DOCSLIB.ORG

Complete Dissertation

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Complete Dissertation VU Research Portal Ecclesia sine macula et ruga Füsti Molnár, A.S. 2008 document version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication in VU Research Portal citation for published version (APA) Füsti Molnár, A. S. (2008). Ecclesia sine macula et ruga: Donatist Factors among the Ecclesiological Challenges for the Reformed Church of Hungary especially after 1989/90. General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. • Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. • You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain • You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal ? Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. E-mail address: [email protected] Download date: 27. Sep. 2021 VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT Ecclesia sine macula et ruga Donatist Factors among the Ecclesiological Challenges for the Reformed Church of Hungary especially after 1989/90 ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad Doctor aan de Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, op gezag van de rector magnificus prof.dr. L.M. Bouter, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van de promotiecommissie van de faculteit der Godgeleerdheid op donderdag 18 december 2008 om 10.45 uur in de aula van de universiteit, De Boelelaan 1105 door Arzén Szilveszter Füsti-Molnár geboren te Szikszó, Hongarije promotoren: prof.dr. A. van de Beek prof.dr. F. Szűcs copromotor: dr. E.A.J.G. van der Borght Dedicated to my wife, Pálma and our children Emma, Olivér and Lujza. … sicut et Christus dilexit ecclesiam Eph. 5: 25 Ecclesia sine macula et ruga Donatist Factors among the Ecclesiological Challenges for the Reformed Church of Hungary especially after 1989/90 Academic Thesis for obtaining the degree of Doctor at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 2008 © Szilveszter Füsti-Molnár © Sárospatak Reformed Theological Academy Published by: Sárospatak Reformed Theological Academy Sárospatak, Hungary Dr. Ferenc Kádár, rector Printed: Kapitális Printing House Debrecen, Hungary Director: József Kapusi ISBN 978-963-88090-0-1 Cover illustration: István Csók: Lord’s Supper (Úrvacsora), 1890, oil, canvas © Magyar Nemzeti Galéria, Budapest CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS .......................................................................................................10 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................11 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................13 1.1 A MYSTERIOUS SYNERGY - 1+1=1 AND 2-1=0..............................................14 1.2 HOPE AND REALITY...........................................................................................15 1.3 UBI ECCLESIA?...................................................................................................17 1.4 HISTORICAL AND THEOLOGICAL QUESTIONS...............................................18 THE DONATIST DISSENT AS A SIGN-POST IN THEOLOGY..................21 2.1 INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................21 2.2 THE UNIQUENESS OF AFRICAN CHRISTIANITY IN THE EARLY CHURCH .....................................................................................................................................22 2.3 SHORT INTRODUCTION TO THE ANTECEDENTS OF THE DONATIST MOVEMENT ...............................................................................................................25 2.3.1 The Characteristic Elements of the Apostolic and Early Church ........26 2.3.2 Tertullian and the ‘New Prophecies’........................................................28 2.3.3 The “Cathari”...............................................................................................34 2.3.4 Highlights on Cyprian’s Ecclesiology .....................................................43 2.4 THE DONATIST MOVEMENT ...........................................................................48 2.4.1 Geographical Settings of the Donatists...................................................48 2.4.2 The Sociological and Cultural Background of North Africa in the Time of the Donatist Movement ........................................................................50 2.4.3 A Brief Historical Overview of the Donatist Movement and their Dissent ...................................................................................................................55 2.4.3.1 The Cause of the Schism.................................................................................. 55 2.4.3.2 Caecillian and Majorinus ............................................................................... 56 2.4.3.3 The Condemnation of the Donatists by Pope Melchiades.......................... 57 2.4.3.4 The Council of Arles......................................................................................... 58 2.4.3.5 After the Death of Constantine (“Persecution by Macarius”) ................... 59 2.4.3.6 The Restoration of the Donatists by Julian ................................................. 61 2.4.3.7. The Age of Parmenian.................................................................................... 61 2.4.3.8 Optatus of Milevis ........................................................................................... 