St. Cyprian of Carthage

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(Thaschus Cæcilius Cyprianus).

Bishop andmartyr. Of thedate of thesaint's birth and of his early life nothing isknown. At the time of hisconversion toChristianity he had, perhaps, passed middle life. He was famous as an orator and pleader, had considerable wealth, and held, no doubt, a great position in themetropolis of Africa. We learn from hisdeacon, St. Pontius, whose life of thesaint is preserved, that his mien was dignified without severity, and cheerful without effusiveness. His gift of eloquence is evident in his writings. He was not a thinker, aphilosopher, atheologian, but eminently a man of the world and an administrator, of vast energies, and of forcible and striking character. His conversion was due to an agedpriest named Caecilianus, with whom he seems to have gone to live. Caecilianus in dying commended to Cyprian the care of his wife andfamily. While yet acatechumen thesaint decided to observe chastity, and he gave most of his revenues to the poor. He sold hisproperty, including his gardens at Carthage. These were restored to him (Dei indulgentiâ restituti, says Pontius), being apparently bought back for him by his friends; but he would have sold them again, had thepersecution made this imprudent. Hisbaptism probably took place c. 246, presumably onEaster eve, 18 April.

Cyprian's firstChristian writing is "Ad Donatum", a monologue spoken to a friend, sitting under a vine-clad pergola. He tells how, until thegrace of God illuminated and strengthened the convert, it had seemed impossible to conquer vice; the decay of Romansociety is pictured, the gladiatorial shows, the theatre, theunjust law-courts, the hollowness of political success; the only refuge is the temperate, studious, andprayerful life of theChristian. At the beginning should probably be placed the few words of Donatus to Cyprian which are printed by Hartel as a spurious letter. The style of this pamphlet is affected and reminds us of the bombastic unintelligibility of Pontius. It is not likeTertullian, brilliant, barbarous, uncouth, but it reflects the preciosity which Apuleius made fashionable inAfrica. In his other works Cyprian addresses aChristian audience; his own fervour is allowed full play, his style becomes simpler, though forcible, and sometimes poetical, not to say flowery. Without being classical, it is correct for its date, and the cadences of the sentences are in strict rhythm in all his more careful writings. On the whole his beauty of style has rarely been equalled among theLatinFathers, and never surpassed except by the matchless energy and wit ofSt. Jerome.

Another work of his early days was the "Testimonia ad Quirinum", in two books. It consists of passages of Scripture arranged under headings to illustrate the passing away of theOld Law and its fulfillment in Christ. A third book, added later, contains texts dealing withChristian ethics. This work is of the greatest value for the history of the Old Latin version of theBible. It gives us an African text closely related to that of the Bobbiomanuscript known ask (Turin). Hartel's edition has taken the text from amanuscript which exhibits a revised version, but what Cyprian wrote can be fairly well restored from themanuscript cited in Hartel's notes as L. Another book of excerpts onmartyrdom is entitled "Ad Fortunatum"; its text cannot be judged in any printed edition. Cyprian was certainly only a recent convert when he becameBishop ofCarthage c. 248 or the beginning of 249, but he passed through all the grades of the ministry. He had declined the charge, but was constrained by the people. A minority opposed his election, including fivepriests, who remained his enemies; but he tells us that he was validly elected "after the Divine judgment, the vote of the people and the consent of thebishops".

The Decian persecution

The prosperity of theChurch during a peace of thirty-eight years had produced great disorders. Many even of thebishops were given up to worldliness and gain, and we hear of worsescandals. In October, 249,Decius became emperor with theambition of restoring the ancient virtue ofRome. In January, 250, he published an edict againstChristians. Bishops were to beput to death, otherpersons to be punished and tortured till they recanted. On 20 JanuaryPope Fabian wasmartyred, and about the same time St. Cyprian retired to a safe place of hiding. His enemies continually reproached him with this. But to remain at Carthage was to court death, to cause greater danger to others, and to leave theChurch without government; for to elect a newbishop would have been as impossible as it was atRome. He made over muchproperty to a confessorpriest, Rogatian, for the needy. Some of theclergy lapsed, others fled; Cyprian suspended their pay, for their ministrations were needed and they were in less danger than thebishop. From his retreat he encouraged the confessors and wrote eloquent panegyrics on themartyrs. Fifteen soon died inprison and one in the mines. On the arrival of the proconsul in April the severity of thepersecution increased. St. Mappalicus died gloriously on the 17th. Children were tortured,women dishonoured. Numidicus, who had encouraged many, saw his wife burnt alive, and was himself half burnt, then stoned and left for dead; his daughter found him yet living; he recovered and Cyprian made him apriest. Some, after being twice tortured, were dismissed or banished, often beggared.

