Optatus of Milevis, Against the Donatists (1917) Book 1. pp. 1-56.
THE WORK OF ST. OPTATUS THE AFRICAN
BISHOP OF MILEVIS
ON THE SCHISM OF THE DONATISTS AGAINST PARMENIAN
BOOK THE FIRST
Who were the Betrayers at the Time of the Persecution. The Causes of the Schism. Where and by whom the Schism was made.
I. The Divine Gift of Peace, bestowed upon all Christians.
One Faith, most honoured brethren, commends |2 us all, who are Christians, to the keeping of Almighty God. To this Faith it appertains to believe that the Son of God, the Lord, shall come to judge the world----that He, who has already come, has been born, according to His Human Nature, through Mary a Virgin, that He has suffered, died, and (after having been buried) has risen from the grave. |3
Also, before ascending to Heaven, whence He had descended, He left behind, through His Apostles, as His parting gift, to all Christians, Peace. |4 And, lest it should seem that to His Apostles only He had left this Peace, He said:
'That which I say to you, I say to all.'
And He also said:
'My peace I give unto you, My peace I leave unto you.'
Thus we see that Peace has been given to all Christians..
That it is God's Peace, we know, inasmuch as He says 'My Peace.' But when He says 'I give to you,' we know that He willed that it should belong not only to Himself, but to all those as well who should believe in Him,
II. This Peace was disturbed by the Schism.
If this Peace had remained whole and inviolate as it was given, and had not been disturbed by the authors of the schism, there would not be any disagreement to-day between us and our brethren, nor would they be causing God inconsolable tears (as Isaiah the prophet bears witness ), nor would they deserve the |5 name, and do the deeds, of false prophets ; nor would they have built a crumbling and whitened wall ; nor would they overturn simple but too credulous minds; nor would they, by wickedly imposing hands upon the heads of all, place upon them the veils of destruction ; nor would they speak evil things to God ; nor would they re-baptise the Faithful; nor should we now be grieving for the souls which they have either destroyed or slain,----souls of the innocent, for whom God was the first to grieve, saying by the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet:
'Woe to you who place a veil over every head and over every age, for the destruction of souls. The souls of My people have been destroyed; and they spoke evil things to Me amongst My people, that they might slay souls which ought not to die, whilst they proclaim to My people their empty deceits.' |6
III. Why Schismatics should be called Brethren.
Lest any one should say, that without thought I call them brethren, I would reply that such they are, for we cannot escape from the words of the prophet Isaiah ; and, although they would not deny (as all men know well) that they hold us in abhorrence, and ban us utterly and are unwilling to be called our brethren, still we may not depart from the fear of God, for the Holy Spirit exhorts us by Isaiah the prophet, saying:
'You who fear the Word of the Lord, hear ye the Word of the Lord.
'To those who detest and curse you, and are unwilling to be called your brethren, say ye nevertheless:
' "You are our brethren." '
They therefore are without doubt brothers, though not good brothers. Wherefore let no one marvel that I term those brothers, who are unable to escape being our brethren. They and we have one spiritual birth, though widely differing is our conduct.
For even Ham, who mocked undutifully at his father's shame, was the brother of the innocent. In |7 accordance with his deserts, he incurred the yoke of slavery, so that he----their brother----was assigned in bondage to his brethren. From this we see that, even where there is sin, the name of brotherhood is not lost.
Concerning the sins of these our brethren, I will speak in another place. For they, sitting over against us, speak evil things about us. They consort with that Thief who robs God, and share their lot with adulterers (that is, with heretics), and make their sins an object of praise, and plan reproachful words against us Catholics.