CYPRIAN THE BISHOP

J. Patout Burns Jr.

London and New York
Publication Information: Book Title: Cyprian the Bishop. Contributors: J. Patout Burns Jr. - author. Publisher: Routledge.
Place of Publication: London. Publication Year: 2002. Page Number: v.

-iii-

CONTENTS
Preface
List of abbreviations
1 History of Cyprians controversies
2 Christians of Carthage under persecution
3 Necessity of repentance
4 Efficacy of the reconciliation ritual
5 Indivisibility of the church
6 Initiation into unity
7 Purity of the church
8 Unity of the episcopate
9 Cyprians African heritage
Notes
Bibliography
Index

vii
xi
1
12
25
51
78
100
132
151
166
177
233
235

-v-

PREFACE
This study began in a faculty seminar in the Department of Religion at
the University of Florida in which Dennis Owen and Sheldon Isenberg
explained the value of Mary Douglas scheme for correlating the social
structure of a community and its assumptions about its position in the
cosmos and the efficacy of its practices. The foundational essay,
Cultural Bias, 1 and the book, Natural Symbols, 2 suddenly appeared
to offer tools for understanding the theological positions which
Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage in the middle of the third century, had
developed to help his community cope with the defections they
experienced during the persecution of Decius and the divisions within
the church which followed it. Cyprian presented a scripturally based
and tightly argued theory of sacramental efficacy which was rejected

by the Roman church, championed by the African Donatists, and then

so reinterpreted by Augustine that it had little further influence. How
could such a coherent and cogent system have been simply abandoned
in favor of one whose sole supports were custom and political
influence? Cyprians system was not so much refuted as shoved aside
and ignored. The answer to understanding its success and then its
failure might lie, then, in the social rather than the intellectual context.
It might have failed because the social structures supporting it
changed with the toleration and support of Christianity by the Roman
Empire. Fortunately, the collection of Cyprians letters provide
significant information about his church community and its members,
as well as his dealings with both his fellow bishops and opponents.
These documents provide clues for understanding what his people and
his colleagues, as well as their opponents, were doing and thinking.
Douglas schema for comparing communities was first applied to the
opposing positions taken by the African and the Roman bishops in the
baptismal controversy. When the results proved satisfactory, the
present
-viibroader study of the understanding of the unity of the church and the
efficacy of its rituals of purification was undertaken.
The objective of this study is not to provide a biography of Cyprian or
historical study of his church. Even within the limits of the English
language, the supply of such studies is not seriously lacking.
Archbishop Bensons 1897 book is dated but still useful in many ways.
3
Michael Sages study presents the advances during the threequarters of a century separating his own work from that of Benson. 4
The introductions to each of the four volumes of G.W. Clarkes
translation of Cyprians letters supply an excellent summary of the
bishops life and ministry; the commentary on the individual letters
provides an exhaustive review of the current state of knowledge and a
judicious advance on many points. 5 The present study will attempt to
revise Graeme Clarkes historical work on the letters and Maurice
Bvenots editorial advances on the versions of Cyprians On the Unity
of the Catholic Church 6 in very limited ways, such as arguing for a
different dating of one of the letters in the baptismal controversy and
proposing a double rather than a single rewriting of On Unity by
Cyprian himself. Michael Faheys study of Cyprians use of scripture,
amended by Clarke, proved particularly helpful in developing the
patterns of citation which are the basis for the present proposals for
this new chronology. 7 Otherwise, this study is unashamedly

dependent upon and derivative from the excellent historical work done
on Cyprian during the last century.
The goal of this study is to elucidate the correlation between Cyprians
theology and his practice as a bishop. The foundational contributions
of the North African theologiansTertullian, Cyprian and Augustineto
the development of Latin Christian thought were nearly all immediately
related to problems of Christian life in the church. Such theology can
best be interpreted, appreciated and even appropriated by
understanding it within the context of its original development. For the
problems with which Cyprian dealtthe unity and rituals of the
churchthe social context was more important than the intellectual:
the structures by which his church community was organized and its
ways of distinguishing itself from the imperial society. Thus chapters 3
and 4, for example, will argue that the positions which Cyprian took on
the reconciliation of the lapsed can best be understood as means of
reor-ganizing the community in the face of the crisis of the Decian
persecution which nearly destroyed it. Chapters 5 and 8 will show that
the process of selecting, installing and removing bishops was
foundational to the theory of the unity of the local and universall
-viiichurch. Chapter 6 explores what Cyprian took to be the practical consequences of
accepting schismatic baptism and chapter 7 investi-gates the limits of enforceable
standards of purity for the church and its clergy in particular.
By understanding a theology within its developmental cultural context, the adjustments
necessary to adapt and appropriate it in a different social world might be specified.
Though each had to appeal to Cyprian, neither the Donatists nor the Catholics in Africa
could adopt his theory of the purity or holiness of the church exactly as he presented it
to his people and colleagues. The churchs relationship to imperial society had been
changed radically by the Constantinian toleration and the Theodosian establishment of
Christianity. In parallel, the conception of the purity of the church and the rituals which
protected its boundary with the empire had to be reworked. The Donatists made
assertions about the transmission of contagion within the unity of the church and
episcopate which Cyprian neither made nor acted upon. Augustine, in contrast,
appealed to a significance of intention within the functioning of the earthly church
which Cyprian explicitly rejected in his focus on performance. By specifying the
connection between Cyprians thought and his social context, the study signals
modifications which could be anticipated when the social circumstances changed.
The study will begin with a review of the events and an analysis of the social structure
of the Christian church in Carthage on the eve of the Decian persecution. Subsequent
chapters will focus on the rituals of penance and baptism, the purity of the church, and

the unity of the local and universal church. The influence of Mary Douglas is
ubiquitous but not explicitly noted.
An earlier version of the study of the rebaptism controversy here covered in chapters 1
and 5 was published in the first volume of Journal of Early Christian Studies.8 A study
derived from chapter 3 is published in the proceedings of the 1999 International
Conference on Patristic Studies. 9
The research which is here reported was supported by Washington University in St
Louis and Vanderbilt Divinity School. Grants from the National Endowment for the
Humanities and the American Academy of Religion enabled the collaboration with
other scholars in the study of North African ChristianityGraeme Clarke, Robin
Jensen, Susan Stevens, Maureen Tilley, and William Tabberneewhich has shaped the
appreciation of devotional practice in the development of theology. Finally, the
hospitality of the Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research at St Johns
-ixUniversity, Collegeville and the Jesuit Institute at Boston College supported the
beginning and completion of the project. A final debt of gratitude is here acknowledged
to the students who have shared the challenge and joy of reading these texts with me,
confirming and developing the interpretations here offered.
-x-

ABBREVIATIONS
acta proc.

acta proconsularia, CSEL 3.3: cxxiv.

bapt.

Tertullian, de baptismo, CCL 1:277-95.

CCL

Corpus Christianorum, series latina, Turnhout,1953.

CSEL

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, Vienna, 1866-.

ep.

Cyprian, epistulae, CCL 3BD.

fuga

Tertullian, de fuga in persecutione, CCL 2:1,135-55.

habitu

Cyprian, de habitu uirginum, CSEL 3.1:187-205.

h.e.

Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, Sources chrtiennes, vols 31, 41, 56, 73,
Paris, ditions du Cerf, 1952-60.
idol.

Tertullian, de idolatria, CCL 2:1,101-24.

lap.

Cyprian, de lapsis,.CCL 3:221-42

Letters

G.W. Clarke, The Letters of St. Cyprian of Carthage, translated and annotated, 4 vols,
Ancient Christian Writers, vols 43-4, 46-7, New York, Paulist Press, 1984-9.
mort.

Cyprian, de mortalitate, CCL 3A: 17-32.

paen.

Tertullian, de paenitentia CCL 1:321-40.

PL

Patrologia Latina, ed. J.P. Migne, Paris, 1844-64.

Prax.

Tertullian, adversus Praxean, CCL 2:1, 159-205.

pud.

Tertullian, de pudicitia, CCL 2:1, 281-330.

rebap.

de rebaptismate, CSEL 3.3:69-92.

sent, episc.

Sententiae episcoporum numero LXXXVII de haereticis baptizandis, CSEL 3.1:435-61.

uita Cyp.

uita Caecilii Cypriani, CSEL 3-3:xccx.

unit.

Cyprian, de ecclesiae catholicae unitate, CCL 3:249-68.

-xi-

HISTORY OF CYPRIANS
CONTROVERSIES
In 248 CE, the Christian community in Carthage elected Thascius
Caecilianus Cyprianus its bishop. This wealthy aristocrat, trained as a
rhetorician, had become a Christian a scant two years earlier. Since he
was still a neophyte, the laity seems to have overridden the objections
of a majority of their presbyters in choosing him as bishop. 1 In
ascending to office as bishop of Carthage, this Christian new man
became the leader not only of the bishops of Proconsular Africa but of
all Latin Africa, as far west as the Atlantic. At his summons, eighty-five
bishops would converge on Carthage; at his prompting, they would
speak with a single voice. His episcopate would prove foundational for
the development of North African Christianity.

The Decian persecution

In December 249, the Emperor Decius, three months after defeating
the Emperor Philip at Verona, and wishing to consolidate his position
as well as to secure the good fortune of his reign, decreed that every
citizen should join him in offering homage to the immortal gods, whose
graciousness secured the peace and prosperity of the empire. 2 Each
person was apparently required to appear before a locally established
commission, to testify to having been always a worshiper of the gods
protecting Rome and to demonstrate that piety in its presence by
pouring a libation, offering incense and eating the sacrificial meats. 3
While Decius required participation in the Roman ceremonies, he did
not specify the renunciation of other religious practices or loyalties. 4
Both continuing Christian practice and the clergys access to the
imprisoned recusants were apparently tolerated. 5 One of the imperial
objectives seems to have been the elimination of the divisions of
religious exclusivism. 6
-1Christian bishops were targeted for early action when enforcement began in January
250: Dionysius of Alexandria was hunted down, 7 Fabian of Rome died in prison 8 and
Cyprian of Carthage withdrew into exile. 9 When imperial commissions were
established in various cities during the late winter and spring, many Christians
voluntarily complied with the edict by actually offering sacrifice, 10 by using a legal
subterfuge, or by bribing an official to obtain the certificate which attested to their

having performed the rituals. 11 By the time the deadline for compliance with the edict
arrived, a major portion of the laity and some of the clergy had obeyed. 12 Those who
persistently refused the commissioners demand were imprisoned and brought to trial;
some were released and others sent into exile. 13 In April 250, the authorities introduced
torture into the interrogations of Christian confessors and deprived them of food, water,
fresh air and light in an attempt to force them to comply. 14 Although none were
executed, some died under this regimen, the first martyrs of the persecution. 15 Others
were worn down by the torture and reluctantly offered the required sacrifice. 16

The repentance of the fallen

While the imperial prosecution continued, the clergy of the city of Rome urged the
fallen, both sacrificers and certified, to begin purifying themselves through works of
repentance. 17 They announced that the certified, who had not actually sacrificed, would
be considered lapsed because they had failed to confess Christ. 18 Reconciliation and
readmission to communion were delayed, however, until the end of the persecution,
except for the traditional giving of peace to dying penitents. 19 The confessors in prison
fully supported the clergys insistence on sustained repentance. 20
At Carthage, imprisoned confessors and the resident presbyters responded differently to
the pleading of Christians who had failed. In expectation of entering into glory through
martyrdom, the confessors granted letters of peace to the lapsed, in which they
promised to intercede with God and win forgiveness for their sin of apostasy. Once a
confessor died as a martyr and presumably entered heaven, the lapsed Christian
presented the letter of peace to the clergy requesting or demanding readmission to the
communion of the church on the strength of the martyrs intercession before God. 21 A
group of presbyters decided not to await the end of the persecution but immediately to
admit to communion the fallen who had received letters from the martyrs. 22 As a result,
traffic in
-2-

martyrs letters soon developed: letters were distributed wholesale,

with only the most general designation of the persons who were being
recommended. 23 Some of the surviving confessors even claimed that
they had been authorized by their fellow prisoners to issue letters of
peace in their names after their martyrdom to any of the lapsed who
asked for their help. 24
The bishop of Carthage, however, refused to credit these letters of
peace. He ordered the lapsed to undertake penance 25 and insisted
that none of the fallen could be admitted to communion before God
had granted peace to the church as a whole. 26 Cyprian recognized the
authority of the martyrs by allowing the presbyters to give peace to

any dying penitents who held their letter of intercession. 27 Shortly

thereafter he extended this concession to all dying penitents, thus
bringing his churchs practice into line with that of the church in Rome
where the confessors refused to issue such letters of peace. 28 Cyprian
reminded the impatient, and apparently impenitent, lapsed that while
the persecution continued they could immediately re-enter the
communion of the church by recanting their apostasy before the
imperial commissioners. 29 Finally, he pledged that general
consultations would be held after the persecution had ended to
establish a policy for restoring the repentant to communion. 30 Cyprian
also began to build support for his position among the bishops of
Africa. 31
In Carthage, the confessors agreed to Cyprians directive delaying the
reception of the fallen into communion until the end of the
persecution. Furthermore, they allowed that the bishop should review
the conduct of each of the fallen. 32 In a proclamation intended for all
the bishops, however, they extended the amnesty to everyone who
had failed during the persecution. 33 Cyprian then instructed his clergy
to inform the people that no action would be taken before the end of
the persecution: the issue concerned all Christians and would require
general consultation. Neither the confessors and martyrs, nor even the
bishop, he explained, should presume to decide such a momentous
and far-reaching question alone. He offered evidence, moreover, of
growing support for his more stringent position among the bishops of
Africa. 34
Cyprians firm stand provoked various responses from the lapsed in
Carthage. Some, though they held letters from the martyrs, pledged
their obedience, agreed to wait for general peace, and asked the
support of the bishops prayers. 35 The opposition, however, remained
intransigent, insisting that the bishop had no right to delay the
delivery of that reconciliation and communion which the
-3martyrs had already granted: what had already been loosened in heaven could not be
held bound on earth. 36 Cyprian sharply rebuked the rebels, recognizing a threat to the
authority of the bishop and the unity of the church. 37
At this juncture, the Roman clergy and confessors, under the leadership of Novatian,
intervened forcefully to support Cyprian and his colleagues. They wrote to the clergy
and confessors in Carthage and then to Cyprian himself for the first time since his
voluntary exile. They asserted that the martyrs had no authority to grant peace to any of

the fallen and implied that the presbyters of Carthage had instigated the rebellion. 38
Their own practice, the Roman confessors reported, was to deny the requests of the
fallen for letters of peace. 39 Cyprian immediately distributed copies of these letters in
Carthage and throughout Africa, thereby strengthening his position. 40 Despite the
Roman support for their bishops position, the rebels in Carthage held their ground. 41
As his exile stretched to a full year, Cyprian worked to gain control of the church,
assisted by other bishops who took shelter in Carthage and visited him in his place of
retreat. 42 From among the confessors, he made three new clerical appointments. 43 He
also commissioned two refugee bishops and two of his own presbyters, most and
perhaps all of them confessors, to oversee the affairs of the church of Carthage, to
review the merits of those who were receiving financial support from the community,
and to identify loyal candidates for clerical appointment. 44 The work of this
commission provoked an open rebellion in Carthage, led by a deacon and backed by
five presbyters and a great number of the people. 45 These clergy threatened to deny
communion to anyone who cooperated with Cyprians agents, thereby signaling a
complete break with the bishop. Cyprians commissioners then moved to exclude the
rebels from communion. 46
As Easter 251 approached and the refugee bishops returned to their sees to celebrate the
feast, Cyprians position appeared particularly bleak. He could count on the support of
only three of the eight presbyters remaining in Carthage and of a minority of the
faithful laity; he dared not enter the city himself for fear of provoking an anti-Christian
riot among the general population. 47 His Easter letter to the congregation warned that
the continued admission of the lapsed and the division it provoked was the last and
most dangerous trial of the persecution, which threatened to destroy the church utterly.
48
In the last weeks of his exile, he then completed
-4-

the discourse, On the Lapsed, which was to be delivered upon his

anticipated return.
Shortly thereafter, the imperial action had ceased and popular
resentment of the Christians had subsided so that Cyprian could return
to Carthage and resume direct governance of the community. 49 His
first order of business was a division of the community into standing
and fallen, 50 faithful and apostate. Cyprian praised all the standing as
confessors of the faith: those who had withstood imperial
interrogation, torture and exile; those who had voluntarily abandoned
their property and fled; even those who had confessed only by
allowing the edicts deadline to pass without complying. 51 To these
standing, he contrasted all the fallen, whether they had acquired
certificates without sacrificing or had actually sacrificed, either under

coercion or spontaneously. He implored them to seek the forgiveness

of God and the peace of the church through humble repentance. 52 The
leaders of the schism he once again branded agents of Satan: in
offering immediate peace to the fallen, they were actually preventing
repentance and thereby blocking the only remaining access to
salvation. 53 Finally, he warned all the rebels that unlike idolatry, the
sin of splitting the unity of the church was unforgivable. 54 This conflict
in Africa also set the context for the first version of Cyprians treatise
On the Unity of the Catholic Church? 55
Later in the spring of 251, the bishops of Africa finally met in Carthage
to work out a common policy for the reconciliation of the lapsed. 56
These leaders weighed the pastoral necessity of preventing wholesale
defection by those who had failed in persecution and reviewed Gods
warnings of severity and promises of leniency in the scriptures. 57 In
the end, they moderated the stance which Cyprian, the Roman
presbyters, and others of their own number had taken during the
persecution by reinstating the customary distinction between the
sacrificers and the certified. 58 Those who sinned only by acquiring
certificates and had been practicing penance might be admitted to
communion immediately, upon the consideration of individual cases. 59
The sacrificers, in contrast, were to continue the regimen of
repentance with the promise that they would be admitted to
communion as death approached. 60 Anyone who refused to do
penance would not be granted peace even at the time of death. 61
These decisions, to be enforced throughout Africa, were echoed by the
council of Italian bishops meeting a few months later in Rome. 62
-5-

Schism in Carthage and Rome

The leniency which the African bishops extended toward the certified
was inadequate to heal the division of the church in Carthage and
elsewhere in Africa. Insistence on extended penance for sacrificers and
formal excommunication of the rebellious clergy of Carthage provoked
the establishment of a rival communion with its own hierarchy in
Africa. 63 Within the year, Privatus, who had been deposed as bishop
of Lambaesis some years earlier, organized a college of bishops
composed of some of his fellows who had failed during the
persecution. 64
At this same meeting in April 251, the African bishops had to address
another troubling development: a disputed episcopal election in Rome.

After the death of Bishop Fabian during the opening days of the
persecution, the Roman church had decided not to elect a successor; it
was governed only by its presbyters throughout the persecution. In
March 251, a majority of the clergy and the people, with the assent of
the attending bishops of neighboring cities, elected Cornelius bishop.
On grounds which remain obscure, the presbyter Novatian organized a
dissenting group which included many confessors. He then arranged
his own ordination as bishop and established a competing communion.
65
Each of the rival bishops sent letters and representatives seeking
the support of his colleagues abroad.
The letters and emissaries of the rival Roman bishops arrived in
Carthage during the meeting of the African bishops. Each charged the
other with various crimes and, it may be presumed, with having an
improper policy regarding the reconciliation of the lapsed. 66 The
bishops of Africa deputized two of their number to travel to Rome,
interview their colleagues who were present at the ordinations, and
recommend the proper candidate for recognition. 67 In the meantime,
two other African bishops, who had happened to be in Rome when the
election occurred, arrived home and reported on the conflict. 68 Only
after the official delegates returned, however, did the Africans decide
to support Cornelius. Soon thereafter, some confessors who had
supported Novatian and joined his faction upon their release from
prison negotiated a reconciliation with Cornelius. 69 The complex
process of deciding which of the rival candidates was the true bishop
resulted in a lingering uneasiness between Cyprian and Cornelius. 70
At a synod in Rome during the summer 251, Cornelius and his
episcopal colleagues adopted a policy for reconciling the lapsed
-6which paralleled that of the Africans. 71 In practice, however, Cornelius
made two exceptions. A bishop named Trofimus and the entire
congregation which he had led into apostasy were readmitted into
communion though at least some had been guilty of sacrifice. 72 In
addition, amnesty was granted to the confessors who had joined
Novatian; they were admitted to Cornelius communion without either
public acknowledgment of wrongdoing or penance. 73 Although
Trofimus was allowed to return to communion only as a layman, the
schismatic presbyter Maximus resumed his place among Cornelius
clergy.

Novatians party, in contrast, not only rejected this lenient policy of

reconciling the certified lapsed but refused to grant peace to penitents
even at the time of death. 74 This rigorist party then attempted to
establish itself in Africa. While awaiting the return of the delegation
sent to Rome to investigate the episcopal election, Novatians
emissaries to the African bishops sought support among the Christians
of Carthage and other towns. 75 Upon the decision to support
Cornelius, this first delegation was expelled but soon replaced by a
second which included the bishop Evaristus. 76 Novatians campaign
against Cornelius and the policies for reconciling the lapsed which had
been adopted in Carthage and Rome continued with letters circulated
among the African bishops. 77 The following year, a former presbyter
of the Roman church, Maximus, was ordained by Novatian and sent to
challenge Cyprian as bishop in Carthage. 78
At the same time, the laxist party in Africa continued to consolidate its
position. Its leader, Privatus of Lambaesis, was able to form an
alliance which grew to include four other deposed bishops. They
appealed unsuccessfully for recognition by the synod of African bishops
meeting in Carthage in April 251. When their second attempt was
rebuffed in May 252, Privatus and his colleagues ordained Fortunatus,
one of Cyprians former presbyters, to be bishop of the laxist
communion at Carthage. 79 The deacon Felicissimus, one of the leaders
of the rebellion, was immediately dispatched to Rome to seek
recognition for the new church. In apparent retaliation for the African
bishops extended review of his own credentials a year earlier,
Cornelius allowed the delegation to present its case to the assembled
clergy before refusing to accept them into his communion. 80 The
experience taught Cyprian that charges of excessive rigor could be
dangerous when presented to the Roman church which had rejected
the policy of Novatian. 81 In response to this humiliation, he pointedly
reminded Cornelius that
-7Novatian would exploit any apparent concessions which he made to
the laxists. 82
Cyprian and his colleagues were under assault from both sides. The
rigorist bishop of Carthage, Maximus, charged that the purity of the
church had been ruined. Not only were those who bought certificates
admitted to the church but sacrificers who had recovered their bodily
health after being reconciled at what had erroneously been judged to
be the point of death were then allowed to remain in the communion.

83

The laxist bishop, Fortunatus, attacked the Catholic bishops for

jeopardizing the salvation of the sacrificers by excluding them from
communion until they were in danger of death. 84

Reconciliation of the sacrificers

When the African bishops met again in May 253, they faced not only
the recently united opposition of the laxists but the threat of renewed
persecution by the government of the new emperor, Galerius. 85 They
decided that those who had failed by sacrificing and had then
persevered in the penitential discipline within the church should be
admitted to communion immediately, instead of being delayed until
the time of death. 86 In reporting this decision to Cornelius, they
anticipated the objections which this policy would provoke from the
Novatianists in Rome. 87 Their primary concern, however, seems to
have been the charges of excessive harshness mounted by the laxists,
which had been aired in Rome a year earlier. 88
Cornelius was arrested in Rome a month later and escorted to the
prison by his congregation in a massive display of solidarity. 89
Apparently convinced of the truth of Cyprians predictions of a renewal
of persecution, Cornelius adopted the African policy of reconciling
penitent sacrificers before his own death in exile a few weeks later. 90
His successor Lucius, himself elected in exile, confirmed this practice
upon his return to the city. 91
In May 254, Lucius was in turn succeeded by Stephen who proceeded
to clash with Cyprian on every other issue arising from the
persecution. Stephen ignored appeals from Bishop Faustinus of Lyons
for support in deposing Bishop Marcianus of Arles because he followed
Novatians policy of denying reconciliation to all penitent lapsed even
at the time of death. Cyprian insisted that Stephen use the authority of
his position to assist those penitents who would be lost eternally once
they died outside the churchs communion. No
-8record has survived of a response by Stephen to Cyprians entreaty.

92

Next, two Spanish bishops, who had been deposed for acquiring
certificates of compliance during the persecution and for other
entanglement in the Roman religious cults, gained Stephens support
for their efforts to be reinstated in their episcopal office. The
replacement bishops appealed to their African colleagues to intervene

on behalf of their churches. Cyprian and his colleagues directed the

Spanish congregations to stand fast in rejecting the apostates,
asserting that Stephen had not only violated a policy accepted by his
predecessors but would pollute himself and his own church by entering
into communion with these idolatrous bishops. 93 Again, Stephens
response does not appear in the surviving record.

Rebaptism of schismatics
This series of disagreements set the stage for a bitter conflict between
the Roman and African churches over the status of baptism performed
in heresy or schism. Into the third century, the African church had
followed a practice of accepting converts originally baptized in a
separate community such as that of Marcion or Montanus with only the
imposition of the bishops hands. 94 In a council held in the 230s,
however, the bishops had decided that henceforth they would require
such converts to submit to the baptism of the true church. 95 The
establishment of Novatianist and laxist churches, affirming Trinitarian
faith and dissenting only in penitential discipline, now revived the
question of rebaptism in Africa. 96 Should the bishops require that a
person who had originally been baptized in one of these splinter
communities submit to baptism again as a condition for admission to
their universal communion?
In response to inquiries and objections from bishops spread
throughout Roman Africa, Cyprian wrote a series of letters defending
the practice of requiring rebaptism, some in his own name and some
with his colleagues in Proconsular Africa. 97 The question might already
have been under consideration for some time in Africa when Stephen
was elected bishop of Rome in May 254. 98 A meeting of bishops in
Carthage the following spring responded to an inquiry from their
colleagues in Numidia on this question. 99 A year later, in spring 256, a
council of seventy-one African bishops meeting in Carthage discussed
the issue and confirmed their practice of rebaptizing. In reporting their
decision
-9to Stephen, however, they allowed that other bishops might act
differently within the unity of the church. 100
Stephen responded decisively to these letters sent by the bishops of
Africa. 101 He rejected their decision as an innovation and claimed that
his churchs practice of receiving persons baptized in heresy as though

they were penitent Christians, by the imposition of hands, had been

established by the apostles themselves. 102 When a delegation of
African bishops was sent to Rome to negotiate a resolution of the
conflict, Stephen signaled a break in communion between the two
churchesnot only refusing to receive the bishops but forbidding them
the customary hospitality and insulting Cyprian. 103
In the face of this Roman challenge, the African bishops stood their
ground. Cyprian called an unusual meeting on 1 September 256 and
circularized influential colleagues outside Africa with dossiers of the
relevant correspondence. 104 Whatever differences may have existed
among the Africans in the earlier stages of the conflict had been
resolved or set aside by the time of their vote. The bishops echoed
Cyprians arguments in their individual sententiae, unanimously
affirming the rebaptism of heretics and schismatics. 105
No record of the subsequent course of the controversy between
Cyprian and Stephen has survived. When Stephen died early in August
257, he was succeeded by Sixtus, with whom the Africans enjoyed
cordial relations. 106 At about the same time Cyprian was expelled from
Carthage in the initial stages of the Valerian persecution. A year later
he made formal confession of Christianity before the Roman
authorities and was executed on 14 September 258, the first martyrbishop of the African church. He became and remained its greatest
hero.
The practice of rebaptism continued to be disputed even within the
African church. After the Diocletian persecution at the beginning of the
fourth century, it became one of the issues used by the Donatist
church to identify itself with the heritage of Cyprian in opposition to
the Catholic church in Africa which followed the Roman practice of
accepting schismatics and heretics through the imposition of hands. 107

Conclusion
The controversies of Cyprians episcopate raised practical and
theoretical questions which were to trouble the African church for
another two centuries. His treatises and collected correspondence were
carefully preserved and regularly cited by opposing sides, each
-10claiming him as patron and guide. The scriptural texts which he cited
and the symbols which he drew from them to establish and evoke the

unity and purity of the church would serve as the currency of the
conflict between Catholics and Donatists. The solutions which he drew
from these premises, however, became the standards of a position
which was rejected in the Latin church outside Africa. Thus, despite
the scriptural foundation, theological coherence and religious power of
his images, Cyprians position did not prevail. This study proposes that
Cyprians theology succeeded in his own time and place because it was
well suited to the social situation of that Christian community. After
the Constantinian revolution, it no longer corresponded to the role of
the church in the empire and the consequent structures of its
communal organization. Attention, therefore, now focuses on the role
of social organization in the development of Cyprians response to the
crisis of the Decian persecution.
-11-

2
CHRISTIANS OF CARTHAGE
UNDER PERSECUTION
The purpose of this chapter is to analyze the social culture and
organization of the Christian community at Carthage under the impact
of the Decian persecution. An analysis of the community structures
prior to the onset of danger prepares for charting the disruption
caused by the Decian edict, which then leads to cataloging the
changes effected by the communitys response to persecution. Finally,
the cultural shifts in behavioral code, ritual practice and cosmology or
theology which accompanied these structural changes will be noted. In
this way, the scene will be set for the eruption of the first controversy,
over the reconciliation of the lapsed.