62 2.4.3.9 The Maximianists ............................................................................................ 63 2.4.3.10 Augustine and the Donatists........................................................................ 64 2.4.3.11 The Conference of Carthage in 411 .............................................................. 67 2.4.3.12 The Donatists after the Conference of Carthage ....................................... 71 2.5 ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF THE ECCLESIOLOGY OF THE DONATIST DISSENT .....................................................................................................................72 2.5.1 Role of Persecution and Martyrdom in Donatism ................................72 2.5.2 The Ecclesiology of the Donatist Movement ..........................................75 2.5.2.1 Donatist’s Self-identity as Shaped by the Image of Israel ......................... 75 2.5.2.2 Donatists’ View on Perfection........................................................................ 78 2.5.2.3 The Doctrine of the Administration of the Sacraments ............................. 80 2.5.2.4 Theologies of Penance..................................................................................... 83 5 2.5.2.5 Changing Perspectives in the Donatist Ecclesiology.................................. 84 2.5.2.6 Augustine and the Donatists.......................................................................... 86 2.6 CHURCH UNITY & DIVISION - CONCLUSION IN LIGHT OF THE NEW APPROACH TO DEFINE THE DONATIST FACTOR AND ITS ELEMENTS..............89 2.6.1 The Opposition to External Enemies .......................................................89 2.6.1.1 Tertullian ........................................................................................................... 90 2.6.1.2 Cyprian.............................................................................................................. 90 2.6.1.3 Donatism........................................................................................................... 91 2.6.1.4 Augustine .......................................................................................................... 91 2.6.2 The local Churches’ Internal Differentiations........................................92 2.6.2.1 Tertullian........................................................................................................... 92 2.6.2.2 Cyprian ............................................................................................................. 92 2.6.2.3 Donatism........................................................................................................... 93 2.6.2.4 Augustine.......................................................................................................... 93 2.6.3 Attempts for Universal Communion of the Local Churches ................94 2.6.3.1 Tertullian........................................................................................................... 94 2.6.3.2 Cyprian ............................................................................................................. 95 2.6.3.3 Donatism........................................................................................................... 95 2.6.3.4 Augustine.......................................................................................................... 95 2.6.4 Concluding Remarks .................................................................................96 2.7 THE DIFFERENT FACTORS IN THE DONATIST MOVEMENT ....................100 2.7.1 The Role of the Image of Israel as Collecta...........................................100 2.7.2 The Role of the Construction of Time ....................................................101
Load more

Recommended publications
  • St. Augustine and the Doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ Stanislaus J
    ST. AUGUSTINE AND THE DOCTRINE OF THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST STANISLAUS J. GRABOWSKI, S.T.D., S.T.M. Catholic University of America N THE present article a study will be made of Saint Augustine's doc­ I trine of the Mystical Body of Christ. This subject is, as it will be later pointed out, timely and fruitful. It is of unutterable importance for the proper and full conception of the Church. This study may be conveniently divided into four parts: (I) A fuller consideration of the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ, as it is found in the works of the great Bishop of Hippo; (II) a brief study of that same doctrine, as it is found in the sources which the Saint utilized; (III) a scrutiny of the place that this doctrine holds in the whole system of his religious thought and of some of its peculiarities; (IV) some consideration of the influence that Saint Augustine exercised on the development of this particular doctrine in theologians and doctrinal systems. THE DOCTRINE St. Augustine gives utterance in many passages, as the occasion de­ mands, to words, expressions, and sentences from which we are able to infer that the Church of his time was a Church of sacramental rites and a hierarchical order. Further, writing especially against Donatism, he is led Xo portray the Church concretely in its historical, geographical, visible form, characterized by manifest traits through which she may be recognized and discerned from false chuiches. The aspect, however, of the concept of the Church which he cherished most fondly and which he never seems tired of teaching, repeating, emphasizing, and expound­ ing to his listeners is the Church considered as the Body of Christ.1 1 On St.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Church History to the Death Of
