Abstract

This paper will examine the ecclesiological background to Augustine’s encounter with Emeritus at Caesarea in September 418. Papal business brought Augustine out to Mauretania Caesariensis, but I believe that he also regarded the long trip as his final opportunity to persuade Emeritus to embrace Catholicism. My paper will demónstrate that scholars have paid insufficient attention to several historical and ecclesiological factors that prompted Augustine to be sanguine about Emeritus’ possible conversión. Writings from Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine, Tyconius, and Possidius will anchor my arguments. Pope Zosimus’ request for Augustine to settle some ecclesiastical matters in Mauretania came at a propitious moment. The Council of 418 had just ended. Though Pelagianism had been the chief topic, the issue of forced conversions of Donatists and their integration in Catholic congregations also bulked large on the agenda. By concentrating on Pelagianism, scholars have overlooked important clues regarding the immediate background to Augustine’s mission out west. Even more importandy, I shall also address the Mauretanian Church’s long-standing aversion to rebaptism - the cornerstone of Cyprian’s and Donatas’ ecclesiology. Recent emphasis on Donatism as the authentic African Church has obscured the dissension that characterized the formative years of that sect. I shall focas on the early years of Christianity in Mauretania and on a significant Donatist council held in 336. My paper will reveal deep ecclesiological fissures within the Donatist Church almost from its inception.