The church in Carthage before the

persecution
The study of this period in the life of the Christians in Carthage is
restricted by the source of the evidence, which is found almost
exclusively in Cyprians later attempts to provide a cosmological or
religious explanation for the persecution and the communitys
response to it. The letters which survive advance a certain justification
for Gods allowing the persecution and demand resistance to it. Yet to

achieve the success that they did, Cyprians exhortations had to reflect
the actual conditions in the community. Fabrications, blatant lies or
outrageous interpretations of events would have discredited Cyprian
and failed to win the support of the clergy and laity who were in
danger. Moreover, certain of the practices and dispositions which he
reported would seem to have been necessary conditions for
subsequent events. Under such a flag of caution, then, the analysis will
begin with attention to the boundary separating the church from the
city and then turn to the internal structures of the Christian
community.
-12The Carthaginian church was voluntarily separated from the religious
culture of the empire and appears to have been a fairly tightly bonded
group. Although the Christians did not practice the renunciation of
private property in favor of common ownership, they did contribute
from their resources to a common fund. 1 The community seems to
have owned its place or places of assembly, since mention is never
made of its dependence upon any particular individual for these
facilities. 2 Monetary gifts were made to the church itself and were
channeled through a fund, from which expenditures were made in the
name of the community as a whole rather than the original donors. 3
From these funds, the bishop paid the salaries of the clergy; 4 he also
sustained the indigent, the enrolled widows, and those whose former
occupations had been incompatible with a Christian commitment; 5 he
ransomed Christians taken captive in raids 6 and provided support to
confessors in prison. 7 Contributions to this common fund were urged
upon the penitents as an appropriate means of demonstrating the
commitment to Christ and the church which they had denied. 8
Their religious commitment also served to draw the Christians
together. They believed that sharing in the fellowship of the church
and its ritual meal were necessary for attaining eternal salvation. 9 The
eucharist could not be appropriated by each as a private good but
remained common property. It was established by the very action of
praying at a single altar, eating of a common loaf and sharing a single
cup. 10 Moreover, the people as a whole exercised considerable control
over the communitys life and eucharistic celebration: they voted in
the election of the bishop, 11 consented to his appointment and
removal of other clergy, 12 were consulted in the admission of new
members and the readmission of sinners who had been excluded from
communion. 13 Voluntary interaction was apparently essential to the

constitution of the assembly; deviating individuals were subjected to

group pressure and in danger of being shunned. 14
That same religious commitment established a boundary segregating
the church from the dominant culture. Baptismal profession required
the renunciation of all other religious practices, and in particular the
avoidance of contact with the demonic idolatry which permeated
Roman imperial society. 15 Christians had to use elaborate devices to
avoid actually taking the oaths which were necessary for their business
contracts with non-Christian associates. 16 They were to avoid touching
or even looking at the statues of the Roman gods which dominated the
public places in which they lived. 17
-13They were required to avoid certain occupations which violated their
moral standards or involved contact with idolatry. 18 Thus a pious
Christians relations with pagan neighbors would have been
constrained even in time of relative peace.
Yet the church was not isolated: its members had numerous, routine
interactions with the dominant culture. The wealthy, in particular, were
engaged in the economic life of the empire: they had estates to
preserve and enlarge, dependants to control and protect. 19 They seem
to have enjoyed many of the public facilities of the city and to have
followed the prevailing norms in clothing and personal grooming. 20
The working poor, as craftsmen or laborers, also lived on the Roman
economy. 21 Only the indigent and the clergy, both of whom drew their
principal support from the church, would have been more sheltered
from polytheistic influence. 22 Although slaves whose masters were
Christian may also have been more isolated, their Christian
commitment might have been less voluntary than that of the free
persons of the community. 23 Thus a reliance on the Roman economy
for their livelihood and sustenance made the Christians of Carthage
vulnerable to the challenge which the persecution would pose.
The pervading influence of Roman society is also indicated by the
operation of its class system within the Christian community. The
distinction between honestiores and humiliores among the free
persons was largely based on inherited wealth and status. 24 Though it
may have seemed natural to most of the members of the church, it
was neither justified by the communitys ideology nor integrated into
its own differentiation of roles. Both church membership and office
were assigned cosmic significance but neither had any formal

relationship to the Roman class structure. Thus the class differentiation

among Christians in Carthage tended to work against the unity and
coherence of the group because it ran counter to the ideology of the
community. Because Roman justice differentiated the coercion it
imposed according to social class, this division caused tension among
the church members during the persecution. 25
Its particular behavioral requirements, therefore, along with its rituals
of membership and its sharing of financial resources certainly
established the Christian church as a voluntarily segregated group. It
was not so highly bounded a group, however, as to provide its
members independence from the demands of Roman society, whose
institutions controlled their economic security and bodily safety.
The differentiation of religious roles, each with its rights and
responsibilities, established a set of social classes peculiar to the
-14church community. Clergy, in the several grades, were distinguished
from other communicants, 26 who were in turn separated from
catechumens, penitents and the excluded sinners. 27 The most bitter
fights among the Christians revolved around the privileges and
obligations attending different forms of membership, particularly the
authority of the bishop and the right of penitents to full communion.
Thus the communitys social hierarchy and the justifications for it
require careful attention.
The surviving evidence consists almost exclusively of a bishops
correspondence and deals primarily with conflict over his authority;
thus it provides more information about that office. Each community
had only one bishop, who served for life. The bishop was elected either
by the community or by the bishops of neighboring churches with the
consent of the community he would govern; he was then installed by
other bishops. The election could be considered an expression of divine
choice of a particular candidate. 28 Normally, bishops could be
removed from office for misconduct only by the judgment of their
fellow bishops; in extreme circumstances, however, a community
might be required to refuse the ministry of a failed leader. 29
As the chief officer of the church, the bishop was expected to act in the
name of the community as a whole and to serve its interests rather
than his own. 30 As administrator, the bishop maintained relationships
with other churches and supervised the community funds. 31 With the

advice and consent of the people, he appointed and governed the

clergy of his own church. 32 As bishop of the provincial capital and
chief city of Roman Africa, the bishop of Carthage summoned and
presided over synods of his fellow bishops which formulated common
policy and exercised discipline over the bishops themselves. 33 He
represented the entire college of African bishops in its dealings with
the bishops of Italy, Gaul, Spain and Asia. 34
The bishop was also the principal judge in his church. He interpreted
the behavioral demands of the gospel to the community and punished
those who failed to fulfill them. He supervised the repentance and
reconciliation of sinners, acting as he claimed in the place of Christ
until the last day and final judgment. 35 The ritual life of the
community also revolved around the bishop, who himself presided at
the eucharistic service in imitation of Christ and authorized the
presbyters to do likewise. 36 Through the imposition of hands, he
admitted newly baptized members and readmitted penitents. 37 Thus
Cyprian would portray the local bishop as Peter, the rock upon which
the community was founded. 38
-15The other clergy were distributed through several grades, including
presbyters, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes and readers. Each had age
requirements, specific duties and assigned compensation. 39 The clergy
as a whole worked under the supervision of the bishop; the deacons
may have been at the disposal of individual presbyters. 40 Like the
bishop, the other clerics were expected to devote themselves to the
concerns of the community; they were not allowed to engage in
business or to serve as trustees of estates or guardians of children. 41
Even among the laity, the community distinguished different ranks.
The widows and indigent were enrolled to receive financial support. 42
The dedicated virgins were an established order within the community,
whose bodily integrity was especially important for the church as a
whole. These women retained their property but they refrained from
marriage and were not to associate closely with men. 43 They were
especially honored as symbols of the churchs separation from the
Roman world. 44
In addition to these grades of full membership, the community had
liminal classes, people who were neither outsiders nor full members of
the group. Catechumens preparing for admission through the ritual of
baptism were subject to behavioral restrictions but also had certain

claims on the church, such as the right to immediate baptism and

membership when they were in danger of death. 45 Baptized Christians
who violated the behavioral code in some significant way were shifted
into the class of penitents, where they were to give evidence of a
renewed commitment through prayer, fasting and gifts to the common
fund, under the supervision of the clergy. At a suitable time, they were
examined by the bishop and ritually readmitted to the church. 46 Those
who refused this discipline were excommunicated; although cut off and
shunned, they retained a certain right to be admitted as penitents. 47
Clergy who failed in their offices might also be placed in a segregated
rank, allowed to partake of the communion but not to regain office. 48
Although this differentiation of roles and offices seems to have been
formally established in the Carthaginian church, its functioning was
severely tested even before the persecution. Cyprian was among the
Roman honestiores, a wealthy and well-educated man; he had not yet
been a Christian for many years when the bishops office fell open and
the people chose him to fill it, without his having passed through the
lower clerical ranks. 49 A serious conflict arose between the people and
the presbyters perhaps because the election was a slight to the other
clergy and a frustration of the anticipated
-16-

promotion of some prominent presbyter or deacon. 50 In any case, the dispute weakened
the role differentiation since competition for control broke out as soon as Cyprian, as an
honestior, withdrew into exile at the beginning of the persecution. 51 In addition, some
of the presbyters and deacons neither accepted the restrictions of their status nor even
followed the general morality; one of the deacons in particular had been stealing and
mistreating his family. 52 The virgins themselves were not serving as appropriate
symbols for the churchs renunciation of the rewards of Roman society and for its
heavenly aspirations. 53
These conflicts and the operation of an unjustified distinction between wealthy and
poor within the community lowered the strength of the system of social differentiation,
in the same way that the members dependence on the Roman economy weakened their
group cohesiveness. Thus the community was vulnerable to the attack mounted in the
Decian persecution, which forced the Christians to choose between the two societies,
the two behavior patterns, and the two reward systems in which they continued to be
involved.

Disruption by the Decian edict

The Decian edict challenged Christianitys accommodation to the demands of the

Roman economic and legal system by requiring formal participation in its religious
cult. The empire would not extend to Christian monotheists the religious exemption
which it continued to concede to the Jews; instead it would require Christians to
participate in the state cult. The Christians, however, were prepared neither to relax
their religious exclusivism nor to attempt an economically and politically independent
society. The church, therefore, had to look to its boundary, to the way in which it
regulated its engagement with the dominant culture.
Because the edict was enforced in accordance with the behavioral norms of the Roman
class system, it also challenged the role differentiation within the Christian
communities. The Roman judicial system dealt in very different ways with the
honestiores and humiliores. The nobility, based upon wealth, were more likely to be
hailed before the imperial commissioners and required to comply with the edict;
humiliores might never be called forward and required to take a stand. 54 Once they
were engaged by the state apparatus, however, the humiliores were in greater danger of
coercion and bodily harm. 55 Cyprian, as bishop and honestior, was in a
-17-

particularly vulnerable position; 56 many of the other clergy were ignored by the imperial
commissioners. 57
In the enforcement of the Decian edict, wealthy Christians were allowed to abandon their
immoveable propertywhich could have entailed a permanent loss of statusand
voluntarily go into an exile which they hoped would be temporary. They could also avail
themselves of a type of fictive compliance which was regularly used in doing other forms
of business. Personally or through an agent, they could declare themselves unable to
follow the prescriptions of the law, make a payment which they might interpret as a fine,
and receive a certificate attesting to their participation in a sacrifice, which all knew they
had refused to perform. In this way, they would avoid actual contact with idolatry, would
preserve and even acknowledge their Christian commitment, and yet would avoid the loss
of property and position attendant upon a more public confession of Christian faith. 58
Wealthy Christians could, of course, choose to comply with the requirements of the edict,
thereby fully protecting their property and dependants. 59 They would then have to find
some way to make an accommodation with the church.
Poorer Christians, the humiliores, faced a different burden. If they publicly refused to
comply with the edict, they might be tortured or reduced to slavery. Since they did not
have the moveable financial resources of the rich, voluntary exile would have made them
refugees rather than exiles, dependent upon the support of Christian communities in
larger cities. 60 Obtaining certificates through payments would have been more difficult
in the absence of both financial resources and personal relationships with the governing
class. Unlike the rich, however, the poor might hope to escape the attention of the

commissioners charged with enforcing the edict. They could simply ignore the edict,
restrict their activities, and hope that their neighbors and acquaintances would refrain
from calling official attention to them. 61
Thus the enforcement of the edict did not affect rich and poor Christians in the same way.
Yet the differentiation of roles within the community did not make explicit provision for
such a distinction in the fulfillment of the conditions of membership. 62 In upholding
their baptismal oath, all Christians were, theoretically, equal. 63 To maintain its
cohesiveness, the church would have to find some way to adjust for this difference, some
system of dealing with success and failure which would maintain the standards of
Christian life and justify the inequality in danger faced by its members.
The Christian clergy was also placed in a particularly difficult
-18-

position by the edict. The bishop, Cyprian, was prominent in the city
and his arrest was immediately demanded by the mob. 64 His personal
danger, moreover, drew attention to the entire community, thereby
endangering the poor whose only defense was anonymity. He
withdrew into exile but did not allow such recourse to the rest of the
clergy, apparently most of whom were humiliores. 65 The presbyters
and deacons had to expose themselves to the Roman authorities in
order to visit and care for the imprisoned confessors, who required
both religious encouragement and bodily sustenance. 66 Similarly,
those charged with the care of the dead had to claim and bury the
bodies of confessors who died under torture. 67 If the ministers made
any compromise with the government, they would invalidate the very
authority by which they could strengthen the community. Yet if they
were discovered and hauled before the imperial commission, their
services would be lost. 68 The enforcement of the edict, then, did not
fall evenly on the ranks of the clergy. Legitimating the differentiation
in danger would be extremely important for the cohesiveness of the
clergy and community.
Finally, the persecution created two new classes within the
community: the lapsed and the confessors. The very definition of the
lapsed would involve controversy: were those who had obtained
certificates without actually sacrificing guilty of apostasy; should those
who initially confessed but then failed under torture be treated
differently than those who volunteered to sacrifice without even
waiting to be called by the commissioners? 69 The powers and
privileges consequent upon the confessors new relationship to God
also required definition: was their salvation secured, so that they were

no longer subject to the same behavioral restraints as other

Christians? 70 If they were to sit with Christ and judge the nations,
could they bind and loosen sinners within their own community? 71
Through these challenges to the communitys defining standards of
membership and its differentiated roles, the Decian persecution
endangered the cohesiveness of the Christian church and the
established patterns of relationship among its members. The variety of
Christian responses to the challenge also threatened the churchs
culture by questioning its moral, ritual and cosmological assumptions.
Was fidelity properly defined as the avoidance of idolatry or did it also
require active confession of Christ once the opportunity was given? Did
this standard apply to all Christians equally? Was flight or voluntary
exile in time of persecution a confession or a repudiation of faith? Did
the rituals of the Roman state cult have
-19any power to harm the Christian? Could the Christian ritual of
repentance remove whatever pollution arose from idolatry and restore
the sacrificer to the church? Most importantly, why was the
persecution happening? Was the Christian God incapable of protecting
the faithful? Cyprian and his colleagues would have to find a plausible
a response to each of these questions in their efforts to restore the
identity and order of the Christian community.

The church under persecution

The Christians of Carthage responded in different ways to the Decian
edict. Some came forward voluntarily, with their dependants in tow, to
offer the required sacrifice. 72 Others secured the certificates by
payment, personally or through an agent, thereby protecting
themselves and their households from prosecution. 73 Others
sacrificed, in fear and trembling, under coercion. 74 A minority seems
to have resisted. Following the example of the bishop, some
abandoned their property and left the city. 75 Those who refused to
sacrifice when they were called forward were imprisoned and
eventually sent into exile. 76 Some of these remained outside the city
but others defied the government and returned to the community
illegally. 77
After a few months, the imperial officials introduced torture into the
interrogation process: they extended the imprisonment and deprived
the confessors of food, water, light and fresh air. As a consequence,

some of the confessors died as martyrs. 78 Others capitulated but then

renounced their compliance and stood firm in a second test, either
dying under torture or being sent into exile. 79 Some, of course, simply
failed under the torture and harassment. The minority which remained
faithful in secret lived in fear of being delated to the commissioners. 80
All who failed to confess the faith were excluded from the peace of the
church and participation in its eucharistic ritual. Those who agreed to
repent of their apostasy before the community and to undertake
penance were promised the peace of the church in the event of
approaching death. 81 Thus the penitent lapsed were allowed to
continue as members at the boundary of the community, with the
hope of finally being readmitted and thus attaining eternal salvation.
Some must have simply abandoned Christianity and returned to
imperial society. 82
Evidently, the communitys mode of voluntarily segregating itself from
the dominant culture had failed. To re-establish or to
-20redefine its boundary would require a major effort to achieve
consensus among the faithful and the fallen, which could not be
undertaken before the end of the persecution. Cyprian called for
patience and united prayer and proposed a broad consultation of
bishops, clergy and people once God granted a return of civic peace.

83

At this point, however, the authority structure within the church in

Carthage also failed. The bishop was in exile, attempting to exhort the
community and direct the clergy by letter and messenger. Because he
was not facing the danger which beset the other clergy and the
majority of the people, his own religious authority was weakened.
Then news arrived that the presbyters in Rome had decided to delay
the election of a replacement for their martyred bishop and to rule the
church as a council. The majority of the presbyters in Carthage, who
had opposed the election of Cyprian two years earlier, decided on a
similar course of action. They treated Cyprian as fugitive from his
responsibilities, ignored his letters and messengers, and took the
situation into their own hands. They would draw upon the spiritual
capital of the confessors to counteract the popularity and continuing
influence of Cyprian among the people. 84
The confessors and martyrs were a new category of membership in the
church, a new position on the social hierarchy. Their rank seemed to

have been achieved by their own initiative or by the direct assistance

of God; unlike the clerical offices, it had not been conferred upon them
by the action of the community. Thus the community experienced
some difficulty in specifying the privileges and obligations associated
with this public witness to Christ. When the first set of confessors was
released from prison, some of them flaunted the behavioral standards
of the church, asserting that their salvation was guaranteed by Christs
promise to acknowledge before God anyone who had confessed him on
earth. 85 Despite these claims of cosmic privilege, the confessors
continued to live in the community and could be subjected to personal
pressure by the clergy and especially by their fellow confessors. 86
With the introduction of torture into the process of interrogation came
the deaths of some confessors as martyrs. They, it was believed,
ascended directly to Christ and would sit with him in judgment. Thus,
according to a disputed tradition, they might serve as intercessors to
win forgiveness for the apostates. These martyrs escaped group
pressure by dying; the privileges they enjoyed and power they
exercised in heaven would prove even more difficult to control
-21-

than that of the confessors. The fallen began to seek out the imprisoned and to secure
letters which directed that the repentant sinners should be granted the peace of the
church on the strength of the martyrs intercession before Christ. 87 So armed, the
apostates expected to be readmitted to communion upon the death of the martyr. Some
of the confessors provided such letters only to a few selected individuals but others
gave general letters, including all of a recipients dependants. 88 A few even authorized
their fellow confessors to continue issuing the letters in their names after their deaths, to
whomever requested them. 89 These letters were addressed to the bishop, as the officer
charged with giving the peace of the church, but the martyrs seemed to be issuing
commands rather than interceding for a favor or advising in a judgment. 90
Thus was the stage set for a leadership struggle in the church. The martyrs were with
God in heaven and were thus free from the face-to-face pressure which the community
could use to establish and maintain rules and roles. The lapsed were understandably
anxious to secure their readmission to the communion, and at the lowest personal cost;
they could be trusted to uphold the authority of the martyrs. 91 The confessors enjoyed
the honor in which they were held by the community and were ready to exploit their
role as agents of the martyrs. 92
In the ensuing struggle for control of the community, both the bishop and the ambitious
presbyters would seek to gain the support of the confessors. When the martyrs first

began to issue letters of peace, Cyprian tried to moderate rather than to stop the
practice. He recognized the authority of the confessors but specified the way it should
be exercised. Their letters should reflect their role, offering counsel to the bishop and
community as individual sinners came up for judgment. Thus they should recommend
individuals rather than indefinitely large groups, should base their advice on a judgment
of the sincere repentance of the individual sinner, should require that peace be delayed
until the end of the persecution, and must recognize the right of the bishop to examine
cases individually before granting peace. 93 For the most part, the confessors seem to
have complied with these provisions. 94 Some of the presbyters, however, ignored the
restrictions of the letters: they admitted the lapsed to peace and communion
immediately upon the death of the martyr, requiring neither confession of guilt nor
public display of repentance. 95 Using the religious capital of the confessors, they
challenged the authority of the exiled bishop and the communitys right to control its
membership and behavioral standards.
-22-

The situation was fraught with danger for the church. Some of the standing faithful
were still in danger of being apprehended and tortured; others were safe before both
church and empire because their guardianhusband, father, patron or masterhad
complied with the edict. The clergy and confessors were divided: some sharing the
eucharist with the readmitted fallen and others shunning them. 96 Even the lapsed
were divided: some undertook penance and awaited the return of the bishop at the end
of the persecution; others enjoyed the peace of the church and the safety of the
empire. By availing himself of the privilege of an honestior to protect his people,
Cyprian had disabled himself as bishop: he could exert no face-to-face pressure to
restore discipline or establish control. 97 The church in Carthage was in danger of
disintegration.

The church culture at the end of the persecution

The social organization of the church in Carthage was shifting under the impact of the
Decian persecution. Not only had the community failed voluntarily to maintain the
regulations governing its relation with the imperial culture but the authority of the
martyrs threatened to remove its defining characteristicreligious exclusivism
from the peoples control. Some Christians had violated the standards of performance
which defined membership and then been welcomed back into the communion
without any indication of behavioral change or renewed commitment to the standards
of the community. Moreover, the clearly defined lines of responsibility governing the
actions of the clergy and people had been bent and broken by the presbyters assertion
of the martyrs privilege and repudiation of the prerogatives of both the bishop and
the standing faithful to judge the sinners. In claiming the right to determine the
conditions of membership, the coalition of rebel presbyters and confessors was
asserting its autonomy and control over the people, both standing and fallen. Not only

was the voluntary cohesion of the community being lowered but its differentiation of
roles was changing. Some were breaking free of community control and exercising
control over others.
The incipient shift in social organization to a lower level of group cohesion and
internal differentiation was accompanied and facilitated by a corresponding change in
religious culture. The formal, behavioral morality was giving way to negotiated rules
of interaction based on the personally achieved authority of the martyrs. The
assumption that rituals were efficacious was being
-23-

called into question: contact with the demonic sacrifices of the Roman
cult seemed to present no danger to individual or community; the
Christian purification rites were either unnecessary or ineffective in
comparison to the martyrs personal intercessory authority. The peace
and communion of the church were becoming a possession acquired by
rank to be conferred at the will of the powerful authoritiespresbyters
and martyrsrather than the realization of voluntary fellowship among
the members. Religious power was being appropriated by individuals
and employed as an instrument of autonomy and control. Nor was this
new power incorruptible: through the martyrs, the power of wealth
and kinship could reach up into heaven and manipulate the judgment
of Christ.
These shifts in the organization and practice of the church should have
entailed a questioning of its cosmology, of the assumptions which
provided the justification for its system of rules and roles. Among the
most important of these was the assumption that the universe was
governed by personal forces which were responsive to the moral
actions and intentions of human beings. In fact, the instability of
communal assumptions was manifest in the questioning of the cosmic
efficacy of the churchs ritual of reconciliation. This ritual will be
considered in the next two chapters.
-24-

3
NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE

The Roman Empire challenged the boundary by which the church had
voluntarily segregated itself: Decians edict demanded a violation of
the baptismal oath in which Christians pledged allegiance to Christ and
renounced every other religious cult. A significant number of the
Christiansin Carthage and perhaps throughout Africacomplied with
the imperial law either by sacrificing or by obtaining certificates
attesting to their having sacrificed to the Roman deities. Because they
had publicly violated the foundational condition of church membership,
these failed Christians were a threat to the integrity and identity of the
church. Because they had polluted themselves by contact with the
demonic rites of the imperial cult, they were a danger to the purity of
the communion. Because they stood under the threat of repudiation by
Christ for refusing to confess him on earth, their participation could
destroy the eucharist as a symbol and foretaste of the heavenly
banquet. 1 Thus they were immediately excluded from the communion
of the church. Under the threat of state sanctions, some of the sinners
decided to abandon Christianity altogether and reverted to their
former style of life in Roman society. 2 Many others sought to regain
their membership and the hope of salvation on terms similar to those
which they had enjoyed before the Decian edict. These posed a
dilemma for the bishops.
The church had a procedure for purifying the faithful from significant
sins. In place of the cleansing power of the Spirit-filled waters of
baptism, the sinners used fasting, almsgiving and prayer to scour their
souls. They pleaded that the community, in its identification with
Christ, would intercede before God for their forgiveness. After an
extended period of such penance, the purified sinners once again
received the Holy Spirit through the imposition of the bishops hands
and were readmitted to communion. This
-25-

procedure, however, was restricted to those sins which had been committed against
the persons and property of fellow Christians. 3 Those who had sinned directly against
God, principally by idolatry or murder, were permanently excluded from the churchs
communion; 4 by persevering in penance for the remainder of their lives, however,
they would be readmitted to communion and commended to the mercy of God at the
time of death. 5
Faced with a life-time of penance and an uncertain acceptance by Christ, the lapsed
turned to a more direct means of intercession: the power of the martyrs. When they

died in the confession of Christ, the martyrs were believed to enter directly and
immediately into paradise, where they could appeal to Christ himself for the
forgiveness of their fellows. 6 What the lapsed sought, however, was not only an
advocate to plead their cases when they appeared before the tribunal of Christ after
death but a patron who would gain them readmission to the communion on earth.
Thus the letters of peace provided by the martyrs and their deputies among the
confessors were addressed to the bishops; they directed that the penitents be received
into communion on the strength of the martyrs power to win forgiveness from Christ
rather than on the basis of their submission to the process of penance and the
intercession of the church.
The letters of peace granted by the martyrs threatened the communitys identity by
allowing the sinners to re-enter the communion without acknowledging their failure
and recommitting themselves publicly to that exclusive loyalty to Christ which was
the condition of membership in the church. The martyrs authority also strained the
traditional differentiation of roles within the church. The bishops asserted their
responsibility and the communitys right to require public repentance through
submission to the established rituals and procedures. In exercising their judicial role
as agents of Christ, however, the leaders were caught between conflicting pressures.
As pastors, they could not fail to call the sinners to repentance. Yet they could hardly
claim the authority to forgive a sin committed directly against God. Since Christ had
threatened to deny in heaven those who denied him on earth, how could the church
presume to loosen that sin on earth with any expectation, much less assurance, that it
would be loosened in heaven as well? The bishops were also required to challenge the
power of the martyrs, who claimed to intercede directly before Christ as he awarded
them crowns of victory. Thus the bishops were faced with the apparently impossible
task of rescuing the sinners
-26-

without destroying the identity of the church or denying the glory of

the martyrs.

A comparative overview
The challenge presented by the lapsed and their readmission to the
churchs communion can be analyzed in terms of the cohesiveness or
identity of the church community and the differentiation of roles within
it. The primary issue for identity was the groups power to specify and
enforce the rejection of idolatry which segregated it from Roman
society. The rights and responsibilities appropriate to the roles of
bishops, martyrs, confessors, standing faithful, and fallen were also in
dispute. The three different solutions to the problem of reconciling the
lapsed actually adopted by competing Christian communities will be

described in terms of group cohesiveness and role differentiation. Then

each will be examined in greater detail.

The laxists
Fortunatus, Novatus and the other laxist presbyters in Carthage
recognized the exalted status of the martyrs and accepted their power
to secure forgiveness directly from Christ. The peace granted by Christ
in heaven, they reasoned, could not then be withheld by the church on
earth. The clients of these heavenly patrons, therefore, were not
required to placate God or to demonstrate their remorse to the
community by penitential lamentation and fasting, by depriving
themselves of pleasures and possessions. Instead, the sinners for
whom the martyrs had promised to intercede were returned to their
former status, free of all taint of idolatry, worthy to share immediately
in the communion, and subject to no continuing restrictions within the
church.
This glorification of the martyrs and the use of their power by the
confessors they had deputized and the laxist clergy who recognized
their letters of peace entailed a diminution of group unity and
cohesiveness. Control over its boundary passed from the community
as a whole to the martyrs, the confessors who claimed to act as their
agents, and the clergy. Since the martyrs were in heaven rather than
present in the community, they could not be subjected to the face-toface pressure which might have limited their exercise of power and
allowed the members of the community to exert a counterbalancing
force, as they had successfully curbed the first set of released
-27confessors who had violated community moral standards. 7 By
claiming that they had been authorized to act as deputies of the
martyrs, the confessors and the rebel clergy also loosened the control
of the standing faithful over their own decisions and actions. The peace
of Christ, which the bishop had been accustomed to extend and
withdraw upon the advice of the whole community, would now be
granted by the martyrs or confessors and administered by the clergy
without regard for or reliance upon any communally enforced
standards of behavior. In breaking free of the limits of their roles in
the church, therefore, the martyrs usurped and redistributed the
power which had been differentially shared by Christians enjoying
various types of church membership. Simultaneously, they

undermined the voluntary cohesiveness of the community as a whole.