    EARLY CHURCH HISTORY. LOJ:,DON ! PRINTED BY WBST, NBWMAN AND CO., HATTON GARDBN, E.C. .l\fm;aic of I->erpetua in the Archbishop's Palace, Ravenna. Copied from the oriyinal by Ed1card Backhou.se. EARLY CHURCH HISTOliY 6to tbt :llltatb of Ql;onstantittt. COMPILED BY THE LATE EDWARD BACKHOUSE. EDITED AND ENLARGED BY CHARLES TYLOR. WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE BY DR. HODGKIN. ~birh CIDhition. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., LIMITED. 1892. Christus Verita.tem se non Consuetudin£m cognominavit.-TERTULLIAN. Consuetudo sine veritate vetustas errori est.-CYPRIAN. It may be that suspense of judgment and exercise of charity were safer and seemlier for Christian men, than the hot pursuit of controversies, wherein they that are most fervent to dispute be not always the most able to determine. But who are on his side, and who against Him, our Lord in his good time shall reveal.-H0OKER. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE first issue hiwing been exhausted in less than eighteen months, a second edition is now presented to the reader. The whole work has been revised with much care, many parts have been amplified, and some have been recast. Acknowledgments are due fur sug­ gestions to several friendly reviewers in the current periodicals. The chief new feature in the present edition is the introduction of the Teaching of the Tirelve Apostles, a treatise of the Primitive Church recently discovered at Constantinople, and published whilst our History was passing through the press. The treatise will be found entire, with some introductory remarks, at page 134, where it forms an Appendix to Part I.
    [Show full text]
  • The Course of Christian History the Macmillan Company Nxw York • Boston • Chicago - Dallas Atlanta • San Francisco
    c y^ A ,^ -^-'^ libraW UNIVERSITY W^l CALIFORI«»A SAN DIEGO X (^ix^'^' Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive in 2007 witii funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation littp://www.arcliive.org/details/courseofcliristiaOOmcgliala THE COURSE OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NXW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO - DALLAS ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limited LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Lm TOXOMTO THE COURSE OF CHRISTIAN HISTORY BY W. J. TMcGLOTHLIN, Ph.D., D.D. Professor of Church History in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary Beto gork THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1918 AU riffhU rewrvti OOPTBIGHT. 1918 bt the macmillan company 8«t up and electrotyped. Published, August, 1918 PREFACE Christianity is now nearly nineteen centuries old. Dur- ing this long period it has steadily increased in power, de- termining the beliefs and hopes and ideals of individuals and more and more of whole nations. Judged from any standpoint it must be recognized as one of the master forces of mediaeval and modern history and of the present day. Intelligent men ought, it would seem, to be acquainted with the course of its history, at least in outline, through these centuries. And yet this history has been comparatively little studied, and when studied emphasis has been laid upon the darker phases of the history, its polemical and political sides. It would seem that the time has come for an effort to secure a wider and more sympathetic knowledge of what Chris- tianity as a whole has done in the midst of the weakness and wickedness
    [Show full text]
  • ESS9 Appendix A3 Political Parties Ed
    APPENDIX A3 POLITICAL PARTIES, ESS9 - 2018 ed. 3.0 Austria 2 Belgium 4 Bulgaria 7 Croatia 8 Cyprus 10 Czechia 12 Denmark 14 Estonia 15 Finland 17 France 19 Germany 20 Hungary 21 Iceland 23 Ireland 25 Italy 26 Latvia 28 Lithuania 31 Montenegro 34 Netherlands 36 Norway 38 Poland 40 Portugal 44 Serbia 47 Slovakia 52 Slovenia 53 Spain 54 Sweden 57 Switzerland 58 United Kingdom 61 Version Notes, ESS9 Appendix A3 POLITICAL PARTIES ESS9 edition 3.0 (published 10.12.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Denmark, Iceland. ESS9 edition 2.0 (published 15.06.20): Changes from previous edition: Additional countries: Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden. Austria 1. Political parties Language used in data file: German Year of last election: 2017 Official party names, English 1. Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs (SPÖ) - Social Democratic Party of Austria - 26.9 % names/translation, and size in last 2. Österreichische Volkspartei (ÖVP) - Austrian People's Party - 31.5 % election: 3. Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs (FPÖ) - Freedom Party of Austria - 26.0 % 4. Liste Peter Pilz (PILZ) - PILZ - 4.4 % 5. Die Grünen – Die Grüne Alternative (Grüne) - The Greens – The Green Alternative - 3.8 % 6. Kommunistische Partei Österreichs (KPÖ) - Communist Party of Austria - 0.8 % 7. NEOS – Das Neue Österreich und Liberales Forum (NEOS) - NEOS – The New Austria and Liberal Forum - 5.3 % 8. G!LT - Verein zur Förderung der Offenen Demokratie (GILT) - My Vote Counts! - 1.0 % Description of political parties listed 1. The Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Österreichs, or SPÖ) is a social above democratic/center-left political party that was founded in 1888 as the Social Democratic Worker's Party (Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei, or SDAP), when Victor Adler managed to unite the various opposing factions.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Beginning of the Church
