Abelians (Latin: Abelonii; also Abelites,[1] Abeloites or Abelonians) were a Christian sect that emerged in the 4th century in the countryside near Hippo Regius in north Africa during the reign of Arcadius.
[2] 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.
[1] According to Augustine, the sect became extinct in 428 when its last members converted to Catholicism.
[1] This article incorporates text from the 1771 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.