8

The rigorists
In sharp contrast to the laxist program, the rigorist stance adopted by
Novatian in Rome and his representatives in Africa relied exclusively
on that behavioral morality which establishes and maintains a tightly
bounded and segregated community. The widespread failure of
Christians to uphold their baptismal commitment threatened the
identity of the church as a gathering of the saints and its communion
as an entry way to the kingdom of heaven. Because the rigorist church
claimed to have no authority to forgive a sin committed against God
after baptism, it could not associate the idolaters with itself even as
penitents but could only commend them as outcasts to Christs mercy
as they appeared before him after death. The rigorists protected
themselves from the contamination of idolatry by refusing communion
with both the lapsed and any church which readmitted them to its
fellowship.
The high and well-defined boundary which the rigorists voluntarily
maintained protected their community as an island of pure holiness in
the polluted sea of Roman idolatry. This defining concern for purity,
moreover, suppressed any significant differentiation of roles which
might have allowed varying degrees of separation from evil and thus
created a place for the penitents, even at the fringe of the community.
Faced with failure within the church, the rigorists expelled the evil and
strengthened the voluntary unity and separation of their church. At the
same time, they became a more egalitarian community by refusing to
define classes of membership through differing expectations and
privileges.
-28-

The moderates
Cyprian and his colleagues both affirmed a variety of interactive categories of
membership and maintained a firm boundary which was defined by a behavioral
standard of morality. They first expelled the fallen from the community and then
required that the apostates submit to the ritual of reconciliation which demonstrated
their repentance and recommitment in the presence of the entire church. Once
reconciled, the lapsed were assigned to a specific status which restricted their
participation in the communion and thereby prevented any residual contagion from

adversely affecting their fellow Christians. Unlike the laxists, these bishops extended
the peace of the church to the penitents as a necessary condition for their attaining the
forgiveness of Christ in heaven rather than as a consequence of their having achieved it.
They explained that only those whom the church had admitted to communion would
come before the divine judge and thus could be considered for acceptance into the
kingdom. Unlike the rigorists, they distinguished levels of purity appropriate to
different types of membership and thereby integrated the sinners into the community.
By simultaneously affirming the definition of its boundary and asserting an internal
differentiation of roles, Cyprians church maintained the significance of its behavioral
code and the efficacy of its rituals. It reintegrated the sinners without being polluted by
their idolatry and sacrificing its own holiness. In the process, however, it had to
redefine the cosmic or religious significance of its boundary: church membership no
longer carried the presumption of salvation but only the right to appear before Christ
and the promise of communal intercession. By thus limiting its claims to purity and its
power to guarantee salvation, this church maintained both its cohesive separation from
Roman idolatry and its internal differentiation.
Cyprian and his colleagues defended their moderate position on two fronts
simultaneously. Against the laxist clergy and their allies among the confessors, they
insisted that the fallen must submit to the judgment and rituals of the community in
order to regain the peace of the church and the forgiveness of Christ. This issue will be
considered in the current chapter. The following chapter is be dedicated to the battle
against the rigorists, which began in Rome and spread to Africa, over the efficacy of the
ritual of reconciliation to protect the purity of the church and win the forgiveness of
Christ for the sin of apostasy.
-29-

The challenge of the martyrs and

confessors
As the church in Carthage was shaken by the onset of the persecution
and then by the introduction of torture to enforce the Decian edict,
Cyprian took actions which would strengthen its unity and cohesion.
His fundamental interpretation of the crisis and of the response
required by the church was clearly established in the letters he sent to
Carthage during the initial months of his exile. Once the martyrs had
began to issue letters of peace and the clergy to grant immediate
admission to communion, he then concentrated on upholding the
rights of the community as a whole and restricting the privileges
claimed by the martyrs, confessors and laxist clergy. Thus, from the
beginning, he upheld the voluntary unity of the church.

Cyprians actions and especially the justifications which he offered for

them fostered certain attitudes and discouraged contrary outlooks; the
motives and considerations he offered both reflected and shaped the
worldview of his audience. In justifying his own withdrawal, he
expressed concern for the safety of the community as a whole: his
presence in the city would focus attention on the Christians and
endanger all. 9 Similarly, he warned his clergy to assume a low profile
when visiting the imprisoned confessors lest their presence stir up
resentment against the church. 10 He directed that the financial
resources of the community be used not only to support the members
who had lost their means of livelihood as a consequence of the
persecution but to pressure those dependent on the church to remain
faithful: anyone who lapsed was to be deprived of assistance. 11
Similarly, care for the imprisoned confessors was declared essential 12
but aid was to be withheld from those who repudiated the churchs
moral standards after their release. 13 Most of the funds, including
those which Cyprian himself contributed, were channeled through the
clergy so that benefits were provided in the name of the community as
a whole rather than by individual patrons. 14 Thus the financial
resources of the church were mobilized and pooled to alleviate the
economic hardships visited upon its members as consequences of their
common religious commitment.
Cyprians concern with the cohesiveness of the church was particularly
evident in his initial attempts to explain the reasons for the
persecution and the appropriate response to it. Illustrating Gods use
of moral standards in the governance of the universe, his exhortations
assigned blame to the whole community and did not attempt to
marginalize some members as scapegoats. Cyprian reminded his
people that warnings had been given of the
-30impending danger and the sins that provoked it. In a vision given prior to the beginning
of the persecution, God had threatened the community with the consequences of its
disharmony in prayer. Later, a dream had shown that the Father was preparing to allow
Satan to savage the community because of its persistent refusal to obey Christs
commands. Just before the outbreak of persecution, a third vision admonished the
church for inattentiveness in its prayer. 15 The persecution, Cyprian concluded, was a
divine punishment intended to test, to correct, to sift the church. 16 When the
community did not repent, when some of the first set of confessors sinned openly after
they were spared by the imperial officials, God had intensified the persecution. By
divine permission, the Roman government had begun to imprison and torture the
confessors rather than sending them into exile. 17 Thus Cyprian called the whole

community, both the standing and the fallen, to repent and appease God by fasting and
tears, by vigilant and persistent prayer. 18 That prayer must be harmonious and unified;
each must petition God for the peace of the entire community rather than for private
safety. 19
This overriding concern with the solidarity of the community also appeared in
Cyprians glorification of the martyrs and his attempt to control the released confessors.
While the first set of confessors was still under interrogation, he praised them as friends
of Christ, who would reign and judge with him. 20 Once they were released and some
had began to violate the law of both God and the empire, however, he called upon their
fellows to correct and even to shun them. 21 Their public confession was only the
beginning of salvation, he warned; like everyone else, they must continue to guard
against the intensified assault of the devil. 22 The martyrs who had stood firm against
torture and deprivation even unto death, he proclaimed to be the glory of the whole
church, in whom Christ himself had fought and conquered. 23 The community must take
particular care to recover their bodies and to mark the days of their victory for its future
celebrations. 24
Thus from the beginning of the persecution, Cyprian warned that the church was being
punished for sins against group solidarity, that all must join together in repenting, and
that deliverance would be granted only to the church as a whole. In contrast, the lapsed
who had voluntarily abandoned Christ and the community by obeying the demands of
the emperor were even then attempting to secure a private peace with God through the
intercession of the martyrs. 25
Cyprians early explanation of the nature and causes of the persecution clarifies his
reaction to the conspiracy of the confessors and
-31-

the rebel clergy which allowed the lapsed to return to communion before the danger
was removed and peace restored to the church. The imperial action was itself Gods
chastisement of the community, by which the deserters had been tried, found wanting,
and expelled from the church. To accept them back into communion even while the
testing continued, therefore, would be to reject Gods warning and even to obstruct the
divine purpose. By reconciling the sinners without requiring even a semblance of
repentance, the laxist clergy would certainly provoke divine outrage and delay Gods
granting peace to the church. Danger threatened not only the individual sinners who had
further offended God by usurping the eucharist but the confessors who promoted this
sacrilege and even the standing faithful who tolerated it. 26 Calling upon his visions
once again, Cyprian warned that the churchs safety required that unity and discipline
be restored and preserved. 27

The exiled bishop called upon the different members of the community to apply
personal pressure to the clergy, the confessors and the lapsed. 28 The confessors were to
curb those among their number who abused their honored position, to remind the
presbyters of the responsibilities of their office, to restrain the lapsed, and to halt the
growing traffic in their own letters of peace. 29 The clergy were reminded of their duty
to instruct the people, maintain discipline, and accept their particular role within the
church; 30 the rebels among them were threatened with suspension from office and trial
before the entire community for usurpation of the bishops authority. 31 The faithful
people were exhorted to challenge and shun the unrepentant lapsed. By ordering that his
letters addressed to the confessors and the clergy be read out to the laity as well,
Cyprian used the people to pressure their leaders to conform to the bishops directives.
32
All were again enjoined to unite in vigilant and insistent prayer so that God would
give repentance to the fallen and peace to the church. 33
Cyprian also outlined a procedure by which the whole community would regain control
over its standards of membership by determining the proper course to follow in
reconciling the fallen once God had granted peace to the church. In keeping with what
he claimed had been constant practice throughout his episcopate, he promised to seek
the counsel of all in making any decision which affected the whole church. 34 When it
was safe for the bishop and other exiles to return, all would meet to consider the
recommendations made by the martyrs and to judge the individual lapsed. 35 To bolster
his position in Carthage, moreover, he immediately sent
-32copies of these letters to some episcopal colleagues in Africa, seeking
their support for his policy. 36
A month later, Cyprian wrote to his clergy again, to make provision for
any lapsed who might fall sick during the summer months. He
conceded first that those who held letters from the martyrs should be
granted peace as death approached, 37 and then, in a later letter,
extended this benefit to all the penitent lapsed. 38 On the healthy,
however, he remained adamant: they were not to be admitted to
communion as long as God withheld peace from the church as a
whole. He suggested that those demanding immediate reconciliation
should reverse their earlier denial of Christ by a public confession of
faith before the imperial authorities. 39 This form of repentance would
certainly satisfy both God and the church. Some of the lapsed seem to
have undertaken just this form of repentance and were promptly
reinstated. 40 The only alternative was for the lapsed to be patient and
penitent, confident that they would share whatever remedy God
provided to the community as a whole. 41 While making concessions to
the dying, Cyprian insisted that the lapsed would be admitted into the

living community only with the consent of its members, thereby

maintaining the voluntary and personal character of the church.

42

As the conflict over the admission of the lapsed developed, the focus
shifted to the privileges which were attached to the role of the martyrs
and their agents among the confessors imprisoned in Carthage.
Cyprian had admonished the confessors that if they were to judge with
Christ, they must judge as Christ would, recommending for
reconciliation only individual sinners whose true repentance they had
personally witnessed. 43 When the confessors responded by granting a
general amnesty and ordering him to broadcast it among the bishops,
Cyprian broke off attempts to negotiate with them. Instead he turned
for support to his episcopal colleagues in Africa and then to the clergy
and the confessors in Rome. In a daring attack on their authority, he
charged the martyrs and confessors with violating the explicit
commands of Christ: sins could be remitted without works of
repentance only in baptism, which was given in the name of the
Trinity, not that of a martyr. 44 In refusing to respect Christs threat to
condemn in heaven those who failed to confess him on earth, he
asserted, the martyrs had undercut the very foundation of their own
authorityChrists parallel promise to recognize and reward their
confession. 45 The church, Cyprian insisted, must repudiate the
martyrs attempt to exercise power contrary to the gospels explicit
teaching.
-33As the persecution continued into the autumn of 250, the divisions
within the Carthaginian church hardened and the rising influence of the
imprisoned confessors and their clerical allies threatened to overwhelm
the established hierarchy and splinter the community. Although some
of the lapsed submitted to Cyprians demand for full public repentance,
others adamantly claimed the peace which, they asserted, the martyrs
prayers had already secured for them in heaven. 46 Over the winter,
the clergy in Carthage did expel one laxist presbyter who had granted
communion to the lapsed. 47 He, however, was a refugee from another
city. They proved unable to control the dissidents within their own
ranks. For this purpose, Cyprian had to appoint a commission of exiled
bishops and presbyters whose own status as confessors enabled them
to confront the rebels and excommunicate some of their leaders. 48 He
also prepared himself for the personal struggle with his challengers in
Carthage which would come the following spring.

Reconciling the lapsed

Shortly after Easter 251, Cyprian was able to return to Carthage and
address the assembled church. His masterful oration, On the Lapsed,
reasserted his own interpretation of the persecution and reiterated the
demand for repentance. Within a month, the bishops of Africa met in
Carthage to determine the program through which they would admit
the fallen and exclude the rebels. They gathered again in the spring of
the next two years to review progress and adjust policy. By the
summer of 253, they had regained control of the church in Africa and
decided to restore all the penitents to communion. The methods
employed in each of the three stages of this process will be examined
in turn.

Cyprians return to Carthage

Cyprians opening statement to his community in On the Lapsed
recalled the explanation of the meaning of the persecution which he
had advanced in his letters to them a year earlier. The Christians had
renounced the Roman world in word but not in deed; they had failed to
fulfill the promise made in baptism to follow the way of Christ alone.
Instead, they had compromised their Christianity by preferring the
property and protecting the position which had then enslaved them to
imperial society. They retained Roman fashions of dress and
ornamentation; some married their daughters to non-34Christians. Even the clergy had neglected the Christian commitment in
order to pursue wealth and advantage. 49 The entire community was at
fault and had brought Gods corrective anger down upon itself in the
form of imperial persecution.
So God had acted to correct the church, to arouse and liberate the
people from the bondage into which they had fallen. When faced with
the stark choice between Christ and Caesar, Cyprian recalled, many
Christians awoke and reformed themselves. Some immediately
abandoned their possessions to imperial confiscation and protected
their faith by withdrawing into exile. Others were apprehended and
upheld their commitment to Christ at the risk of limb and even life.
Still others confessed in secret: by refusing to obey the edict within
the appointed time, they had resisted the attack and privately stood
ready to confess publicly in case they were denounced to the
authorities. All these faithful constituted the church and Cyprian
proclaimed them confessors of Christ. 50 Those unfortunates who had
bravely confessed Christ but had eventually been overcome by torture

and deprivation he judged deserving of pity and Gods mercy. Though

they failed to win the crown, still they too had been corrected by Gods
thrashing; their spirits bewailed the weakness of their flesh; their
wounds pleaded eloquently for forgiveness. In some cases, God had
accepted their repentance, strengthened them, and granted them the
crown of martyrdom in a second trial. 51 Still others among the faithful
admitted that they had been preserved only because they were not
discovered and required to sacrifice. Recognizing the weakness of their
resolve, they also sought Gods forgiveness. 52 All of these Cyprian
welcomedsome with joy and others with compassion. Because they
had heard and heeded the call to reform and repentance, they might
expect Christs commendation or hope for his forgiveness. Yet these
were the minority.
The majority of Christians in Carthage, Cyprian charged, had failed
openly and freely. Many had lined up to comply with the edict on the
first day of its enforcement, encouraging their friends and dragging
along their dependants. So eager were they to protect their property
that they refused to be delayed, forcing themselves on the imperial
commissioners until late in the evening. Others waited, bound to their
possessions, until they were called forward and then they denied
Christ. Though some had subsequently submitted to the discipline of
penitence, many of the apostates refused to repent as openly and fully
as they had sinned. 53
Yet Cyprian did not turn away from these recalcitrant fallen.
-35-

Picking up the themes of his last letter from exile, he addressed them as the wounded
who could yet be revived and healed by repentance. He warned them of the second and
graver persecution which now threatened to destroy them completely. The sin to which
the lapsed were now temptedto share the laxist communion without having repented
of their idolatryhe branded as more offensive to God than the prior sin of
participating in the demonic sacrifice. 54 In exile, he had compared the five rebel
presbyters to the five commissioners who supervised the enforcement of the imperial
edict in Carthage. 55 In On the Lapsed, he called them false surgeons who closed and
covered a wound which would then always fester and never heal. 56 Thus Cyprian

asserted that in denying the communitys right to require public penance of those
members who had failed to uphold their baptismal oath of loyalty to Christ and the
church, the rebel clergy and confessors had taken up the devils own work.
Having clarified the danger posed by the laxist offer of communion, Cyprian turned to
the rights and responsibilities of the martyrs, in whose intercessory power the lapsed
had placed their trust. No human being could forgive a sin which was committed
against God, he asserted; the servant could not write off a debt owed to the Master. The
martyrs, like the other faithful, would indeed have the opportunity to intercede for their
fellows but only when Christ himself returned to sit in judgment at the end of the world.
57
In the meantime, the bishops would accept their counsel and certainly accede to any
request they made which corresponded to the law of God. If the martyrs petition was
not grounded in the scriptures, however, the bishop should await some sign of Gods
willingness to grant it. The scriptures clearly show, he reminded the community, that
God did not always grant what the saints askednot Moses, Jeremiah, Daniel, Noah or
Job, or even the martyrs under the altar in the Book of Revelation. 58 In granting peace
to the lapsed, moreover, the martyrs were promising what was actually contrary to the
law of God. Their general amnesty blocked that very conversion and repentance which
had been the divine objective in allowing the persecution itself. 59 Moreover, by
ignoring Christs threat to denounce those who refused to confess him, Cyprian
recalled, the martyrs were undercutting the very foundation of the authority they
claimedChrists contrasting promise to reward those who did acknowledge him. 60
Thus, Cyprian concluded, the martyrs had no authority to forgive the sin of idolatry and
were wrong in demanding that the bishop grant the peace of the church to the fallen.
-36-

The church could indeed accept the lapsed, Cyprian reminded his people, but only as
penitents. Those who refused to submit to the discipline of repentance were in the
greatest danger. They had refused to be reformed by the persecution itself and now they
were further provoking divine anger by violently demanding the eucharist. 61 As he had
cited dreams and visions as indicators of Gods will during the persecution, 62 Cyprian
now pointed to the terrible punishments which divine wrath had already visited on some
of the sacrificers who had grasped at the eucharist: one was struck dumb, another bit off
her tongue, a child vomited up the holy blood, a girl collapsed in convulsions, others
were possessed by unclean spirits and broke into frenzies. These few were warnings to all
of the danger of provoking divine anger. 63 The rebels, however, declined to heed these
threats. Refusing to do penance, they went on living in the Roman mannerfeasting
regularly, ornamenting their persons in fine clothes and jewels, dying their hair and
painting their faces, just as they had before the persecution. 64 Their blindness, Cyprian
explained, was itself a punishment for sin, a hardening of their hearts. The only
appropriate response for the community was to exclude and shun such persons, since
their very presence among Christians was a danger to the faith. 65

The fallen who could still hear Gods call must, Cyprian concluded, turn and repent. The
sacrificers, the certified, even the secretly fearful must beware the divine wrath, for God
judges not only action but intention. 66 Let them embrace the role of penitents, he urged,
by confessing their sin while they were still in this world, while penance and the
intercession of the bishop might still be acceptable to God. Let them place their trust not
in the power of the martyrs but in the prayer and rituals of the church. 67
Cyprians treatise On the Lapsed bears witness to his extraordinary skill as a leader and
an orator. Analyzed from the perspective of the social organization of the community, it
reveals a shrewd program through which he moved the church both to affirm its
protective boundary and to realign its system of offices and roles which had been
distorted by the martyrs, confessors and laxist clergy. The ritual of penance was the key
element in his plan for restoring the church.
Cyprians interpretation of events stressed the shared status of the church before God.
The entire community, not just the individual lapsed, was being subjected to divine
correction in the persecution itself. Subsequently, the faithful assembly was endangered
by sharing the eucharist with the unrepentant lapsed. The ritual of
-37-

reconciliation itself strengthened the bonds uniting the community.

Individual lapsed were required to reaffirm repeatedly and before the
entire assembly their separation from Roman society and adherence to
the church. They must confess their sin before the community; abstain
from the pleasures offered by the city; give a portion of their property
to the community in alms; fast, weep and pray for Gods forgiveness in
the sight of all; submit to judgment of their conduct by the assembly;
and if they persevered, receive the imposition of the bishops hands
readmitting them into communion at the end of their lives. Their
repentance re-established in practice the voluntary commitment of
each Christian to a shared faith and moral code. Those who would not
make such an open repudiation of apostasy and such a submission to
the community were to be shunned by all. The participation of the
faithful, as witnesses to penitential works and in their prayer for the
repentant, strengthened their own commitment to Christ and to the
behavioral standards of the community. Thus the practice of penitence
increased the voluntary cohesion of the whole church.
Cyprian also restored the differentiation of privileges and
responsibilities. The troublesome martyrs were disenfranchised: their
influence was suspended until Christ himself returned in glory. The
glorious confessors were placed alongside the standing faithful, ranked

with the exiles and all those who had hidden in the city. All of these
had confessed Christ and all would assist the bishop in judging the
fallen. The repentant lapsed were welcomed into the role of penitent;
they were promised the peace of the church before death and the
intercession of the faithful when they came to face the final judgment
of Christ. The clergy were forced to accept the limits of their
authoritysince not even the bishop could forgive sins committed
against God.
This restoration of the churchs social structure was accomplished by
an insistence on behavioral standards proper to the community as a
whole and to each of its classes of membership. The moral code was
enforced by personal pressure in the community and by divine
governance of the universe itself. 68 The boundary separating the
church was further buttressed by demonstrations of the efficacy of the
eucharistic ritual. Although the Roman cult was portrayed as an
effective contaminant, the power of the Christian ritual was shown to
be even stronger in the harm it worked on those who approached it
unworthily. Thus Cyprian argued that the greatest danger to the
community lay in provoking divine wrath by the refusal to repent and
reform, rather than through the pollution of idolatry.
-38-

Bishops meeting, spring 251

An agenda for the reconstruction of the African church was set in
Cyprians treatise On the Lapsed. When the bishops met in Carthage
late in April 251, they brought forward a variety of scriptural passages
which would indicate one or another course of action for reconciling
the lapsed and responding to the challenge of the martyrs. They were
concerned to maintain the discipline of the church but they recognized
that denying or setting too stringent requirements for granting
reconciliation would actually drive the lapsed, and all their dependants
with them, into the schismatic community being established by the
laxists. 69 The episcopal decision included five provisions. The certified
might be admitted to communion immediately, upon the consideration
of individual cases. 70 The sacrificers were to continue as penitents,
with the promise of reconciliation before their deaths. 71 The lapsed
who refused to submit to penance were to be denied the peace of the
church even at the time of death. 72 The excommunication of the rebel
clergy was reaffirmed. 73 Finally, the bishops located control of the
communion in the individual churches: all cases were to be judged

where the crime had been committed. 74 No mention was made of

those who had sinned by intention alone. 75
Thus the African bishops upheld the churchs right to require
submission to its behavioral standards and the entire communitys
right to enforce these conditions of membership. In agreeing to
readmit the certified without delay and requiring no public penance of
those who had failed only in intention, Cyprian abandoned the more
rigorous position he had taken in On the Lapsed, just as he had
acquiesced in the more lenient policy of the Roman clergy toward
penitents dying during the persecution. Evidently, Cyprian could not
enforce a standard which did not win the support of his people and
colleagues. The power of a voluntary community over its officers is
evident in these concessions.

Bishops meeting, spring 253

When the bishops met two years later in Carthage, they judged that
the time had come to gather the church into a closer unity by
admitting the penitents to communion. 76 Warning signs of a renewed
and intensified persecution convinced them that the eschatological
struggle itself had begun. This new persecution, they judged, was not
to be another chastising of a sinful church but its final testing in
anticipation of the judgment of Christ. 77
-39The standards had, of course, been announced in advance: those who
confessed Christ would be crowned; those who denied would be
damned. 78 In preparation for this final battle, the bishops mustered
the whole people, arming both the faithful and the penitents for the
coming struggle. 79
In this crisis, the bishops sought to delineate the churchs boundary
most clearly by integrating its marginalized members, the penitents
who had remained faithful to the church. 80 They would thereby clearly
segregate their communion from the schismatic gathering which had
raised itself in opposition. 81 In so doing, they would also assert the
efficacy of the rituals which maintained that boundary. Though they
continued to recognize the limits of their ability to forgive the sin of
idolatry, they forcefully asserted the efficacy of their
excommunication: to be refused membership in the communion was to
be excluded from the kingdom. Only those whom the church had
admitted to communion on earth could be freed by Christ in heaven;

all others were bound. 82 Furthermore, they asserted that the rituals
actually provided the strength to follow Christ and win the crown of
martyrdom. Only those who had received the Holy Spirit in the ritual of
reconciliation would be prepared to confess Christ publicly. 83 Only
those who shared the eucharistic blood of Christ would be ready to
shed their own blood. 84 Finally, the bishops even implied that
penitents who confessed Christ through voluntary exile would not gain
salvation outside the communion. 85 The bishops so clearly
overreached Cyprians prior teaching because they intended to mark
the churchs communion as a boundary between those who might
expect to be saved and those who definitely would not. 86
The development of Cyprians position during the three years following
the outbreak of the Decian persecution is remarkable. Initially, it will
be recalled, he had insisted that those who had failed could re-enter
the communion immediately only by public confession of faith. 87
Under pressure from the Roman clergy, he recognized the importance
of the churchs peace by admitting all penitents at the time of death.
At the end of the persecution, under pressure from his African
colleagues, he agreed to admit the penitent certified immediately and
the penitent sacrificers at the time of death so that they might be
presented to Christ. Two years later, Cyprian and his colleagues again
focused attention on the unity of the church and the benefits of its
eucharistic fellowship by admitting all the penitent sacrificers into
communion. They even drew the baptism of blood inside the
communion, implying that the
-40martyrs could win glory only by fighting from within the body of the
church. 88 In this, they effectively denied that the schismatics could be
saved, even by public confession of Christ.
The bishops of Africa had made their point. Those who deserted during
the persecution had been required to acknowledge that they had
violated the conditions of church membership. They had to accept a
marginal position in the church for three years and then individually
submit before being admitted to communion. They had to declare,
moreover, that they were prepared to stand firm in the anticipated
renewal of persecution. 89 By bowing to the demand for public
repentance, the penitent lapsed effectively asserted that those who
had relied on the authority of the confessors and joined the laxist
communion in opposition to the unity of the church would never be
accepted by Christ, even if they died by confessing him on earth. 90

The cohesion of the church, threatened by the desertion of the

apostates and the authority of the martyrs, had been effectively
restored and maintained.
The bishops may have realized that to continue to exclude the
penitents and to allow them to die in the ambiguous condition of
martyrs outside the church might have undercut the churchs claim to
provide exclusive access to the kingdom of God. The penitents had
proven their commitment and were ready to defend it in the face of
threatened persecution. This was all that the bishops could, and the
laity would, require of them. 91 They were joined into the peace of the
church.

The stance of the laxists

The principal opposition to Cyprians position in Carthage, that of the
rebel clergy, relied on the authority of the martyrs for restoring the
lapsed to communion. By dying in a public confession of faith, the
martyrs had guaranteed their immediate entrance into heaven, where
they received the crown of their victory from Christ. 92 While they were
struggling on earth, the martyrs had been filled with the power of the
Holy Spirit and Christ himself had been fighting in them. 93 Enthroned
in heaven as friends of Christ, they would judge the nations with him.
94
As his associates, therefore, they seemed to be empowered to
intercede with Christ and to win his forgiveness for the sin of idolatry
committed by their fellows. 95
The communitys confidence in the martyrs intercession was based
upon the belief that a public confession of faith, even without death,
was a fully efficacious repentance which satisfied the anger of
-41God. 96 Those who were assured of this assistance, therefore, were not
required to supplement the martyrs authority by their own prayer to
Christ and by the works which would demonstrate their repentance. 97
Indeed, some of the imprisoned confessors so trusted the power they
would attain by their anticipated martyrdom that they granted letters
of peace to their friends, benefactors and all their dependants, so that
Cyprian could charge that they were allowing a market in letters of
peace to develop. 98 Some authorized their fellows to continue
distributing letters of peace in their names after their deaths, even to
persons whom they had never met. 99 Finally, these designated agents
declared a general amnesty in the name of the martyrs. 100

Although the martyrs did not require the sinners to follow the normal
penitential discipline of prayer, mourning, fasting and alms-giving,
they themselves did set certain restrictions on the use of their letters
of peace. The fallen were to await the end of the persecution when
they could appear before the bishop; they were then to confess their
sin and to submit to an examination of their conduct subsequent to the
fall; only then were they to receive the peace of the church from the
hands of the bishop. 101 The rebel presbyters, however, ignored the
traditional limits of the martyrs authority, the specific conditions they
had set in the letters of peace, and the responsibilities of the bishops.
Relying on the efficacy of the martyrs intercession, they not only
dispensed with penitential works and prayer to God for forgiveness 102
but admitted the lapsed who held letters of commendation
immediately upon the death of the martyr, without the specified rituals
of confession of sin, examination of life, and imposition of hands. 103
When certain presbyters balked at this irregular procedure, the lapsed
insisted that they be admitted to communion immediately and
unconditionally, 104 arguing that the peace which had already been
granted by the martyrs in heaven could not be withheld by the clergy
on earth. 105
Cyprians stratagems prevented their taking over the church in
Carthage, so the rebel presbyters and their allies among the
confessors and lapsed established a competing community. 106 Their
confidence in the power of the martyrs was apparently unlimited: after
the persecution, they entered into communion with bishops who had
themselves been guilty of sacrifice during the persecution. 107 One of
their number was ordained as rival to Cyprian and attempted to win
recognition by the church of Rome. 108
Its distinctive stance on the proper means of winning forgiveness for
sins was reflected in the organizational structures of the laxist
-42church. The communitys ceding control over its boundary to the
confessors and clergy, as well as the unjustified inequality in the
treatment they accorded different members of the community,
resulted in the loosening of the voluntary bonds which linked the
members to one another. The martyrs initially accepted favors,
presumably from the wealthy, in exchange for authorizing these sinful
benefactors to return to the communion of the church. 109 The faithful
were thereby deprived of the right to require that the lapsed
demonstrate a higher level of commitment to the church as a whole.

