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ID
ER 427
Augustine, bishop of Hippo, Alypius, bishop of Thagaste, and Fortunatus, bishop of Constantina write to a layman of Constantina, Generosus. A Donatist presbyter was trying to convince Generosus to abandon the Catholic Church, and he referred to angelic apparitions allegedly proving the justice of the Donatist cause. Augustine, Letter 53, North Africa, ca AD 400.
Letter 53
 
1. Quoniam nobis notam esse uoluisti epistulam, quam ad te Donatistarum presbyter dedit, quamquam eam tu quoque catholico animo deriseris, tamen, ut ei potius, si non desperate desipit, consulas, haec ad eum rescripta petimus perferas. Ille enim ordinem christianitatis ciuitatis uestrae tibi ut insinuaret, iussisse sibi angelum scripsit, cum tu teneas christianitatem non ciuitatis tuae tantum nec tantum Africae uel Afrorum sed totius orbis terrae, quae adnuntiata est et adnuntiatur omnibus gentibus. [...]
 
(ed. Goldbacher 1898: 152)
Letter 53
 
1. You wanted us to know of the letter that a presbyter of the Donatists sent to you, and although you also laugh it to scorn with the mind of a Catholic, we, nonetheless, ask that you bring to him this reply in order that you may rather do him some good if he is not hopelessly stupid. He, after all, wrote that an angel commanded him to inform you of the practice of the Christianity of your city, though you hold onto the Christianity, not of your city, nor only of Africa or of the Africans, but that of the whole world, which has been and is being announced to all the nations. [...]
 
(trans. R. Teske, slighlty altered)
 

Place of event:

Region
  • Latin North Africa
City
  • Constantina

About the source:

Author: Augustine of Hippo
Title: Letters, Epistulae
Origin: Hippo Regius (Latin North Africa)Constantina (Latin North Africa), Thagaste (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:

Writing activity - Correspondence
    Religious grouping (other than Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian) - Donatist
      Described by a title - Presbyter/πρεσβύτερος
        Devotion - Supernatural experience
          Pastoral activity - Missionary work
            Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER427, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=427
            Record by: Stanisław Adamiak
            last edited: 2018-03-13 11:43:48
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