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The Church Fathers · c. 366–384
Against the Donatists
Optatus of Milevis
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What it is
An argument that the North African schismatics have separated from a church that is catholic by definition, and that the validity of a sacrament does not depend on the holiness of the minister.
Why it lasted
The position Augustine would develop into the settled Western doctrine of the sacraments, stated here first.
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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