Novatian

Novatian (d. ca. 258 AD) was a learned Roman presbyter and early Latin theologian, renowned for his treatise De Trinitate, but condemned by the Church for his schismatic rigorism. Trained in classical literature and Christian doctrine, he rose to prominence during the mid-third century. Amidst the Decian persecution (c. 250), Novatian took a hardline stance against the readmission of the “lapsed”—those who had denied Christ under threat of death. He taught that the Church had no authority to absolve such grave sin, reserving forgiveness solely to God’s final judgment. This denial of post-baptismal absolution became the heart of what was later deemed the “Novatianist heresy.” When Cornelius was elected bishop of Rome in 251, Novatian, opposing the Church's leniency, allowed himself to be consecrated antipope by three rural bishops. Though doctrinally orthodox in his Trinitarian theology—affirming the full divinity of Christ and rejecting modalism—his refusal to submit to the Church’s sacramental authority led to his excommunication. His sect, the Novatianists, endured for centuries, promoting a purist ecclesiology and harsh penitential discipline. Despite his schism, Novatian’s De Trinitate remains a monument of early Latin theology. It defends the eternal Sonship and divinity of Christ against modalist errors, though his subordinationist language at times lacks the precision of later Nicene orthodoxy. Still, his theology was not condemned—his ecclesiastical separatism was. Thus, Novatian stands as a cautionary figure: a defender of doctrinal truth, yet one who fractured the unity of the Church in pursuit of rigor.

Novatian (d. ca. 258 AD) was a learned Roman presbyter and early Latin theologian, renowned for his treatise De Trinitate, but condemned by the Church for his schismatic rigorism. Trained in classical literature and Christian doctrine, he rose to prominence during the mid-third century. Amidst the Decian persecution (c. 250), Novatian took a hardline stance against the readmission of the “lapsed”—those who had denied Christ under threat of death. He taught that the Church had no authority to absolve such grave sin, reserving forgiveness solely to God’s final judgment. This denial of post-baptismal absolution became the heart of what was later deemed the “Novatianist heresy.” When Cornelius was elected bishop of Rome in 251, Novatian, opposing the Church's leniency, allowed himself to be consecrated antipope by three rural bishops. Though doctrinally orthodox in his Trinitarian theology—affirming the full divinity of Christ and rejecting modalism—his refusal to submit to the Church’s sacramental authority led to his excommunication. His sect, the Novatianists, endured for centuries, promoting a purist ecclesiology and harsh penitential discipline. Despite his schism, Novatian’s De Trinitate remains a monument of early Latin theology. It defends the eternal Sonship and divinity of Christ against modalist errors, though his subordinationist language at times lacks the precision of later Nicene orthodoxy. Still, his theology was not condemned—his ecclesiastical separatism was. Thus, Novatian stands as a cautionary figure: a defender of doctrinal truth, yet one who fractured the unity of the Church in pursuit of rigor.

On the Trinity:

Novatianus of Rome (c. 258) on the Trinity