But there was another side to the picture. AtRome terrifiedChristians rushed to thetemples to sacrifice. At Carthage the majorityapostatized. Some would not sacrifice, but purchasedlibelli, or certificates, that they had done so. Some bought the exemption of theirfamily at the price of their ownsin. Of theselibellatici there were several thousands inCarthage. Of the fallen some did not repent, others joined theheretics, but most of them clamoured for forgiveness and restoration. Some, who had sacrificed under torture, returned to be tortured afresh. Castus and Æmilius were burnt for recanting, others were exiled; but such cases were necessarily rare. A few began to perform canonical penance. The first to suffer atRome had been a young Carthaginian, Celerinus. He recovered, and Cyprian made him alector. His grandmother and two uncles had beenmartyrs, but his two sistersapostatized under fear of torture, and in their repentance gave themselves to the service of those inprison. Their brother was very urgent for their restoration. His letter fromRome to Lucian, a confessor atCarthage, is extant, with the reply of the latter. Lucian obtained from amartyr named Paul before his passion a commission to grant peace to any who asked for it, and he distributed these "indulgences" with a vague formula: "Let such a one with hisfamily communicate".Tertullian speaks in 197 of the "custom" for those who were not at peace with theChurch to beg this peace from themartyrs. Much later, in hisMontanist days (c. 220) he urges that the adulterers whom Pope Callistus was ready to forgive after due penance, would now get restored by merely imploring the confessors and those in the mines. Correspondingly we find Lucian issuing pardons in the name of confessors who were still alive, a manifest abuse. The heroic Mappalicus had only interceded for his own sister and mother. It seemed now as if no penance was to be enforced upon the lapsed, and Cyprian wrote to remonstrate.

Meanwhile official news had arrived fromRome of the death of Pope Fabian, together with an unsigned and ungrammatical letter to theclergy of Carthage from some of the Romanclergy, implying blame to Cyprian for the desertion of his flock, and giving advice as to the treatment of the lapsed. Cyprian explained his conduct (Ep. xx), and sent toRome copies of thirteen of the letter he had written from his hiding-place to Carthage. The fivepriests who opposed him were now admitting at once to communion all who had recommendations from the confessors, and the confessors themselves issued a general indulgence, in accordance with which thebishops were to restore to communion all whom they had examined. This was an outrage on discipline, yet Cyprian was ready to give some value to the indulgences thus improperly granted, but all must be done in submission to thebishop. He proposed thatlibellatici should be restored, when in danger of death, by apriest or even by adeacon, but that the rest should await the cessation ofpersecution, when councils could be held atRome and atCarthage, and a common decision be agreed upon. Some regard must be had for the prerogative of the confessors, yet the lapsed must surely not be placed in a better position than those who had stood fast, and had been tortured, or beggared, or exiled. The guilty were terrified by marvels that occurred. A man was struck dumb on the very Capitol where he had denied Christ. Another went mad in the public baths, and gnawed the tongue which had tasted thepagan victim. In Cyprian's own presence an infant who had been taken by its nurse to partake at theheathen altar, and then to theHoly Sacrifice offered by thebishop, was though in torture, and vomited the Sacred Species it had received in the holychalice. A lapsedwoman of advanced age had fallen in a fit, on venturing to communicate unworthily. Another, on opening the receptacle in which, according to custom, she had taken home theBlessed Sacrament for private Communion, was deterred fromsacrilegiously touching it by fire which came forth. Yet another found nought within herpyx save cinders. About September, Cyprian received promise of support from the Romanpriests in two letters written by the famousNovatian in the name of his colleagues. In the beginning of 251 thepersecution waned, owing to the successive appearance of two rival emperors. The confessors were released, and a council was convened at Carthage. By the perfidy of somepriests Cyprian was unable to leave his retreat till afterEaster (23 March). But he wrote a letter to his flock denouncing the mostinfamous of the fivepriests, Novatus, and hisdeaconFelicissimus (Ep. xliii). To thebishop's order to delay the reconciliation of the lapsed until the council,Felicissimus had replied by a manifesto, declaring that none should communicate with himself who accepted the largealms distributed by Cyprian's order. The subject of the letter is more fully developed in the treatise "De Ecclesiae Catholicae Unitate" which Cyprian wrote about this time (Benson wrongly thought it was written againstNovatian some weeks later).

This celebrated pamphlet was read by its author to the council which met in April, that he might get the support of thebishops against theschism started byFelicissimus and Novatus, who had a large following. The unity with which St. Cyprian deals is not so much the unity of the whole Church, the necessity of which he rather postulates, as the unity to be kept in eachdiocese by union with thebishop; the unity of the whole Church is maintained by the close union of thebishops who are "glued to one another", hence whosoever is not with hisbishop is cut off from theunity of the Church and cannot be united to Christ; the type of thebishop is St. Peter, the firstbishop.Protestant controversialists have attributed to St. Cyprian the absurd argument that Christ said to Peter what He really meant for all, in order to give a type or picture of unity. What St. Cyprian really says is simply this, that Christ, using the metaphor of an edifice, founds HisChurch on a single foundation which shall manifest and ensure its unity. And as Peter is the foundation, binding the whole Church together, so in eachdiocese is thebishop. With this one argument Cyprian claims to cut at the root of allheresies andschisms. It has been a mistake to find any reference toRome in this passage (Treatise on Unity 4).