    Excerpts from the “The Historical Road of Eastern Orthodoxy” By Alexander Schmemann Translated by Lynda W. Kesich (Please get the full version of this book at your bookstore) Content: 1. The Beginning of the Church. Acts of the Apostles. Community in Jerusalem — The First Church. Early Church Organization. Life of Christians. Break with Judaism. The Apostle Paul. The Church and the Greco-Roman World. People of the Early Church. Basis of Persecution by Rome. Blood of Martyrs. Struggle of Christianity to Keep its Own Meaning. The New Testament. Sin and Repentance in the Church. Beginnings of Theology. The Last Great Persecutions. 2. The Triumph Of Christianity. Conversion of Constantine. Relations between Church and State. The Arian Disturbance. Council of Nicaea — First Ecumenical Council. After Constantine. The Roman Position. Countermeasures in the East. End of Arianism. New Relation of Christianity to the World. The Visible Church. Rise of Monasticism. State Religion — Second Ecumenical Council. St. John Chrysostom. 3. The Age Of The Ecumenical Councils. Development of Church Regional Structure. The Byzantine Idea of Church and State Constantinople vs. Alexandria The Christological Controversy — Nestorius and Cyril. Third Ecumenical Council. The Monophysite Heresy. Council of Chalcedon (Fourth Ecumenical Council). Reaction to Chalcedon — the Road to Division. Last Dream of Rome. Justinian and the Church. Two Communities. Symphony. Reconciliation with Rome — Break with the East. Recurrence of Origenism. Fifth Ecumenical Council. Underlying Gains. Breakup of the Empire — Rise of Islam. Decay of the Universal Church Last Efforts: Monothelitism. Sixth Ecumenical Council. Changing Church Structure. Byzantine Theology. Quality of Life in the New Age. Development of the Liturgy.
    [Show full text]
  • The Importance of Athanasius and the Views of His Character
    The Importance of Athanasius and the Views of His Character J. Steven Davis Submitted to Dr. Jerry Sutton School of Divinity Liberty University September 19, 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter I: Research Proposal Abstract .............................................................................................................................11 Background ......................................................................................................................11 Limitations ........................................................................................................................18 Method of Research .........................................................................................................19 Thesis Statement ..............................................................................................................21 Outline ...............................................................................................................................21 Bibliography .....................................................................................................................27 Chapter II: Background of Athanasius An Influential Figure .......................................................................................................33 Early Life ..........................................................................................................................33 Arian Conflict ...................................................................................................................36
    [Show full text]
  • Timeline 500 AD – 1000 AD
    Lessons • Introduction and Overview • Spread of Christianity • Church and State – Persecution and Adoption • Doctrine – Orthodoxy vs. Heresy Part I (Apologists, Heresies, and Canon) • Doctrine – Orthodoxy vs. Heresy Part II (the Ecumenical Councils) 1 Doctrine – Orthodoxy vs. Heresy The Apologists • Focus is defending Christianity externally – to Pagans and Jews, not others claiming Christianity • Some effort spent refuting base rumors about Christian behavior (e.g., cannibalism, incest, unpatriotic, etc.) discussed in previous material • Other adversaries included cultured pagans who made some effort to learn about Christianity and looked at Christians as intellectually inferior, lower class people ➢ Why is your omnipotent God such a busybody in individual affairs? ➢ If our gods are false, why not worship them? Are you afraid they are true? ➢ How can Jesus be good? He was a prisoner condemned by legitimate Roman authorities. ➢ Why would God visit earth – doesn’t he know everything? Can’t he deal with evil without doing it personally? ➢ Why be willing to leave the certainty of this life for the uncertainty of a resurrection? ➢ At the final resurrection, what happens to bodies burned or otherwise destroyed? I Peter 3:15 - “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” 2 Doctrine – Orthodoxy vs. Heresy The Apologists Apologist Timeframe Works / Focus Justin 100-165 2 Apologies – “Christian Philosophy” – the connection between Christianity and classical philosophy (e.g., Martyr supreme being, life beyond physical death, etc.). John 1:1, 14 Word = Logos = [universal] Reason.
