This paper explores Augustine of Hippo’s use of the Donatist’s forced re-absorption of Felicianus of Musti and his Maximianist followers to create both a conceptual microcosm against and a critique of Donatism. Since Augustine’s ‘epistulae’ often shed light on larger, more academically exhausted texts, the scope of this paper is limited to those ‘epistulae’ that were written both to and concerning the Donatists.
Although two broad themes can be found in Augustine’s use of Felicianus, space limitations guide the paper to more exhaustively study his arguments and critiques concerning baptism as a demonstration that there is a parallel depth in those arguments and critiques concerning the Church. The paper argues that Augustine uses the example of the Maximianist schism and re-absorption of Felicianus and his followers into the Donatist Church in order to critique their position by considering the implications that exist whether Felicianus had administered either a “true” or a “false” baptism during the separation. Having explored these, Augustine demonstrates the hypocrisy in their position of rebaptizing converts from the catholic Church since they did not rebaptize those who received the sacrament during the Maximianist schism. In this way, he argues, they have accepted the baptism of a small schismatic group while ignoring that of the entire world.
Augustine also uses the example of Felicianus to further his own theologies concerning baptism – specifically that the baptism of Christ is made effective because of Christ and not because of the purity of the person administering the sacrament, that baptism’s efficacy is directly tied to the right use of that baptism by the initiate, and that rebaptism is a horrible offense to the baptism of Christ.
Explored in his ‘epistulae’, the use of Felicianus of Musti as a vehicle to transport Augustine’s arguments against the Donatists is found to be a significant rhetorical tool in the developing debate between the two parties.
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