Church unity

About the time of the opening of the council (251), two letters arrived fromRome. One of these, announcing the election of a pope,St. Cornelius, was read by Cyprian to the assembly; the other contained such violent and improbable accusations against the newpope that he thought it better to pass it over. But twobishops, Caldonius and Fortunatus, were dispatched toRome for further information, and the whole council was to await their return-such was the importance of a papal election. Meantime another message arrived with the news thatNovatian, the most eminent among the Romanclergy, had been madepope. Happily two Africanprelates, Pompeius and Stephanus, who had been present at the election ofCornelius, arrived also, and were able to testify that he had been validly set "in the place of Peter", when as yet there was no other claimant. It was thus possible to reply to the recrimination of Novatian's envoys, and a short letter was sent toRome, explaining the discussion which had taken place in the council. Soon afterwards came the report of Caldonius and Fortunatus together with a letter fromCornelius, in which the latter complained somewhat of the delay in recognizing him. Cyprian wrote toCornelius explaining his prudent conduct. He added a letter to the confessors who were the main support of theantipope, leaving it toCornelius whether it should be delivered or no. He sent also copies of his two treatises, "De Unitate" and"De Lapsis" (this had been composed by him immediately after the other), and he wishes the confessors to read these in order that they may understand what a fearful thing isschism. It is in this copy of the "De Unitate" that Cyprian appears most probably to have added in the margin an alternative version of the fourth chapter. The original passage, as found in mostmanuscripts and as printed in Hartel's edition, runs thus:

If any will consider this, there is no need of a long treatise and of arguments. 'The Lord saith to Peter: 'I say unto thee that thou artPeter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates ofhell shall not prevail against it; to thee I will give the keys to thekingdom of heaven, and what thou shalt have bound on earth shall be bound inheaven, and what thou shalt have loosed shall be loosed inheaven.' Upon one He builds HisChurch, and though to all HisApostles after Hisresurrection He gives an equal power and says: 'As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you: Receive the Holy Ghost, whosesoeversins you shall have remitted they shall be remitted unto them, and whosesoeversins you shall have retained they shall be retained', yet that He might make unity manifest, He disposed the origin of that unity beginning from one. The other Apostles were indeed what Peter was, endowed with a like fellowship both ofhonour and of power, but the commencement proceeds from one, that theChurch may be shown to be one. This one Church the Holy Ghost in theperson of the Lord designates in the Canticle of Canticles, and says, One is My Dove, My perfect one, one is she to her mother, one to her that bare her. He that holds not thisunity of the Church, does he believe that he holds the Faith? He who strives against and resists theChurch, is he confident that he is in theChurch?

The substituted passage is as follows:

. . . bound inheaven. Upon one He builds HisChurch,and to the same He says after Hisresurrection, 'feed My sheep'. And though to all HisApostles He gave an equal poweryet did He set up one chair, and disposed the originand manner of unity by his authority. The other Apostles were indeed what Peter was,but the primacy is given to Peter, and theChurchand the chair is shown to be one.And all arepastors, but the flock is shown to be one, which is fed by all the Apostles with one mind and heart. He that holds not thisunity of the Church, does he think that he holds thefaith? He whodeserts the chair of Peter, upon whom theChurch is founded, is he confident that he is in theChurch?

These alternative versions are given one after the other in the chieffamily ofmanuscripts which contains them, while in some otherfamilies the two have been partially or wholly combined into one. The combined version is the one which has been printed in man editions, and has played a large part in controversy withProtestants. It is of course spurious in this conflated form, but the alternative form given above is not only found in eighth- and ninth-centurymanuscripts, but it is quoted byBede, byGregory the Great (in a letter written for his predecessorPelagius II), and by St. Gelasius; indeed, it was almost certainly known toSt. Jerome andSt. Optatus in the fourth century. The evidence of themanuscripts would indicate an equally earlydate. Every expression and thought in the passage can be paralleled from St. Cyprian's habitual language, and it seems to be now generally admitted that this alternative passage is an alteration made by the author himself when forwarding his work to the Roman confessors. The "one chair" is always in Cyprian the episcopal chair, and Cyprian has been careful to emphasize this point, and to add a reference to the other great Petrine text, the Charge inJohn 21. The assertion of the equality of the Apostles as Apostles remains, and the omissions are only for the sake of brevity. The old contention that it is a Romanforgery is at all events quite out of the question. Another passage is also altered in all the samemanuscripts which contain the "interpolation"; it is a paragraph in which thehumble andpious conduct of the lapsed "on this hand (hic) is contrasted in a long succession of parallels with thepride and wickedness of the schismatics "on that hand" (illic), but in the delicate manner of the treatise the latter are only referred to in a general way. In the "interpolated"manuscripts we find that the lapsed, whose caused had now been settled by the council, are "on that hand" (illic), whereas the reference to the schismatics — meaning the Roman confessors who were supportingNovatian, and to whom the book was being sent — are made as pointed as possible, being brought into the foreground by the repeated hic, "on this hand".

