = CMU | url = http://tera-3.ul.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/getImage.pl?target=/data/www/NASD/4a7f1db4-5792-415c-be79-266f41eef20a/009/499/PTIFF/00000227.tif&rs=1 | title = Concordia Cyclopedia | contribution = Donatism | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716144927/http://tera-3.ul.cs.cmu.edu/cgi-bin/getImage.pl?target=%2Fdata%2Fwww%2FNASD%2F4a7f1db4-5792-415c-be79-266f41eef20a%2F009%2F499%2FPTIFF%2F00000227.tif&rs=1 | archive-date = 2011-07-16 }}.</ref>

=={{anchor|Splinter groups}}Related groups and individuals==
Donatism is associated with a number of other groups, including:
*The [[Rogatists]] were a [[pacifist]] breakaway faction who rejected the excesses of the Circumcellions and Donatists.<ref>Jesse Hoover, ''The Contours of Donatism'' (ProQuest, 2008 ) pp. 264-274</ref>
*The Claudianists, who (with the Urbanists) were reconciled to the Donatists by Donatist Bishop [[Primian of Carthage]].
*[[Ticonius]] was an influential thinker who was expelled by the Donatists for his rejection of [[rebaptism]].<ref>Michael Gaddis (2005), ''There Is No Crime for Those Who Have Christ'', Berkeley: [[University of California Press]], p. 122.</ref>
*Followers of [[Maximian (Bishop of Carthage)|Maximian]], who broke away from the mainline Donatist group because of perceived impurities within mainline Donatism.<ref>Jesse Hoover, ''The Contours of Donatism'' (ProQuest, 2008 ) pp. 274-285</ref>
*The [[Circumcellions]], a name given by opponents based on ''circum cellas euntes'' ("making a circuit around martyr shrines," but some older histories thought it meant "making circuits around barns")<ref>Jesse Hoover, ''The Contours of Donatism'' (ProQuest, 2008 ) p. 245</ref> because of their practice of living as homeless roamers. Among Donatists they were known as ''agonistici'', which means "soldiers of Christ".<ref>Jesse Hoover, ''The Contours of Donatism'' (ProQuest, 2008 ) p. 236</ref> They regarded [[martyrdom]] as the supreme Christian [[virtue]] (disagreeing with the [[Episcopal see of Carthage]] on the primacy of [[chastity]], [[sobriety]], [[humility]], and [[Charity (virtue)|charity]]). Some mainline Donatists found them useful allies, but others were disgusted by their use of violence and sought to curb their influence by church councils. 
*Apostolic churches, a sect emulating the [[Apostles in the New Testament|Apostles]] about which little is known. But it is very plausible that they were influenced by precedent gnostic [[Apotactics]].<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Apostolici |volume= 02 |short=x}}</ref>
In [[Mauretania]] and [[Numidia]], the ''[[Catholic Encyclopedia]]'' claims that the splinter groups were so numerous that the Donatists could not name them all.<ref name=Chapman/>

=={{anchor|Carthaginian bishops}}Bishops==
The Donatists followed a succession of bishops:
* [[Majorinus]] (311–313)
* [[Donatus Magnus]] (313–355; exiled 347)
* [[Parmenian]] (355–391)
* [[Primian of Carthage|Primian]] (391–393)
* [[Maximian (Bishop of Carthage)|Maximianus]] (393–394)
* [[Primian of Carthage|Primian]] (394–c. 400)

==Later influence==
* Early [[Kharijites]], a strict sect of Islam in the same Berber region.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YBpzAAAAMAAJ&q=%2B%22early+Khawarij%22+%2B%22Donatism%22 |author=Elizabeth Savage |year=1997 |title=A Gateway to Hell, a Gateway to Paradise |publisher=Darwin Press |page=98|isbn=9780878501120 }}</ref>

==Epithet==
For several centuries during the [[High Middle Ages]] and the [[Reformation]], accusations of Donatism were levelled against church-reform movements which criticized clerical immorality on theological grounds. The early reformers [[John Wycliffe]] and [[Jan Hus]] were accused of Donatism by their theological opponents. Wycliffe taught that the moral corruption of priests invalidated their offices and sacraments, a belief characterizing Donatism.<ref>{{Citation | last = Herring | first = George | title = Introduction To The History of Christianity | place = New York | publisher = [[New York University Press]] | year = 2006 | page = 230}}.</ref> Hus similarly argued that a prelate's moral character determined his ecclesiastical authority, a position his contemporaries compared to Donatism and condemned as [[heresy]] at the [[Council of Constance]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

