Where Is the Church?

Description:
Where Is the Church? Martrydom, Persecution, and Baptism in North Africa is an overview of North African Christianity from the second to the fifth century. Beginning with the African martyrs, Ronald D. Burris investigates the idea of how ""church"" was defined in North African Christianity through the understanding of water baptism, martyrdom (baptism in blood), and key theological concepts such as origo or conscientia. In addition to baptism and ecclesiology, this work investigates the social, political, and economic issues that were germane to the shaping, hardening, and eventual condemnation of those beliefs as expressed by the North African Christians, called the Donatists. Morevoer, this work seeks to explain why so many North African Christians were drawn to that group. They were drawn to the Donatists because the latter more closely represented the tradition of the early African martyrs, Tertullian, and their beloved hero and martyr, Saint Cyprian.

Endorsements:
""Remembered as the 'Donatists,' the century-long opponents of Constantine and then Augustine, the North Africans developed a rich theology of community, Holy Spirit, and martyrdom. Unimpressed by the growth of the imperial church under the patronage of the emperor, these Christians struggled to remain faithful to their own ancient tradition and life forged in conflict with Roman power. Dr. Burris sets out for us in sympathetic detail their struggles, their rich theology, and their lives. As a result we can better understand the authenticity of various forms of Christianity and the Church not only in the past, but in our present day.""
--J. Rebecca Lyman
Professor Emerita of History
Church Divinity School of the Pacific


About the Contributor(s):
Ronald D. Burris is an Associate Professor of Church History at the American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, California. Dr. Burris' scholarly interests include the major African Fathers, such as Tertullian, Cyprian, and St. Augustine; the theology and history of the Donatist Church in North Africa; and the history and theology of the first four ecumenical councils.