Novatian was a learned and spiritually-minded Christian who served as a presbyter in the church at Rome in the 3rd century. However, concerned with spiritual laxity in the church, he broke from the established church and helped to plant one of the first kingdom restoration movements in church history. Novatian held a strict view that refused readmission to communion of those baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed the formalities of a ritual sacrifice to the pagan gods under the pressures of the persecution sanctioned by the emperor in AD 250). After the death of Novatian, Novatianism spread rapidly and they were very numerous in some places. The Novatianist church lasted 500 years, surviving both the Great Persecution under Diocletian and the church-state hybrid begun by Constantine.
The Novatianists D. Bercot 70 Min Audio CD Learn more about the Novatianists by listening to their fascinating history.