Secundus of Tigisis

Secundus of Tigisis was an early church leader and Primate[1] of Numidia. He was a leading organiser of the early Donatist movement in Carthage.

Biography

We know very little of the early life of Secundus. He was certainly in Numidia during the Persecution of Diocletion, and was a bishop of Tigisis.

Meeting of 305AD

On March 5 (or May 8), 305 a group of 11-12 Bishops met in the house of one Urbanus in the town of Cirta to elect a new Bishop for that town. They elected Secundus as primate, but not without controversy. Secundus asked the others assembled whether they had been Traditors during the persecution? Nearly all at once confess that they were guilty. One bishop Purpurius of Limata accused Secundus of capitulation during the Persecution of Diocletion[2][3] He refused to back down.[4] Secundus accused Purpurius of murder,[5] which he admitted but countered this charge with accusation that Secundus had been a traditor. That Council appointed Silvanus, a confessed traditor as Bishop of Cirta, and decided to not make inquiry of the matter any further.

At that meeting we know of Secundus of Tigisis, Donatus of Mascula; Marinus of Aquae Tibilitanae, Donatus of Calama, Purpurius of Limata, Victor of Garbis, Felix of Rotarium, Nabor of Centurio and Secundus the younger. Of these Silvanus was latter found by Roman Civil court under a Consul Zenophilus to be guilty of being a traditor and a thief. Other accusations against the these men included book burning and offering incense.[6]

Following this meeting, Mensurius of Carthage, as Bishop of the Metropolis writes to Secundus to explain his action during the persecution, saying he had only handed over heretica works in the persecution.[7] Mensurius explained that he had himself had taken the texts from the church to his own house, and had substituted them for a number of heretical writings, which the authorities had seized without asking for more. But the proconsul, when informed of the deception refused to search the bishop's private house.

Secundus, in his reply, without blaming Mensurius, somewhat pointedly praised the martyrs who in his own province had been tortured and put to death for refusing to deliver up the Scriptures and that he himself had replied to the officials who came to search: "I am a Christian and a bishop, not a traditor."


Meeting of 311AD

In 311AD Mensurius, bishop of Carthage died and Caecilian, deacon of Mensurius was appointed by and consecrated by Felix of Aptungi, Secundus presided over a rival Council of 70 Numidian Bishops who elected Majorinus and consecrated him.[8] Majorinus died in 315AD and was succeeded by Donatus who acted as Bishop of Carthage for 40 years.[9][10]

The Donatists held that Mensurius and Caecilian were both traditor and additionally that sacraments administered by heretics are invalid. Therefore, Caecilians' consecration by Felix of Aptungi was invalid. This was to some extent problematic, as Silvanus was one of the early Donatists was a confessed Traditor. The Roman civil courts latter held Felix of Aptunga was not a traditor.

The Donatis faction appealed to the emperor who referred to the case to pope Melchiades. The pope held a hearing with 19 other bishops as tribunal. Both Cecilian[11] and Donatus appeared with a delegation of 11 each. The decision of the tribunal favored Cecilian and Donatus appealed to the Emperor again who convened the Synod of Arles.

Assessment

Secundus has been described as having intemperate zeal.[12] He was certainly of the Rigorist party and it is probable that the seeds of schism were sown in both Secundus and Donatus during the last days of the great Persecution and it is likely that he would not have supported any candidate from Mensuirus more moderate grouping,[13] irrespective of who they were.

One of the difficulties with assessing Secundus, is that we have virtually no writings from the Rigourist factions themselves, and can only make presumptions from what their enemies (often writing decades later) say regarding them. It is also difficult to determine, from this vantage point, to what extent the various civil court hearings were transparent and impartial.


References

  1. ↑ Letters of Augustine, Letter LIII:2:4. (400AD)
  2. ↑ Optatus i. 14
  3. ↑ Augustin. Ep. 43. 6).
  4. ↑ Mark Edwards, Saint Optatus (Bishop of Mileve), (Liverpool University Press, 1997) 14.
  5. ↑ Fortescue, Adrian. (2013). Donatism. London: Forgotten Books. pp. 2-3. (Original work published 1917).
  6. ↑ A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines.
  7. ↑ Emilien Lamirande, La correspondence entre Secundus et Mensurius, in: Œuvres de Saint Augustin 32 (Bibliothèque Augustinienne) 1965, p728.
  8. ↑ Munier, “Cirta” in The Encyclopedia of the Early Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).
  9. ↑ Phillip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Volume III: Nicene and Post-Nicene Christianity. A.D. 311-600. (CCEL, 1889)
  10. ↑ Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger, A history of the church, Volume 2 (C. Dolman, 1840), p 97.
  11. ↑ Caecilian (2).
  12. ↑ Fortescue, Adrian. (2013). Donatism. London: Forgotten Books. pp. 2-3. (Original work published 1917).
  13. ↑ The Contours of Donatism: Theological and Ideological Diversity in Fourth Century North Africa (ProQuest, 2008) p56.
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