110

The sharing of goods between rich and poor which had been
mediated through the common fund was also undermined when the
lapsed bribed the confessors. 111 Next, the presbyterswithout
consulting the community as a wholeproceeded to allow the lapsed
back into communion even while the persecution continued. Thus
some of the confessors were still in exile and all the faithful were still
in danger while these sinners were safe from the power of the empire
and the sanctions of the church. 112 The community of life was
undermined by the acceptance and even promotion of this private
evasion of a common danger.
The patterns of role differentiation were also changed through the
abuse of the martyrs power by the clergy and confessors. Those
confessors who had been deputized by the martyrs exercised a
religious authority which gave them control over the communitys
boundary, independent of the clergy and the people. The authority
granted to the presbyters by the community for performing the
eucharistic ritual and thus giving or refusing communion was also
turned into a private means of exercising control over the people. 113
The laxist clergy also made distributions of church funds to the poor
who had fallen during the persecution and then threatened that any of
the faithful who objected to this irregular procedure would themselves
be deprived of further financial support. 114 In a similar way, the fallen
bishops led by the condemned renegade Privatus of Lambaesis broke
free of the control of their colleagues and people; they used the power
originally conferred by their community office to establish a competing
church. 115 Finally, wealth gave some of the lapsed an influence over
the confessors and martyrs. 116 In contrast, the poor were not in a
position to negotiate for themselves and consequently fell under the
control of the clergy and confessors.
As the personal forms of restraint and interaction which constitute a
cohesive voluntary organization began to break down, the opportunity
was presented for some members of the community to
-43exercise autonomy and deprive others of even a limited voice in the
affairs of the church. When this happened, some who had followed the
confessors into the laxist church in Carthage became disenchanted by
their dependent status; they deserted their patrons and returned to
Cyprian. 117 As group cohesion evaporated in the laxist community,
trust in the efficacy of its other rituals seems to have faded. By

questioning the power of penance, the laxists had undermined the

efficacy of the eucharist as well. 118

Reconciliation of the lapsed and unity of

the church
Since Cyprian and his supporters were attempting to maintain both the
cohesiveness and internal differentiation of the church in Africa, they
assigned a religious or cosmic significance to the communion of the
church. They asserted that the church and the kingdom of God had
related boundaries and that God would enforce the same cultic and
moral standards as the church. To die outside the communion of the
church was to lose the opportunity of entering the kingdom of God.
The churchs approbation could not guarantee acceptance by God
because the community and its leaders could not judge the interior
dispositions of the initiant and penitent. The churchs rituals were
necessary but might prove insufficient in establishing a persons status
in heaven as well as on earth.
The ritual of baptism initiated the catechumen into a new relationship
with God and the church. Converts made an oath of fidelity to Christ
and renounced all that was opposed; God purified them from all sin
and sanctified them by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The baptized
were then admitted to full participation in the eucharist and promised
both the financial and religious support of the community. In return for
adhering to the moral and cultic norms of the church, Christians
expected entrance into the kingdom of God. In baptizing, therefore,
the community brought the divine power to bear and effected both
earthly and heavenly changes in the recipient. 119 As a result, violation
of the baptismal commitment entailed both social and cosmic
consequences. The sin of idolatry was directed against Gods honor; by
breaking an oath of exclusive fidelity, it incurred the threat of eternal
damnation. The sin also violated the cultic standard by which the
community defined its boundary and thus carried the penalty of
exclusion. To justify expelling the sinner, the bishop cited not only the
churchs need to maintain its identity but more importantly the cosmic
significance
-44of the sin: voluntarily associating with an idolater risked bringing down
the divine wrath on the whole community. 120 The exclusion of the
sinner and the elaborate ritual of readmission also restored the

boundary by which the community separated itself from the religious

culture of the empire.
Thus the Christians who complied with Decius order to participate in
the Roman cult were immediately excommunicated and required to do
penance. Soon, however, pressure began to build to allow the
penitents to return. On the cosmic level, the lapsed claimed the
intercessory power of the martyrs and appealed to the compassion of
Christ, arguments which the bishops could not ignore. Organizational
considerations must also have played a part in the bishops
deliberations: a majority of the Christians had failed and a competing
church was welcoming them into full and unrestricted membership.
Many who had remained faithful, moreover, were sympathetic to the
lapsed: the confessors provided letters of peace; some of the faithful
admitted that they too would have failed had they not escaped
detection; those dependants who had been shielded by the apostasy of
their patrons spoke up for them. To allow the sinners to return to
communion without destroying the church as a social organization,
however, the bishops had to require a voluntary and public
commitment to the traditional conditions of membership; the boundary
had to be reaffirmed by the returning sinners and their sponsors. The
bishops also had to establish the cosmic significance of their giving of
peace: the churchs ritual had to be shown capable of changing the
apostates status in heaven as well as on earth. That, however, proved
to be the sticking point: the church had not claimed for itself a ritual
power to forgive sins committed against God after baptism;
specifically, it acknowledged Christs threat to disown in heaven those
who failed to confess him on earth. 121
The laxists had solved the problem of cosmic efficacy by relying on the
martyrs who linked earth to heaven. While in prison, they promised to
intercede for the sinners; once they died and were crowned in heaven,
they presumably won the forgiveness of the sin of idolatry and the
granting of the peace of Christ. The sinner could then claim the peace
of the church. In the social realm, however, the martyrs brought too
much power to bear: the confessors and their clerical allies did not
require the sinners to submit publicly by repenting their violation of
the behavioral norms and pledging future allegiance to the community.
Thus their method of reintegrating the apostates further weakened
that defining boundary
-45-

which had already been undercut by the original fall into idolatry. The
bishops could not adopt this laxist solution: to maintain the church as
a religiously segregated, cohesive society, they had to restrict and
control the authority of the martyrs and their agents. 122
Though Cyprians attack on the martyrs power and its abuse by the
presbyters was framed in cosmic and religious terms, its objective and
effect was clearly social and organizational as well. Neither the church
nor any human being, he asserted, had the power to forgive a sin
committed against God, such as idolatry. The church did have a ritual
of reconciliation, through which sinners could express their repentance
to God and recommitment to the standards of the community. In that
ritual, the whole church did intercede for the penitent before Christ. In
the case of offenses against human beings, the prayers of the church
were presumed to be effective in winning divine forgiveness, so that
the sinner could be reintegrated into the church without its incurring
the divine wrath. 123 In the case of sins committed directly against
God, however, neither the intercession of the church nor the judgment
of the bishop could be assumed to be effective in heaven. Thus the
bishops could not presume to admit the fallen back into communion.
Although the church could not assert the efficacy of its intercession in
winning forgiveness of sins committed against God, still it could not
refuse to grant its peace before the penitents death. The African
Christians gave full evidence of believing that unless they died in the
peace of the church they could not win a favorable hearing when they
appeared before the tribunal of Christ. 124 This belief constituted the
popularly accepted cosmic significance of the churchs social boundary
and the bishops could not ignore it. To refuse to allow the penitents to
recross the churchs boundary into the realm where salvation was at
least available would have undermined the Christians commitment to
the religious significance of the boundary, and to the moral and cultic
standard which defined it. In practice, to define a boundary so that it
cannot be negotiated by the rituals available to a community is to
undermine the significance of the boundary itself.
To maintain the cosmic significance of membership in the churchs
communion, therefore, the bishops had to find a means of publicly
identifying those idolaters who would appear to the community as
likely to win divine forgiveness in the judgment of Christ, in whose
cases the churchs intercession might prove effective, and thus whose
presence within the community would not arouse divine wrath. In
addition, the process had to restore the

-46integrity of the community itself through the voluntary submission of the sinners to its
standards. In the scriptures, the bishops found adequate evidence that God would grant
forgiveness to those who sincerely repented of their sin and reaffirmed the standards of
the community. Unlike God, however, they could not read the penitents hearts and
discern the truly converted from those who only appeared to repent and reform. By
requiring behaviors which manifested interior repentance, however, the church could
both identify the sinners whom God might forgive and simultaneously reaffirm the
identifying standards of the community itself. Thus the bishops extended the ritual of
penance to the sin of idolatry but restricted its heavenly efficacy. The penitents would
be admitted to the church, there to be reserved for, presented to, and commended before
the judgment seat of Christ. By admitting the idolaters under these conditions, the
church granted sinners access to divine mercy without condoning their failure or
guaranteeing the success of their appeal. The success of this solution will be examined
in the next chapter.
The conflict between the bishops and the laxist clergy focused on the necessity of ritual
behaviors by which the penitents would voluntarily re-establish their commitment to
the church community. The laxists did not require such a public confession of guilt and
a penitential submission: the power of the martyrs had suppressed the control of the
community over its own standards of membership. Cyprian and his fellow bishops, in
contrast, maintained the voluntary character of the church: the sinners were required to
plead their cases before the assembled community, which advised the bishop on
accepting them as penitents. In professing repentance before the community and
begging God for forgiveness, the sinner affirmed the heavenly import of the behavioral
standards which defined the boundary of the church. By performing penitential works
and submitting to the imposition of the bishops hands, the sinner also professed belief
in the cosmic efficacy of the churchs intercession and ritual of reconciliation. In return,
the penitent was granted admission to the communion and promised the churchs
intercession before the tribunal of Christ.
To fulfill the social and cosmic requirements identified by this analysis, the ritual of
reconciliation focused on begging for the divine pardon and on demonstrating
submission to the standards of the community. The bishops, of course, articulated these
requirements in terms of the satisfaction necessary to meet Gods judgment on the
repentance in the heart. In actual practice, however, they also
-47upheld the communitys need for a demonstration of allegiance and a commitment to
prescribed behaviors.
Cyprians explanation of the process of repentance and reconciliation met both these
criteria. The penitent attempted to exercise a personal pressure on God which would

result in the granting of forgiveness. Thus the terms which he most often used express
insistent asking: deprecari, orare, exorare, rogare.125 The penitent must gain Gods
favor 126 and win Gods mercy. 127 The term satisfacere is most often used in
connection with these notions of begging. 128 To gain Gods forgiveness, the penitent
must mourn and pray not simply internally but in action, by fasting, weeping and
beating the breast. 129
In the final sections of On the Lapsed, moreover, Cyprian clearly demonstrated the
social significance of the practices of penance. The clients of the martyrs, he pointed
out, had never ceased to live in the grand manner: feasting, enjoying the public baths,
grooming and dressing in the most exquisite manner. How differently they would be
acting, he suggested, if one of their loved ones had died. 130 Obviously, they were
flaunting the standards for which the martyrs died, the confessors endured torture, the
exiles abandoned their patrimony, and the poor lived in fear for more than a year.
Clearly, he concluded, the laxists had been blinded and cursed by God so that they
would not even perceive their peril. 131 In contrast, the behaviors which Cyprian
demanded of the truly penitent would not only placate God but rebuild the community.
Days in sorrow, nights in tears, sackcloth, ashes, and fasting were to be the lot of the
penitents. They should give themselves to good works, particularly alms-giving. By
generous giving, they would not only put God in their debt but emulate the first
Christians who held all things in common. The wealth which had been the occasion of
failure could become a privileged means of demonstrating solidarity with the
community. 132

Conclusion
The conflict between Cyprian and the laxist presbyters in Carthage might be viewed as
a successful popular rebellion against the traditional discipline of permanently
excluding all Christians who fell in time of persecution. In such an interpretation, the
laxists would have credited the martyrs with the authority to win forgiveness for the sin
of apostasy and eventually forced the bishops to claim and exercise similar authority
themselves. The fight would be over
-48-

authority but the consequence would be the lowering of moral

standards to a more realistic level. Analyzed in the categories adopted
for this study, however, the bishops appear to have adopted a strategy
designed to restore community acceptance and enforcement of the
behavioral standards defining the boundary of the church. The
community retained both the structures through which authority was
shared and the traditional conditions of membership. The confessors
and the laxist clergy, on the contrary, subverted the received
structures and secured exclusive control over the boundary of the

community, deprived its members of the authority to enforce it, and

thus lowered the level of social cohesion.
The bishops maintained the voluntary character of their churches by
encouraging the interplay of personal influence and pressures among
the members. Cyprian claimed significant authority for the bishop but
recognized the communitys right to choose, advise and, in extreme
circumstances, depose its leaders. Thus he had to convince the
community that the standards he attempted to enforce were
appropriate. The community supported the demand that the lapsed do
penance and agreed, more reluctantly, to admit even penitent
schismatics. In the face of their pressure, however, Cyprian had to
allow the reconciliation of the dying during the persecution, the
forgiveness of the certified shortly afterwards, and the readmission of
the sacrificers in anticipation of renewed persecution. Thus the
behavioral moral code provided a clear and accepted boundary
demarcation, which was strengthened in the ritual of reconciliation by
the penitents confession of failure, the community acceptance of the
signs of recommitment, and the bishops granting of peace.
Each of the communitys actions was justified by a cosmic correlative.
In exercising personal control over the universe, God was responding
to the moral successes and failures of the church. Negligence had
occasioned the persecution; reform and renewal had brought peace;
requiring penance forestalled further suffering; making satisfaction
might win forgiveness; sympathy for the wounded would be approved
but leniency toward the impenitent courted condemnation. The rituals
of reconciliation and peace changed the standing of the penitent
lapsed both on earth and in heaven, though it could not guarantee
their acceptance by Christ.
The laxist presbyters, in contrast, actually undercut the cohesion of
the community by acceding to the declarations of the confessors and
the demands of the lapsed. They shifted responsibility for the
enforcement of the boundary from the whole community to the
martyrs, whose authority had been personally achieved rather than
-49granted by the community. By appeal to the privileges of the martyrs, the laxist
presbyters and bishops also isolated themselves from the pressures which the faithful,
even the dissenting confessors, might have exercised to curb their policies. Without
regard for the rights of the other communicants, they extended participation in the
eucharist to apostates who refused to appear as penitents before the assembled church.

The only counterbalancing power seems to have been that of wealth, employed by the
lapsed to gain assistance from the martyrs and confessors. The cosmic justification for
this system concentrated power in the hands of the martyrs and confessors. It failed to
account for the authority of the clergy, which was derived from the community but
exercised autonomously. The impoverished, both faithful and fallen, were
disenfranchised and dependent upon the religiously powerful confessors and clergy or
their wealthy allies among the lapsed.
Although the laxist rebels attempted to organize an independent communion of bishops
and churches, Cyprian and his colleagues successfully turned aside the threat and
discredited these foes. The laxist community failed to establish itself outside Africa and
did not prosper or survive even at home. The rigorists, as shall be seen, mounted a more
sustained threat to the policies of the bishops. Attention now shifts to that challenge.
-50-

4
EFFICACY OF THE
RECONCILIATION RITUAL
Cyprians dispute with the confessors and their supporters among the
clergy in Carthage focused on the necessity of the ritual of
reconciliation for winning Gods forgiveness and receiving the peace of
the church. Placing their trust in the intercessory power of the
martyrs, these laxists did not require penance or use the ritual of
reconciliation in admitting the lapsed to communion. When the African
bishops rejected their practice, the laxists established a rival church
with its own college of bishops. Though they failed to attract followers
outside Africa, the availability of this alternative communion influenced
the policies adopted by Cyprian and his colleagues for the
reconciliation of the lapsed. 1
A faction headed by Novatian in Rome took a rigorist stance, refusing
to grant reconciliation and communion to the lapsed who submitted to
the ritual of penance, even at the time of death. This party made some
headway in Italy and Gaul but in Africa it never won a level of popular
support sufficient to threaten either the laxists or the Catholics. Still,
Novatians letters and envoys raised questions which forced Cyprian to
justify his refusal to maintain the more rigorous positions which he had
followed during and immediately following the persecution. 2 In the
process of defending the policies adopted in consultation with his

African colleagues, Cyprian not only attacked Novatian for the sin of
dividing the church but developed an explanation of the power of the
ritual of reconciliation to forgive the sin of idolatryor at least to affect
the standing of the apostates before Godand thereby to protect the
purity of the church from contamination.
This chapter will begin with a consideration of Novatians rigorist
position and analyze his assumptions about the nature of the church.
It will then trace the development of Cyprians own stance and the
basis for his trust in the efficacy of the ritual of
-51reconciliation. Then the role of the social structures of the two communities in the
development of their conflicting positions will be examined.

The rigorist rejection of penitents

After the death of Bishop Fabian at the outset of the Decian persecution, the Roman
clergy decided to delay the election of a successor and act as a council to guide the
church through the period of trial. Their first communication with the clergy of
Carthage, in spring 250, offered instruction to a sister church which was also forced to
operate without the leadership of its bishop. 3 After exhorting their colleagues to follow
the magnificent example which they were themselves providing in strengthening the
faithful against the terror inspired by the persecution, the Roman presbyters laid down
certain policy directives. Although the lapsed had brought a severe sentence upon
themselves, they observed, the extreme fear under which they had acted should be
taken into consideration in judging their religious condition. 4 Thus the lapsed should be
urged not to lose heart but to undertake penance in hope of winning forgiveness from
God. Thus encouraged, they explained, the lapsed might reform themselves and stand
firm in the faith if they were brought to trial a second time. They asserted, moreover,
that penitents and catechumens should be granted communion when they were in
danger of death. 5
The letter of a Carthaginian layman who had confessed under torture at Rome bears
witness to the implementation of these policies by the Roman clergy. Celerinus
reported that both the sacrificers and the certified were required to engage in penitential
works until a new bishop was appointed and a decision could be made about
readmitting them to communion. 6 Having failed to win any concessions in Rome, he
appealed to his associates among the confessors imprisoned at Carthage to come to the
assistance of mutual friends who had sinned in Rome.
In Carthage, it will be recalled, Cyprian had directed his clergy to follow a parallel but
somewhat more restrictive policy, granting peace at the time of death only to those who
had letters of peace from the martyrs. 7 Those who had not secured these letters were to

continue in penance and trust in the mercy of God. 8 Anyone who found this course of
action too risky, or too tedious for the ardor of a revived faith, and insisted upon
immediate admission to communion was directed to approach the imperial authorities
and recant
-52-

prior compliance with the edict. 9 Upon receiving a copy of the letter which the Roman
presbyters had addressed to his own clergy, however, Cyprian agreed that peace should
be given to all the penitents who were in danger of dying. 10 He also wrote to the
Roman clergy, assuring them that he had not abandoned the responsibility of governing
his church. In evidence of his efforts to guide his people from exile, he forwarded
copies of the letters by which he had attempted to stop the abuse of the intercessory
power of the martyrs, correspondence which indicated that he had promoted a practice
parallel to that of Roman presbyters. 11
In summer 250, the Romans addressed a series of five letters to Carthage, expressing
dismay at the rebel presbyters practice of immediately reconciling the lapsed who had
letters of intercession from the martyrs. The Roman clergy and confessors each
addressed their counterparts in Africa; then they each addressed Cyprian; finally the
clergy responded to a further letter from Cyprian. Novatian was involved in the
composition of some of these letters 12 whose style is notably different from the one
sent from Rome earlier in the spring. 13 In the first pair of letters, the Roman clergy not
only condemned the sacrificers but accused the certified of having violated their
baptismal oath by attempting to evade the Christian commitment to confess Christ. 14
For their own part, the confessors still imprisoned at Rome pointed out that martyrs
who undermined the discipline of Christs gospel within the church would thereby lose
the glory of having confessed him before the imperial authorities. 15 Next, the Romans
addressed Cyprian himself for the first time, supporting the determined stance taken in
the letters he had forwarded to them. The clergy stressed the just severity of the gospel,
which their church had always maintained, as well as Gods own zeal in enforcing the
commandments. 16 They specified that only a penitent whose death was certainly
imminent, who was expected to appear before Gods judgment immediately, should be
admitted to the churchs communion. 17 In their own letter, the confessors objected to
the practice of the rebel clergy in Carthage, which allowed the fallen to return to the
peace of the church even while those still standing continued to suffer persecution. The
lapsed, they observed, should remember that they could have retained that place in the
church which they so eagerly sought to recover. 18 Furthermore, the confessors accused
the laxist clergy of casting the sacred body of Christ to swine in granting communion to
the apostates. 19 Finally, the Roman clergy argued that as defenders of the gospel, the
Carthaginian martyrs were the least appropriate
-53-

authors of letters granting peace to the fallen; indeed, such martyrs

stood in danger of being classed with the lapsed whom they
championed. 20
The Roman clergy claimed that they and the refugee bishops who had
joined their deliberations were attempting to define a moderate course
which avoided the extremes of compliance and cruelty. 21 They
encouraged all the faithful, including the lapsed, to confess the faith.
In response to the challenge of the letters emanating from the martyrs
and confessors in Carthage, however, both clergy and confessors were
increasingly troubled by the signs of impatience and even impenitence
among the lapsed. 22 Novatian may have objected to abuse of the
privilege accorded dying penitents and refused to perform the ritual
himself. 23
After the persecution ended, Cornelius was elected bishop and tension
between Novatian and his fellow clergy came to a head. Supported by
some of the confessors who had spent more than a year in prison,
Novatian rejected communion with all the lapsed and established
himself as bishop in a rival communion. 24 In consultation with his
colleagues in Italy, however, Cornelius adopted the African policy of
reconciling the certified immediately and granting peace to the
penitent sacrificers before they died. 25 Bowing to pastoral necessity,
moreover, he immediately admitted an entire local church community
which had been led into sacrificing by its bishop, Trofimus, who was
himself received as a layman. 26 Other sacrificers had survived the
illness during which they had been granted peace and were allowed to
remain in the communion of the church. 27
The evidence provided by their opponents indicates that Novatian and
his allies believed both that idolatry committed by a Christian after
baptism could not be forgiven by the church and that the admission of
the apostates would make the entire communion a party to their sin.
28
In protecting the holiness of the communion, they focused on the
failure to confess Christ and thus distinguished neither the certified
from the sacrificers nor those subjected to torture from others who
voluntarily complied with the imperial edict. 29 Although the letters
Novatian earlier prepared for the clergy and the confessors in Rome
had recommended the healing power of repentance to the lapsed and
acknowledged the possibility of their attaining salvation, 30 after peace
had been given to the church, he refused to grant the fruit of that
repentance by reconciling the penitents at death.
Ambiguities in the evidence leave Novatians interpretation of

-54-

the situation of the lapsed uncertain. Some indicators suggest that he might have taught
that the lapsed were already eternally condemned and that their attempts at repentance
were futile. In attacking Novatians letter to an African colleague, for example, Cyprian
argued that the lapsed must be given an opportunity to repent. 31 In addition, a
contemporary treatise explained that the rigorists believed that Christs threat to deny
those who had failed to confess him on earth meant that the apostates could not be
saved. 32 Thus, after the persecution ended, Novatian may have reached the judgment
that the lapsed would never be forgiven by Christ and that as a consequence they could
not be admitted to the church. 33 Other evidence, however, implies that Novatian may
have continued to urge the lapsed to do penance, and thus that he believed they might
obtain from Christ himself the forgiveness which the church could not mediate.
Cyprian, in particular, accused the rigorists of inconsistency in exhorting the lapsed to
do penance even while refusing them the fruit of that repentance, admission to
communion. 34
A key to understanding Novatians position might be found in the first letter of the
Roman clergy to their colleagues in Carthage. The African presbyters were urged to
exhort even their fallen charges to correct their hearts by penance, so that the sinners
might reverse their apostasy by confessing Christ if they were put to the test again. 35 A
second clue can be discerned in the African bishops defense against an anticipated
rigorist attack on their later policy of reconciling even the penitent sacrificers in
expectation of a renewal of persecution. At the end of their letter to Cornelius, the
Africans observed that their common rigorist opponents would argue that, in view of
the coming persecution, the penitents did not need the peace given by the bishop: God
was about to give them the opportunity to confess the faith, to be baptized in the blood
of martyrdom, and thus to win not only peace but a glorious crown from Christ himself.
36
A third indicator: when the penitents at Rome joined in parade escorting Cornelius to
his arrest, Cyprian extolled their action as a confession of faith, which demonstrated
Gods acceptance of their repentance. 37 These three observations, spread over three
years, suggest that the rigorists might have believed that the proper function of
repentance was to strengthen the fallen in faith so that they could actually reverse their
sin. By failing to affirm Christ, the lapsed had fallen under his threat of condemnation;
by confessing Christ they would win forgiveness and even his commendation before the
Father. 38 Once the lapsed had
-55-

allowed the opportunity for confession during a full year of persecution

to pass, however, the rigorists might have judged them bound by
Christs sentence. Cyprian, on the contrary, would find new
opportunities for them to bear witness to Christ.
Whatever their beliefs about the possibility of regaining salvation,
Novatian and his supporters must have insisted that the bishops had
no authority to release the apostates from the sin committed against
God. The fallen who had refused the opportunity to raise themselves
up by confessing could only be regarded as beyond the assistance of
the church. 39 Thus the anticipated renewal of persecution, which
Cyprian and Cornelius used to justify admitting the sacrificers to
communion, might have been viewed by the rigorists as a divine
mercy allowing the fallen a second chance to recover salvation by
confessing the faith before the Roman authorities. According to this
hypothesis, Novatian could have urged repentance while refusing to
offer the peace and communion which the penitents could secure only
by publicly confessing Christ. 40
Whatever Novatians estimation of the possibility of attaining salvation
after once failing to confess Christ during the persecution, his
understanding of the nature of the church was clear to Cyprian: only
those who were free of the taint of idolatry could participate in the
communion. Novatian would have judged that only baptism, in water
or in blood, could effectively cleanse a candidate from the sin of
idolatry and protect the communion of the church from impurity. 41
Those who had polluted themselves in the demonic rituals had ruined
their baptismal purity and would contaminate all who consented to
share the eucharist with them. 42 The warning of Christ, therefore,
indicated the only remaining means of rehabilitation: anyone who
confessed him before his enemies on earth would certainly be
acknowledged in heaven. 43
During the persecution, Cyprians position had been considerably
strengthened by the support of the Roman clergys opposition to the
Carthaginian laxists. At the time of the schism in Rome, he gave
Novatians claim a fair and extended hearing before deciding in favor
of Cornelius on procedural grounds. 44 After the split, however, he
adamantly opposed not only Novatians attempt to divide the church
but his refusal to grant reconciliation to the penitents, especially at the
time of death. To answer the rigorist charge that he had betrayed his
principles, 45 he had to elaborate an argument for the efficacy of the
churchs ritual of reconciliation in the case of the sin of idolatry.

-56-

The efficacy of repentance

Cyprian seems to have assumed from the beginning that the sin of idolatry could be
forgiven, at least by Christ, perhaps through the intercession of the martyrs, and that the
penitent lapsed could be reconciled to the church. Then in dealing with the immediate
threat posed by the confessors and the rebel presbyters, he insisted on the necessity of
public repentance. As the subsequent controversy in Rome developed and Novatianist
envoys argued their case in Carthage, he had to build an argument for the efficacy of
the ritual of repentance and find a means to safeguard the purity of the communion.
During the Decian persecution, Cyprian insisted that the lapsed must undertake penance
and attempt to win the divine favor through prayer and good works. He initially
followed the precedents of the African church which gave the martyrs the privilege of
recommending penitents to the bishop for reconciliation. 46 As the summer approached,
with its outbreaks of disease, he directed that the lapsed who had been promised
assistance by the martyrs should be given the peace of the church if they were in danger
of death. 47 Still, Cyprian appealed to this traditional practice primarily to restrain the
growing abuse of the martyrs letters of peace. 48
Toward those who did not have the support of the martyrs, Cyprian adopted a more
restrictive stance: they were to undertake penance and trust in the divine mercy. 49 He
refused, moreover, to recognize any meaningful difference between the certified and
the sacrificers: both had refused to confess Christ and must undertake penance in
patience. 50 Any of the lapsed who genuinely repented their failure and were impatient
to regain the communion of the church could, he suggested, win the crown of
martyrdom by publicly confessing the faith. 51 Once the Roman clergy had announced
its policy of reconciling all the penitent lapsed at the time of death, 52 however,
Cyprians position became untenable and he agreed to follow the common practice. 53
Still, he regarded the public confession of faith as the privileged form of repentance,
praising his colleague Caldonius for admitting to communion the lapsed who had
washed away their sin by standing firm in a second trial. 54
As opposition to restrictions on the readmission of the lapsed developed among the
laxist clergy, Cyprian began to attack the authority of the confessors and martyrs. In
declaring a general amnesty, he argued, the confessors had claimed for their victorious
friends a power which only Christ could exercise, which was at work
-57-

in baptism. 55 Next, he adopted the Roman assertion that a martyr

who acted against the discipline of the gospel by granting peace to the
unrepentant thereby forfeited all authority before God and the church.