During the Reformation, Roman Catholic [[Counter-Reformation|Counter-Reformers]] such as [[Johann Eck]] accused the [[Magisterial Reformation|magisterial Reformers]] of Donatism (although the latter had partially distanced themselves from Wycliffe's theology to avoid such a charge).<ref name = "pelikan">{{Citation | last = Pelikan | first = Jaroslav | title = Credo: Historical and Theological Guide to Creeds and Confessions of Faith in the Christian Tradition | publisher = [[Yale University Press]] | year = 2003 | page = 474}}.</ref> Magisterial Reformers like [[Ulrich Zwingli]] labeled [[radical Reformation|radical Reformers]], such as the [[Anabaptism|Anabaptists]], as Donatists;<ref>{{cite book| last = Verduin | first = Leonard | title = The Reformers and Their Stepchildren | chapter = 1 | date = March 1995 | publisher = Paternoster Press | isbn= 0-8028-3791-3}}</ref> Roman Catholics were portrayed in Reformation rhetoric as [[Pelagianism|Pelagian]], another early Christian heresy. In [[Eastern Orthodoxy]], the [[Bezpopovtsy]] (priestless) strain of [[Old Believers]] believed that because the Russian bishops acquiesced to [[Patriarch Nikon]]'s reforms they (and the other patriarchs) forfeited any claim to [[apostolic succession]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Accusations of Donatism remain common in contemporary intra-Christian polemics. Conservative [[Lutheranism|Lutherans]] are sometimes called Donatists by their liberal brethren, referring to their doctrine of church fellowship<ref>{{citation | publisher = Reclaiming Walther | url= http://www.reclaimingwalther.org/articles/pieperohcintro.htm | title = The doctrine of church fellowship}}.</ref> and their position that churches which deny that Jesus' body and blood are eaten during the [[Eucharist]] do not celebrate a valid [[Eucharist|Lord's Supper]].<ref>{{citation | url = http://www.wlsessays.net/handle/123456789/3272 | format = [[PDF]] | title = What Constitutes A Valid Celebration of The Lord's Supper? | first = Paul W | last = Metzger | year = 1986 | publisher = WLS essays}}.</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Christianity}}
* [[State church of the Roman Empire]]
* [[Meletius of Lycopolis]]
* [[Great Apostasy]]
* [[Kharjites]]
* [[Novatianism]]
* [[Maximian of Bagai]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Catholic|title=Donatists}}

==Sources==
* {{Citation | author-link = Norman Cantor| first = Norman F | last = Cantor | title = The Civilization of the Middle Ages | year = 1995}}
* {{cite EB1911|wstitle=Donatists |page= 410, 411 |volume= 08 }}
* {{citation | title = This Holy Seed: Faith, Hope and Love in the Early Churches of North Africa | first = Robin | last = Daniel | place = Chester | publisher = Tamarisk Publications | year = 2010 | url = http://www.opaltrust.org | isbn=978-0-9538565-3-4}}.
* {{citation | title = The Donatist Church: A Movement of Protest in Roman North Africa | author-link = William Hugh Clifford Frend | first = WHC | last = Frend | publisher = Oxford University Press | year = 1952 | isbn = 0-19-826408-9 }}.
* {{citation |editor-first1=Augustine |editor-last1=Casidy |editor-first2=Frederick W. |editor-last2=Norris | title=Cambridge History of Christianity |volume=2:Constantine to 600c. |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2007   |chapter=Western Christianities |first=Winrich |last=Lohr }}
* {{citation | title = Donatist martyr stories: the Church in conflict in Roman North Africa | editor-first = Maureen A | editor-last = Tilley | publisher = [[Liverpool University Press]] | year = 1996 | isbn = 0-85323-931-2}}.
* {{citation  | title = The Bible in Christian North Africa: The Donatist World | first = Maureen A | last = Tilley | publisher = Fortress Press | year = 1997 | isbn = 0-8006-2880-2 | author-mask = 3}}.

