Synods of Carthage During the 3rd, 4th, and 5th centuries the town of Carthage in Africa served as the meeting-place of a large number of church synods, of which, however, only the most important can be treated here. A map of the central Mediterranean Sea, showing the location of Carthage (near modern Tunis). ...

1. In May 251 a synod, assembled under the presidency of Cyprian to consider the treatment of the lapsi (those who had fallen away from the faith during persecution), excommunicated Felicissimus and five other Novatian bishops (Rigorists), and declared that the lapsi should be dealt with, not with indiscriminate severity, but according to the degree of individual guilt. These decisions were confirmed by a synod of Rome in the autumn of the same year. Other Carthaginian synods concerning the lapsi were held in 252 and 254. A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine or administration. ... Biography Saint Cyprian (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus), bishop of Carthage and an important early Christian writer, was born probably at the beginning of the third century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent pagan education; converted to Christianity, became a Bishop (249) and eventually died a martyr... Felicissimus (d. ... Novatian (2XX - 258) was a scholar and antipope who held the title between 251 and 258. ...

See Hefle, 2nd ed., i. pp. 111 sqq. (English translation, i. pp. 93 sqq.); Mansi, i. pp. 863 sqq., 905 sqq.; Hardouin, i. pp. 133 sqq., 147 sqq.; Cyprian, Epp. 52, 54, 55, 68.

2. Two synods, in 255 and 256, held under Cyprian, pronounced against the validity of heretical baptism, thus taking direct issue with Stephen, bishop of Rome, who promptly repudiated them, and separated himself from the African Church. A third synod, September 256, unanimously reaffirmed the position of the other two. Stephen's pretensions to authority as bishop of bishops were sharply resented, and for some time the relations of the Roman and African Churches were severely strained. Biography Saint Cyprian (Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus), bishop of Carthage and an important early Christian writer, was born probably at the beginning of the third century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received an excellent pagan education; converted to Christianity, became a Bishop (249) and eventually died a martyr... Baptism is a water purification ritual practiced in certain religions such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, Sikhism, and some historic sects of Judaism. ... Stephen I, pope (about March 12, 254 to August 2, 257). ... In the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Peter, given the keys to heaven by Jesus, was the first Bishop of Rome. ...

See Hefele, 2nd ed., i. pp. 117-119 (English translation, i. pp. 99 sqq.); Mansi, i. pp. 921 sqq., 951 sqq.; Hardouin, i. pp. 153 sqq.; Cyprian, Epp. 69-75.

3. The Donatist schism occasioned a number of important synods. About 348 a synod of Catholic bishops, who had met to record their gratitude for the effective official repression of the Circumcelliones (Donatist terrorists), declared against the rebaptism of any one who had been baptized in the name of the Trinity, and adopted twelve canons of clerical discipline. The Donatists (founded by the Berber christian Donatus) were followers of a belief considered a heresy by the Roman Catholic Church. ...

See Hefele, 2nd. ed., i. pp. 632-633 (English translation, ii. pp. 184-186); Mansi, iii. pp. 143 sqq.; Hardouin, i. pp. 683 sqq.

4. The Conference of Carthage, held by imperial command in 411 with a view to terminating the Donatist schism, while not strictly a synod, was nevertheless one of the most important assemblies in the history of the African church, and, indeed of the whole Christian church.

See Hefele, 2nd ed., ii. pp. 103-104 (English translation, ii. pp. 445-446) ; Mansi, iv. pp. 7-283 ; Hardouin, i. pp. 1043-f 190.

5. On the 1st of May 418 a great synod (A Council of Africa, St Augustine calls it), which assembled under the presidency of Aurelius, bishop of Carthage, to take action concerning the errors of Caelestius, a disciple of Pelagius, denounced the Pelagian doctrines of human nature, original sin; grace and perfectibility, and fully approved the contrary views of Augustine. Prompted by the reinstatement by the bishop of Rome of a deposed African priest, the synod enacted that whoever appeals to a court on the other side of the sea (meaning Rome) may not again be received into communion by any one in Africa (canon 17). St. ... For other people called Pelagius, see Pelagius (disambiguation) Pelagius was a British monk and reformer who lived from approximately 360 to 435 [1]. A preacher, Pelagius visited Rome, and became concerned about the moral laxity of society he saw there. ... Pelagianism is a belief that original sin did not taint human nature (which, being created from God, was divine), and that mortal will is still capable of choosing good or evil without Divine aid. ...

See Hefele, 2nd ed., ii. pp. 116 sqq. (English translation, ii. pp. 458 sqq.); Mansi, iii. pp. 810 sqq., iv. pp. 377 sqq., 45I sqq.; Hardouin, i. pp. 926 sqq.

6. The question of appeals to Rome occasioned two synods, one in 419, the other in 424. The latter addressed a letter to the, bishop of Rome, Celestine, protesting against his claim to appellate jurisdiction, and urgently requesting the immediate recall of his legate, and advising him to send no more judges to Africa. Saint Celestine I was pope from 422 to 432. ...

See Hefele, 2nd ed., ii. pp. 120 sqq., 137 sqq. (English translation, ii. pp.462 sqq., 480 sqq.); Mansi, iii. pp. 835 sqq., iv. pp. 401 sqq., 477 sqq.; Hardodin, i. pp. 943 sqq., 1241 sqq. (L F. C.)

Source

1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica article, "Carthage, Synods of".

External Links

• Catholic Encyclopedia article

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain. Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1911) represents, in many ways, the sum of knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...