Abelians

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]