Novatianism

The saint's remonstrance had its effect, and the confessors rallied toCornelius. But for two or three months the confusion throughout theCatholicChurch had been terrible. No other event in these early times shows us so clearly the enormous importance of thepapacy in East and West.St. Dionysius of Alexandria joined his great influence to that of the Carthaginianprimate, and he was very soon able to write that Antioch,Caesarea, andJerusalem,Tyre and Laodicea, all Cilicia and Cappadocia,Syria and Arabia, Mesopotamia,Pontus, and Bithynia, had returned to union and that theirbishops were all in concord (Eusebius,Church History VII.5). From this we gauge the area of disturbance. Cyprian says thatNovatian "assumed the primacy" (Ep. lxix, 8) and sent out his new apostles to very many cities; and where in all provinces and cities there were long established,orthodoxbishops, tried inpersecution, he dared to create new ones to supplant them, as though he could range through the whole world (Ep. lv, 24). Such was the power assumed by a third-centuryantipope. Let it be remembered that in the first days of theschism no question ofheresy was raised and thatNovatian only enunciated his refusal of forgiveness to the lapsed after he had made himselfpope. Cyprian's reasons for holdingCornelius to be thetruebishop are fully detailed in Ep. lv to abishop, who had at first yielded to Cyprian's arguments and had commissioned him to informCornelius that "he now communicated with him, that is with the CatholicChurch", but had afterwards wavered. It is evidently implied that if he did not communicate withCornelius he would be outside theCatholicChurch. Writing to thepope, Cyprian apologizes for his delay in acknowledging him; he had at least urged all those who sailed toRome to make sure that they acknowledged and held the womb and root of theCatholicChurch (Ep. xlviii, 3). By this is probably meant "the womb and root which is theCatholicChurch", but Harnack and manyProtestants, as well as manyCatholics, find here a statement that theRoman Church is the womb and root. Cyprian continues that he had waited for a formal report form thebishops who had been sent toRome, before committing all thebishops of Africa, Numidia, and Mauretania to a decision, in order that, when nodoubt could remain all his colleagues "might firmly approve and hold your communion, that is the unity and charity of theCatholicChurch". It iscertain that St. Cyprian held that one who was in communion with anantipope held not the root of theCatholicChurch, was not nourished at her breast, drank not at her fountain.

So little was the rigorism ofNovatian the origin of hisschism, that his chief partisan was no other than Novatus, who at Carthage had been reconciling the lapsed indiscriminately without penance. He seems to have arrived atRome just after the election ofCornelius, and his adhesion to the party of rigorism had the curious result of destroying the opposition to Cyprian at Carthage. It istrue thatFelicissimus fought manfully for a time; he even procured fivebishops, allexcommunicated and deposed, whoconsecrated for the party a certain Fortunatus in opposition to St. Cyprian, in order not to be outdone by theNovatian party, who had already a rivalbishop at Carthage. The faction even appealed toSt. Cornelius, and Cyprian had to write to thepope a long account of the circumstances, ridiculing their presumption in "sailing toRome, theprimatial Church (ecclesia principalis), the Chair of Peter, whence the unity of the Episcopate had its origin, not recollecting that these are the Romans whosefaith was praised bySt. Paul (Romans 1:8), to whom unfaith could have no access". But this embassy was naturally unsuccessful, and the party of Fortunatus andFelicissimus seems to have melted away.

The lapsed

With regard to the lapsed the council had decided that each case must be judged on its merits, and thatlibellatici should be restored after varying, but lengthy, terms of penance, whereas those who had actually sacrificed might after life-long penance receive Communion in the hour of death. But any one who put off sorrow and penance until the hour of sickness must be refused all Communion. The decision was a severe one. A recrudescence ofpersecution, announced, Cyprian tells us, by numerous visions, caused the assembling of another council in the summer of 252 (so Benson and Nelke, but Ritsch and Harnack prefer 253), in which it was decided to restore at once all those who were doing penance, in order that they might be fortified by theHoly Eucharist against trial. In thispersecution of Gallus and Volusianus, theChurch ofRome was again tried, but this time Cyprian was able to congratulate thepope on the firmness shown; the whole Church ofRome, he says, had confessed unanimously, and once again itsfaith, praised by theApostle, was celebrated throughout the whole world (Ep. lx). About June 253,Cornelius was exiled to Centumcellae (Civitavecchia), and died there, being counted as amartyr by Cyprian and the rest of theChurch. His successor Lucius was at once sent to the same place on his election, but soon was allowed to return, and Cyprian wrote to congratulate him. He died 5 March, 254, and was succeeded by Stephen, 12 May, 254.

Rebaptism of heretics

Tertullian had characteristically argued long before, thatheretics have not the sameGod, the same Christ withCatholics, therefore theirbaptism is null. The African Church had adopted this view in a council held under a predecessor of Cyprian,Agrippinus, at Carthage. In the East it was also the custom of Cilicia, Cappadocia, and Galatia to rebaptizeMontanists who returned to the church. Cyprian's opinion ofbaptism byheretics was strongly expresses: "Non abluuntur illic homines, sed potius sordidantur, nec purgantur delicta sed immo cumulantur. Non Deo nativitas illa sed diabolo filios generat" (Treatise on Unity 11). A certainbishop, Magnus, wrote to ask if thebaptism of theNovatians was to be respected (Ep. lxix). Cyprian's answer may be of the year 255; he denies that they are to be distinguished from any otherheretics. Later we find a letter in the same sense, probably of the spring of 255 (autumn, according to d'Ales), from a council under Cyprian of thirty-onebishops (Ep. lxx), addressed to eighteen Numidianbishops; this was apparently the beginning of the controversy. It appears that thebishops of Mauretania did not in this follow the custom of Proconsular Africa and Numidia, and thatPope Stephen sent them a letter approving their adherence to Roman custom.