    [Show full text]
  • Lessons in Montanism: Charismatics, Feminists, and the Twentieth Century Roman Catholic Church Carol Dawn Jean Davis Fort Hays State University
    Fort Hays State University FHSU Scholars Repository Master's Theses Graduate School Spring 2014 Lessons in Montanism: Charismatics, Feminists, and the Twentieth Century Roman Catholic Church Carol Dawn Jean Davis Fort Hays State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Davis, Carol Dawn Jean, "Lessons in Montanism: Charismatics, Feminists, and the Twentieth Century Roman Catholic Church" (2014). Master's Theses. 58. https://scholars.fhsu.edu/theses/58 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at FHSU Scholars Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of FHSU Scholars Repository. LESSONS IN MONTANISM: CHARISMATICS, FEMINISTS, AND THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH being A Thesis Presented to the Graduate Faculty of the Fort Hays State University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts by Carol Dawn Jean Davis B.A., University of Arizona Date______________________ Approved_________________________ Major Professor Approved_________________________ Chair, Graduate Council ABSTRACT Christianity arose in the midst of a pagan world filled with many different cultic beliefs that worshipped a variety of gods and goddesses. Homogeneity did not become a characteristic of Christianity itself until after the first five centuries of debate hammering out the theological doctrines and modes of praxis that determined what was and was not heresy. Debates continue to take place among scholars concerning pagan influences on the early emerging Christian world. One of the many sects that developed, Montanism, a reform movement within the orthodox Christian Church, came into being as a result of the persecution of Christians and a perceived laxity by the Church toward those who recanted.
    [Show full text]
  • The Marshall Plan in Austria 69
    CAS XXV CONTEMPORARY AUSTRIANAUSTRIAN STUDIES STUDIES | VOLUME VOLUME 25 25 This volume celebrates the study of Austria in the twentieth century by historians, political scientists and social scientists produced in the previous twenty-four volumes of Contemporary Austrian Studies. One contributor from each of the previous volumes has been asked to update the state of scholarship in the field addressed in the respective volume. The title “Austrian Studies Today,” then, attempts to reflect the state of the art of historical and social science related Bischof, Karlhofer (Eds.) • Austrian Studies Today studies of Austria over the past century, without claiming to be comprehensive. The volume thus covers many important themes of Austrian contemporary history and politics since the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918—from World War I and its legacies, to the rise of authoritarian regimes in the 1930s and 1940s, to the reconstruction of republican Austria after World War II, the years of Grand Coalition governments and the Kreisky era, all the way to Austria joining the European Union in 1995 and its impact on Austria’s international status and domestic politics. EUROPE USA Austrian Studies Studies Today Today GünterGünter Bischof,Bischof, Ferdinand Ferdinand Karlhofer Karlhofer (Eds.) (Eds.) UNO UNO PRESS innsbruck university press UNO PRESS UNO PRESS innsbruck university press Austrian Studies Today Günter Bischof, Ferdinand Karlhofer (Eds.) CONTEMPORARY AUSTRIAN STUDIES | VOLUME 25 UNO PRESS innsbruck university press Copyright © 2016 by University of New Orleans Press All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage nd retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
    [Show full text]
  • Reexaming Heresy: the Donatists
    Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II Volume 11 Article 9 2006 Reexaming Heresy: The onD atists Emily C. Elrod Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarcommons.scu.edu/historical-perspectives Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Elrod, Emily C. (2006) "Reexaming Heresy: The onD atists," Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II: Vol. 11 , Article 9. Available at: http://scholarcommons.scu.edu/historical-perspectives/vol11/iss1/9 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Historical Perspectives: Santa Clara University Undergraduate Journal of History, Series II by an authorized editor of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Elrod: Reexaming Heresy 42 Historical Perspectives March 2006 Reexamining Heresy 43 Reexamining Heresy: The Donatists sure to bear upon the clergy,” so as “to render the laity leaderless, and . bring about general apostasy.”5 The clergy were to hand over Scriptures to the authori- Emily C. Elrod ties to be burnt, an act of desecration that became On the first day of June in A.D. 411, Carthage, two known by the Donatists as the sin of traditio. Bishops hostile groups of Christians faced off in the summer who committed this sin had no spiritual power and heat to settle their differences. They met at the mas- 1 became known as traditores; Mensurius, the Bishop of sive Baths of Gargilius (Thermae Gargilianiae). On Carthage who died in 311, stood accused of traditio.
