Corrupt Prerequisites for the Donatist Schism in the System of Socio-Political Orientations of St. Augustine (According to the Epistolary Heritage of the Father of the Church)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2023-50-1-31-43

Keywords:

Augustine, epistolary heritage of Augustine, Donatist schism, corruption

Abstract

The denial of corruption is one of the reference points in the system of social and political orientations of Augustine. The Father of the Church condemns bribery, venality, and corruptibility, considering them as the root cause of many social problems. At the same time, the Bishop of Hippo is far from a simplified understanding of the phenomenon solely as a phenomenon associated with the abuse of power for selfish purposes. Corruption is a social disease for him, destroying the state and society, making their proper functioning impossible. The foregoing makes Augustine's concept related to modern interpretations, in which corruption is usually viewed in a wide social and political context. In light of this it is not surprising that the Father of the Church focuses on the corruption prerequisites and grounds for the Donatist schism, a phenomenon that marked one of the most dramatic pages in Late Roman History. In an effort to defeat his ideological opponent, the Father of the Church accuses the Donatists of corrupt ties, making them perhaps the most important cause of the well-known tragic events. A vivid picture depicting the broad corrupt context of the emergence of Donatism is presented in the epistolary heritage of the Bishop of Hippo, which formed the basis for the present study.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Stanislav S. Sakharov, Smolensk State University

Candidate of Historycal Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of State-Legal disciplines, Faculty of History and Law, Smolensk State University, Smolensk, Russia

References

Дилигенский Г.Г. 1961. Северная Африка в IV–V веках. Москва, Издательство АН СССР, 302.

Иеромонах Афанасий (Букин). 2018. Блаженный Августин Иппонийский. О крещении против донатистов. Кн. I: I–V. В: Труды и переводы. 1: 108–119.

Иеромонах Афанасий (Букин). 2021. К вопросу о причинах продолжительной жизнеспособности донатистского раскола. В: Христианское чтение. 3: 232–242.

Казаков М.М. 2014. Особенности христианизации Северной Африки. В: Христианское чтение. 2–3: 46–61.

Литовченко Е.В. 2007. К образу Аполлинария Сидония: человек поздней античности. В: Научные ведомости БелГУ. Серия: История. Политология. Экономика. Информатика. 3: 30–38.

Литовченко Е.В. 2021. Позднеантичная эпистолография в контексте медиевализации и культурного континуитета на латинском западе (IV–VI вв.). Дисс. д-ра ист. наук. Белгород. 2021, 804.

Мамонтов А.Л. 2016. Отношение Августина Блаженного к законам против донатистов. В: Индоевропейское языкознание и классическая филология. 2: 691–699.

Мамонтов А.Л. 2019. Константин и донатистский раскол: первые шаги императора. В: Вестник ПСТГУ. Серия II: История. История Русской Православной Церкви. 86: 9–24.

Мамонтов А.Л. 2022. Донатизм и африканские восстания второй половины IV в. В: Религия. Церковь. Общество. 10: 222–237.

Трыканова С.А. 2022. Теоретико-прикладной дискурс понятия коррупция. В: Образование и право. 2: 167–172.

Beaver R.P. 1935. The Donatists Circumcellions. In: Church History. 4 (2): 123–133.

Bels L. 1975. La mort volontaire dans l’oeuvre de saint Augustin. In: Revue de l’histoire des religions. 187 (2): 147–180.

Brown P. 1961. Religious Dissent in the Later Roman Empire: the case of North Africa. In: History. 46 (157): 83–101.

Brown P. 1969. Augustine of Hippo: A Biography. New Jersey, University of California Press, 463.

Dalvit M. 2013. Montenses. The donatists’ ecclesiological reflection about habacuc’s prophecy. In: Augustiniana. 63 (1/4): 173–188.

Evers A. 2011. A Fine Line? Catholics and Donatists in Roman North Africa. In: Frontiers in the Roman World. Proceedings of the Ninth Workshop of the International Network Impact of Empire (Durham, 16–19 April 2009). Ed. by Hekster O., Kaizer T. Leiden, Boston, Brill: 175–199.

Flood J. 1952. St. Augustine in His Letters. In: The Furrow. 3 (5): 196–202.

Frend W.H.C. 2020. The Donatist Church: A Movement of Protest in Roman North Africa. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 384.

Hill L. 2013. Conceptions of political corruption in ancient Athens and Rome. In: History of Political Though. 34 (4): 565–587.

LaPalombara J. 1994. Structural and institutional aspects of corruption. In: Social Research. 61 (2): 325–350.

Maier H.O. 1995. Religious Dissent, Heresy and Households in Late Antiquity. In: Vigiliae Christianae. 49 (1): 49–63.

Ménissier T. 2007. La corruption un concept philosophique et politique chez les Ancient et les Modernes. In: Anabases. 6: 11–16.

Monceaux P. 1910. L’Église donatiste avant Saint Augustin. In: Revue de l’histoire des religions. 61: 20–77.

Nodes D.J. 2009. The Organization of Augustine’s Psalmus contra Partem Donati. In: Vigiliae Christianae. 63 (4): 390–408.

Pinto J., Leana C., Pil F. 2008. Corrupt Organization or Organizations of Corrupt Individuals? Two Types of Organization – Level Corruption. In: The Academy of Management Review. 33 (3): 685–709.

Quah J. 2009. Governance and Corruption. Exploring the Connection. In: American Journal of Chinese Studies. 16 (2): 119–135.

Schaff Ph. (ed.) 1887. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. First Series. Vol. 1. The Confessions and Letters of St. Augustine. Buffalo, NY, Christian Literature Publishing Co.

Shaw B. 2011. Sacred Violence. African Christians and Sectarian Hatred in the Age of Augustine. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 910.

Tilley M.A. 1991. Dilatory Donatists or Procrastinating Catholics: The Trial at the Conference of Carthage. In: Church History. 60 (1): 7–19.

Whitehouse J. 2016. The Course of the Donatist Schism in Late Roman North Africa. In: The Donatist Schism Controversy and Contexts. Ed. by Miles R. Liverpool, Liverpool University Press: 13–53.


Abstract views: 94

Share

Published

2023-05-03

How to Cite

Sakharov, S. S. (2023). Corrupt Prerequisites for the Donatist Schism in the System of Socio-Political Orientations of St. Augustine (According to the Epistolary Heritage of the Father of the Church). Via in Tempore. History and Political Science, 50(1), 31-43. https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2023-50-1-31-43

Issue

Section

Topical issues of world history