The Presbyters Project

Letter 43

7. [...] Quia ergo uenire noluit ad hospitium collegarum, quos a suis inimicis contra ueritatem suae causae peruersos esse sentiebat uel suspicabatur uel, ut ipsi adserunt, simulabat, tanto magis Secundus, si uerae pacis custos esse uoluisset, cauere debuit, ne damnarentur absentes, qui iudicio eorum omnino, interesse noluerunt. Neque enim de presbyteris aut diaconis aut inferioris ordinis clericis sed de collegis agebatur, qui possent aliorum collegarum iudicio praesertim apostolicarum ecclesiarum causam suam integram reseruare,

ubi contra eos sententiae dictae in absentes nullo modo aliquid ualerent [...].

(ed. Goldbacher 1898: 90 )

Letter 43

7. [...] Because he refused to come to the gathering of his colleagues, for he saw or suspected or, as they claim, pretended that they had been turned against the truth of his case by his enemies, Secundus ought all the more, if he wanted to be a protector of the peace, to have avoided condemning in their absence those who absolutely refused to appear for the judgment. For he was not dealing with presbyters or deacons or clerics of lower rank, but with his colleagues who could keep their case intact for the judgment of other colleagues, especially of the apostolic churches, where judgments pronounced against them, when they were absent, would be absolutely without effect [...].

(trans. R. Teske, slightly altered)

Discussion:

The letter is addressed to some Donatist laymen. Augustine explains at length the history of the beginnings of the schism. When he writes about the council of Numidian bishops, Augustine states that judging in absentia was particularly inappropriate because the procedure had been applied to the bishops as if they had been lower clerics. Yet he does not say clearly whether such a procedure would have been regular in dealing with the latter.

Place of event:

Region

Latin North Africa

City

Carthage

About the source:

Author: Augustine of Hippo
Title: Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Hippo Regius (Latin North Africa)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

The letters of Augustine of Hippo cover a wide range of topics: Holy Scripture, dogma and liturgy, philosophy, religious practice and everyday life. They range from full-scale theological treatises to small notes asking someone for a favour. The preserved corpus includes 308 letters, 252 written by Augustine, 49 that others sent to him and seven exchanged between third parties. 29 letters have been discovered only in the 20th century and edited in 1981 by Johannes Divjak; they are distinguished by the asterisk (*) after their number.

The preserved letters of Augustine extend over the period from his stay at Cassiciacum in 386 to his death in Hippo in 430.

Edition:

Edition:

A. Goldbacher ed., S. Augustini Hipponiensis Episcopi Epistulae, Pars 2, Ep. 31-123, Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum 34/2, Prague-Vienna-Leipzig 1898.

Translation:

Saint Augustine, Letters 1-99, trans. R. Teske, New York 2001.

Categories:

Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος

Public law - Ecclesiastical

Relation with - Bishop/Monastic superior

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER425, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=425