Cyprian, being consulted by a Numidianbishop, Quintus, sent him Ep. lxx, and replied to his difficulties (Ep. lxxi). The spring council at Carthage in the following year, 256, was more numerous than usual, and sixty-onebishops signed theconciliar letter to thepope explaining their reasons for rebaptizing, and claiming that it was a question upon whichbishops were free to differ. This was not Stephen's view, and he immediately issued adecree, couched apparently in very peremptory terms, that no "innovation" was to be made (this is taken by some moderns to mean "no newbaptism"), but the Roman tradition of merely laying hands on convertedheretics in sign ofabsolution must be everywhere observed, on pain ofexcommunication. This letter was evidently addressed to the Africanbishops, and contained some severe censures on Cyprian himself. Cyprian writes to Jubainus that he is defending the one Church, theChurch founded on Peter-Why then is he called a prevaricator of thetruth, a traitor to thetruth;? (Ep. lxxiii, 11). To the same correspondent he sends Epp. lxx, lxxi, lxxii; he makes nolaws for others, but retains his own liberty. He sends also a copy of his newly written treatise "De Bono Patientiae". To Pompeius, who had asked to see a copy of Stephen'srescript, he writes with greatviolence: "As you read it, you will note hiserror more and more clearly: in approving thebaptism of all theheresies, he has heaped into his own breast thesins of all of them; a fine tradition indeed! What blindness of mind, what depravity!" — "ineptitude", "hard obstinacy" — such are the expressions which run from the pen of one who declared that opinion on the subject was free, and who in this very letter explains that abishop must never be quarrelsome, but meek and teachable. In September, 256, a yet larger council assembled at Carthage. All agreed with Cyprian; Stephen was not mentioned; and some writers have even supposed that the council met before Stephen's letter was received (soRitschl, Grisar, Ernst, Bardenhewer). Cyprian did not wish the responsibility to be all his own. He declared that no one made himself abishop ofbishops, and that all must give theirtrue opinion. The vote of each was therefore given in a short speech, and the minutes have come down to us in the Cyprianic correspondence under the title of "Sententiae Episcoporum". But the messengers sent toRome with this document were refused an audience and even denied all hospitality by thepope. They returned incontinently toCarthage, and Cyprian tried for support from the East. He wrote to the famousBishop ofCaesarea in Cappadocia, Firmilian, sending him the treatise "De Unitate" and the correspondence on thebaptismal question. By the middle of November Firmilian's reply had arrived, and it has come down to us in a translation made at the time inAfrica. Its tone is, if possible, more violent than that of Cyprian. (SeeFIRMILIAN.) After this weknow no more of the controversy.

Stephen died on 27 August, 257, and was succeeded bySixtus II, who certainly communicated with Cyprian, and is called by Pontius "a good and peace-lovingbishop". Probably when it was seen atRome that the East was largely committed to the same wrong practice, the question was tacitly dropped. It should be remembered that, though Stephen had demanded unquestioning obedience, he had apparently, like Cyprian, considered the matter as a point of discipline. St. Cyprian supports his view by a wrong inference from theunity of the Church, and no one thought of the principle afterwards taught bySt. Augustine, that, since Christ is always the principal agent, the validity of the sacrament is independent of the unworthiness of the minister:Ipse est qui baptizat. Yet this is what is implied in Stephen's insistence upon nothing more than the correct form, "because baptism is given in the name of Christ", and "the effect is due to the majesty of the Name". Thelaying on of hands enjoined by Stephen is repeatedly said to bein poenitentiam, yet Cyprian goes on to argue that the gift of the Holy Ghost by thelaying on of hands is not the new birth, but must be subsequent to it and implies it. This has led some moderns into the notion that Stephen meant confirmation to be given (so Duchesne), or at least that he has been so misunderstood by Cyprian (d'Alès). But the passage (Ep. lxxiv, 7) need not mean this, and it is most improbable that confirmation was even thought of in this connection. Cyprian seems to consider thelaying on of hands in penance to be a giving of the Holy Ghost. In the East the custom of rebaptizingheretics had perhaps arisen from the fact that so manyheretics disbelieved in theHoly Trinity, and possibly did not even use the right form andmatter. For centuries the practice persisted, at least in the case of some of theheresies. But in the West to rebaptize was regarded asheretical, and Africa came into line soon after St. Cyprian.St. Augustine,St. Jerome, andSt. Vincent of Lérins are full of praise for the firmness of Stephen as befitting his place. But Cyprian's unfortunate letters became the chief support of the puritanism of theDonatists.St. Augustine in his "De Baptismo" goes through them one by one. He will not dwell on the violent wordsquae in Stephanum irritatus effudit, and expresses his confidence that Cyprian's gloriousmartyrdom will have atoned for his excess.