==Further reading==
*{{Citation | last = Augustine of Hippo | author-link = Augustine | contribution = The Writings of St. Augustine Against the Donatists | year =2014 | title =The Writings of St. Augustine Against the Donatists | editor1= Philip Schaff |editor2=Chester D. Hartranft D.D. |editor3=Paul A. Boer Sr.  |translator=J. R. King | publisher =CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; First edition  | isbn = 978-1499581010 }}.
*{{Citation | last =Cameron | first =Michael | contribution =Augustine’s Use of the Song of Songs Against the Donatists | year =2001 | title =Augustine: Biblical Exegete | editor-last =van Fleteren | editor-first =Frederick  | place=New York | publisher =Peter Lang}}.
* {{Citation | last=Corcoran | first=John Anthony | title=Augustinus Contra Donatistas | location =Donaldson | year= 1997 | publisher=Graduate Theological Foundation}}.
* {{Citation | last=Gaddis | first=Michael| title=There Is No Crime for Those Who Have Christ| location =Berkeley | year= 2005 | publisher=University of California Press}}.
*{{Citation | last=Hoover | first=Jesse | date=2001 | title=The contours of Donatism: theological and ideological diversity in fourth century North Africa | url=https://www.academia.edu/1829408 | publisher=Baylor University | access-date=July 22, 2024}}.
*{{Citation | last=Keleher | first=James P | title=Saint Augustine's Notion of Schism in the Donatist Controversy | location =Mundelein | year= 1961 | publisher=Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary}}.
*{{Citation | last =Lewis | first =Gordon R | title =Violence in the Name of Christ: The Significance of Augustine's Donatist Controversy for Today | journal = [[Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society]] | volume = 14 | number = 2 |date=Spring 1971 | pages = 103–10}}.
* {{Citation | last=Paas | first= Steven | title= A Conflict on Authority in the Early African Church: Augustine of Hippo and the Donatists | location = Zomba | year = 2005 | series = Kachere}}.
* {{Citation | last =Park | first =Jae-Eun | url =https://www.academia.edu/4811679 | title = Lacking Love or Conveying Love? The Fundamental Roots of the Donatists and Augustine's Nuanced Treatment of Them | journal = The Reformed Theological Review | volume = 72 | issue = 2 |date=Aug 2013 | pages = 103–21}}.
* {{Citation | last =Russell | first =Frederick H. | contribution =Persuading the Donatists: Augustine’s Coercion by Words | year =1999 | title =Limits of Ancient Christianity: Essays on Late Antique Thought and Culture in Honor of R. A. Markus | editor-last =Klingshirn | editor-first =William E | place=Ann Arbor | publisher = [[University of Michigan Press]]}}.
* {{Citation | last = Scalise | first = Charles J | title = Exegetical Warrants for Religious Persecution: Augustine vs. the Donatists | journal = Review & Expositor | volume = 93 | number = 4 |date=Fall 1996 | pages = 497–506 | doi=10.1177/003463739609300405| s2cid = 170499230 }}.
* {{Citation | last =Shimmyo | first =Theodore T | title =St Augustine's Treatment of the Donatist Heresy: An Interpretation | journal =Patristic and Byzantine Review | volume =10 | number = 3 | year = 1991 | pages = 173–82}}.

==External links==
* {{citation | url = http://www.earlychurch.org.uk/donatism.php | title = Donatus & the Donatist Schism | publisher = Early Church | place = [[United Kingdom|UK]]}}, a list of primary and secondary sources on the Donatists.
* {{citation | url = http://www.seanmultimedia.com/Pie_Petilian_Encyclical_Letter.html | title = Letter | first = Petilian | last = of Cirta | publisher = Sean Multimedia}}, written by a Donatist leader.
* {{citation | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xdnrTM_d1GkC&q=circumcellions | title = Vandals, Romans and Berbers: New Perspectives on Late Antique North Africa| first = Andrew H | last = Merrills | publisher = Ashgate | year = 2004| isbn = 9780754641452}} - new analysis of the textual, epigraphic and archaeological record.
* {{citation | url = https://www.zotero.org/groups/donatism | title = Donatism. Online Dynamic Bibliography}}.

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{{History of Christianity|state=expanded}}
{{Beliefs condemned by the Catholic Church}}

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