Abelians (Latin: Abelonii; also Abelites,[1] Abelonites, Abelonians, or Abenonitae[2]) were a Christian sect that emerged in the 4th century in the countryside near Hippo Regius in north Africa during the reign of Arcadius.[3][1] They lived in continence as they affirmed Abel did. They were required to be married but were forbidden to consummate the marriage. Each couple was required to adopt two children, a boy and a girl.[3] When their adoptive parents died, these adoptees would then form a couple and adopt further two children.[1] Because no children of Abel are mentioned in Scripture, the Abelians assumed that he had none.[3] This view was influenced by Jewish, and Manichean-inspired Gnostic perspectives on Abel that recognized that, while he was married, he remained a virgin.[1] The only record of the sect is in Augustine of Hippo's De Haereticis ch. 87,[3] where he writes that the name of the sect is probably of Punic origin.[1] According to Augustine, the sect became extinct in 428 when its last members converted to Catholicism.[1]
References
- Cocchini, F. (2014). "Abelites". In Di Berardino, Angelo (ed.). Encyclopedia of Ancient Christianity. Downers Grove: IVP Academic. p. 1:8. ISBN 978-0-8308-9717-9.
- Blunt, John Henry (1874). Dictionary of sects, heresies, ecclesiastical parties, and schools of religious thought. p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2026.
- Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, 1957; p. 4
This article incorporates text from the 1771 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.