    [Show full text]
  • The Church's Unity and Authority: Augustine's Effort to Convert The
    Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations (2009 -) Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Projects The hC urch's Unity and Authority: Augustine's Effort to Convert the Donatists Gavril Andreicut Marquette University Recommended Citation Andreicut, Gavril, "The hC urch's Unity and Authority: Augustine's Effort to Convert the Donatists" (2010). Dissertations (2009 -). Paper 62. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/62 THE CHURCH’S UNITY AND AUTHORITY: AUGUSTINE’S EFFORT TO CONVERT THE DONATISTS by Gavril Andreicu Ń, Licentiate in history, M.A. A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin August 2010 ABSTRACT THE CHURCH’S UNITY AND AUTHORITY: AUGUSTINE’S EFFORT TO CONVERT THE DONATISTS Gavril Andreicu Ń, Licentiate in history, M.A. Marquette University, 2010 This dissertation is about Augustine’s views on Church unity and authority and is primarily based on the letters that he wrote against the Donatists. Although Augustine is one of the Fathers most enthusiastically and thoroughly researched, his letters are less studied than his other works. As a significant number of Augustine’s letters were written as part of his effort to unite the Donatists with the Church, they are especially relevant sources for his views on the unity and authority of the Church. While no single work of Augustine covers the entire period of his dealing with the Donatists, the letters witness to Augustine’s activity against the Donatists from the time he became a priest up to 418. Since through his letters Augustine appealed to imperial officials, Catholic landowners, and the Donatists in order to unite the latter with the Church, in the letters Augustine is presenting himself to readers in a uniquely practical and social context, which his other works do not do.
    [Show full text]
  • H-Diplo | ISSF Review Essay 51
    H-Diplo | ISSF Review Essay 51 Alexander Watson. The Fortress: The Great Siege of Przemyśl. London: Allen Lane, 2019. ISBN: 9780241309063 (hardback, £25.00); 9780141986333 (paperback, October 2020, £10.99). Essay by Nicholas Mulder, Cornell University Published 2 April 2020 | issforum.org Editor: Diane Labrosse Production Editor: George Fujii https://issforum.org/essays/51-przemysl he centenary of World War I has been a significant stimulus to new research about that conflict. Like any historical era, the meaning and consequences of the war have been reinterpreted in light of our own twenty-first T century concerns. The perception that in recent years the world has witnessed a ‘return to geopolitics,’ ending the relative calm of the post-Cold War period, has made the tensions that produced the Great War appear freshly relevant. It has also refocused attention on the early twentieth-century roots of present-day conflicts. In this new international environment, U.S.-China rivalry begins to look similar to Anglo-German competition in the years before 1914, and the 1916 Sykes-Picot agreement and the treaties of Brest-Litovsk (1918) and Versailles (1919) seem to contain clues about contemporary conflicts in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Amidst the welter of new research, Alexander Watson’s The Fortress stands out as a singularly original study of how the war shaped East-Central Europe. Watson’s book reconstructs a forgotten chapter in the history of the war: the siege of the Galician fortress city of Przemyśl (also known as Premissel in German and Peremyshl in Ukrainian) between September 1914 and March 1915.
    [Show full text]