After the Great Persecution, a party of North African bishops refused to accept Caecilian as bishop of Carthage because one of his consecrators was accused of having surrendered the Scriptures. They consecrated a rival bishop, later succeeded by Donatus. When they appealed to Constantine, councils of bishops at Rome (313) and Arles (314) ruled against them, and the state-favored catholic party began to use the empire's power against the separatists. The Donatists taught that ordinances given by unworthy clergy were invalid and rebaptized those who joined them. The division lasted for centuries. They refused to join the state-favored party and were persecuted by it, yet they kept bishops and sacramental errors of their own. Separatists were not perfect, and the line between Christ's free churches and the institution was sometimes muddy.
The Donatist Schism
After the Great Persecution, a party of North African bishops refused to accept Caecilian as bishop of Carthage because one of his consecrators was accused of having surrendered the Scriptures. They consecrated a rival bishop, later succeeded by Donatus. When they appealed to Constantine, councils of bishops at Rome (313) and Arles (314) ruled against them, and the state-favored catholic party began to use the empire's power against the separatists. The Donatists taught that ordinances given by unworthy clergy were invalid and rebaptized those who joined them. The division lasted for centuries. They refused to join the state-favored party and were persecuted by it, yet they kept bishops and sacramental errors of their own. Separatists were not perfect, and the line between Christ's free churches and the institution was sometimes muddy.