Letter LXVI.
(a.d. 402.)
Addressed, Without Salutation, to
Crispinus, the Donatist Bishop of Calama.
1. You ought to have been influenced by the
fear of God; but since, in your work of rebaptizing the
Mappalians, you have
chosen to take advantage of the fear with which as man you could
inspire them, let me ask you what hinders the order of the
sovereign from being carried out in the province, when the order of
the governor of the province has been so fully enforced in a
village? If you compare the persons concerned, you are but a vassal
in possession; he is the Emperor. If you compare the positions of
both, you are in a property, he is on a throne; if you compare the
causes maintained by both, his aim is to heal division, and yours
is to rend unity in twain. But we do not bid you stand in awe of
man: though we might take steps to compel you to pay, according to
the imperial decree, ten pounds of gold as the penalty of your
outrage. Perhaps you might be unable to pay the fine imposed upon
those who rebaptize members of the Church, having been involved in
so much expense in buying people whom you might compel to submit to
the rite. But, as I have said, we do not bid you be afraid of man: rather let Christ fill you with fear. I should like to know what answer you could give Him, if He said to you: “Crispinus, was it a great price which you paid in order to buy the fear of the Mappalian peasantry; and does My death, the price paid by Me to purchase the love of all nations, seem little in your eyes? Was the money which was counted out from your purse in acquiring these serfs in order to their being rebaptized, a more costly sacrifice than the blood which flowed from My side in redeeming the nations in order to their being baptized?” I know that, if you would listen to Christ, you might hear many more such appeals, and might, even by the possession which you have obtained, be warned how impious are the things which you have spoken against Christ. For if you think that your title to hold what you have bought with money is sure by human law, how much more sure, by divine law, is Christ’s title to that which He hath bought with His own blood! And it is true that He of whom it is written, “He shall have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth,” shall hold with invincible might all which He has purchased; but how can you expect with any assurance to retain that which you think you have made your own by purchase in Africa, when you affirm that Christ has lost the whole world, and been left with Africa alone as His portion?
2. But why multiply words? If these Mappalians have
passed of their own free will into your communion, let them hear
both you and me on the question which divides us,—the words of
each of us being written down, and translated into the Punic tongue
after having been attested by our signatures; and then, all
pressure through fear of their superior being removed, let these
vassals choose what they please. For by the things which we shall
say it will be made manifest whether they remain in error under
coercion, or hold what they believe to be truth with their own
consent. They either understand these matters, or they do not: if
they do not, how could you dare to transfer them in their ignorance
to your communion? and if they do, let them, as I have said, hear
both sides, and act freely for themselves. If there be any
communities that have passed over from you to us, which you believe
to have yielded to the pressure of their superiors, let the same be
done in their case; let them hear both sides, and choose for
themselves. Now, if you reject this proposal, who can fail to be
convinced that your reliance is not upon the force of truth? But
you ought to beware of the wrath of God both here and hereafter. I adjure
you by Christ to give a reply to what I have written.