Appeals to Rome

Ep. lxviii was written to Stephen before the breach. Cyprian has heard twice from Faustinus,Bishop ofLyons, that Marcianus,Bishop of Arles, has joined the party ofNovatian. Thepope will certainly have been already informed of this by Faustinus and by the otherbishops of the province. Cyprian urges:

You ought to send very full letters to our fellow-bishops inGaul, not to allow the obstinate and proud Marcianus any more to insult our fellowship...Therefore send letters to the province and to the people of Arles, by which, Marcianus having beenexcommunicated, another shall be substituted in his place...for the whole copious body ofbishops is joined together by the glue of mutual concord and the bond of unity, in order that if any of our fellowship should attempt to make aheresy and to lacerate and devastate the flock ofChrist, the rest may give their aid...For though we are many shepherds, yet we feed one flock.

It seems incontestable that Cyprian is here explaining to thepope why he ventured to interfere, and that he attributes to thepope the power of deposing Marcanus and ordering a fresh election. We should compare his witness thatNovatian usurped a similar power asantipope.

Another letter dates perhaps somewhat later. It emanates form a council of thirty sevenbishops, and was obviously composed by Cyprian. It is addressed to thepriest Felix and the people ofLegio and Asturica, and to thedeacon Ælius and the people of Emerita, inSpain. It relates that thebishops Felix and Sabinus had come to Carthage to complain. They had been legitimatelyordained by thebishops of the province in the place of the formerbishops,Basilides and Martialis, who had both accepted libelli in thepersecution.Basilides had further blasphemedGod, in sickness, had confessed hisblasphemy, hadvoluntarily resigned hisbishopric, and had been thankful to be allowed lay communion. Martialis had indulged inpagan banquets and had buried his sons in apagan cemetery. He had publicly attested before theprocurator ducenarius that he had denied Christ. Wherefore, says the letter, such men are unfit to bebishops, the whole Church and the latePope Cornelius having decided that such men may be admitted to penance but never toordination; it does not profit them that they have deceived Pope Stephen, who was afar off and unaware of the facts, so that they obtained to beunjustly restored to their sees; nay, by this deceit they have only increased their guilt. The letter is thus a declaration that Stephen was wickedly deceived. No fault is imputed to him, no is there any claim to reverse his decision or to deny his right to give it; it is simply pointed out that it was founded onfalse information, and was therefore null. But it is obvious that the African council had heard only one side, whereas Felix and Sabinus must have pleaded their cause atRome before they came toAfrica On this ground the Africans seem to have made too hasty a judgment. But nothing more is known of the matter.

Martyrdom

The empire was surrounded by barbarian hordes who poured in on all sides. The danger was the signal for a renewal ofpersecution on the part of theEmperor Valerian. At Alexandria St. Dionysius was exiled. On 30 August, 257, Cyprian was brought before the Proconsul Paternus in hissecretarium. His interrogatory is extant and forms the first part of the "Acta proconsularia" of hismartyrdom. Cyprian declares himself aChristian and abishop. He serves oneGod to Whom heprays day and night for all men and for the safety of the emperor. "Do you persevere in this?" asks Paternus. "A good will which knowsGod cannot be altered." "Can you, then, go into exile atCurubis?" "I go." He is asked for the names of thepriests also, but replies that delation is forbidden by thelaws; they will be found easily enough in their respective cities. On September he went toCurubis, accompanied by Pontius. The town was lonely, but Pontius tells us it was sunny and pleasant, and that there were plenty of visitors, while the citizens were full of kindness. He relates at length Cyprian's dream on his first night there, that he was in the proconsul's court and condemned todeath, but was reprieved at his own request until the morrow. He awoke in terror, but once awake he awaited that morrow with calmness. It came to him on the very anniversary of the dream. In Numidia the measures were more severe. Cyprian writes to ninebishops who were working in the mines, with half their hair shorn, and with insufficient food and clothing. He was still rich and able to help them. Their replies are preserved, and we have also the authentic Acts of several Africanmartyrs who suffered soon after Cyprian.

