44. Ep. 93.10.36–10.40 (CCL 31A:193–96); trans. Parsons, FOTC 18:91–94.
thority you cite in the matter of rebaptism—he confesses that in the past some were admitted to the Church who had been baptized elsewhere. These were not baptized again, so that some [bishops] thought these were not baptized at all. In this, did he not hold the peace of the Church so vital and so necessary that for the sake of it he did not believe that they were deprived of its gifts?
(10.37) Thus—as far as I know your mind—you can easily see that your whole case is undermined and destroyed. For if the worldwide Church was destroyed by sharing its sacraments with sinners, as you think—and this is why you separated from it—then it had already been totally destroyed when, as Cyprian says, some were admitted to it without baptism; and if not even Cyprian himself held this view of the Church in which he was reborn, how much less should your later founder and father Donatus hold it! But if at that time when members were admitted to it without baptism, it was still the Church which produced Cyprian, and also produced Donatus, it is clear that the just are not defiled by the sins of others when they partake of the sacraments with them. Thus you can offer no excuse for the separation by which you withdrew from unity, and in you is fulfilled this wise saying of Holy Scripture: "A wicked son calls himself just, but he did not cleanse his going forth" (Prv 24:35, LXX). . . .
(10.40) To sum up, then, Cyprian . . . covered over that blemish [of advocating rebaptism] with the overflowing charity of his most pure heart; since he most eloquently defended the unity of the Church, then spreading over the world; and he held most firmly to the bond of peace, for it is written: "Charity covers a multitude of sins" (1 Pt 4:8). We must add, too, that the Father purged that most fruitful branch—if anything in him needed correcting—with the pruning knife of martyrdom, for the Lord said: "The branch in me that bears fruit, my Father purges that it may bring forth more fruit" (Jn 15:2). And how does He do this except by one clinging [as Cyprian did] to the root of unity in the pruning of the vine? For even if one should deliver one's body to be burned, and not have charity, it profits one nothing (1 Cor 13:3).44
The Circumcellions
Donatists were victims of sporadically enforced but often tough government policies. Catholics too suffered violence, namely, from wandering gangs known as Circumcellions. Their roots and motives and organization are difficult to discern from surviving sources. While surviving sources offer intriguing comments, they are not unbiased. One has to read
44. Ep. 93.10.36–10.40 (CCL 31A:193–96); trans. Parsons, FOTC 18:91–94.