La identidad cristiana en el debate entre católicos y donatistas

This article presents the intense debate in which Catholics and Donatists clashed over identity. It presents the documents of both sides, in which both claimed for themselves the title of “Catholica”, because with this term, beyond the technical specifications indicated by each side, they claimed to be the only authentic Christians or, in other words, as the only authentic Church. The article points out the scriptural basis of the polemic, and how the Catholics were able to adapt their own self-representation to changing circumstances, while the Donatists remained rigidly anchored to a definition of their own that could not respond to the demands of a society in continual upheaval. The article points out how this determined the survival of the Catholics and the slow demise of the Donatists.