Francis Patrick Havey

“ Those who lapsed under Decius formed a party strong enough to withstand the hierarchy, and the synods of the fourth and fifth centuries are constantly engaged with the bitter and persistent Donatist Schism, which upset all Africa and perplexed both Church and State. ”

“ This organization lasted till the Arab invasion in the seventh century. Because of its civil importance, Carthage was the primatial see and held control of these suffragan provinces, except perhaps during the period of the Byzantine domination in Africa (534–646) , when Tripoli and the two Mauretanias seem to have been independent of Carthage. The Bishop of Carthage was in rank and privilege, though not in name, the Patriarch of the African Church. It was he who called and presided over the general synods, and early in the fifth century, it was his wont to sign the decrees in the name of all. ”

“ In the synods held under St. Cyprian, to deal with the lapsed, and in the synod of 256, which considered the question of re-baptism, there were present not only the bishops, but many priests and deacons, and even a very large representation of the laity. Only the bishops, however, had a vote in the final determinations. Not all the bishops of the country were required to assist at the general synod. At the Synod of Hippo (393) it was ordered that "dignities" should be sent from each ecclesiastical province. ”

“ There were, however, many national or plenary assemblies of bishops representing the North African Church. These are commonly called African or Carthaginian Synods, and are not to be confounded with the district or provincial assemblies, of which there were also very many in the separate provinces of North Africa. These Roman provinces lay between the Sahara and the Mediterranean and extended from Cyrenaica on the east to the Atlantic on the west, corresponding roughly to the part of the continent occupied by modern Tripoli, Algeria, and Morocco. ”

“ II. Advent Christians.—These believe that the dead lie in an unconscious state till Christ comes again, when all will arise; the just to receive everlasting life; the wicked to be annihilated; since immortality, once man's natural birthright, has been forfeited by sin and is now a supernatural gift had only through faith in Christ. ”

“ Every prophecy which had not been literally accomplished in the first coming of Christ must needs be accomplished in His second coming. Christ, therefore, should return at the end of the world in the clouds of heaven to possess the land of Canaan, and to reign in an earthly triumph on the throne of David for a thousand years. Moreover, taking the 2,300 days of the Prophet Daniel for so many years, and computing from 457 b.c.—that is, from the commencement of the seventy weeks before the first coming, Miller concluded that the world would come to an end, and Christ would return, in a.d. ”

“ Epiphanius seems to imply as much, "for," he says, "they themselves seem to believe as we do." Be this as it may, the interest of scholars attaches not so much to their christology as to the biblical criticism they developed. It was, doubtless, a doctrinal prepossession which impelled them to reject the Gospel of St. John and the Apocalypse. But they endeavoured to maintain their contention by arguments drawn from an examination of the books themselves. The Gospel of St. John contained, they said, what was untrue ”

“ They believe that the dead remain unconscious until Judgment, when the wicked will be destroyed. They attempt, in addition, a detailed interpretation of certain biblical prophecies, and believe the prophetic gift is still communicated, and was possessed latterly by Mrs. E. G. White in particular. They were formed into a body in 1845. ”

“ Everywhere they met with firm opposition. The Beghards became the Picards of Bohemia, who took possession of an island in the river Nezarka, and gave themselves up to a shameful communism. Ziska, the Hussite leader, nearly exterminated the sect in 1421 (cf. Höfler, Geschichtsquellen Böhmens, I, 414, 431) ”

“ Hefele, History of the Christian Councils (Edinburgh, 1871) I; Routh, Reliqiæ Sacræ, III, 93–217; Leclerq, L'Afrique chrêtienne (2 vols., Paris, 1904) ; Duchesne, Histoire ancienne de l'Eglise (Paris, 1905) , I 388–432. ”

“ Corssen, Monarchianische Prologe zu den vier Evangelium in Texte und Untersuchungen, Vol. XV, No. I (Leipzig. 1896) ; Harnack, Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte (3rd ed., 1894–97) , tr. History of Dogma (1895–1900) . III. 14–20. ”