Letter 39

From: Braulio of Zaragoza, bishop To: [Recipient unknown] Date: ~642 AD Context: Letter 39 of Braulio of Zaragoza; on the threat posed by Islamic expansion to North Africa and its implications for the church in Spain. To my brother bishop, News from across the straits continues to be disturbing. The speed of the Arab advance through North Africa — which seemed impossible when first reported and which has proven to be entirely real — raises questions that I do not think we have fully reckoned with. The church in North Africa was one of the great churches of the Latin world. Augustine's Hippo, Tertullian's Carthage, Cyprian's church — these were not minor provincial outposts. They were at the center of Christian theological development for centuries. And now, in the space of a generation, that world is being transformed in ways that we are still struggling to understand. I do not think this is something we in Spain can ignore simply because the sea is between us. We have already received refugees from the eastern provinces — clergy who have fled, laypeople who have lost everything, monks looking for new communities. We should receive them generously. Their knowledge of the church in North Africa and the East is irreplaceable, and we need it. I also think — though this is harder to say — that we need to think carefully about what we believe about the relationship between the Church and political protection. Many Christians assumed that Christian emperors meant Christian civilization in perpetuity. The events of the last century should have disabused us of this notion. Your brother in the faith, Braulio