In August, 258, Cyprian learned thatPope Sixtus had beenput to death in thecatacombs on the 6th of that month, together with four of hisdeacons, in consequence of a new edict thatbishops,priests, anddeacons should be at onceput to death; senators,knights, and others of rank are to lose their goods, and if they still persist, to die; matrons to be exiled; Caesarians (officers of thefiscus) to become slaves. Galerius Maximus, the successor of Paternus, sent for Cyprian back toCarthage, and in his own gardens thebishop awaited the final sentence. Many great personages urged him to fly, but he had now no vision to recommend this course, and he desired above all to remain to exhort others. Yet he hid himself rather than obey the proconsul's summons toUtica, for he declared it was right for abishop to die in his own city. On the return of Galerius toCarthage, Cyprian was brought from his gardens by twoprincipes in a chariot, but the proconsul was ill, and Cyprian passed the night in the house of the firstprinceps in the company of his friends. Of the rest we have a vague description by Pontius and a detailed report in the proconsular Acts. On the morning of the 14th a crowd gathered "at the villa of Sextus", by order of the authorities. Cyprian was tried there. He refused to sacrifice, and added that in such a matter there was no room for thought of the consequences to himself. The proconsul read his condemnation and the multitude cried, "Let us be beheaded with him!" He was taken into the grounds, to a hollow surrounded by trees, into which many of the people climbed. Cyprian took off his cloak, andknelt down andprayed. Then he took off hisdalmatic and gave it to hisdeacons, and stood in his linen tunic in silence awaiting the executioner, to whom he ordered twenty-five gold pieces to be given. The brethren cast cloths and handkerchiefs before him to catch his blood. He bandaged his own eyes with the help of apriest and adeacon, both called Julius. So he suffered. For the rest of the day his body was exposed to satisfy the curiosity of thepagans. But at night the brethren bore him with candles and torches, withprayer and great triumph, to the cemetery of Macrobius Candidianus in the suburb of Mapalia. He was the firstBishop ofCarthage to obtain the crown ofmartyrdom.

Writings

The correspondence of Cyprian consists of eighty-one letters. Sixty-two of them are his own, three more are in the name of councils. From this large collection we get a vivid picture of his time. The first collection of his writings must have been made just before or just after his death, as it was known to Pontius. It consisted of ten treatises and seven letters onmartyrdom. To these were added in Africa a set of letters on thebaptismal question, and atRome, it seems, the correspondence withCornelius, except Ep. xlvii. Other letters were successively aggregated to these groups, including letters to Cyprian or connected with him, his collections of Testimonies, and many spurious works. To the treatises already mentioned we have to add a well-known exposition of theLord's Prayer; a work on the simplicity of dress proper toconsecrated virgins (these are both founded onTertullian); "On the Mortality", a beautiful pamphlet, composed on the occasion of the plague which reached Carthage in 252, when Cyprian, with wonderful energy, raised a staff of workers and a great fund of money for the nursing of the sick and the burial of the dead. Another work, "On Almsgiving ", itsChristian character, necessity, and satisfactory value, was perhaps written, as Watson has pointed out, in reply to thecalumny that Cyprian's own lavish gifts were bribes to attach men to his side. Only one of his writings is couched in a pungent strain, the "ad Demetrianum", in which he replies in a spirited manner to the accusation of aheathen thatChristianity had brought the plague upon the world. Two short works, "On Patience" and "On Rivalry and Envy", apparently written during thebaptismal controversy, were much read in ancient times. St. Cyprian was the first great Latin writer among theChristians, forTertullian fell intoheresy, and his style was harsh and unintelligible. Until the days ofJerome andAugustine, Cyprian's writings had no rivals in the West. Their praise is sung by Prudentius, who joins with Pacian,Jerome,Augustine, and many others in attesting their extraordinary popularity.

Doctrine

The little that can be extracted from St. Cyprian on theHoly Trinity and theIncarnation is correct, judged by later standards. Onbaptismal regeneration, on theReal Presence, on theSacrifice of the Mass, hisfaith is clearly and repeatedly expressed, especially in Ep. lxiv on infantbaptism, and in Ep. lxiii on the mixedchalice, written against the sacrilegious custom of using water without wine for Mass. On penance he is clear, like all the ancients, that for those who have been separated from theChurch bysin there is no return except by ahumble confession (exomologesis apud sacerdotes), followed byremissio facta per sacerdotes. The ordinary minister of this sacrament is thesacerdos par excellence, thebishop; butpriests can administer it subject to him, and in case of necessity the lapsed might be restored by adeacon. He does not add, as we should at the present day, that in this case there is no sacrament; suchtheological distinctions were not in his line. There was not even a beginning of canon law in theWestern Church of the third century. In Cyprian's view eachbishop is answerable toGod alone for his action, though he ought to take counsel of theclergy and of thelaity also in all important matters. TheBishop ofCarthage had a great position as honorary chief of all thebishops in the provinces of Proconsular Africa, Numidia, and Mauretania, who were about a hundred in number; but he had no actualjurisdiction over them. They seem to have met in some numbers at Carthage every spring, but theirconciliar decisions had no real binding force. If abishop shouldapostatize or become aheretic or fall intoscandaloussin, he might be deposed by his comprovincials or by thepope. Cyprian probably thought that questions ofheresy would always be too obvious to need much discussion. It iscertain that where internal questions ofheresy would always be too obvious to need much discussion. It iscertain that where internal discipline was concerned he considered thatRome should not interfere, and that uniformity was not desirable — a most unpractical notion. We have always to remember that his experience as aChristian was of short duration, that he became abishop soon after he was converted, and that he had noChristian writings besidesHoly Scripture to study besides those ofTertullian. He evidentlyknew no Greek, and probably was not acquainted with the translation ofIrenaeus.Rome was to him the centre of theChurch's unity; it was inaccessible toheresy, which had been knocking at its door for a century in vain. It was the See of Peter, who was the type of thebishop, the first of theApostles. Difference of opinion betweenbishops as to the right occupant of the Sees of Arles or Emerita would not involve breach of communion, but rivalbishops atRome would divide theChurch, and to communicate with the wrong one would beschism. It is controverted whether chastity wasobligatory or only strongly urged uponpriests in his day. Theconsecrated virgins were to him the flower of his flock, the jewels of theChurch, amid the profligacy ofpaganism.

