“And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” (Revelation 1:13)

Augustine’s North African Church was troubled by a division, which had its roots in the Diocletian persecution almost a century earlier. During this turbulent era there was a reaction against Christian leaders who surrendered the Scriptures or otherwise compromised their faith in order to preserve life and property. The movement eventually became associated with Donatus, from whom it received its name.

The Donatists contended for the purity of the Church, developing a principle which would shake the western Church a thousand years later. Their dispute eventually reached the Bishop of Rome and later imperial councils. These appeals illustrate the growing influence of the Roman see, although the fully developed medieval papacy was still centuries away. Nevertheless the arguments of the Donatists were rejected by the wider Church. In many parts of North Africa the Donatists eventually outnumbered the Catholic congregations.

Augustine, therefore at the beginning of his ministry belonged to the minority grouping. To differentiate himself from the Donatists he described himself as belonging to the Catholic Church. He argued that the Church crossing national frontiers must be one body. Therefore the Donatists were not truly the Church, they were a schismatic body. Furthermore, the morality or faithfulness of the officiating clergy was of little relevance. Christ, not the minister, is the true giver of the sacrament. Therefore the validity of the sacraments depended upon Christ, not upon the personal holiness of the minister. He recognised the contention for a pure church to be illogical as the individuals and characters within the Church would always be flawed. It is the unity and doctrine of the Church which must be protected.

The consequences of these arguments would reach far beyond Augustine’s own lifetime. While Augustine defended the unity of the Church and the purity of its doctrine, his arguments also helped provide a theological framework upon which later claims of Roman ecclesiastical authority would be built.

The Protestant Reformers embraced Augustine’s teaching on grace while challenging his understanding of the visible Church. They argued that separation from Rome became necessary when the Church itself departed from biblical truth.

But would Augustine have recognised the Church which Luther and Calvin left? – Probably not. Yet neither would Luther or Calvin have recognised the fourth-century Church as identical with the medieval papacy they opposed.

Ultimately let us remember, and in this Augustine and the Protestant reformers would have agreed – the Church is not about personalities and leaders but Christ. It is He who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks and who must be in the midst. But the same Christ can remove a candlestick from its place; a solemn thought worthy of reflection as we pray.

“O make Thy church, dear Saviour,
A lamp of burnished gold,
To bear before the nations,
Thy true light as of old”
Charles Wesley