The career of Novatian after the termination of his struggle with Cornelius is unknown; but we arc told by Socrates {[list. En-ks. iv, 28) that he suffered death under Valerian ; and from Pacianus, who flourished in the middle of the 4th century, we learn that the Nova- tians boasted that their founder was a martyr. Nova- tian's distinguishing tenet was the absolute rejection of the efficacy of repentance, and he therefore denied that forgiveness could be granted to any sin. whether small or great; and upon this ground communion was
refused to offenders. Socrates {Hist. Eccles. iv, 28) rep- resents that Novatian would not admit that the Church had power to forgive and grant participation in her mysteries to great offenders, but that at the same time he exhorted them to repentance, and referred their case directly to the decision of God — views which were likely to be extremely obnoxious to the orthodox priesthood, and might very readily be exaggerated and perverted by the intolerance of his own followers, who, full of spiritual pride, arrogated to themselves the title of Kn3-apo(', or Puritans — an epithet caught up and echoed in scorn by their antagonists. It is necessary to re- mark that the individual who first proclaimed such doctrine was not Novatian himself, but an African pres- byter under Cj'prian named Novatus, who took a most active share in the disorders which followed the eleva- tion of Cornelius. See Novatus.
The following is the account of Novatian given by the late Mr. Robinson in his Eccles. Res. p. 12G. "He was," he says, " an elder in the Church of Rome ; a man of extensive learning, holding the same doctrine as the Church did, and published several treatises in defence of what he believed. His address was eloquent and insinuating, and his morals irrejiroachable. He saw with extreme pain the intolerable depravity of the Church. Christians within the space of a very few years were caressed by one emperor and persecuted by another. In seasons of prosperity many persons rushed into the Church for base purposes. In times of adver- sity thej- denied the faith, and reverted again to idola- try. "When the squall was over, they came again to the Church, with all their vices, to deprave otliers by their example. The bishops, fond of proselytes, encouraged all this, and transferred the attention of Christians to vain shows at Easter, and other Jewish ceremonies, adulterated too with paganism. On the death of bishop Fabian, Cornelius, a brother elder, and a vio- lent partisan for taking iu the multitude, was just ia nomination. Novatian opposed him ; but as Cornelius carried his election, and he saw no prospect of reforma-. tion, but. on the contrary, a tide of immorality pouring into the Church, he withdrew, and a great many with him. Cornelius, irritated by Cyprian, who was just iu the same condition, through the remonstrance of virtu-, ous men at Carthage, and who was exasperated beyond measure with one of his own elders, named Novatus, who had quit Carthage and gone to Rome to espouse the cause of Novatian, called a council, and got a sen- tence of excommunication passed against Novatian. In the end Novatian formed a Church, and was elected bishop. Great numbers followed his example, and aU. over the empire Puritan churches were constituted, and flourished through the succeeding two hundred years. Afterwards, when penal laws obliged them to lurk in corners and worship God in private, they were dis- tinguished by a variety of names, and a succession of them continued till the Reformation.'''' See Waldenses and Mennonites. The same author, afterwards ad- verting to the vile calumnies with which the Catholic writers have in all ages delighted to asperse the char- acter of Novatian, thus proceeds to vindicate him: "They say Novatian was the first anti-pope, and yet there was at that time no po|:)e in the modern sense of the word. They charge Novatian with being the parent of an innumerable multitude of congregations of Puri- tans all over the empire, and yet he had no other influ- ence over any than what his good example gave him. People everywhere saw the same cause of complaint, and groaned for relief; and when one man made a stand for virtue, the crisis liad arrived ; peo])lc saw the propriety of the cure, and applied the same means to their own relief. They blame this man and all the churches for the severity of their discipline, yet this severe discipline was the only coercion of the primitive churches, and it was the exercise of this that rendered civil coercion unnecessary."
Jerome informs us that Novatian composed treatises
I
NOYATIANS
211
NOVATIANS
De Pascha ; De Circumcisione ; Be Sacerdote; Be Sah- bato ; Be Orativne ; Be Cibis Judaicis ; Be Instuntutia ; Be Attalo; and many others, together with a large volume, Be Trinitate, exhibiting in compressed form the opinions of Tertullian on this mystery. Of all these, the following only are now known to exist : 1. Be Trinitate s. Be Refjida Fidei, ascribed by some to Tertullian, by others to Cj'prian, and inserted in many editions of their works. That it cannot belong to Tertullian is sufficiently proved by the style and by the mention made of the Sabellians, who did not exist in his time; while Jerome expressly declares that the volume Be Trinitate was not the production of C3'prian, but of Novatian. The piece, however, does not alto- gether answer his description, since it cannot be re- garded as a mere transcript of the opinions of Tertul- lian, but is an independent exposition of the orthodox doctrine, ver}' di.-<tinctlj' embodied in pure language and animated style : — "2. Be Cibis Judaicis, written at the request of the Roman laity at a period when the author had apparently withdrawn from the fury of the Decian persecution (A.D. 249-257), probably towards the close of A.D. 250. If composed under these cir- cumstances, as maintained by Jackson, it refutes in a most satisfactory' manner the charges brought by Cor- nelius in reference to the conduct of Novatian at this epoch. The author denies that the Mosaic ordinances with regard to meats are binding upon Christians, but strongly recommends moderation and strict abstinence from flesh offered to idols: — 3. Epistola;, two letters, of which the first is certainly genuine, written A.D. 250, in the name of the Roman clergy to Cyprian, when a vacancy occurred in the papal see in consequence of the martyrdom of Fabian on Feb. 13, A.D. 250. The best editions of the collected works of Novatian are those of Welchman (Oxon. 1724, 8vo) and of Jackson (Lond. 1728, 8vo). The latter is in every respect superior, presenting us with an excellent text, very useful pro- legomena, notes, and indices. Tlie tracts Be Trinitate and Be Cibis Judaicis will be found in almost all edi- tions of Tertullian, from the Parisian impression of 1545 downwards. The work recently discovered in one of the monasteries of Mount Athos, and published by Mr. Jliller at Oxford in 1851, under the title of Origenis Philosojikumena, is by some ascribed to Novatian. See Jerome, Be Viiis III. 10; Philostorgius, Hist. Eccles. viii, 15; Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. iv, 43; Pacian, Ep. 3; Ambrosius, Be Pan. iii, 3 ; Cyprian, Ej)isf. 44, 45, 49, 50, 55, 68 ; Socrates, llist. Eccles. iv, 28 ; v, 22, and notes of Valesius; Sozomen, Hist. Eccles. vi, 24; Lardner, Credi- hility of Gospel History, cxlvii; Schonemann, Bibli- otheca Patrum Lat. vol. i, § 5 ; Biihr, Geschichte der Rom. Literatur, suppl. pt. ii, § 23, 24. With regar<l to Novatus, see Cyprian, Ep. 52 ; Pluquet, Bict. des heresies ; Fantin Desodoards, Bict. raisonne du (jnuvernement, des his, et des usages de VE'jlise, iv, 537 ; Perennes, Bict. de Bio- graphie Chretienne et anti-Chretienne ; Alletz, Hist, des Papes, i, 41; Fleury, Hist. Eccles. ii, 219; Leclerc, Bib- liot/i. univ. et histor. ann. 1689, p. 274 ; Langlet Dufres- noy, Tablettes chronologiques, ii, 321 ; Migne, Xouv. En- cgrl. Theologique, iii, 120. See also the literature ap- pended to the article Novatians.