Spuria

A short treatise, "Quod Idola dii non sint", is printed in all editions as Cyprian's. It is made up out ofTertullian andMinucius Felix. Its genuineness is accepted by Benson, Monceaux, and Bardenhewer, as it was anciently byJerome andAugustine. It has been attributed by Haussleiter toNovatian, and is rejected by Harnack, Watson, and von Soden. "De Spectaculis" and "De bono pudicitiae" are, with some probability, ascribed toNovatian. They are well-written letters of an absentbishop to his flock. "De Laude martyrii" is again attributed by Harnack toNovatian; but this is not generally accepted. "Adversus Judaeos" is perhaps by aNovatianist and Harnack ascribes it toNovatian himself. "Ad Novatianum" is ascribed by Harnack toPope Sixtus II. Ehrhard, Benson, Nelke, and Weyman agree with him that it was written inRome. This is denied by Julicher, Bardenhewer, Monceaux. Rombold thinks it is by Cyprian. "De Rebaptismate" is apparently the work attributed by Genadius to a Roman named Ursinus, c. 400. He was followed by some earlier critics, Routh, Oudin, and lately by Zahn. But it was almost certainly written during thebaptismal controversy under Stephen. It comes fromRome (so Harnack and others) or from Mauretania (so Ernst, Monceaux, d'Arles), and is directed against the view of Cyprian. The littlehomily "De Aleatoribus" has had quite a literature of its own within the last few years, since it was attributed by Harnack toPope Victor, and therefore accounted the earliest Latinecclesiastical writing. The controversy has at least made it clear that the author was either very early or notorthodox. It has been shown to be improbable that he was very early, and Harnack now admits that the work is by anantipope, eitherNovatianist orDonatist. References to all the brochures and articles on the subject will be found in Ehrhard, in Bardenhewer, and especially in Harnack (Chronol., II, 370 sqq.).

"De Montibus Sina et Sion" is possibly older than Cyprian's time (see Harnack, and also Turner in Journal of Theol. Studies, July 1906). "Ad Vigilium Episcopum de Judaica incredulitate" is by a certain Celsus, and was once supposed by Harnack and Zahn to be addressed to the well-known Vigilius ofThapsus, but Macholz has now convinced Harnack that it dates from either thepersecution ofValerian or that ofMaxentius. The two "Orationes" are of uncertain date and authorship. The tract "De Singularitate clericorum" has been attributed by Dom Morin and by Harnack to theDonatist Bishop Macrobius in the fourth century. "De Duplici Martyrio ad Fortunatum" is found in nomanuscript, and was apparently written byErasmus in 1530. "De Paschâ computus" was written in the year precedingEaster, 243. All the abovespuria are printed in Hartel's edition of Cyprian. The "Exhortatio de paenitentia" (first printed by Trombelli in 1751) is placed in the fourth or fifth century by Wunderer, but in Cyprian's time or Monceaux. Four letter are also given by Hartel; the first is the original commencement of the "Ad Donatum". The others are forgeries; the third, according to Mercati, is by a fourth-centuryDonatist. The six poems are by one author, of quite uncertain date. The amusing "Cena Cypriani" is found in a large number of Cyprianicmanuscripts. Its date is uncertain; it was re-edited by BlessedRhabanus Maurus. On the use of it at pageants in the earlyMiddle Ages, see Mann, "History of the Popes", II, 289.

The principal editions of the works of St. Cyprian are:Rome, 1471 (theed. princeps), dedicated toPaul II; reprinted,Venice, 1471, and 1483; Memmingen, c. 1477; Deventer, c. 1477; Paris, 1500; ed. by Rembolt (Paris, 1512); byErasmus (Basle, 1520 and frequently; the ed. of 1544 was printed at Cologne). A careful critical edition was prepared by Latino Latini, and published by Manutius (Rome, 1563); Morel also went to themanuscripts (Paris, 1564); so did Pamele (Antwerp, 1568), but with less success; Rigault did somewhat better (Paris, 1648, etc.). John Fell,Bishop ofOxford and Dean of Christ Church, published a well-known edition frommanuscripts inEngland (Oxford, 1682). The dissertations by Dodwell and the "Annales Cyprianici" by Pearson, who arranged the letters in chronological order, make this edition important, though the text is poor. The edition prepared by EtienneBaluze was brought out after his death by Dom Prudence Maran (Paris, 1726), and has been several times reprinted, especially byMigne (P.L., IV and V). The best edition is that of the Vienna Academy (C.S.E.L., vol. III, in 3 parts,Vienna, 1868-1871), edited from themanuscripts by Hartel. Since then much work has been done upon the history of the text, and especially on the order of the letters and treatises as witnessing to the genealogy of thecodices.

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