{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p><span class=\"smcap\">Chap. ix.</span>—14. \"This moreover,\" says he, \"Agrippinus, a\r\nman of excellent memory, with the rest, bishops with him,\r\nwho at that time governed the Church of the Lord in the\r\nprovince of Africa and Numidia, did, when by common counsel\r\nduly weighed, establish and confirm; whose sentence, being\r\nboth religious and legitimate and salutary in accordance with\r\nthe Catholic faith and Church, we also have followed.\"<a id=\"FNanchor_95_95\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_95_95\">[95]</a> By\r\nthis witness he gives sufficient proof how much more ready\r\nhe would have been to bear his testimony, had any Council\r\nbeen held to discuss this matter which either embraced the\r\nwhole Church, or at least represented our brethren beyond\r\nthe sea. But such a Council had not yet been held, because<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_46\">[Pg 46]</a></span>\r\nthe whole world was bound together by the powerful bond of\r\ncustom; and this was deemed sufficient to oppose to those who\r\nwished to introduce what was new, because they could not\r\ncomprehend the truth. Afterwards, however, while the question\r\nbecame matter for discussion and investigation amongst\r\nmany on either side, the new practice was not only invented,\r\nbut even submitted to the authority and power of a general\r\nCouncil,—after the martyrdom of Cyprian, it is true, but before\r\nwe were born.<a id=\"FNanchor_96_96\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_96_96\">[96]</a> But that this was indeed the custom of the\r\nChurch, which afterwards was confirmed by a general Council,\r\nin which the truth was brought to light, and many difficulties\r\ncleared away, is plain enough from the words of the blessed\r\nCyprian himself in that same letter to Jubaianus, which was\r\nquoted as being read in the Council.<a id=\"FNanchor_97_97\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_97_97\">[97]</a> For he says, \"But\r\nsome one asks, What then will be done in the case of those\r\nwho, coming out of heresy to the Church, have already been\r\nadmitted without baptism?\" where certainly he shows plainly\r\nenough what was usually done, though he would have wished\r\nit otherwise; and in the very fact of his quoting the Council\r\nof Agrippinus, he clearly proves that the custom of the Church\r\nwas different. Nor indeed was it requisite that he should seek\r\nto establish the practice by this Council, if it was already\r\nsanctioned by custom; and in the Council itself some of the\r\nspeakers expressly declare, in giving their opinion, that they<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_47\">[Pg 47]</a></span>\r\nwent against the custom of the Church in deciding what they\r\nthought was right. Wherefore let the Donatists consider this\r\none point, which surely none can fail to see, that if the authority\r\nof Cyprian is to be followed, it is to be followed rather in\r\nmaintaining unity than in altering the custom of the Church;\r\nbut if respect is paid to his Council, it must at any rate yield\r\nplace to the later Council of the universal Church, of which he\r\nrejoiced to be a member, often warning his associates that they\r\nshould all follow his example in upholding the coherence of\r\nthe whole body. For both later Councils are preferred among\r\nlater generations to those of earlier date; and the whole is\r\nalways, with good reason, looked upon as superior to the\r\nparts.</p>","headings":["WRITINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DONATIST CONTROVERSY.","BOOK SECOND."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45843-paragraph-88"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"818b5d5656549b6508207b09d338983f07be13230f0e72d6c26306e79f72db0c","edition_title":"Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy","edition_translators":["John Richard King"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45843-Footnote_97_97","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Title leaves identify J. R. King, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1872; catalog identifies translator John Richard King (1835-1907). Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/American Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_97_97","source_ebook":45843,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_97_97\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_97_97\"><span class=\"label\">[97]</span></a> See above, ch. ii. 3.</p></div>","source_sha256":"a7a04003f4d3c49eb73db6c5936713979fcecadd86884373a9914ac54373ac5b","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45843/pg45843-images.html#Footnote_97_97","text_sha256":"b247793e8374d0c8cd31acb26fc0025416b6a23e950a0c777cf2f8e48059b11e","verified":false,"work_id":null}