56

Upon his return to Carthage, he repeated and developed this

argument by demonstrating from scripture that neither the martyrs
nor even the closest friends of God always received even the
legitimate favors which they asked. 57 Once again, he refused to
distinguish between the certified and the sacrificers, warning both of
Christs threat to denounce them before the Father in heaven. 58
Novatian had reason to expect, therefore, that Cyprian could be
counted upon to uphold the severity of the gospel. 59 Cyprian,
however, was faced with a different kind of challenge and developed
the principles enunciated by the Roman rigorists to conclusions which
they did not anticipate or accept. The revolt and schism led by the
laxist clergy made available a new way to confess Christ publicly,
reverse their earlier failure, and thereby regain a place in the
communion of the church. In his last letter from exile, he identified the
revolt of the presbyters in Carthage as a new form of persecution, a
second demonic assault on the faith of the community. 60 By
undertaking penance, he explained, some of the fallen had begun to
rise and were almost ready to stand again. Now the devil was
tempting them to give up their penance and accept the false peace
offered by the rebel clergy under the patronage of the martyrs. By
cutting off penancethe only means of healingSatan would not only
prevent their rising again but destroy them completely. The rebels
offer of immediate reconciliation was the last trial of the persecution,
Cyprian warned, in which the lapsed were given the opportunity to
persevere in faith and in the hope of winning forgiveness according to
the directives of the bishops appointed by God. 61
In On the Lapsed which he delivered upon his return to Carthage,
Cyprian began to build his case for the efficacy of the penance
undertaken by the lapsed and the churchs ritual of reconciliation in
removing the sin of idolatry. The argument had two components:
setting limits to the intercessory power of the martyrs and interpreting
submission to the discipline of the church as a form of confession of
faith. First, Cyprian attacked the authority of the martyrs. If the
martyrs asked for something which was in accord with the gospel, the
bishop would certainly grant it; if they ordered something contrary to
the command of God, the bishop must certainly refuse it. 62 When the
martyrs asked for something that was not written in the law of God,
however, the bishop must ascer-58tain whether God had granted the favor before acting on their request. 63 The problem

they all faced, then, was to discern Gods intention for the reconciliation of the lapsed.
Was God responding to the petitions of the martyrs or to the works of the penitents and
the prayers of the church? In evidence of Gods intention, Cyprian recalled his earliest
explanation of the persecution as a divine testing of the Christians, intended to draw
them from their indifference to a more perfect practice. 64 Some of those who failed had
repented their apostasy, had undertaken the works of penance, and had then been found
worthy of the crown in a second trial. 65 When other apostates had refused to reform
their lives and tried to force their way into the communion of the church under the
patronage of the martyrs, terrible punishments had been visited upon some of them as a
warning to the rest. 66 Thus, Cyprian concluded, Gods intention had been revealed: the
sin of apostasy might be forgiven in those who submitted to the penitential discipline of
the church but not in those who relied on the intercession of the martyrs alone.
Buttressing his argument with the exhortations to repentance which abound in the
scripture, he asserted that God could indeed relent and forgive the sin of those who did
penance but would surely condemn and destroy those who refused. 67
The second step of Cyprians argument showed that submitting to the churchs
authority was a form of confession of Christ. In his last letter from exile, as noted
above, he had identified the revolt of the laxists against the bishops demand for
penance and submission to the ritual of reconciliation as the last and most dangerous
stage of the persecution itself. Having wounded the lapsed, the devil now sought to
destroy them completely by preventing their repentance. Both the standing and the
fallen must resist this final demonic attack. 68 In On the Lapsed, he took up this theme
again: by resisting this new assault of the devil, by rejecting the false promises of the
laxists, by placing their trust in the command of the Father and the warning of Christ,
the lapsed were actually defending their faith. Such repentance would win Gods favor.
69
Indeed, he concluded, the prayer and good works of the fallen might so move the
Lord that they would not only be pardoned but rearmed and strengthened to win the
crown of victory by martyrdom. 70
Thus, Cyprian continued to follow the principles he had shared with Novatian but he
developed them differently by exploiting the opportunities provided by the laxist
schism within the African church. By identifying the revolt of the laxists against the
communitys right to judge the apostates as a form of demonic temptation
-59and persecution, Cyprian showed that accepting the imposed penance was a form of
resisting the devil and confessing Christ which was both necessary and effective.
During the next two years of turmoil, Cyprian developed his argument that protecting
the churchs unity and defending its boundary against the attacks of both rigorists and
laxists was a rehabilitating confession of faith in Christ.
The African bishops met in Carthage in April 251, to determine a common policy for
reconciling the lapsed. A delegation seeking support of Novatians challenge to

Cornelius arrived during that extended discussion. 71 Although Cyprian later sought to
give Cornelius the impression that the accusations made against him had been rejected
without a hearing, the evidence suggests that Novatians points were considered. 72 The
bishops sent their own delegation to Rome to investigate the charges and
countercharges before deciding to enter into communion with Cornelius. 73 Although
they judged that pastoral considerations ruled out Novatians program of withholding
peace from the penitents, they were apparently sympathetic to his concerns. 74 The
African bishops finally decided to relax the standards which they had imposed during
the persecution by offering immediate reconciliation to penitents who had obtained
certificates without sacrificing. They imposed life-time penance on sacrificers,
however, determining that reconciliation would be granted only at the time of death. 75
They refused, moreover, to yield to pastoral necessity as Cornelius had done for
Trofimus: they rejected the plea of a bishop who had led his entire congregation into
sacrifice. 76
Though the decisions of his episcopal colleagues relaxed the stand which Cyprian had
taken on the certified, they confirmed his rigorous demands that the sacrificers submit
to public penance. Thus, in writing to the Roman confessors who had provided
invaluable support to him at a critical moment during the persecution and then to
Novatian after it, Cyprian challenged not their stance against the admission of penitents
but their violation of the gospel by defending it in schism against Cornelius. 77
During this time, Cyprian addressed the schisms in Carthage and Rome in his treatise
On the Unity of the Catholic Church. 78 Once again, he attacked the authority of the
confessors who had refused to submit to the bishops, comparing them to Judas. 79
Schism, he reiterated, was actually the more ancient and dangerous form of persecution,
in which the devil transformed himself into an angel of light and led Christians away
from the church, under the deception
-60-

that they were following the path to salvation. 80 Yet this deadly assault, like the
imperial persecution, served Christs own purposes by testing Christians and separating
the good from the evil. Once again, Cyprian exhorted the penitents to seize the
opportunity provided by this assault on the church to confess Christ and regain
salvation. 81
Cyprian also defended against Novatians attack on the decisions of his colleagues in
Rome and Africa by focusing on the role of public penance in preparing fallen
Christians for public defense of their faith. 82 During the persecution, he recalled, the
efficacy of penance had been demonstrated by the subsequent confession and even
martyrdom of some Christians who had failed in their initial trials. 83 Clearly, God had
heard the groans of these penitents, had rearmed them with faith, and had granted them

the crown of victory. He charged that Novatians practice of denying reconciliation

actually discouraged penance and effectively deprived the lapsed of the very means by
which they might be restored to faith and rearmed for martyrdom. 84 Thus he concluded
that both the laxist and rigorist programs effectively cut off the way to salvation for the
lapsed.
Cyprian seems to have found a contemporary, peace-time indication of the efficacy of
repentance in the unforeseen effects of reconciling penitents on their death-beds.
Novatian objected that this practice was being abused as a loophole through which the
sacrificers were being allowed to return to the communion of the church: though not
seriously ill, they were reconciled as dying; then not unexpectedly recovering, they
were allowed to remain in the communion. After pointing out that the clergy could not
murder the penitents as soon as they had granted them peace, Cyprian suggested that
their recovery of health should be attributed to Gods own kindness and mercy, as a
sign that their repentance had proven acceptable. 85
In defending the agreed policy against Novatianist attacks, moreover, Cyprian argued
that other forms of loyalty to the church also had a salvific value for the lapsed. Even as
they were apparently denying Christ, for example, some of the lapsed had actually
demonstrated a commitment to their fellow Christians. By performing the required
sacrifice, some family heads had sheltered and protected the faith of their wives,
children and dependants. They had then provided safe haven to exiled confessors and to
refugees who had preserved their own faith by flight. Further, many of the certified had
openly asserted that they were Christians, had
-61refused to perform the required sacrifice, and had offered to pay a fine
instead. 86 The bonds of gratitude joining the faithful to their penitent
benefactors effectively undercut the charge of apostasy and put
intense pressure on the bishop to assure them eventual admission to
the communion. Clearly, the people judged that these demonstrations
of loyalty to the community would win Gods forgiveness. 87
This same sensitivity to the fidelity which the lapsed had demonstrated
to the church in the face of schism is evident in the bishops decision
to offer reconciliation to all the penitents, in their meeting in spring
253. First the leaders noted that amidst signs that the persecution
would soon resume, the lapsed gave evidence that their repentance
had been effective: they declared themselves ready to stand and fight
for the name of Jesus and so to win salvation. 88 Sound pastoral
practice, they judged, required that the bishops strengthen these
penitents with the blood of Christ and impart to them the gift of the
Spirit. 89 The explanation the bishops offered, however, indicates the
pressure to which they were being subjected and the excuse which

would justify capitulation to it. The day of judgment, they decided, was
fast approaching; they anticipated facing charges of cruelty and
harshness if they forced the penitents to fight and die for Christ
outside the church. 90
Finally, the public demonstration of support for Cornelius which the
faithful of his church staged at the time of his arrest provided Cyprian
yet another opportunity to point out the efficacy of their penitence.
The Roman penitents had been restored to communion by parading
their faith before the persecuting emperor. 91 Clearly, he proclaimed,
God had accepted the repentance of the lapsed and had thereby
approved the program followed by the bishops.
Although Cyprian had asserted that the bishops and the church did not
have the power to forgive the sin of idolatry, since it was committed
directly against God, the laxist schism in Africa did provide the
opportunity for him to identify loyalty to the churchto its officers and
faithfulas a form of confession of faith in Christ under persecution.
Like the imperial action, Cyprian explained, the schism was allowed by
God to test and prove the devotion of the standing and the fallen.
Those who had withstood the open assault had then to guard against
this insidious one. Those who had failed in the first conflict, however,
could rise to claim victory in this
-62-

second battle against the devil. In rejecting the policy of extending the peace of the
church to the persevering penitents, he asserted, Novatian and his rigorist followers
were obstructing the reforming work of Christ, just as the laxists had done by granting
forgiveness too freely.
Still, Cyprian and his colleagues did not claim that they could grant full rehabilitation to
the penitents who remained faithful to the church. Resisting the temptation to schism
could not be assigned the same efficacy as a public confession of Christ under imperial
interrogation and torture; nor had it the cleansing power of baptism. The penitent
lapsed, therefore, were neither declared pure nor assured acceptance by God. Yet the
granting of the churchs peace in the ritual of reconciliation did affect the heavenly
status of the penitents. They were promised an appearance before the tribunal of Christ
and the entire churchs intercessory support, as they pleaded there for mercy and
forgiveness. Thus Cyprian contrasted the victorious martyr, who approached the throne
of Christ confident of an earned reward, to the reconciled penitent, who came forward
trembling and fearful of the judgment which would scrutinize the intentions of the

heart. 92 The schismatics and others who remained outside the church in death,
however, would be subject to summary condemnation. 93 Fear of such a rejection was
evident in the pressure which the lapsed and their supporters exerted to gain
readmittance to the churchs communion before death. 94
In the face of overwhelming pressure from the faithful as well as the lapsed, Cyprian
and his colleagues found a means of asserting the real but limited efficacy of the
churchs ritual of reconciliation. Christ had promised to acknowledge those who
confessed him and threatened to disown those who had denied him. The apostates,
therefore, could be certain of Christs acceptance only by reversing their prior failure,
as confessors or martyrs. Yet, their loyalty to the church under demonic assault might
also be accepted by Christ as a rehabilitating renewal of faith. The penitential works,
moreover, responded to Gods reforming purpose in allowing the persecution and thus
had won not only rehabilitation but the crown of martyrdom for some of the fallen. In
this way, the bishops argued that the penitents should be brought into the church, there
to be preserved for judgment by Christ. The ritual of reconciliation was effective in
moving them from certain damnation to a hopeful ambiguity which might issue in
salvation.
-63-

The purity of the church

Novatian apparently believed and convinced his followers that
Christians who had failed to confess Christ during the persecution
must not be admitted to the communion of the church. Christ had
clearly asserted, he argued, that those who denied him on earth would
be condemned by him in the judgment. The ritual of reconciliation,
unlike baptism, did not have the power to remove the pollution of
idolatry and could not be trusted to cleanse the sinners. He charged,
moreover, that the apostates would contaminate the entire church
communion. Thus Novatian not only refused to admit the penitent
lapsed to communion, even at the time of death, but broke relations
with any bishop who had been infected by sharing in communion with
them. 95 He insisted that the church could retain its purity only by
enforcing the behavioral morality which defined its protective
boundary.
As has been seen, Cyprian remained sympathetic to Novatians
insistence on the limits of the churchs power to forgive the sin of
apostasy. In his initial attacks on the presumption of the martyrs, he
upheld the prerogative of Christ and the singular power of the
invocation of his name in baptism. The sure and certain way to remove
the taint of idolatry, he reminded the lapsed, was the repetition of that
baptism by public confession of faith. After the persecution ended, he

interpreted submission to the ritual of reconciliation within the church

as a form of confession of faith which might win forgiveness of the sin.
Because he could not assure the faithful that the pollution of idolatry
had actually been cleansed, however, he still had to address
Novatians second charge: that the communion would be contaminated
by any contact with unforgiven idolatry. This seems to have been
accomplished by a further differentiation of roles within the church.
Initially the idolaters were offered association with the church in the
role of penitents. They were required to acknowledge their sin before
the community, to beg for the prayers of the faithful, and to perform
works or make offerings in support of the church. Although they were
excluded from the eucharist during their life-times, they had the right
to be admitted at the time of death, so that they might appear before
Christs judgment as communicants. As penitents, the lapsed
presented no immediate danger to the purity of the communion. The
protection provided by their exclusion was lost, as has been seen,
when some of the penitents survived the illness which brought them to
deaths door and thus into the eucharistic fellowship. Since they
enjoyed the full peace of the
-64church after their recovery, Novatian charged that they were a source
of contamination within the community. 96
The policies for dealing with the lapsed which were adopted by the
Italian and African bishops provided the rigorists with further
ammunition. In their meetings immediately after the persecution
ended, the bishops had admitted the penitents who had obtained
certificates of compliance without actually sacrificing. Cornelius and his
colleagues, moreover, had accepted the bishop Trofimus and the entire
community he had led in offering incense to the imperial deities. Two
years later, in anticipation of a renewal of persecution, the bishops
opened the way of peace and reunion for all the repentant sacrifices.
Thus the rigorists charged that in accepting the apostates into
communion, the bishops had approved their sin and contracted their
contagion.
In defending the decisions of his colleagues, Cyprian first appealed to
Christs charge to the pastors to care for the flock. The shepherds
could not allow the wounded to be destroyed by the devil. 97 Next, he
countercharged that the rigorists were themselves tolerating
adulterers in their communion, whose sin violated the temple of God

and served in the scriptures as the very symbol of idolatry and cultic
infidelity. 98 Having asserted that the rigorists could not elude the
charge they mounted against the Catholic bishops, Cyprian then
attacked the assumption that the sin of one person could harm
another. 99 Most importantly, however, Cyprian exploited a category of
membership to isolate the reconciled apostates within the communion
and thus protect their fellows from contamination.
Cyprians community assigned a cosmic or religious significance to the
differentiation of roles and categories of membership within the
church: the bishop, the clergy, the confessors, the dedicated virgins,
and the poor, for example, stood before God in ways which reflected
their various rights and responsibilities within the community. The
church was already using a special status for members who failed to
meet the requirements of their roles. Thus bishops and other clergy
who might otherwise have been subject to permanent
excommunication were allowed to remain in the communion among
the laity. 100 By imposing this permanent disability, the community
formally distanced itself from their failure even as it allowed them to
share its fellowship. Similarly, the dedicated virgins who had been
inappropriately familiar with men but could prove that their physical
integrity had not been corrupted were placed in a probationary status.
101

-65A distinct station within the communion seems to have been developed
for the reconciled apostates as well. The sacrificers admitted to
communion were treated as probationers and warned that they must
distinguish themselves in the anticipated persecution. 102 Their
marginal status within the communion corresponded to the ambiguity
of their own relationship to Christ, who had threatened to disown
them. 103 None of the lapsed, moreover, was allowed to retain or
receive positions of leadership, to be ordained or serve as clergy. 104
As passive participants in the communion and recipients of the
churchs charity, the reconciled idolaters would not pollute the
communion. 105 Thus the bishops seem to have applied a new
differentiation in classes of membership recognized within the church
and to have given it a cosmic significance. 106 In so doing, they
segregated the lapsed within the church and thus safeguarded its
purity. In this way, the community was able to arm the penitents for
defending the faith and to intercede for them before the bar of Christs
judgment, even as it continued to repudiate their treason and to
suspect the sincerity of their repentance.

By elaborating the differentiation of roles within the church, Cyprian

and his colleagues were able to uphold the relevance of the behavioral
moral standards which had defined the boundaries of the community
while recognizing the limits of their power to apply that norm. The
intentions of the heart were significant to the salvation of its members
but the church could not judge them. The bishops were responsible for
guarding against unconverted hearts but only through their outward
manifestations. Thus the bishops would distinguish one sin from
another by focusing on the actions performed: accepting a certificate
was not equivalent to performing a sacrifice; sacrificing under coercive
torture was not the same as rushing forward to comply with the
imperial edict; offering incense was not equivalent to eating tainted
meat. 107 They accused Novatian of following pagan philosophy in
judging all sins equal. 108 In a parallel way, the bishops had to credit
penitential behaviors on the basis of actual performance: patient and
enduring prayer, giving away the possessions which had led to sin,
serving the needs of the community, parading behind an arrested
bishop, demonstrating loyalty to the church and the bishop. As one
behavior formed the basis for excommunication, the other provided a
basis for reconciliation. As open apostasy had excluded the lapsed
from communion, confessing their sin before the assembly gained
them the status of penitents, and continued fidelity to the church
eventually won them acceptance as communicants. Yet none of
-66-

these actions could be assigned the same efficacy as a public confession of faith before
the imperial authorities, which would wash away all sin.
In order to maintain the voluntary unity of the Christian community and the moral
standards which identified its social boundary, Cyprian and his colleagues focused on
the behaviors of the lapsed penitents. Distinction could be made between different types
of sins; penitential actions could win the peace of the church. Still they warned the
apostates that Christ would judge their intention in both sinning and repenting, that
Christ would review and might revise the decision of the church. Thus they admitted
the penitents but in a probationary status which permanently restricted their rights
within the communion. Distinguishing their own power to judge and to forgive from
that of Christ, they recognized that while the earthly church should not attempt to attain
that holiness which would be fulfilled in the kingdom of heaven, it did maintain itself
pure from the contamination of the idolatrous empire.

The role of social structures

The communities led by Cyprian and Novatian both had a well-demarcated sense of
identity. The two churches attempted to enforce a clearly articulated and behaviorally
defined boundary separating them from the dominant religious culture of the empire.
These were both intentional communities which established and maintained their
identifying boundary definitions by voluntary assent of their members. The preceding
analysis has suggested, however, that Cyprian, his colleagues and their people were
able to reintegrate the apostates into the church through a redefinition of their
communal identity which was unacceptable to the rigorists. A review of this procedure
may permit comparison with the choices made by the rigorist church led by Novatian.
The influence of the social structures of each community can be discerned in their
responses to the apostates.

The social structures of Cyprians church

Cyprians church at Carthage seems to have been a voluntary community in which the
members themselves enforced a boundary defined by fidelity to Jesus Christ and
rejection of all competing forms of religious practice, as well as by standards of moral
action.
-67-

The church used the efficacious ritual of baptism to cleanse its members from the
contamination of the idolatry of the Roman state and other cults, as well as from all other
sins. Participation in the communion seems to have served as the basis for a presumption
that the Christian would be admitted to the heavenly kingdom of Christ. As a
consequence, those whose acceptance by Christ appeared unlikely would have been
excluded, by episcopal action and common consent, from the communion. Such were any
of the virginsand their male partnerswho had violated their consecration to Christ.
109 Such were members of the clergy who had proven unworthy of their office. 110 Such
also were the apostates, at least those who had voluntarily sacrificed. 111 In order to
protect the distinct reality of the religious community, these persons all had to be
excluded from communion until they were purified again through a ritual of public
repentance. In the case of some sins, such as voluntary apostasy, reconciliation and
readmission to communion were granted only at the time of death. 112 When a majority
of the Christians failed during the persecution, however, the community found its
established procedure overwhelmed and its identity shaken. Could only the minority of a
churchs members maintain a communion, from which the majority were permanently
excluded as penitents? Cyprian and his African colleagues seem to have led their
churches to a solution of this problem by reconfiguring both the external boundary and
the internal differentiation of roles.
The community was uncertain that its ritual of reconciliation could be used for
readmitting the apostates, because the sin of idolatry was committed directly against God

and could not be forgiven by a human agency. 113 The violation of the baptismal oath
had ruined the sanctification originally produced by this ritual, which by established
tradition could not be repeated. Christ, moreover, had threatened to denounce in heaven
anyone who had failed to confess him on earth. As has been seen in the prior chapter, the
laxists appealed to the intercessory power of the martyrs in order to win forgiveness
directly from Christ. In the process, however, they gave up community control over the
behaviors defining their boundary. The rigorists, in contrast, enforced the boundary
condition by refusing to credit their ritual of reconciliation with the power to purify and
thus qualify those guilty of idolatry for readmission to the communion. They apparently
experienced difficulty in maintaining the plausibility of this rigid boundary condition,
however, in the face of the sinners persevering repentance. Cyprian and his colleagues
found a way to retain the communitys voluntary
-68establishment of the boundary and its behavioral definition, as well as to credit the
ritual of reconciliation with a cosmic efficacy which both the laxists and rigorists
denied. The elements of his program will be detailed here in a logical order rather than
the temporal sequence of their appearance in his letters and treatises. 114
Cyprian focused attention on the cosmic meaning of the boundary which separated his
community both from the Roman world and from the competing Christian groups. He
reasserted the communitys belief that all who died outside the church would certainly
be lost, without any opportunity for salvation. The schismatics who had rebelled against
the church, Cyprian consigned to damnation even if they died while appearing to
confess Christ. 115 Similarly, he argued that the apostates who had refused to do
penance and relied instead on the intercession of the martyrs had already been
abandoned by God and were certainly lost. 116 Even Catholic penitents unreconciled at
death would presumably have been rejected by Christ. 117 Only those found within the
churchs communion at the time of the judgment would actually appear before Christ
and his saints; they alone would have the opportunity to plead for and gain salvation. 118
Being in the communion was, therefore, a necessary but not a sufficient condition for
admission into the kingdom of heaven. Even once reconciled, therefore, the apostates
could not be confident of being accepted as they approached Christs judgment. 119 This
interpretation of membership in the communion, moreover, explained the traditional
practice of readmitting penitents to communion before they faced the judgment of
Christ.
When a threat of renewed persecution arose, the bishops decided that the same privilege
had to be extended to the penitent apostates who professed themselves prepared to
confess Jesus before the authorities. Their dying as martyrs outsidebut not in
rebellion againstthe church would have given rise to ambiguities in the significance
of the boundary as the line of demarcation between those certainly lost and those who
might be saved. Clearly, the bishops could not expect to convince their people that
Christ would reject penitents who had publicly confessed his name and died as martyrs.
In presenting their decision to readmit all the penitents, of course, Cyprian and his

colleagues avoided any reference to such a dilemma; instead they focused on the plight
of penitents who might suffer accidental death as voluntary refugees. 120 Thus the
popular understanding of both the churchs boundary and the efficacy of martyrdom
may have moved the bishops to avoid the
-69-

problem altogether by granting immediate peace to all the penitents.

The power of the face-to-face pressure which can be brought to bear
in a tightly bounded group is also evident in the bishops earlier
dealing with the reconciliation of apostates. During the persecution,
Cyprian insisted that the entire community would have to be consulted
in developing a policy for the readmission of the lapsed. 121 The
protests of those who had accepted certificates won them the right to
immediate reconciliation at the first meeting of the African bishops. 122
The faithful made their influence felt on behalf of the sacrificers as
well: many confessed that they also would have fallen under the
coercion; others owed their fidelity to the protection provided by a
patron who had himself sacrificed. The demonstrated loyalty of the
penitents also lent force to their pleas: they had submitted to the
authority of the bishop and rejected the communion offered by the
laxist presbyters; they had persevered in penitential prayer and good
works. 123 Anticipation of a renewal of persecution made this pressure
irresistible: could the penitents be expected to abandon their property
and risk the dangers of exile without being accepted once again into
the community? 124 A refusal to reciprocate the penitents commitment
would have been unacceptable to many of the faithful and resulted in
defections from the church. 125 Under pressure from both the faithful
and the penitents, therefore, the bishops redrew the churchs
boundary to include the penitents and provide them the opportunity
for salvation. In contrast, Cyprian had to labor to convince the people
that returning schismatics, once arrogant and rebellious, might be
admitted even into the class of penitents. 126 Though these pressures
were exerted and felt within the face-to-face confines of the
community, their influence was justified by reference to cosmic
realities, particularly the judgment which Christ himself would soon
pass on the bishops. 127 Thus Cyprian articulated the communitys own
understanding of the meaning of its boundary definition and the
cosmic significance of both admission and exclusion.
The communitys belief that the loyal and submissive penitents ought
to be readmitted to the communion so that they could be presented

with its prayers to Christ for judgment was also the basis for its trust
in the power of the ritual of reconciliation to effect the purification
necessary for crossing the churchs boundary. When Cyprian
interpreted the laxist rebellion as a renewal of the demonic attack on
the communitys religious identity, he provided a way for
understanding submission to the bishop and loyalty to the faithful
-70as a form of adherence to Christ under persecution. This in turn linked
the ritual of reconciliation to the cosmic efficacy of public confession of
the faith. Thus the imposition of the bishops hands, the offering of the
penitents gift, the sharing of the eucharist could free even one who
had sinned directly against God from the certainty of condemnation
and guarantee a hearing before Christ. Those whom the bishop and
people loosened on earth might indeed be loosened by Christ in
heaven; those whom they held bound, however, would certainly be
held bound. 128
Such ambiguity as remained in the interpretation of the churchs
boundary and the power of its ritual of reconciliation to cleanse the
stain of idolatry arose from a clearly articulated difference between the
standard of judgment which the community could enforce and that
which only Christ himself could apply. The bishops and people, as
Cyprian explained, could judge only on the basis of behavior: those
who had submitted to penance and professed themselves prepared to
defend their faith must be accepted. Christ, however, could read and
judge the intentions of the heart: he would detect and reject those
who had dissembled and deceived the church in order to gain its
peace. 129 In the same way, the standing faithful who volunteered that
they had intended to comply with the imperial edict had they been
questioned were not excluded from communion or treated as fallen but
were warned to repent and ask Christs forgiveness. 130 Still, the
churchs behavioral standard itself retained a certain priority which
Christ was expected to confirm: no martyr need fear being found
unworthy on the basis of hidden intentions; penitents whose bishops
dissented from the common policy and refused them the churchs
peace were lost, though the bishops themselves would answer to
Christ for their lives. 131 In thus making provision for an additional
standard of judgment, based on intention, which would be
administered by Christ alone, the church limited and thereby justified
the efficacy of its ritual of reconciliation and accounted for the
difference between its boundary and that of the kingdom of heaven.

