NOVATIANUS, the founder of the sect of the Novatians, was, according to Philostorgius, a native of Phrygia,
and was born about the beginning of the third century. The religious intolerance of his opponents has falsified his life, and has represented him as little else than a hypocritical time-server. But the account which is most consistent with the growth of his peculiar opinions is the following:—His conversion took place after an intense mental struggle, and he was baptized when he was lying on a sick-bed, in hourly expectation of death. On his recovery, his religious sentiments retained a tinge of that gloom under which they had sprung into life. Admitted into the priesthood, he devoted himself to the severe theological studies and the ascetic penances of the cloister. It is not surprising, then, that his spirit was shocked at the easy terms on which those who had relapsed into idolatry during the Decian persecutions were re-admitted into ecclesiastical communion. He began to maintain boldly that the church had no warrant from Scripture to pardon the sins of those who, after their baptism, had sacrificed to idols: that her sole duty in this case was to exhort them to repentance, and to commend them to the mercy of God. The learning, eloquence, and virtuous life of the new reformer soon drew a party around him. Among others, Novatus, a Carthaginian priest, joined the dissentients, and by his hot-headed zeal speedily hurried the controversy into an open schism. Advantage was taken of the martyrdom of Fabianus, Bishop of Rome, in 250, to disown the authority of Cornelius, the successor to the vacant see, and to set up Novatianus as his rival. The result was, that at a council convened at Rome in 251, the Novatians and their leader were excommunicated. Thus compelled to organize a new sect, the heresiarch set himself to develop his peculiar opinions. The following became the distinguishing tenets of his creed:—(1.) That not only sacrificing to idols, but all mortal sins, such as adultery and temporizing in any way with idolatry, ought to debar backsliders from re-admission into the church. (2.) That if this regulation were not maintained, the church would become defiled, and would no longer be (as it ought to be) a community of believers who had never fallen since their baptism into any other than venial offences. This testimony Novatianus is said to have sealed with his blood. After his death, his followers, in spite of much persecution, rapidly increased and spread themselves over Christendom. They continued to vindicate their right to be considered the true church, by calling themselves καθαραι (Puritans), and by re-baptizing all proselytes from other Christian sects. However, they did not maintain their existence as a separate sect for much longer than two centuries.
Of the several works in which Novatianus displayed his methodical reasoning, his pure and elegant diction, and his animated style, three authenticated writings alone remain. These are a letter written in the name of the Roman clergy to Cyprian in 250, and two treatises entitled respectively De Trinitate, and De Cibus Judaicis. They have been published collectively by Welchman, 8vo, Oxford, 1724, and by Jackson, 8vo, London, 1728. The two treatises are also generally found in the editions of Tertullian.