Against Novatian

Contents

1. 1The anonymous bishop, troubled over the lapsed who have long been doing penance, attacks Novatian, who refuses them any hope of reconciliation and has separated from the church.
2. 2Novatian's schism is poverty, not wealth; like Noah's ark, the one church holds clean and unclean alike, and the raven that never returned figures the apostates, while the returning dove figures those who come back.
3. 3The dove sent out three times from the ark first figures the Spirit and the church's baptism in the name of the Trinity.
4. 4The second meaning of the dove belongs to the time of the flood, sent because of human wickedness.
5. 5The ark figures the church and the flood the recent persecution; the dove that found no rest figures the lapsed who fell.
6. 6The dove's second, successful flight with the olive leaf figures the lapsed of the Decian persecution who, received back into the church, stood firm as martyrs in the next persecution.
7. 7The Novatianists refuse penance to the lapsed on the basis of Christ's saying about denial, usurping the judgment that belongs to Christ alone.
8. 8Christ's warning that he will deny those who deny him refers to the last judgment; during his life he did not reject Peter after his denial but comforted him.
9. 9Novatian reads only the severe texts and ignores the prophets' calls to repentance and their promises of mercy.
10. 10Psalm 89, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah show that God punishes his people's sins but does not withdraw his mercy, and restores those who repent.
11. 11The sinful woman who wept at Jesus' feet received forgiveness, showing that the Lord receives penitents.
12. 12God showed mercy to Nineveh and even to Pharaoh, so Novatian has no right to judge the lapsed hopeless, as Paul and Micah warn.
13. 13Scripture warns against pride and judging others; Novatian, once compassionate, now drives the lapsed back to paganism, though Christ in Revelation calls even sinful churches to repent.
14. 14Novatian once taught that grave sins could be blotted out by good deeds, yet now refuses healing to the lapsed, like Saul and Judas and the false shepherds rebuked by Zechariah and Ezekiel.
15. 15The parables of the lost sheep and the lost coin show heaven's joy over a repentant sinner, while the Galileans and the tower of Siloam warn the unrepentant.
16. 16The faithful should wake up, seek what they have lost, and confess their sins before the impartial Judge who is coming with his angels.
17. 17Daniel's vision of the Ancient of Days and John's visions of the sixth seal and the great white throne describe the coming judgment.
18. 18The faithful are urged to confess and do penance while the way to forgiveness is open, trusting the God who blots out sins; the text breaks off.