Against the objections of the rigorists, as has been seen, Cyprians

church had to satisfy itself not only that its granting of peace on earth
might extend to heaven but that its ritual of reconciliation could purify
the sinner and protect the church from pollution. For this purpose, it
used a differentiation of roles. Communities which espouse not only a
well-defined boundary but a hierarchy of rights and responsibilities
tend to use their rituals as powerful tools not only for defending
against external evil but also
-71for controlling conflict and contagion within the group. The church, as
has been seen earlier, had a set of well-differentiated roles and could
deal with sin by shifting members from one status to another. The
clergy who took to flight during the persecution, for example, were
suspended from office for conduct which won praise for the laity. 132
Dedicated virgins who failed to maintain their status were urged to join
the ranks of married women within the communion. 133 The reconciled
apostates, like Christians who had been guilty of other kinds of serious
sin, were assigned a restricted role within the communion. In this
probationary status, they were more easily expelled for a subsequent
failure and, in particular, were excluded from leadership roles in the
ritual life of the community. These restrictions clearly dissociated the
community as a whole from their sinful behavior and signaled the
ambiguity of their religious status. Christ, who judged intention as well
as action, could be trusted not to hold the entire community
responsible for the sin which it so clearly condemned even in
extending its support to the penitent sinners.
Further evidence of the efficacy of this role differentiation in limiting
the spread of the pollution of idolatry within the church can be seen in
the power which Cyprian assigned to both the demonic and the
Christian rituals. Although contact with idolatry, even involuntary,
might harm and even destroy individual Christians, its power could not
be compared with that of the churchs ritual, the eucharist. During the
persecution, it will be recalled, the Roman confessors charged the
laxist presbyters in Carthage with throwing pearls to swine by
admitting the lapsed to communion. 134 In contrast, Cyprian
subsequently pointed out that the real danger was to the swine rather
than the pearls: those tainted by idolatry were burned by the
consecrated bread or choked when they drank from the cup. 135 Later,
the purified penitents were allowed to receive the precious blood so
that it might strengthen them to shed their own for Christ. 136 Unlike
the rigorists who seem to have regarded their rituals as vulnerable and

liable to serve as carriers of pollution, Cyprian and his people viewed

them as powerfulcleansing or destroyingbut incapable of
themselves being polluted or of transmitting contamination. 137
Analysis of the social structures of the African church indicates the
means which the bishops and people used to solve the problem of
readmitting the lapsed into the communion. The boundary was so
defined as to allow the inclusion of Christians who had proven
themselves worthy of being presented to Christ for judgment, even
-72if his own approval of them could not be presumed. The various
stations in the church were so specified as to isolate those whose overt
behavior had created doubts about their religious status. The
community was able to limit its judgment to the behavior of sinners
and penitents; it left the intentions of the heart for Christ to assess.
Thus it could trust its ritualsbaptism, eucharist and reconciliationto
achieve their earthly purpose and to effect a realthough less
complete and securechange in heaven.

The social structure of the rigorist church

The correlation which has been established between the social
organization of Cyprians church and its successful response to the
problem of reconciling the lapsed raises the possibility of a similar
analysis of the rigorist community led by Novatian. Such an
investigation, however, is hindered by the quantity and quality of the
evidence. Novatians surviving writings on the subject are limited to
the letters he drafted for the clergy and confessors during the
persecution, two of which have been preserved. His rebellion against
Cornelius and his stance on the status of the apostates was reported
only by his opponents. Unrelated treatises and the exhortations which
he addressed to his community might provide some indication of the
attitudes they shared. Even from such meager evidence, however,
some points are clear.
Novatians community was an intentional and exclusive group. Each of
its members made the decision to break away from the established
Christian church in Rome, protesting the admission of the lapsed into
its communion. For the purpose of preserving a community free of
contact with idolatry, they set aside the significance of church unity
and of the established procedures for the selection of church leaders.
For the most part, they maintained this commitment to purity even

when some imprisoned confessors who had originally supported them

abandoned the cause and in spite of the continuing attacks of the
bishops who supported Cornelius and his policy of reconciling the
lapsed. 138 The community may even have used its eucharistic services
as a ritual of renewing commitment to the church and its ideals. 139
Thus Novatians community may have been more intentionally
cohesive than that of either Cyprian or Cornelius.
This rigorist church defined its boundary by an active fidelity to Christ.
In the letter he drafted for the Roman clergy during the persecution,
Novatian asserted that the baptismal commitment
-73forbade all stratagems by which a confession of faith might be
avoided. 140 No distinction, therefore, could be made between those
who had employed legal fictions to obtain certificates and those who
had actually sacrificed, either voluntarily or even under coercion. 141 To
Christians of this persuasion, Cornelius decision to readmit the bishop
Trofimus and his entire community despite the fact that they had been
guilty of sacrifice would have provided adequate cause for rebellion. 142
Furthermore, the decision of the council gathered in Rome to grant
peace to the certified would have confirmed Novatians followers in
their opposition. This church then steadfastly refused to readmit
anyone who had been tainted by idolatry after baptism, denying even
the traditional deathbed reconciliation to penitents. 143 The
communitys concern with the pollution of idolatry was also evident in
Novatians later exhortations. His treatise on the Jewish food law
singled out the prohibition of food offered to idols as the one element
of these regulations which had not been abrogated by Christ.
Dedication to the demon, he explained, ruined the goodness which the
Creator originally bestowed upon these meats. 144 Novatian and his
people, it seems, established their individual and communal identity on
a commitment to Christ which tolerated no compromise with
competing religious practice.
The particular cosmic significance which the Novatianist church
assigned to its boundary remains somewhat ambiguous. Certainly, the
community believed that it could retain its saving relationship to the
kingdom of heaven only by excluding idolaters. Further, it asserted
that communion with idolaters had destroyed the sanctifying power of
the rituals of the other communities. 145 While the rigorists believed
that the church had not been given the power to forgive the sin of
apostasy, they might have believed that Christ himself could release

the penitents from their bondage at the judgment. 146 A number of

indicators of such a view can be identified. During the persecution, it
will be recalled, Cyprian himself had enunciated just such an
understanding of Christs sovereign freedom to judge what the church
could not. 147 Later, he charged the Novatianists with inconsistency in
exhorting the apostates to penance but refusing them communion. 148
The Novatianists might also have expected that repentance would lead
to the reversal of idolatry by public confession of Christ or even
martyrdom. Cyprian offered this as a motive for repentance while he
was still denying reconciliation. 149 In defending their decision to
readmit the sacrificers, the African bishops anticipated what may have
been a
-74Novatianist objection that the penitents could win the crown of
martyrdom even outside the communion. 150 These rigorist Christians,
therefore, may have assumed that idolaters excluded from the church
could still be saved by actions performed outside the unity of the
church. Unlike Cyprians community, therefore, the Novatianists might
have recognized that the kingdom could extend beyond the
communion of the church.
Whatever heavenly significance the rigorist church assigned to its
earthly boundary, concern for its definition and defense tended to
suppress the significance of the differentiation of roles within it.
Novatian did retain the hierarchical structure of the church: he had
himself consecrated bishop by the requisite three colleagues and then
sought recognition and sharing of communion with other bishops; he
subsequently ordained and sent out bishops to establish faithful
communities in cities where he judged the existing churches as having
failed. Still, Novatian and his supporters subordinated the cosmic
significance of the churchs offices and the procedures for filling them
to the overriding value of fidelity to Christ. Although he had agreed to
a broad consultation of bishops, clergy and laity to establish a policy
for dealing with the lapsed, he refused to credit the resulting
consensus when it opposed his own convictions on the demands of
Christian faith. 151 He then violated the procedure established for
selecting a new bishop by arranging his own ordination after Cornelius
had been elected and installed. Though he sought an admission into
the communion of other bishops, his objective seems to have been
gaining adherents to his own position rather than extending
recognition to bishops who disagreed with him. 152 When his initiatives
were rejected, he ignored the practice of local control of church office

by choosing, ordaining and sending out replacements for established

bishops who opposed his policies. 153 Novatian also seems to have
denied the religious significance assigned to role differentiation by
other bishops. From his viewpoint, Trofimus having been shifted out of
his episcopal role seems to have been irrelevant: no sacrificer could be
admitted to communion. 154 Finally, in his exhortation to modesty,
Novatian urged a similar practice of sexual continence on all the
members of the church and did not differentiate a greater reward to be
gained by the virginal state. In all its forms, he explained, chastity
divides the Christian from the Roman culture. 155 In all these ways,
Novatians rigorist community seems to have suppressed the
traditional significance of differentiated roles.
In comparison to Cyprians community in Carthage, therefore,
-75Novatians church seems to have been slightly higher on the groupidentity scale and lower on the role-differentiation one. The rigorists
might be expected to have focused the power of their rituals on
maintaining the boundary and to have made an appeal to intention as
much as behavior in defining standards of morality within the
community. As shall be seen in a subsequent chapter, Novatian did
protect his churchs boundary by repeating baptismal purification when
a convert came from a rival Christian community. Unlike Cyprian,
moreover, his analysis of the sin of idolatry highlighted the pollution of
the conscience which preceded the defilement of the hands and lips by
sacrificing. Thus he asserted that sacrifice and certificate were
religiously equivalent forms of failure, each betraying an unfaithful
heart. 156 Finally, his treatment of the Jewish food laws used an
allegorical method, finding the approval and prohibition of various
animals in the moral symbolism of their modes of life rather than in
contact with a contaminating evil. 157
Novatians fear of contamination of the church by the evil of idolatry
seems, then, to be related to the tightly bounded but internally
undifferentiated social structure of his community. A voluntary
community which is focused on maintaining its boundary as a defense
against the encroachments of a threatening evil will tend to be
egalitarian in applying the behavioral code which defines its border. In
the absence of differentiated roles, with the variety of behavioral
standards and rituals which establish them, it would be unable to
isolate and check the spread of contagion within the community. Its
only option would be the radical one of permanent expulsion. Its

concern with the internal purity of the community would help focus its
ethical codes on the inward intention as much as the outward practice
of its members. In such a group, evil may therefore be transmitted
simply by consent, even the tacit consent of allowing a sinner to share
the eucharist.

Conclusion
Analysis of the process by which the Christians who failed during the
Decian persecution were reintegrated into the churches demonstrates
that the African bishops relied on both the communitys boundary and
its internal differentiation of roles. They established that the ritual of
reconciliation could provide an effective means of crossing the
boundary when both the penitents action and the communitys
judgment affirmed the cosmic significance and the voluntary
-76definition of the boundary. In the face of the laxist schism, submitting
to the church could be understood as confessing Christ. Segregating
the reconciled penitents in a limiting role within the communion could
also protect the community from participating in their failure.
By maintaining its behaviorally defined boundary and class structure,
Cyprians church also strengthened the efficacy of its rituals. Not only
did the imposition of hands in reconciliation and sharing in the
eucharist modify the standing of the penitents before Christ but these
rituals conferred the Holy Spirit and empowered the Christians to repel
the attacks on their faith and secure the victory which had earlier
eluded them.
Finally, the community was able to assert a behavioral or
performance-based morality through which it could actually enforce its
boundary and class structure without neglecting all considerations of
intention and purpose. Because Christians believed that Christ had
reserved to himself judgment of interior dispositions, they could
tolerate a level of moral and religious ambiguity among fellow
communicants which apparently proved impossible for the rigorists.
The rigorists, in contrast, viewed themselves as vulnerable to
contamination from a threatening evil which was held at bay only by
strict enforcement of the behavioral standards which defined their
boundary. Refusing to assign cosmic significance to internal role
differentiation, they enforced purity rules in an absolute and

egalitarian manner. Thus this church insisted on the efficacy of

baptism and distrusted the ritual of reconciliation. Novatians
eucharistic ritual served as a focus for expressing and renewing
interior commitment to the ideals of the community but it was
vulnerable to contamination and lacked the cosmic power to repel evil.
The tightly bounded, egalitarian community seems to have feared the
presence of evil hidden in its midst; it sought constant reassurance of
the interior dispositions of its members. Thus the rigorists attempted
to enforce an intentional as well as a behavioral moral standard.
Given the differences in their social structures and corresponding
religious assumptions, it should be anticipated that Cyprian and
Novatian would have had different reasons for their common stance on
the necessity of rebaptizing converts from competing Christian
communities. Before the analysis turns to this issue, however, the
competing views of the unity and organization of the local church must
be considered.
-77-

5
INDIVISIBILITY OF THE CHURCH
Cyprians interpretation of the laxist schism as a demonic attack on the church turned
the revolt into an opportunity for the penitents to exhibit their loyalty to Christ and thus
reverse their failure in the imperial persecution. This identification of submission and
fidelity to the church as a form of confession of Christ rested upon a belief that Christ
had conferred the power to bind and loosen upon Peter and his successor bishops. Thus
the laxist altar and eucharistic communion set up against that over which the bishop
presided was a rejection of divine ordinance. The rigorist schism at Rome, in which the
church divided between Cornelius and Novatian, raised the question of legitimate
succession from one bishop to the next. As these two schisms developed, moreover,
Cyprian was faced with first a Novatianist and then a laxist rival, each of whom
claimed to be the true bishop of Carthage. The unity of the local church, built upon its
bishop and the eucharistic communion gathered under his leadership, became the focus
of the debate. The understanding of the universal communion of bishops, its common
power to sanctify, and its shared responsibility for governing the church grew out of the
debate about the local church; it will be considered in chapter 8. The present study will
consider first the divisions within the church in Carthage during and immediately after
the persecution. Attention will turn next to the problem of competing bishops in a
single city which began in Rome and then spread to Africa. A statement of Cyprians

understanding of the unity of the local church will conclude this chapter.

The crisis in Carthage

During and immediately after the Decian persecution, Cyprian had to deal with four
issues which affected the unity of the Christian church in Carthage. He provided an
explanation of the persecution
-78-

itself which called the community to greater cohesion and avoided singling out any one
group for blame. He also had to exert control over the exiled confessors who proved to
be a divisive force within the church. His major problem, however, was the usurpation
of the roles of the community and its bishop in the penitential process by a group of
presbyters. Then, as he returned to Carthage from his own exile, Cyprian labored to reestablish the structures which guided the common life of the Christians in face of the
challenge to his leadership and the division in their eucharistic fellowship.

Reasons for the persecution

Discord and division within the church provided the earliest recorded explanation
which Cyprian offered to his community for the suffering its members were undergoing
in the persecution. Shortly after his flight from Carthage, Cyprian claimed a vision in
which the church refused Gods order to pray in concord for certain of its members. 1
The only conflict attested in the surviving evidence which might offer an interpretation
of this prophecy had arisen when a group of presbyters opposed the election of Cyprian
as bishop but were overruled by the people. Cyprians biographer claimed that the
bishops patience and goodness later won over his opponents but Cyprian himself
asserted that they consistently worked against his administration and were eventually
excluded from the church. 2 One of the presbyters, Novatus, had already been accused
of various crimes and the outbreak of persecution forestalled the hearing which had
been expected to result in his removal from office. 3 Whether the vision Cyprian
reported referred to this division, so that members of one faction in the community
were refusing to pray for their bishop or clergy, cannot be determined. Still, the causes
of discord within the church were widely enough known for Cyprian to allude to them
in such veiled terms and significant enough to provide a plausible explanation for the
catastrophe which God had allowed to descend upon the church. Cyprians primary
concern, however, was the danger of discord and disintegration of the community under
the imperial pressure. As the persecution continued, he attempted to secure the unity of
the church by urging others to join him in contributing funds to aid their fellows who
were suffering from loss of property or livelihood. 4 During the year its bishop was in
exile, however, the divisions within the church at Carthage became more active.

-79-

Return of the exiled confessors

The first set of Christian confessors were not subject to torture by imperial officials
but instead were deprived of their property and sent into exile. Some of them returned
to Carthage in triumph and apparently considered themselves unrestricted by either
Roman law or the behavioral standards of Christian faith. They may have considered
their salvation secured by their confession of Christ. When their conduct was reported
to Cyprian, he proposed to return to the city himself to deal with the conflicts. His
advisers convinced him, however, that his presence would be far more dangerous for
the community, 5 so he asked the clergy to take responsibility for the church in his
stead. 6 He also took the precaution of writing directly to the confessors as a group,
urging that they not only support the efforts of the clergy but use the considerable
influence of their own status to control their disruptive fellows who were dishonoring
the good name of all confessors. 7 In this and subsequent conflicts he enlisted the
active engagement of all members of the community in enforcing its standards rather
than asserting his episcopal authority alone.

The revolt of the presbyters

The problem which was to dominate the period of the persecution and several
following years involved a usurpation of episcopal and community authority by a
group of clergy, some of whom had originally opposed the election of Cyprian. Using
their position as delegated leaders of the eucharistic ritual, 8 they welcomed back into
communion those of the lapsed who had secured letters of peace from the martyrs. 9
They neither required the penitential ritual nor awaited the return of the bishop at the
end of the persecution, as they had been instructed. 10 In response, Cyprian cautioned
the confessors that the assistance they provided to the lapsed was being abused and
threatened to suspend the clergy for violating the directives they had received. 11
Cyprian again tried to defend the rights of the community as a whole and to secure
broad support for the established structures of authority, even when he had to assert
the privileges of his own office against those claimed for the martyrs.
Cyprians contention that the lapsed must not be allowed back into the eucharistic
communion until God had ended the persecution and thus granted peace to the whole
church seems to have won broad agreement. 12 He argued that those who had secured
their persons and property from the imperial threat by performing the
-80idolatrous sacrifice should not be welcomed into communion while the confessors who

were upholding the communitys fidelity to Christ were still suffering in exile or prison,
having forfeited all their goods. 13 The confessors themselves picked up this point and
specified that the clergy should act upon the letters of peace they were granting only at
the end of the persecution. 14 Even some of the lapsed recognized its force and agreed
to await the cessation of danger and the return of their bishop before petitioning for the
churchs peace. 15
Next Cyprian argued that the reconciliation of the lapsed on recommendation of the
martyrs was a change in the policy and practice of the church, which would affect
everyone in the community. His constant practice in such matters, he recalled, was to
act only upon the advice of the clergy and consent of the people. 16 Any decision made
in Carthage, moreover, would have repercussions throughout the churches of Africa
and thus would require consultation with the other leaders. 17 A delay would thus be
necessary until the danger had passed and the bishops could safely assemble with the
clergy and the people. Although the confessors did not concede that the consultation of
the bishops was necessary for the implementation of their directives, they did recognize
that the crisis was not a local one. After being petitioned for letters of peace in favor of
the lapsed in Rome, 18 they issued a general declaration of forgiveness for all the lapsed
and directed Cyprian to inform his fellow bishops of their decree. 19
When some presbyters began to welcome the lapsed into communion on the basis of the
letters of the martyrs alone, Cyprian objected that this procedure violated the right of
the people to advise on the reconciliation of individuals who had been excluded for
public sin. The lapsed, he pointed out, should have confessed their sin before the
assembled community; their penitence should have been publicly enacted to
demonstrate their repentance and recommitment; their conduct would then have been
judged by the bishop with the advice of the people. Only after these communal actions
might they have been readmitted to communion through the ritual of imposition of
hands by both the bishop and the clergy. 20 In usurping the authority of the bishop and
in trampling the rights of the clergy and people, the offending presbyters had not even
respected the restrictions which the martyrs and confessors had themselves placed upon
their patronage. 21 In their decree of general forgiveness, if not in their earlier letters for
individuals, the martyrs and confessors had specified that the lapsed were to
acknowledge
-81-

their sin before the community and submit to the judgment of the
bishop on their conduct since the time of their failure. 22 Though they
made this concession to the authority of the bishops, Cyprian
observed, the confessors had made its exercise extremely difficult. 23
The lapsed would demand that the peace which the martyrs had won
for them in heaven should be granted on earth without either delay or
restriction. In some towns, he reported, mobs of sinners forced the

clergy to admit them to the eucharist. 24 Cyprian appealed directly to

the people to enforce their rights to receive an apology and to exact
satisfaction for the betrayal of the shared commitment. 25
In claiming his own rights as bishop, Cyprian tried to present himself
as acting on behalf of the community as a whole. On one significant
point, however, he clearly distinguished the episcopal authority and
power. The confessors were willing to recognize the parts played by
the community, clergy and bishop in actually conferring the peace of
the church. The power to forgive the sin of apostasy, however, was not
only claimed by the martyrs themselves and the confessors serving as
their agents but acknowledged by the lapsed seeking the letters of
peace, those clergy accepting them, and those people who tolerated
the readmission of the apostates. Cyprian was willing to concede the
right of the martyrs to intercede before Christ and to advise the bishop
in judging individuals. 26 He insisted, however, that within the church
only the bishop had been given the power of binding and loosening.
This conflict between the privilege of the martyr and the authority of
the bishop developed in three stages. First, Cyprian asserted the point
which the rebel presbyters were contesting: the bishop is appointed by
God for the governance of the church during the present time; judging
belongs to him and submission to his authority is a necessary sign of
repentance. 27 Second, groups of lapsed wrote to Cyprian, presuming
to speak for the church and demanding that he recognize the peace
granted them by the martyrs. 28 Instead of undertaking public penance
and petitioning for reconciliation, they laid claim to the status on earth
which the martyr Paulus had promised to secure for them in heaven
immediately. 29 In response, Cyprian cited Mt. 16.18-19, as a
justification of the structure of authority in the church: Peter was
appointed the first bishop, upon whom Christ laid the foundation of the
church; the power given to Peter by Christ was passed to his successor
bishops, who then held and exercised it within their individual
communions. 30 In his last letter from exile, he repeated the text and
-82drew out its implications: the bishop, not the martyr, was authorized
by Christ to forgive sins; no sinner could find sanctification and
salvation through another source. 31 Third, Cyprian began to question
the intercessory influence of the martyrs. How could they claim to
sway the judgment of Christ because they had professed the faith
when they were advising others to disregard Christs teaching in the
gospel. 32 Cyprian would focus this battle on the bishops status as the

successor recipient of Christs commission to bind and loosen within

the unity of the church and on the limitations of the martyrs power to
intercede before Christ.
To prevent his own isolation from the community in a stand-off against
the confessors, Cyprian began to form alliances with some who had
actually suffered for their faith and thereby countered the rebel
presbyters and their supporters. He appointed four of them to clerical
office and promised them promotions in the future. 33 He established a
commission including two exiled bishops and two of his own
presbyters; of the four at least three can be identified as confessors. 34
These commissioners were to determine whether all the impoverished
Christians supported by community funds had indeed remained faithful
during the persecution. 35 They were also to recommend candidates for
ordination, presumably to replace both lapsed and rebellious clergy. 36
This action precipitated an open conflict with the rebels, who
countered that anyone who maintained communion with Cyprian would
be excluded from their own fellowship and denied its funding. 37 The
excommunication of some rebel leaders 38 was supported by a minority
of the clergy and a portion of the faithful, including some penitent
lapsed. 39 Cyprian was provoking strategic divisions in order to secure
a larger unity.
The rebels proceeded to establish a rival communion, headed by five
presbyters, which included other clergy and confessors, many lapsed,
and some faithful who followed the guidance of the confessors. This
group did not, however, elect and ordain its own bishop. Instead, the
dissidents apparently intended to maintain pressure on Cyprian and
force him to admit the entire group into communion on the terms
specified by the confessors. 40
In his last letter from exile, Cyprian analyzed the rebellion as a series
of attacks on episcopal authority. First, the dissidents had refused to
recognize Gods own providential government of the church in the
peoples original selection of Cyprian to be their bishop. 41 When the
persecution broke out, these same rebels sullied the glory of the
confessors and set the people against their bishop by granting the
lapsed immediate admission to the eucharist, contrary
-83to the directives of both. 42 Once the imperial persecution finally
ended, they took up the devils work by impeding the repentance and
restoration of the fallen and hindering the efforts of the bishops to

govern the churches. 43 Finally, they had attempted to set up a

separate altar and establish a new priesthood. 44
Cyprian asserted that the unity of the communion rested upon a
heavenly foundation: as God is one and Christ is one, so must the
church be one. The union of church and bishop was also based upon
divine ordinance: the Lord himself established a single church upon a
single bishop, signified by Peter. To reject the bishops authority and
gather a rival communion around a second altar served by an opposing
priesthood, therefore, violated the order which God had established.
Such insurrection must, therefore, be branded as adultery, impiety,
sacrilege, and even idolatry. 45 The rebels, therefore, carried a
contagion which could spread disease throughout the entire body of
the church. 46 Thus he insisted that every Christian must resist this
attack on the unity of the church. The faithful should shun the rebels,
flee their pollution, and continue to stand fast in the faith. The lapsed,
who had been deceived by the wiles of the devil in the first trial, now
faced an even more insidious temptation: the false communion offered
by the rebels was actually another denial of Christ. In revolting against
the bishops established by the Lord, the fallen would make themselves
permanent exiles from the church and would never be forgiven by
God. 47 Whoever gathers apart from the bishop and the church,
Cyprian reminded the people, was scattered and lost. 48
Even though he remained separated from Carthage in his exile,
Cyprian had managed to meet the threats which might have resulted
in the dissolution of the community or his own isolation. He had
characterized the misbehavior and usurpations of the confessors and
presbyters as violations of the rights of the other members of the
community as well as the bishop. He had won the support of a number
of confessors and the acquiescence of at least a minority of the lapsed
for his policy. He had asserted the rights of his office within the
context of its service to the whole church. Most importantly, he had
won the delay necessary for building a coalition which would isolate
the rebels and allow him to confront the problems in person.

Restoring the structures of the church

In returning to Carthage, Cyprian faced the task of reviving the
processes through which the community regulated its life and
-84-

justifying the procedures which had been challenged by the

persecution and the usurpations of the clergy. He clearly demarcated
the membership of the church and insisted on the marginalized status
of the lapsed. He then specified the privileges of the confessors within
the community and reclaimed the roles of the bishop and people in the
process of reconciling penitents. He also advanced an interpretation of
the conflict and division within the church as a form of persecution, in
which Christ could again be confessed or denied. Finally, he brought
the communal authority of the bishops to bear within local churches.
In the treatise On the Lapsed, which Cyprian seems to have delivered
as an oration to the assembled community upon his return to
Carthage, he clearly marked the line dividing the core community from
those who were at the margins. Though he recognized the
achievements of those who had suffered for their faith, he classified
them with all the rest who had avoided public apostasy, honoring all as
confessors. Thus he asserted that a passive protection of Christian
commitment by allowing the imperial decrees deadline for performing
the sacrifice to pass unheeded or by voluntary flight into exile to avoid
confrontation with the authorities was as effective a witness to Christ
as public proclamation, even under torture. 49 By honoring all the
standing faithful as confessors, he continued to undercut the special
status claimed for those who had actually been apprehended and tried.
50
His classification of the fallen was equally global: any who had
voluntarily obeyed the edict by sacrificing, or capitulated under
torture, or acquired certificates of compliance either personally or
through an agent without actually sacrificing. 51 All these he placed at
the margin of the community and urged to undertake penance in the
hope of attaining Gods mercy. 52 By acknowledging that they would
have fallen if actually confronted by the imperial officials, some of the
standing faithful challenged this stark classification scheme. 53 Though
Cyprian praised their forthrightness and urged others to imitate their
confession, he required only private repentance of their weakness. 54
In this same oration, Cyprian further attacked the claim that the
martyrs could win forgiveness for the sin of apostasy. He recognized
that they could intercede for the fallen but specified that this would be
done before the tribunal of Christ himself, when he returned to judge
all. They had no role in the meantime, however, while the bishop
judged in Christs place within the church. 55 Elaborating his earlier
argument, he observed that since their power to petition was
-85-

based upon Christs promise to acknowledge those who confessed him, it must be
limited by the corresponding threat to deny those who had denied him. To ignore the
threat was to abandon the promise. 56 Unlike the bishop, then, the martyrs had no
scriptural basis for an authority to bind and loosen, or even assurance of effective
intercession. 57 Cyprian would later argue that the intercessory role of the martyrs was
shared by other Christians; even those who had remained standing only through the
protection of others could intercede with God for their excommunicated benefactors. 58
The competition between the episcopal and presbyteral communions within the church
at Carthage evinced the overriding value which the African Christians set upon
participation in the unity of the eucharistic fellowship. During and immediately after
the persecution, many confessors and a majority of the clergy refused to support the
bishops policy of withholding this essential means of salvation or granting it only at
the moment of death. All apparently believed that even the intercessory power of the
martyrs in heaven would be salvific only if the apostates were first admitted to the
churchs communion on earth. 59 While sharing this belief in the efficacy of eucharistic
participation, Cyprian denied its saving power to the competing altar set up for the rebel
presbyters fellowship. In Peter, he asserted, Christ had established the bishop as the
foundation of the churchs communion; altar, priesthood and bishops throne were
consequently inseparable. Any communion gathered against the bishop was opposed to
the church, to Christ and to God; sharing in it would prove an obstacle rather than an
aid in gaining access to heaven. 60
By reclassifying the penitents and confessors, by devaluing the influence of the martyrs,
and by insisting on the authority exercised by the bishop, Cyprian moved to re-establish
the processes of public repentance and reconciliation within the church. In the meeting
they held in Carthage after Easter 251, the bishops of Africa decided to begin this
process immediately: those who had acquired certificates of compliance without
actually sacrificing might be readmitted as soon as individual cases could be reviewed;
those who had sacrificed could be enrolled as penitents and granted peace as death
approached them. 61 The bishops claim of authority to deal with the sin of apostasy and
their subjecting the lapsed to the established ritual proved a great boon to the
community. A process of reintegration began by which all the sinners could
acknowledge their failure and be accepted by the whole community as penitents, with
the promise of full membership either in the near future or at
-86-

least before their deaths. Cyprian described the process of public examination of
individual candidates and the exhortations through which the members of the
community were convinced to accept back even schismatics who had assaulted the
unity of the church. Admission of the certified also resolved at least partially the

perceived unfairness of excluding some who had acted as protectors and shields,
thereby enabling their dependants to remain standing within the communion. 63 In
publicly performing the rituals of repentance and reconciliation, moreover, the entire
church could acknowledge the failures and divisions which had led to the persecution
and resulted in its losses. 64
As has been argued earlier, Cyprian justified the efficacy of the ritual of repentance by
interpreting the division of the church initiated by the rebel clergy and their supporters
as a second phase in the persecution which then presented a new opportunity for the
lapsed to confess Christ and thereby reverse their earlier failure. Submitting to the
authority of the bishop and the intercession of the community rather than relying on the
influence of the martyrs and accepting the false peace of the schismatics was identified
as an adherence to Christ in the face of temptation. 65 After having argued this case to
the lapsed, Cyprian made a similar appeal to the confessors and those of their followers
who were splitting the church. In sections of On Unity which clearly pertained to this
stage of the conflict, Cyprian warned that the devil could tempt not only to idolatry but
to a false form of Christianity. 66 As he had exhorted his community early in the
persecution to pray with united hearts, so he now affirmed that the efficacy of Christian
prayer depended on the unanimity of the community. Those who broke from their
fellow Christians could not assemble separately in the peace of Christ and thus could
not expect God to heed their prayer. 67 Nor could anyone who had violated the
solidarity of the church on earth hope to enjoy the peace of the kingdom of heaven.
Those who refused to love their brethren on earth could not be rewarded by admission
to their company in heaven, even if they had died for confessing the name of Christ. 68
He concluded that the unity of the church derived from God and that the community
was thus indivisible; anyone who abandoned the people glued together in harmony lost
God, Christ, faith and the hope of salvation. 69
During the persecution, Cyprian had begun to build a coalition of bishops who
supported his opposition to the confessors and the rebellious clergy. 70 The meeting of
bishops from the provinces of Roman Africa in Carthage after Easter 251 to determine
a policy for
-87the reconciliation of the lapsed 71 strengthened the position of each
bishop in his own church. First, the individual bishops could appeal to
the councils decision as a justification for the actions which they took
or refused to take in their individual churches. Cyprian, for example,
met the Novatianist charge that he had changed his own rigorous
position after the persecution by appealing to the decree of the council
allowing the certified to be reconciled immediately and the sacrificers
on their deathbeds. 72 Second, the adoption of a rule requiring that
each sinners case be heard in the church where the crime had been
committed meant that no bishop could undermine the authority of

another by overruling his decision on an individual. 73 Third, the

bishops reviewed and affirmed the removal of the rebel clergy at
Carthage and further agreed to enforce the excommunication of any
clergy who reconciled the lapsed without penance, 74 again
strengthening the authority of the local bishop over his clergy. Fourth,
individual bishops retained the right to refuse reconciliation of the
lapsed, as they had been given freedom to deny the peace of the
church to adulterers by an earlier council. 75 The council of spring 251
responded to the revolt of the laxists by reasserting the role of the
local bishop in organizing and governing the church.

