Also known as Abelonians or Abelians. Sect in North Africa, which claimed that Adam's son, Abel, though married, observed continence because there is no mention of his children in Scripture. They condemned marriage, considering it a means of perpetuating original sin, but each couple adopted a boy and a girl who inherited the property of their foster-parents on condition of living together in like manner in mature life. They were probably the remnant of a Gnostic sect, tinged perhaps by Manichean influences.
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