Majorinus was the leader of a schismatic
Christianity sect in Roman North Africa known as the
Donatism.
Life
Very little is known of his early life, as
Donatist writings were mostly destroyed in the following years. What we can garner of his life and beliefs is accessed through what his enemies said against him. He had been a reader or a
lector[Robert McQueen Grant, Augustus to Constantine: The Rise and Triumph of Christianity in the Roman World (Westminster John Knox Press, 2004) p18.] in the church at
Carthage, during the time that
Caecilianus had been an
archdeacon and
Mensurius was
bishop. He seems to have also had some domestic office in the household of a Roman
Nobility Lucilla.
In 311 Majorinus was chosen as bishop of Carthage by a council of 70 bishops in Cirta led by Secundus of Tigisis.[Munier, "Cirta" in The Encyclopedia of the Early Church (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).] Secundus was the primate of Numidia and as such was meant to be consulted prior to the appointment of Caecilianus,[Shand Mark, Augustine, the Donatists and the Catholic Church] and this appointment was intended to depose Caecilianus. Caecilianus had been the understudy of the recently deceased Bishop Mensurius considered by many to be a Traditors during the Diocletianic Persecution, though Mensurius denied the charges,[Emilien Lamirande, La correspondence entre Secundus et Mensurius, in: Œuvres de Saint Augustin 32 (Bibliothèque Augustinienne) 1965, p728.] saying instead that he had hidden Christians and church property.[Timothy David Barnes, Constantine and Eusebius (Harvard University Press, 1981) p55.] The council, however, held that Mensurius was traditor and that administered by Caecilianus were thus invalid.[Munier, "Cirta" in The Encyclopedia of the Early Church (New York City: Oxford University Press, 1992).] The situation was further complicated by the fact that Caecilianus was consecrated by Felix of Aptunga, another traditor.[Katrin Kogman-Appel, Mati Meyer, Between Judaism and Christianity: Art Historical Essays in Honor of Elisheva (Elisabeth) Revel-Neher (BRILL, 2009)][ p59.] However rather than depose Caecilianus, his appointment created a 300-year-long schism in North African Christendom that would radically shape the intellectual life of Christianity.
Opponents
Virtually everything we know of Majorinus comes from his enemies,
[Allan Fitzgerald, John C. Cavadini Augustine Through the Ages: An Encyclopedia (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1999) p284.] many of whom did not hold back on their condemnation of him.
Optatus
Optatus claims that a dispute broke out between Lucilla—a woman of high rank and the deacon Caecilianus—who had reprimanded her for touching a
relic of a saint.
[Optatus On The Origins Of Donatism XVI.] The offence, he claims, had festered and at the accession to the bishopric of Caecilianus, Lucilla joined with the Council of Bishops
[Everett Ferguson, Encyclopedia of Early Christianity, Second Edition (Routledge, 8 Oct. 2013).] who Optatus called
and betrayers.
[Optatus On The Origins Of Donatism XV.] he concluded
....the Schism was brought to birth by the anger of a disgraced woman, was fed by ambition, and received its strength from avarice[Optatus On The Origins Of Donatism XIX.] He describes Majorinus:
"Majorinus, a member of the household of Lucilla----at her instigation, and through her bribes----was consecrated Bishop by Betrayers, who in the Numidian Council had (as we have already said) acknowledged their crimes and granted pardon to one another. It is, therefore, clear that both the Betrayers who consecrated, and Majorinus who was consecrated, went forth from the Church."[Optatus On The Origins Of Donatism XIX]
Eusebius
In
Church History Eusebius continues the story of the bribes.
Augustine
Augustine was scathing of Majorinus
[Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.), Roland J. Teske, John E. Rotelle Letters 1-99, Part 2, Volume 1 (New City Press, 2001) p44.] His elevation to bishop was a
Wicked Crime of
Frenzied Discord[Saint Augustine (Bishop of Hippo.), Roland J. Teske, John E. Rotelle Letters 1-99, Part 2, Volume 1 (New City Press, 2001) p158.]
For Augustine the chief evil of Majorinus was his schism with the Church. He wrote of the Donatists in an
epistle:
"It is better indeed that men should be brought to serve God by instruction than by fear of punishment or by pain. But because the former means are better, the latter must not therefore be neglected.... Many must often be brought back to their Lord, like wicked servants, by the rod of temporal suffering before they attain the highest grade of religious development....[Augustine, Letter 185.]"
Significance
Although he was the first leader of the Donatists church, a significant event in the Early African Church and resulting in the formation of doctrinal authodoxy for the
Catholic Church portion of the church, Majorinus seems to have been little more than a puppet for the
. He had been a fairly low ranking clergy thrust into the dispute that had been raging for some time. This, a lack of theological output,
[Edward L. Smither, Rethinking Constantine: History, Theology and Legacy (James Clarke & Co, 25 Sep. 2014) p65.] and the relatively short tenure of his leadership had reduced his actual impact on history.