One bishop in a church

In the spring of 251, the Roman clergy decided that a successor to
Bishop Fabian, who had died a martyr at the outset of the persecution,
could be safely chosen. Cornelius was elected by the clergy and
people, then ordained by sixteen bishops from the surrounding area. 76
Novatian, who had shaped the policy of delaying reconciliation of the
lapsed during the persecution, objected to the choice and, with the
support of a number of recently released confessors, secured his own
ordination as bishop in opposition to Cornelius. Both Cornelius and
Novatian then solicited letters of recognition from their colleagues
throughout the world. Novatians emissaries remained in Carthage,
trying to build support for their cause, while an African episcopal
delegation traveled to Rome to investigate the conflicting claims. 77
This commission found in favor of Cornelius and he was universally
recognized by the African bishops. Undeterred, however, Novatian
worked to establish his rival church in Africa. He sent the bishop
Evaristus and a deacon Nicostratus over to Carthage from Rome. 78 He
also directed letters to the African bishops attacking their delegates
decision, impugning the
-88qualifications of Cornelius, and seeking recognition for himself. 79 A
year later, the presbyter Maximus, who had headed the original party
seeking African support for Novatian, was ordained bishop and sent to
contest Cyprians position in Carthage. 80 Novatian ordained other new
bishops from among his followers and sent them out to challenge the
established bishops who held to communion with Cornelius and
practiced the reconciliation of the lapsed. 81 Although they won some
support, the rigorists did not pose a significant threat to Cyprian and
his colleagues. 82 The primary problem in Africa was rather the
development of the laxist opposition into a separate church.

At the first meeting of African bishops after the persecution, in May

251, a group of lapsed bishops led by Privatus, the previously deposed
bishop of Lambaesis, presented themselves for recognition. Though
they were condemned and excluded from fellowship, they appeared
again in May 252, apparently hoping to be admitted to communion
along with their congregations. 83 Rebuffed a second time, the five
bishops proceeded to ordain Fortunatus bishop of the laxist community
in Carthage and to establish a rival college of bishops in Africa,
claiming some twenty-five members in the province of Numidia. 84 The
rebels immediately sent a delegation to Rome to seek recognition. 85
Initially, Cornelius refused to receive them but when they threatened
to make the whole dispute public, he granted a hearing in which
letters attacking Cyprian and his colleagues were read out. Although
the Roman church denied the laxists demand that Cyprian be deposed
and Fortunatus admitted to communion, Cornelius then had to deal
with Cyprians outrage at the proceeding itself. 86
The analysis will consider first the process by which bishops were
selected as a basis for understanding Cyprians teaching that they
received the authority Christ had conferred upon Peter. Next, the
composition and revision of the treatise On Unity and its
characterization of the structure of the local church must be explored.
Third, the role of the bishop as the guarantor of the unity of the local
church will be specified. Finally, the justification for granting peace to
the lapsed who had sacrificed because of their confession of the unity
of the church will be reviewed.

The succession of bishops

The issue between Cornelius and Novatian in Rome, and later between
Cyprian, Maximus and Fortunatus in Carthage, was not
-89whether a local church might be served by more than one bishop.
Neither the history of Israel nor the Roman political system nor even
the Trinitarian theory of the third century church provided a model of
shared imperium.87 Each of the rival bishops in Rome sought the
exclusive recognition of his fellow bishops. 88 Cornelius denied all
legitimacy to his opponent and reported that Novatian was requiring a
loyalty oath from his communicants and a vow not to return to
Cornelius. 89 When a group of schismatic confessors did rejoin
Cornelius, each was required to affirm that there could be only one
bishop in a Catholic church. 90 Novatian sent out bishops to other

cities, intending to supplant the existing bishops who had refused to

recognize him, just as he had attempted to overthrow Cornelius in
Rome. 91 Similarly, the laxist bishop of Carthage sought the approval
of the Roman bishop as the replacement, not the colleague, of
Cyprian. 92 Displaying a prejudice against the multiplication of bishops,
many of the laity who had joined the laxist schism in Carthage refused
to support Fortunatus as a rival bishop and returned to Cyprians
communion. 93 The bishops of Africa had themselves drawn up a list of
all approved bishops and sent a copy to Rome, so that no one would
unwittingly recognize a schismatic or lapsed pretender. 94 All parties
assumed that only one bishop could preside in a local church.
Neither in practice nor in theory did Cyprian provide any indication of
the manner in which new churches and bishoprics were established,
though his theory of episcopal succession to Peter and the other
apostles of Jesus clearly required the expansion of the college. His
explanatory efforts were focused instead on the disputed cases in
which rivals fought over succession to existing sees. The procedure for
the succession of bishops was designed to establish a single bishop in
each town or city and to secure his status through recognition by other
bishops in an episcopal college of indefinite extension. A bishop was
replaced only upon his death or deposition, so that no bishop had a
role in selecting his successor and handing on his episcopal power and
responsibilities. 95 In most instances, bishops died in office. Those who
voluntarily resigned after a public sin were often allowed to remain in
communion among the people. 96 When a bishop had to be removed
by the action of his colleagues, exclusion from communion seems to
have resulted, as in the cases of Privatus of Lambaesis and some of
the bishops who sacrificed or did not require penance of the lapsed in
Africa. 97 Cornelius achieved the removal of the three bishops who had
consecrated Novatian, though one confessed his fault and was
-90allowed to remain in communion among the laity. 98 The church was
not in a position, as it would be after the Constantinian toleration, to
utilize the assistance of the government in removing a bishop who had
been deposed. Successful action, therefore, might require extensive
collaboration among a wide range of bishops, in order to render an
obstinate bishop ineffectual. Thus Donatus of Carthage and Fabian of
Rome were needed to endorse the deposition of Privatus of Lambaesis.
99
The removal of Marcianus of Arles was beyond the power of the
bishops of his province, so that the support of the bishops of Carthage

and Rome was being sought. 100 In extreme cases, the bishops had to
urge the congregation to withdraw and abandon its deposed leader. 101
Following a death or deposition, a new bishop was elected by the laity,
and perhaps the clergy, with the approval of the neighboring bishops.
102
Cyprian appealed to the precedents set in the selection of a
replacement for Judas, the choice of the seven deacons, and the
installation of the Israelite priests to justify the role and responsibilities
of the community in securing a worthy candidate for the office. 103 The
election need not have been unanimousit was not in the choice of
either Cyprian or Cornelius. The successful candidate may not always
have been a member of the community he would head: in inscribing
the confessor Numidicus among his presbyters, Cyprian indicated that
this confessor was destined for higher honors, presumably outside
Carthage. 104
A newly elected bishop was installed in office and given his authority
not by his predecessor, who was dead or deposed, but by the bishops
who supervised the election and performed the ordination. The
surviving evidence indicates that Cornelius was consecrated by sixteen
bishops, 105 Novatian by three, 106 and Fortunatus by five.107 No bishop
or Christian community, therefore, was autonomous; each was
necessarily part of a broad network of bishops and their churches.
The number of consecrators could be important in securing the
recognition of other episcopal colleagues, without whose acceptance a
new bishop could not function effectively. Cyprian argued that once an
election had been completed and the candidate installed by the
attending bishops, no other bishop could be elected as a replacement.
Any dispute over the succession had only to establish which of the
claimants had first completed these two stages of the process. 108 In
Novatians challenge to Cornelius, however, the argument was
advanced that Cornelius was unworthy of the office because he lacked
integrity 109 and had entered into communion
-91with sacrificers. 110 Cyprian defended Cornelius against the charges
themselves 111 and argued that a different procedure had to be
followed if he were to be removed from office. 112
Letters of communion were apparently granted routinely to the new
bishop by his colleagues upon announcement of his election in a
particular church, on the supposition that the selection was undisputed

and consecration had been proper. 113 The consecrators, particularly

the principal bishop of a province, may have had an important role in
testifying to the regularity of the process. When Cornelius and
Novatian competed for the recognition of the bishops of Africa, 114 for
example, those bishops sought the testimony of their colleagues who
had been present at the election. 115 The process of approval also
seems to have been mediated through the churches in the major
cities, with those bishops taking responsibility for informing and
coordinating the responses of their colleagues. 116
Significant elements of Cyprians theory of episcopal office can be
correlated with the process of electing, installing and recognizing new
bishops. He argued that divine providence would not abandon the
church in the important process of choosing a bishop, so that the
election by the people actually reflected the prior divine choice of a
particular candidate. 117 He then inferred that anyone who opposed a
candidate once elected and established was contesting the decision of
God. 118 Furthermore, he asserted, this refusal to submit to the
judgment by which God had declared a particular candidate suitable
for office was the origin of heresies and schisms within the church, and
by implication the work of the devil. 119 The experience of having the
presbyters who steadfastly opposed his own election end up as rebels
against the church seems to have served as a foundation for his
judgment. 120 It would have been confirmed by the unworthiness
which the previously trusted Novatian displayed once passed over by
the people of Rome in favor of Cornelius. 121 Thus he argued that even
had Novatian been properly elected and installed as bishop of Rome,
he would have lost his place in the episcopal college when he sent out
replacements for other bishops who had been properly installed in
other cities. 122 Cyprian later observed that only Cornelius was later
arrested by the imperial government: Satan had not attacked
Novatian, who was already one of his own. 123 Despite his appeal to a
divine sanction for elected candidates, Cyprian also argued that
congregations had to act responsibly in electing or retaining a leader
and that bishops had to be careful in approving and entering into
communion with colleagues. The laity must neither select an unworthy
bishop nor act in false loyalty
-92to a fallen one. 124 Though he chided Antoninus for indecision about
Cornelius, Cyprian carefully answered all the questions raised about
his suitability for office. 125 Later he intimated that Stephen was in
danger of communicating in the apostasy and blasphemy of Basilides

and Martialis through his negligence in investigating the charges which

had led to their being deposed and replaced. 126 The process of
electing, approving and confirming bishops indicated that they were
chosen by God and functioned as members of a collegial body.

On the Unity of the Catholic Church

The episcopal commission sent by the African bishops to Rome was
charged not only with determining which of the candidates had been
properly elected and installed but was to attempt to resolve the
conflict and restore unity. 127 Caldonius and Fortunatus may well have
carried a version of On Unity which Cyprian had originally directed
against the laxist schismatics in Carthage. 128 When their efforts failed,
Cyprian tried to convince the confessors who had followed Novatian
into schism to return to the unity of the church. 129 Acknowledging
their desire to defend the gospel of Christ against the laxists as they
had against the persecutors, he warned that they must guard their
holiness within the unity of the church. 130 To demonstrate his
sympathy for their insistence on the purity of the church, he also sent
along copies of On the Lapsed, in which he had both demanded
penance without promising reconciliation until the time of death and
On Unity, in which he upheld the indivisibility of the church. 131 His
efforts were successful: the formula in which Cyprian had asserted the
unicity of God, Christ, church and bishop was incorporated into the
statement by which the confessors publicly submitted to Cornelius and
were received into his communion. 132 He then congratulated them on
their confession of the unity of the church. 133
Cyprians treatise On the Unity of the Catholic Church, which was used
against both the laxist and rigorist schisms, summarized his thinking
on the church. The text has been transmitted in two manuscript
versions which differ principally in chapters 4, 5 and 19. 134 The
contrasting versions of these chapters are generally referred to as the
Textus Receptus (TR) and the Primacy Text (PT), which latter was at
one time considered an interpolation into the former but is now
recognized as an alternate version deriving from Cyprian himself. At
least one version of On Unity was certainly
-93-

produced by the middle of 251, when Cyprian recorded the sending of the treatise to the

Roman confessors. 135 Moreover, portions of the common text clearly reflect the issues
under debate in Africa and Italy at that time. 136 Cyprian warned that the confessors
were in greater danger after their triumph and that they were being tempted under the
guise of the Christian gospel rather than solicited to engage in idolatry. 137 He asserted
that not even martyrdom can bring salvation to the schismatic. 138 He elaborated these
points through a number of other scriptural citations which also appeared in
contemporary letters: 139 Jer. 23.16-17 warns of the danger of false prophets; 140 Mt.
15.14 characterizes the leaders of the opposition as blind guides; 141 2 Tim. 2.17
compares the speech of heretics to cancer; 142 Mt. 12.30 asserts that those who do not
gather with Christ scatter. 143 The text of Eph. 4.4-6 well illustrates Cyprians objective
in 251: he alluded to the text to link the unicity of God, Christ, faith, church and throne
founded on Peter but passed over the texts reference to baptism. 144
The specific variants in the Primacy Text version of On Unity seem to indicate that
Cyprian introduced these changes when he sent the text to Rome to try to effect a
reconciliation between Cornelius and Novatian, or to influence the return of the
Novatianist confessors to unity. The reference to the primacy of Peter in chapter 4
might have served the same function as the later reference to the Roman church as the
chair of Peter, the source of the unity of the church, which Cyprian used as an
accusation of the laxists when they sought recognition for a second bishop in Carthage.
145
The Roman church should certainly have recognized that in giving power to Peter
first, Christ had demonstrated the unity of church and chair. To desert the unity and
chair of Peter, therefore, was necessarily to abandon the church. 146 The more specific
reference in chapter 19 to the penance being undertaken by those who had sacrificed
accurately described the situation in the time between the African councils in 251 and
253 when only the certified had been reconciled and the sacrificers continued to do
penance. 147 The more inclusive reference to the lapsed would have been part of an
earlier version prepared for Cyprians own church in Carthage or presented to the
African council in spring 251. It did not describe the situation at any time after spring
253. 148
The specific variants in the Textus Receptus version of chapters 4 and 5, as well as the
issues which were addressed and scriptural passages which were adduced in support,
clearly belong to the later period of the controversy on rebaptism, as shall be argued
below. 149
-94Thus On Unity seems to have been written for delivery in Carthage in
spring 251, and then revised when it was sent to Rome that summer,
either with the episcopal commission investigating the election or later
when it was sent to the Novatianist confessors. It was then
substantially rewritten during the rebaptism controversy in 256 not
only to remove ambiguities in the statements made about Peter in the
version sent to Rome but to forge a clearer link between the unity and

sanctifying power of the episcopate itself. The text will be used to

interpret Cyprians justification of the unity of the local church against
the laxist and rigorist schisms of spring and summer 251, except as it
clearly indicates a later revision.
The most striking image of the unity of the church Cyprian introduced
in On Unity was the tunic of Christ, which had been woven in one piece
from the top to the bottom and remained undivided. The unity of the
church, symbolized by that garment, comes from the Father and from
heaven; it cannot be divided. In contrast, the Prophet Ahijah divided
his cloak into twelve parts to symbolize the division of the kingdom
and people of Solomon. Christs people cannot be torn apart; some
may leave but the church remains whole and undivided. 150 This
exegesis may have been directed at the laxist presbyters. Nor could
the schismatics appeal to the words of Christ in Mt. 18.19-20 that
where two or three gathered in his name and prayed together, he
would be among them and the Father would hear their prayer. This
promise applied, Cyprian contended, only to those who were joined in
harmony with the whole community and prayed in unanimity, not to
those who separated themselves off in opposition. 151 He added a
second image aimed at the Novatianists: when Christ himself had
proclaimed one flock and one shepherd, how could they pretend to
establish two flocks and two shepherds in the same place? 152
The two levels of composition seem to be revealed in the successive
commentaries on those leaving the church. Apparently referring to the
conflict which had characterized the presence of the opposing
presbyters in the church at Carthage, Cyprian explained that only the
evil leave the church, like chaff from the threshing floor, because they
never belonged within it. Their loss has been our gain, he exclaimed.
153
The following argument might have been aimed at Novatian and
the confessors supporting him. The coming of schism within the church
was a divine judgment before the end time, 154 in which people were
judged not by the bishops but by the exercise of their own freedom.
The resulting division revealed the true faithful and unmasked the
hidden traitors. 155 This barb could
-95-

only have been aimed at the Roman situation, and the outstanding presbyter who
revealed his true colors by usurping the name of bishop by irregular ordination.

The first version of On Unify was directed against the schismatics in Carthage and in
Rome, attacking them for attempting to divide the church. In it, Cyprian advanced the
thesis that the church was indivisible because its unity rested upon a divine
foundation. Those who left separated themselves from Christ and his church; they
took nothing of its sanctifying power with them and had no access to salvation. The
images employed in the treatise broadened Cyprians earlier emphasis on the role of
the bishop by stressing the integrity of the community itself.

The bishop in the local church

Against the assaults of rigorists and laxists alike, Cyprian asserted that the bishop was
first and foremost the leader of a local church, fulfilling the role which Christ had
assigned to Peter as the rock of foundation. 156 Relying on the Petrine authority to
bind and loosen, he concluded that the bishop had been appointed by Christ as judge
and leader in the time between his ascension and return in judgment. 157 In reflecting
on Peters response when Christ challenged his disciples in the Bread of Life
discourse of Johns Gospel, Cyprian explained that what Peter had said of Christ
himself applied to the church: the Christian could find no other way to salvation. 158
That church, therefore, was itself in the bishop and the bishop in the church, so that to
abandon the bishop was to lose the church and Christ himself. 159
When the African laxists consecrated a bishop for Carthage and applied to Cornelius
in Rome for the deposition of Cyprian and recognition of their own candidate,
Fortunatus, their principal charge was that Cyprian was himself guilty of dividing the
church through his refusal to accept the schismatics into communion. In defense, he
asserted that he regularly labored to overcome the animosity which he found within
his own people against the rebels who had arrogantly despised their communion and
the religious standards they upheld. 160 This attack on a bishop who required
repentance of those who had publicly denied Christ by sacrificing was in fact an
assault on the church itself. Cornelius, he implied, was being derelict in his own duty
when he entertained the petition of these people who would force their way into the
church by threats rather than be welcomed by repentance. 161
-96In explaining why unworthy bishops must be removed from office, Cyprian pointed to
the episcopal role of offering the communitys oblation and interceding for its welfare.
162
He also found the unity of the local church symbolized in its eucharistic celebration.
The irreversible mingling of water into wine symbolized the inseparable unity of the
people with Christ. The joining together of the many grains of wheat through grinding,
moistening and baking signified the unity of the church itself as the body of Christ. 163
The crushing of many grapes and mingling of their juice into the one cup carried the
same significance. 164 Concretely, he argued that the eucharistic celebration could not
be dispersed into private homes but required the assembly of the entire community. 165
In Cyprians way of thinking, the local church was a specific social group with an

identifiable membership, sharing eucharistic fellowship under a bishop. To refuse to

adhere to such a community under the leadership of a legitimate bishop was to be
outside the church and by implication ineligible for participation in the kingdom of
Christ.

Reconciling the sacrificers

The division between Cyprians community in Carthage and its rivals, both laxists and
rigorists, had been thoroughly hardened by the attempts to establish bishops for each of
the schismatic groups. As has been argued above, this presented Cyprian and his
colleagues with an opportunity to justify the reconciliation of the sacrificers who had
persevered in penance in submission to the bishop of the Catholic church rather than
accepting the peace of a competing communion. 166 The reconciliation of the certified
among the lapsed and the admission of the sacrificers as penitents in 251 had relieved
conflicts within the community. Tension had been building again, no doubt, through the
admission of penitents during the seasons of summer illness. 167 Some of the sacrificers
admitted to communion on what were taken to be their deathbeds had then recovered
and remained in communion while their fellows continued as penitents. 168 These
disparities are evident in the questioning of the earlier decree. One bishop proceeded
with the private reconciliation of a former presbyter though he was not in danger of
death; 169 another urged that those who had failed under torture should be given
preference over others who had volunteered to sacrifice. 170
When the bishops met in council in spring 253, they decided to authorize admitting all
the penitents into communion without further delay. The bishops argued that signs and
warnings of a new
-97-

outbreak of persecution had moved them to act. The decision was justified, however,
by the loyalty which the penitents had consistently demonstrated toward the church.
171
Unlike the many who had abandoned the Christian life completely or had taken up
arms against the church as schismatics, these penitents had never wavered from their
determination to regain the communion of the church. 172 They had accepted the
connection Cyprian had made explicit between the authority to forgive sins and the
one bishop in the one true church. 173 In welcoming the penitents backs into
communion, he and his colleagues recognized the confession of faith in the unity of
the church which the penitents had made, a confession which they believed would be
approved by God and crowned with martyrdom. 174
Later, during the controversy over rebaptism, Cyprian would reassert this
foundational link between the office of bishop, the unity of the church, and the power
to forgive sins. Then he would use two premises to invalidate the rituals of

schismatics. First, in practice everyone agreed that only one bishop could be found in
a local church. Second, all should recognize that this one bishop held and exercised
the power to sanctify. Thus for a bishop to recognize the power of a rival to baptize
was necessarily to give up his own claim to the authority and the office of bishop; it
was also to concede the title of church to the competing assembly and place oneself
outside the kingdom of God. Because the bishop received and held the powers given
to Peter, he was the foundation and guarantee of the unity and holiness of his
communion. 175

The unity of the local church

By the end of the council of African bishops in the spring of 251, the main lines of
Cyprians theory of the unity of the local church were already clearly established. In
response to the Novatianist and laxist attempts to establish competing churches, the
theory was applied and developed but not changed. The church was a concrete unity,
a particular group of people sharing eucharistic fellowship and exclusive faith in
Christ, under the leadership of their elected and recognized bishop. The common
welfare had to take precedence over the religious good of any individual and no
Christians standing before God might be separated from that of the community as a
whole. Those who violated the explicit or implied behavioral code of the community
were excluded and might be readmitted only through a renegotiation of that codeas
in the
-98-

case of the certifiedor a public acknowledgment of their failure to follow the agreed
practice and a commitment to do so thereafteras in the case of the sacrificers. Both
procedures involved the community as a whole. This community could tolerate
disagreements, tensions and rivalries among its members but not a break in eucharistic
fellowship. If a division occurred, only one of the parts actually remained a church. The
others were deprived of all connection with God and Christ; they were demonic shams,
no better than the idolatrous gatherings of imperial society.
Cyprian provided two different justifications for the unity of the local church: the
indivisible unity of the community and the unity deriving from its leader. The bishop
elected leader of the church was actually a successor to Peter, upon whom Christ had
founded the unity of the church and through whom each church received its power to
sanctify by forgiving sins. The bishop must not act independently of either the people in
his own church or the leaders of other churches. Cyprians people believed that they
had the right to be consulted and heard both on major policy changes and in significant
decisions about persons, such as the selection of officers and the admission of penitents.
The selection and installation of a bishop demonstrated that no community was
autonomous; it must coordinate its decisions and practices with those of other churches.

The bishops inheritance of Peters authority to bind and loosen, to judge and forgive,
could enable him to serve as a unifying foundation of the local church.
The community itself was established as indivisible through the divine will. Like the
tunic worn by Christ, the church could not be torn apart and divided into pieces. As the
flock of Christ, it must be united and thus have only one pastor in each town. The unity
of the members of the community with one another was sacramentally symbolized in
their union with Christ in the one loaf and one cup of the eucharistic celebration.
Both these positions would be revisited in the conflict over the rebaptism of schismatics
and purity of the church. Finally, they would grow into twin foundations of a theory of
the church spread throughout the world. 99
-99-

6
INITIATION INTO UNITY
The division of the Christians in Africa into three competing
communions, each with its own college of bishops, involved conflict
over the efficacy of the rituals performed in other churches. Initially,
the conflict focused on the ritual of penance: the laxists questioned the
efficacy and necessity of the Catholic ritual of reconciliation; the
Catholics restricted the intercessory power of the martyrs on which the
laxists relied. The rigorists claimed that only Christ could forgive the
sin of apostasy and concluded that the Catholic and laxist eucharistic
fellowships had both been polluted by the participation of the lapsed.
Catholics rejected the eucharistic celebrations of laxists and rigorists
as violations of the unity of Christs church. Each denied the efficacy of
the others eucharistic celebration as a pure sacrifice sanctifying the
community and qualifying its members for entrance into the kingdom
of Christ. The competing churches were soon questioning the efficacy
of the primary ritual of purification and forgiveness, baptism. The
laxist practice remains unknown but the rigorists rebaptized converts
from the Catholic communion. The Catholic bishops debated the
necessity of rebaptizing a convert who had originally been baptized in
a competing communion.
In the period immediately following the persecution and division of the
church, it may be presumed that most of the separated laxists and
rigorists had been baptized originally in the Catholic communion. Some
of their adherents, however, might have been baptized in the laxist
and rigorist communions. Catechumens, for example, might have

participated in the rebellion over the reception of the lapsed. The

children born to schismatics might also have been baptized in these
new communions. 1 In the following years, new members may have
made their first approach and commitment to Christianity in these
churches. 2 Eventually, some of the schismatics became dissatisfied
with their leaders or were persuaded by the
-100competitors arguments; they left one communion for another,
bringing their families with them. Those originally baptized as Catholics
were received as penitents, just as the lapsed themselves had been. 3
The question of how to receive converts baptized in schism became
the focus of debate.
Where did these converts actually come from and by whom had they
originally been baptized? The laxist hierarchy was established in Africa
after the petition of the dissident bishops for recognition at the council
in the spring of 252. 4 A rigorist bishop had challenged Cyprian less
than a year earlier. 5 The first firmly dated correspondence between
Catholic bishops raising the question of rebaptizing converts from
schism can be placed no later than spring 255, a maximum of four
years later. 6 Would these three or four years have allowed adequate
time for significant numbers of schismatic Christians to pass through
the final stages of catechumenate in the laxist or rigorist communion,
enter that church through baptism, become dissatisfied, then petition
entrance into the Catholic church, pass a period of preparation as a
Catholic penitent or catechumen, and finally be ready for admission
into the church by baptism or the imposition of hands? 7 The
documents of the controversy never hint that most of the subjects
involved may have been children, who would be received without a
probationary period. 8 The initial years of the schism, when the threat
of renewed persecution loomed, moreover, seems an unlikely period
for rapid expansion of newly established schismatic churches through
recruitment of polytheists. 9 The Novatianists would have been likely to
enforce the full time of preparation of candidates for baptism, since
they rebaptized even those who had already been initiated into the
Catholic communion. They would also have been hampered in making
new converts by the lack of an indigenous clergy; most were
missionaries sent from Italy. 10 The laxists, with their native clergy and
established network, are the more likely source of the troublesome
converts. In fact, the laxist church would have integrated the
adherents of Privatus of Lambaesis when he established the laxist
episcopal college in spring 252. Privatus had been deposed as much as

a decade earlier but apparently continued to lead a local church, in

which he would presumably have performed baptism on a regular
basis. 11 Some of the adherents of Privatus in Lambaesis may have
refused to remain in his church after he had entered into communion
with sacrificer bishops, such as Jovinus, Maximus and Repostus, and
with the congregations of sacrificers which made up the laxist church.
12
Thus the African laxist church
-101must be considered the most likely source of already baptized converts
to the Catholic communion, particularly in Numidia.
The inquiry addressed by the Numidian bishops to their Proconsular
colleagues clearly indicated that some converts were entering their
communion who had originally been baptized in schism. 13 The
operating hypothesis of this investigation, therefore, will be that the
laxist community in Africa provided the converts who initiated the
discussion of rebaptism. The earlier conflicts over the power to forgive
the sin of idolatry, moreover, made the efficacy of schismatic baptism
a more pressing issue in Africa than in Italy. This would account for
the unanimity and adamancy of the African bishops in upholding the
necessity of rebaptizing converts from schismatic churches. Although
the rigorist church actually practiced rebaptism, both in Italy and
Africa, the focus of the controversy in Africa was the laxist church. 14
Whether as a practical or theoretical issue, the question actually arose
of the ritual by which those baptized in a schismatic church were to be
received into the communion of the Catholic church: as reconciled
penitents by the imposition of hands to restore them to membership,
as baptized neophytes by the imposition of hands to confer the Holy
Spirit incorporating them into the church, or as catechumens by the
full ritual of baptism? Because the separation of the churches did not
involve differences in belief about the Christian God, it revived an older
controversy over heretical baptism within the African church, which
then grew into a major conflict involving the overseas churches.

