Optatus by Mileve

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Representation of the Optatus of Mileve by Jacques Callot in the 17th century

Optatus von Mileve ( Latin Optatus Milevitanus ; † before 400) was Bishop of Mileve in Numidia , today Mila in Algeria.

He wrote a work in seven books, the title of which has been lost, against the attacks of the Donatist bishop Parmenianus, it is therefore today under the title De schismate Donatistarum adversus Parmeniarum . According to the plan of the work set out in Book 1, it should consist of six books, the seventh book seems to be an appendix. In it he explains, among other things, that, contrary to Donatist opinion, the baptism of schismatics and traditores is also valid, and he rejects rebaptism : the correct appointment of the priest is decisive for the validity of a sacrament , not his personal worthiness. His goal of bringing about a reconciliation between the Donatists and the “Catholic” Church, he did not achieve.

His work had an influence on the sacraments of Augustine . His remarks on the relationship between state and church are also important: If Donatus had polemically asked what the emperor actually had to do with the church (“Quid est imperatori cum ecclesia?”), Optatus stated that the church was subordinate to the Roman Empire , in which it is - not the other way around ("Non enim res publica est in ecclesia, sed ecclesia est in re publica, id est imperio Romano", opt. 3, 3). Both positions would play an important role in the centuries that followed.

Five sermons are also ascribed to Optatus , of which only one is real, namely a Christmas sermon .

He is a saint of the Catholic Church with the feast day June 4th .

expenditure

  • Louis Ellies Dupin (ed.): Sancti Optati Afri Milevitani episcopi De schismate donatistarum libri septem: ad manuscriptos codices et veteres editiones collati et innumeris in locis emendati; quibus accessere historia Donatistarum una cum monumentis veteribus ad eam spectandibus. 3rd edition. Pralard, Paris 1702, online
  • Oliver Rodie Vassall-Phillips: The work of St. Optatus, bishop of Milevis, against the Donatists. Longmans, Green, London 1917 online .
  • Optatus von Mileve: Contra Parmenianum Donatistam - Against the Donatist Parmenianus . Latin and German. Introduced and translated by Hermann-Josef Sieben (= Fontes Christiani , vol. 56). Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-451-30958-8 .

literature

Web links

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