Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The doctrines of the Donatists.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Eccl. Hist.) The tenets of the Donatists.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Christianity An early Christian belief which maintained that apostate priests were incapable of administering the sacraments, as opposed to the orthodox view that any sacrament administered by a properly ordained priest or bishop is valid, regardless of how sinful he is or if he has converted to another religion.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a schismatic Christian religion in northern Africa from the 4th to the 7th century; held that only those who led a blameless life belonged in the church or could administer the sacraments

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Eponym, Donatus Magnus + -ism

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Examples

  • "donatism," or a constant expression of the theological or pastoral reality of Matthew 25.

    Catholic Sensibility 2008

Comments

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  • Eventually gave way to donutism where only those who espoused the Gospel of Fried Goodness were allowed to administer the sacrements.

    October 15, 2008

  • *wants to join the donutism sect*

    October 16, 2008

  • Walk this way.

    Actually, that's just the first of quite a lot of Google results for donutism.

    October 16, 2008

  • I've found my people.

    Wait...is there a sect for chocolate-covered pretzel worshipers? (The pretzels are covered in chocolate, not the worshipers.)

    October 16, 2008

  • Ha, and I thought I was piffling again! I love it when life imitates piffle :-)

    October 16, 2008

  • This word always reminds me of my grandfather, whose name was Donato.

    October 16, 2008

  • That wouldn't be a bad act to follow, would it? :-)

    October 16, 2008