The course of the conflict

The value of baptism administered in a competing Christian
communion had apparently been debated years earlier in Africa.
Cyprian regularly attacked the efficacy of heretical baptism by
referring to the teaching of Marcion, whose influence had peaked
during the previous century. Tertullians own judgment on heretical

baptism might have been the source of Cyprians assertion that those
who do not share the same God and Christ could not share the same
baptism. 15 Schismatic baptism, however, may have been an unsettled
question. A council of bishops from Numidia and Proconsular Africa
held when Agrippinus was bishop of Carthage established a common
policy, whose application was being called into question during
Cyprians day. 16 The council may have pronounced on the inefficacy of
heretical baptism alone or perhaps
-102of that performed in schism as well. 17 No record of the meeting itself
survived and the subsequent evidence is ambiguous. Some of
Cyprians letters asserted that Agrippinus council rejected all baptism
performed outside the church 18 but one specified that it dealt with
heretical baptism. 19 Firmilian of Caesarea in Cappadocia, to whom
Cyprian appealed for support, indicated that although his church had
always rejected the baptism given by heretics, it had been required to
reconsider that performed by the Montanists, who supported the
Trinitarian formula and faith. 20 He also implied that the African
bishops had changed their custom first on heretical and then on
schismatic baptism. 21
That a controversy over schismatic baptism arose following the laxist
and rigorist schisms also suggests that only the issue of heretical
baptism had been considered and determined at Agrippinus council. A
group of bishops in Numidia wrote to their colleagues in Proconsular
Africa in spring 254 or 255, seeking guidance about the admission of
schismatics, who shared their own faith and had originally been
baptized according to the same ritual they used. 22 In responding,
Cyprian tried to demonstrate that the two communities did not in fact
share the same faith: denying the churchs power to forgive sins was
actually heresy. 23 Even at the council in September 256, only four of
the eighty-seven sententiae mentioned schismatics, as distinct from
heretics; of these only two took note of the difference between them.
24
The status of baptism performed in schism as distinguished from
heresy, therefore, may have remained unresolved in the African
church at the time the question was raised by the Numidian bishops. 25
In the competition between Christian communions after the Decian
persecution, moreover, the practice of accepting a rebel bishops
baptism carried new implications which changed the nature of the
question itself. The dispute over the admission of those who failed
during the persecution had focused on the power of the bishop to

forgive sins and the conditions under which it might be exercised.

Cyprian had argued that the laxists had no access to such authority;
he had also defended against the rigorist charge that he and his
colleagues lacked such power. Those, and only those, bishops in
proper succession from the apostles had received the power which
Christ had handed over to them, he asserted. When the controversy
over rebaptism arose, therefore, Cyprian was astonished by his fellow
bishops failure to defend their exclusive authority to baptize and
sanctify. He insisted that baptism could be given only by a bishop who
had received the power to forgive sins.
-103To recognize a rival bishops authority to baptize was either to
legitimate his succession to office in an established church and thereby
to abandon ones own claim to that office, or to acknowledge a source
of authority to forgivesuch as the patronage of the martyrswhich
was different from Christs grant of the Holy Spirit to the apostles. By
implication, the bishop accepting a baptism performed by his rival
would surrender his churchs claim to provide the only access to
salvation, thereby contradicting the converts very motive for
abandoning the schismatic in favor of the Catholic communion. 26 The
question facing Cyprian and his colleagues, therefore, had not been
settled by Agrippinus council. A similar issue had arisen but its new
context made the earlier decree appear unrelated and therefore not
determinative.
Two stages in the development of the controversy over the rebaptism
of heretics and schismatics might be distinguished: the first involved a
clarification of the practice and the reasons for applying it; the second
brought sharp conflict over requiring or even allowing it. The first
remained largely within Africa and must have focused primarily on the
reception of laxists. The second introduced a debate over Novatian and
entailed a bitter dispute with the bishop of Rome over the power of
schismatics to perform sacred functions.
The first part of the controversy opened in spring 254 or 255, when a
synod of thirty-one Proconsular bishops received an inquiry from
eighteen of their colleagues in Numidia about the practice of admitting
converts from heresy and schism by the ritual of baptism. The
Numidians apparently affirmed their adherence to the policy of
Agrippinus council but questioned its appropriateness in their actual
circumstances. 27 The Proconsular bishops responded that those
baptized in schism should be received by a new baptism but did not

specify the communion which the converts in Numidia were leaving to

join their church. Sometime after this letter, Cyprian responded
personally to an inquiry on the same subject from Quintus, a bishop in
Mauretania. 28 Again, the schismatic group from which the converts
were arriving was unspecified in the reply but Cyprian did include a
copy of the letter which he and his colleagues had earlier sent to
Numidia. 29 Finally, in spring 256, a council of seventy-one bishops
from throughout Africa meeting in Carthage sent a letter to Stephen,
bishop of Rome, informing him of the position they had taken on two
issues arising from the schisms in Africa: the reception of converts by
rebaptism and the admission of clergy from such communions into the
Catholic
-104-

laity. 30 They included copies of the two earlier letters on the subject of rebaptism. 31
This seems to have been a routine communication, similar to the letter the Africans had
written to Cornelius three years earlier, to inform him of their decision to admit the
penitent sacrificers to communion in anticipation of renewed persecution. 32 While
recommending their own policy of rebaptizing, the Africans recognized that within the
unity of the church others followed different practices; they intended to apply no
pressure for conformity. 33 In this letter as well, no mention was made of particular
heretics or schismatics. The bishops did not anticipate the reaction which their letter
would provoke in Rome. 34
In contrast to these polite exchanges, the controversys second stage focused sharp
debate on the practice of Novatian. A letter belonging to this conflict can be securely
dated shortly after the council held in spring 256. A bishop Jubianus sent Cyprian an
extensive list of questions about the practice of rebaptizing convertswhich Novatian
was following and Cyprian was promotingas well as a copy of a letter defending the
admission of converts from heresy or schism by the imposition of hands alone. In
response, Cyprian asserted that Novatian was following the proper procedure for
defending his claim to possess the gifts of the true church; 35 he then attacked those
among his fellow bishops who refused to reject the baptism of their rivals and thus
failed to protect the powers which God had bestowed upon them. 36 Jubianus response
signaled that he had been convinced by Cyprians arguments. 37
During the summer of 256, Cyprian received Stephens startling response to the packet
of letters sent by the springtime council. Not only did Stephen insist on receiving
converts from heresy and schism by the imposition of hands alonethe policy of his
own church which, he claimed, even heretics followedbut he threatened to break
communion with any bishop who insisted on rebaptizing. 38 He insulted Cyprian
himself, moreover, and forbade the customary hospitality to the representatives of the

African episcopate. As news of Stephens action spread through Africa, Cyprian sent
his colleagues more specific information, copies of Stephens letter, and arguments
solidifying the position they had themselves taken. One of these letters, addressed to a
Bishop Pompeius, has survived; 39 a response from Bishop Firmilian of Caesarea in
Cappadocia is also found among Cyprians letters and reflects the documents which had
been sent to secure his support. 40
Cyprians exchange with Magnus, who cannot be otherwise identified, seems to belong
to this period as well. This letter focused on
-105Novatians power to baptize, though it did not mention his practice of
rebaptizing, and shared a number of arguments with the other letters
Cyprian wrote during the summer of 256. 41 Like the letter to Jubianus
and unlike the one to Pompeius, the response to Magnus gave no
evidence of open conflict with Stephen; thus it may have preceded the
news of his rejection of the African envoys. This letter must be dated
on the basis of internal evidence, whose consideration is delayed until
later in this chapter. 42
On 1 September 256, some eighty-five bishops from throughout Africa
met in Carthage to take action on what had become a dispute with
Stephen. 43 After listening to a reading of the full correspondence
between Cyprian and Jubianusthe original inquiry, Cyprians
exposition of the earlier councils position, and Jubianus agreement
they individually expressed their judgments on the status of baptism
performed outside the church. The bishops unanimously insisted on
the rebaptism of converts who originally had been baptized in heresy
or schism. 44
The conflict between the African bishops and their Roman colleague,
Stephen, seems to have remained unresolved at his death. His
successor, Sixtus, did restore cordial relations, perhaps by accepting
the plurality of practices within the unity of the one church which the
Africans had repeatedly proposed.

The opponents in the controversy over

rebaptism
The preceding division of the controversy into two stages is based in
part on the supposition that the African bishops were competing
against two different schismatic communions: the laxists and the

rigorists. The focus on baptism performed by the rigorists is made

evident in what is here interpreted as a second stage in the
controversy by the frequent references to Novatian in the two letters
of Cyprian which can be securely dated after the council in spring 256.
45
None of the three letters which deal explicitly with Novatian,
however, clearly indicated that the rigorist opponents were in Africa,
although a rigorist bishop had been sent from Rome to establish a
competing church in Carthage. 46 The question of rebaptism seems to
have originally arisen in Africa in response to the laxists.
The laxist movement had begun during the Decian persecution as a
rebellion of presbyters and deacons against the authority of their
bishops, under the patronage of confessors and martyrs. By the middle
of 252, however, a college of bishops led by Privatus of
-106Lambaesis had been established and a laxist bishop had been
consecrated for Carthage. 47 At the same time, Cyprian noted that
former members of his communion who had followed the laxists into
schism had begun to return to his communion, where they were being
received as penitents. 48 He never provided specific information,
however, on the reception or method of incorporation of converts who
had originally been baptized by a laxist bishop.
The first synodal action in the controversy over rebaptism was the
inquiry from a regional meeting of Numidian bishops to a council of
Proconsular bishops meeting in Carthage. The question raised was
whether the established policy on heretical and schismatic baptism
was appropriately applied in their controversy. 49 The letter of inquiry
itself has not survived but because the response from Cyprian and his
colleagues argued from belief in the powers of the church rather than
from faith in the identity of the Creator or Christ, it may be presumed
that the opponents in question were schismatic rather than heretical.
50
Furthermore, the inquiry seems to have been sent from Lambaesis,
the capital of Numidia: the lead bishop among those addressed in the
reply was Januarius, who can be identified as bishop of that city,
though only two of his seventeen colleagues can be confidently located
in the immediate geographic area. 51 The instigator and head of the
laxist episcopal college was Privatus of Lambaesis, Januarius deposed
predecessor and current opponent. Although the rigorist schism might
have been operative in the capital of Numidia, the laxist schism would
have been the more likely problem because it relied on indigenous

clergy. 52 Thus the first letter, which served as the foundation for the
next two, may have been directed against the laxist schismatics.
The second letter in this sequence was in response to an inquiry
addressed to Cyprian from Mauretania, though its author, Quintus,
cannot be securely identified. 53 With his reply, Cyprian sent a copy of
the response of the Proconsular bishops to their Numidian colleagues;
these two were in turn sent with the letter to Stephen from the African
council meeting in spring 256. That synodal letter dealt with both
baptism outside the church and the reception of schismatic clerics as
laymen. The renegade clergy were charged with having turned against
the church the very arms with which it had originally equipped them.
In an African context, such an accusation fits the laxists, whose
extensive clergy were drawn from among the African Christians, rather
than the rigorists, whose officers were sent over from Italy. 54 Thus
the circumstances indicate that the initial problem may have been with
the African laxist church.
-107The two letters composed for the African councils and Cyprians
intervening letter to Quintus share several internal characteristics
which also indicate that they were directed against the laxists in Africa.
First, Novatians rebellion against Cornelius and his being ordained out
of succession were never mentioned as an impediment to the opposing
communions power to baptize. 55 Second, the Apostle Peter was
regularly used as a foundation for the unity of the local church, as he
had been in the original version of On Unity and in subsequent
correspondence. 56 The careful balance of Peter and the other apostles
which characterized the revision of On Unity is found, however, in the
letters which belong to the second stage of the controversy. 57 Third,
each of the three early letters described the opposing bishops as sinful
or unclean: their foul washing and sinful anointing polluted and stained
those whom they baptized and sealed. 58 Such accusations would have
been more appropriately directed against the laxist bishops, many of
whom had been accused of idolatry during the persecution, 59 than
against the Novatianists, who maintained the freedom of their
communion from idolatry. 60 Fourth, the followers of these unholy
bishops were treated as deceived and defrauded victims, who had
been led astray in their sincere quest for God. 61 This fits the laxists
better than the adherents of Novatian who, in contrast, were later
characterized as active rebels who fully deserved the damnation they
would consequently suffer. 62 Finally, these three letters all ignored the
actual practice of the opposing party, an issue prominent in those

letters which dealt explicitly with Novatians rebellion against Cornelius

and his practice of rebaptizing. None of the letters assigned to this first
phase of the controversy indicated that the unnamed opponents were
rebaptizing anyone coming to them from the Catholic church. 63 If
these two synodal letters and one private letter were concerned with
the laxists, then the omission of any reference to opposing practice
could be explained in a number of ways. As has been suggested
above, the converts in question might have been those baptized by
Privatus during the decade-long schism following his deposition from
office in Lambaesis. Second, the laxists themselves might not have
won additional converts after the initial success following the
persecution, since Catholic losses had apparently been stemmed by
admitting the certified and promising eventual reconciliation to the
penitent sacrificers, as well as the subsequent granting of peace to all
penitents. Third, if the laxists were not rebaptizing converts from the
Catholic communion because they did not consider the Catholics
whose communion they had sought at two consecutive
-108-

councilsheretics, they might have been following the letter of the decree of
Agrippinus council. They might have been receiving these convertsmany of them
lapsedby the imposition of hands characteristic of the rite of reconciliation and thus
did not directly challenge the efficacy of baptism given by Cyprians colleagues. 64
Only converts from polytheism would have been baptized in the laxist schism. Such
new Christians would have given rise to the question of the Numidian bishops: 65
should they also recognize the baptism given by schismatic bishopsall former
colleagueswho recognized their own.
On the basis of this constellation of indicatorsno one of them probative in isolation
the first phase of the controversy over rebaptism will be interpreted as a conflict over
the proper mode of receiving converts from the dominant opposition group in Africa,
the laxists. This phase began in 254 or 255, with the letter of the Numidian bishops to
their Proconsular colleagues, and ended with the report to Stephen by the council held
in Carthage in spring 256.
Almost immediately after the synod of spring 256, however, Cyprian and his colleagues
were faced with a barrage of questions about Novatian and the crisis of Stephens
reaction in Rome. These defined the second stage of the controversy. Three of the four
letters belonging to this phase are securely dated. Bishop Jubianus wrote to Cyprian
with some observations of his own and included another letter 66 which defended the
practice of admitting heretics and schismatics without rebaptism. Cyprians reply must
have been sent shortly after the spring 256 meeting of African bishops in Carthage. 67

The letter Cyprian sent to Magnus is usually assigned to the first phase of the
controversy but belongs more properly in the period after the synod but before the
receipt of Stephens reply to its communication. Once Stephens response to the
conciliar decision had been received, Cyprian prepared a full refutation of his
arguments. Cyprians letter to Pompeius, itself part of this effort, can be dated to the
summer of that same year. 68 Firmilian of Caesarea in Cappadocia responded to a letter
Cyprian had sent by the deacon Rogatianus. Cyprians letter was sent after Stephens
rebuke but before the African bishops meeting in September 256, though Firmilians
reply must have arrived in Carthage later, perhaps just before the end of the shipping
season in 256. 69
Jubianus suggested and Stephen charged that Cyprian and his colleagues were
following Novatians innovative practice of rebaptizing schismatics rather than the
established tradition of both the
-109-

church and most heretics: receiving baptized converts by the imposition of hands. 70
Cyprian returned the compliment, charging that his opponents were themselves siding
with heretics by defending the efficacy of their faith and rituals. 71 More significantly,
he elaborated the argument which had been developing in the African context: no
salvific action may be performed outside the church. He culled the scriptures for
passages which would justify a firm and high wall dividing insiders from outsiders, a
boundary enclosing the efficacious rituals within the one church.
Cyprians response to the inquiry of Magnus dealt explicitly with Novatian. 72 Although
the letter to Cyprian and his response cannot be securely dated nor can Magnus be
identified and located on the basis of references to or from other letters, the
preponderance of evidence indicates that this exchange belonged to the second phase of
the controversy. 73 First, Cyprian did not include this letter with the other letters which
he sent to Quintus, Stephen and Jubianus. The letter to Magnus does, however, seem to
have been forwarded to Firmilian in late summer 256; but the letters to the Numidian
bishops and Quintus, which are assigned to the first phase of the controversy, do not
seem to have been included. 74 Thus Cyprian grouped this letter with others of the
second phase of the controversy. Second, unlike his letters to Jubianus and Pompeius,
this letter to Magnus did not mention the Novatianist practice of rebaptizing. 75 Third,
like his letter to Jubianus, Cyprians reply to Magnus carried none of the personal
animosity sparked by Stephens response to the African council, which was markedly
evident in the correspondence with Pompeius and Firmilian. Thus this letter might be
dated after the synod of spring 256 but before Cyprian received either the letter from
Jubianus in support of Novatian or Stephens reply to the synodal letter of spring 256.
The dating is complex and important enough, however, to merit fuller investigation.
Internal evidence also seems to place the composition of the letter to Magnus in the

summer of 256. The arguments Cyprian used in it are characteristic of the second stage
of the controversy. The images and biblical precedents which he marshaled to convince
Magnus that those outside the unity of the church cannot share its power to sanctify
closely parallel those used in the letters to Jubianus and Pompeius but differ from those
employed in the letters sent to Numidia, Quintus and Stephen, which can be dated
earlier. First, figures and images which sharply differentiate the boundary of the church
and exclude those outside from its gifts are
-110common to these later letters but absent in the earlier ones: the
enclosed garden, the bride, the sealed fountain, the well of living
water, 76 and the ark of Noah riding above the flood. 77 Second, the
characterization of the church as the bride washed and cleansed by
Christ is found only in the letters to Magnus and Pompeius. 78 Third, in
addressing Magnus, Cyprian used the rebellion of Core, Dathan and
Abiron against Aaron to show that their sharing true faith did not make
the rebels sacrifice efficacious; in writing to Jubianus, he cited this
incident to defend the divine establishment of priests. 79 Fourth, the
text of Jn. 20.22-3 was employed to connect the gift of the Holy Spirit
and the power to forgive sins first to one another and then to the
apostles and their legitimate successors. This argument appeared in
the letters to Magnus and Jubianus, and in Cyprians revision of On
Unity, which was itself tied to the conflict with Stephen. 80 Fifth, the
letter to Magnus used the inspiration of John the Baptist in his
mothers womb to demonstrate that only those who have received the
Holy Spirit can baptize; the letter to Jubianus noted the inspiration but
argued that Johns baptism still had to be repeated by the apostles
because it had been conferred outside the unity of the church. 81 Sixth,
the letters to Magnus and Jubianus both judged the supporters of
Novatian deserving of their impending condemnation by Christ while
the letters belonging to the first phase of the controversy treated the
adherents of the unnamed schismatic church as innocent victims who
had been deceived and defrauded by false clerics. 82
The letter to Magnus alone addressed a question which might have
been relevant to the controversy in Rome rather than the problems in
Africa: the efficacy of a baptism performed for the gravely ill by
pouring water rather than immersion and unaccompanied by the
episcopal sealing. 83 In his letter to Fabius of Antioch, Cornelius had
charged that Novatian had not been properly received into the church
because he had been baptized on his sickbed by pouring and never
anointed by the bishop. 84 In his letter to Cyprian, however, Magnus
drew a parallel between reception of schismatics by the imposition of

hands and the established two-step reception of the sick by deaconal

or presbyteral baptism and later episcopal sealing. The bishops, he
apparently argued, could therefore recognize schismatic baptism
without compromising their proper role in the ritual: they alone could
complete the ritual initiated by their own assistants or even by a
schismatic. Cyprian, however, would allow no parallel between the
efficacy of baptism performed within the church by a deacon or
presbyter and the ritual performed outside by
-111a pretender bishop. Even prior to the episcopal sealing, he insisted, the entire divine gift
was conferred by baptism within the church, regardless of the rank of the minister. 85
This argument was not fully compatible with his response to Jubianus, however, where
Cyprian allowed the standard distinction between the forgiveness of sins in baptism and
the subsequent conferring of the Holy Spirit by the bishops sealing. 86 Cyprian, of
course, might not have perceived a conflict in the two positions because the presbyter
or deacon acting within the church could not be compared to the schismatic bishop
acting outside it. 87
Thus in outlook and argument, the letters to Magnus, Jubianus and Pompeius appear
closely related to one another. The letter to Jubianus, in particular, repeated and revised
many of the arguments used in the response to Magnus, which might have been the first
in this series. Even in their variations, however, all three were clearly distinct from the
two conciliar letters and Cyprians reply to Quintus which have been firmly dated in the
first stage of the controversy. 88 As has been indicated in passing, these letters were also
closely related to the revision of On Unity. They will, therefore, be treated as a group
dealing with the Novatianist problem which became the focus of the second phase of
the rebaptism controversy, during the summer and fall of 256. 89 Firmilians letter of
response to Cyprian can also be used as a mirror of the arguments which were made in
the documents sent to him, so closely does it appear to have followed points which are
found in Cyprians surviving letters. The discussion shall proceed, therefore, on the
working hypothesis that the first three letters 90 dealt with the reception of laxists
schismatics and the other four letters 91 focused on the rigorists through the lens of
African experience with the laxists.

The initial stage of the controversy

During the part of the controversy which is represented by the post-Easter councils of
254 or 255 and that of 256, as well as by Cyprians letter to Quintus, the defining issue
was the appropriateness of applying the African policy of rebaptism to converts from
schism, as distinct from heresy. Unlike heretics who dissented from true doctrine, the
questioners observed, schismatics shared the ritual and profession of faith through
which the one Christian baptism was performed. 92 Cyprian and his colleagues,
however, focused not on the similarity of doctrine and ceremony but on the exclusive

unity of the church. They asserted that the one baptism

-112-

could be found only within the one church and concluded that those who opposed that
unity were separated from its unicity and could share none of its powers. The
arguments offered in these three letters interpreted the baptismal question as an
extension of the original controversy over the readmission of the lapsed into the
communion of the church. In both cases, the bishops denied the power to forgive sins to
their opponents and asserted the efficacy of their own rituals of purification.
One set of arguments pointed to the inseparable link between the Spirit, the unique
church, and the one baptism. The church, Cyprian recalled from the first versions of On
Unity, was built by Christ upon each local bishop, represented by Peter. Those who
separated from their bishops communion thereby lost all the endowments which Christ
bestowed upon the church. 93 Cyprian insisted, moreover, that in rebelling against the
church, the leaders of the schism had made themselves enemies of Christ and thus
incapable of acting for him. 94 As dead men, they could give no life to others; 95
polluted by their crime of dividing the church, they could perform no sacred functions.
96
The same point was made by citing the baptismal interrogation, in which the
candidate was asked to affirm that everlasting life and the forgiveness of sins came
through the holy church: to grant the efficacy of baptism to schismatics would be to
concede the church itself to them. 97 The Catholic bishops, Cyprian concluded, must
themselves uphold and defend the unity of the church in practice by rejecting the
pretensions of the schismatics and offering the one Christian baptism to converts from
competing communions. 98
A second set of arguments focused on the ritual of baptism itself. How could a bishop
who was himself loaded with sins and deprived of the Holy Spirit sanctify the waters of
baptism; how celebrate the sacrifice through which the oil of anointing was hallowed;
how offer the solemn prayer for the neophytes; how confer the Holy Spirit? 99 Because
the gift of the Holy Spirit was essential for any sanctifying action, the ritual of baptism
could not be divided into parts, some of which even the schismatics might effect while
others were beyond their power. A minister could effect all or nothing. Thus the
African bishops reasoned that if the imposition of hands must be repeated by a Catholic
bishop in order to confer the Holy Spirit upon a convert baptized and sealed in schism,
then the water baptism itself must also be performed again for the forgiveness of sins.
100
Peter himself, the bishops observed in writing to Stephen, demonstrated the
inseparability of the two stages of baptism: even
-113-

though Cornelius and his friends had clearly received the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit, Peter still ordered that they be baptized in water. 101
Cyprian and his colleagues did, of course, recognize that schismatics
who had been baptized originally in the true church could be received
back into it like other penitents, by the imposition of hands alone and
without the repetition of baptism. Only those truly baptized, however,
could be received as penitents. Hence, in receiving schismatic converts
by the imposition of hands alone, a Catholic bishop would actually be
performing the second half of the initiation ritual rather than
reconciling a penitent, and thus would be recognizing the efficacy of
schismatic baptism. 102 Such practice, Cyprian then concluded, was
inconsistent with both the documented practice of the apostles and a
sound understanding of the operation of the Spirit. 103
As they had during the conflict over the purification of idolaters,
Cyprian and his colleagues evinced that strong sense of ritual efficacy
which characterizes tightly bounded communities. They insisted that
the baptism and anointing performed in schism were not empty and
meaningless rituals but actually had harmful effects on their recipients.
The baptismal water and oil of anointing had become polluted by
contact with the sinful ministers; they then soiled those to whom they
were applied. Through the ritual, converts to schismatic Christianity
contracted the sin of the ministers, even though they might have
unwittingly wandered in their quest for salvation and been deceived by
the schismatic clergy. 104
Throughout this part of the debate, the ire of the Catholic bishops was
directed against the leaders of the opposing communions, whom they
characterized as having been adversaries of Christ even before they
had gone forth in schism. 105 In contrast, the bishops remained
sympathetic and welcoming to the followers of the rebels and to those
whom they subsequently led astray. 106 Though these unfortunates
would be deprived of salvation by dying outside the true church, Christ
would require an account for their souls from the authors of their
perdition. 107
In this first stage of the controversy over rebaptism, then, the
arguments were focused on the unity and unicity of the church and on
the exclusiveness of its bishops power to forgive and sanctify through
the rituals of baptism and the eucharist. In the second part of the
conflict, new arguments were introduced by the Catholic opponents of
rebaptism which questioned this close connection between the church
and the power of Christian rituals.

-114-

The second stage of the controversy

After the council of African bishops in spring 256 had affirmed a common policy on
the reception of converts baptized outside the church and clerics who returned from
schism, Cyprian received a series of pointed inquiries objecting to the baptismal policy.
Two of these, from Magnus and Jubianus, were apparently answered before the Roman
bishop rejected the decisions made by his African colleagues. A third letter was sent
later in the summer to Pompeius. Unlike the two earlier letters of the councils and that
of Cyprian himself to Quintus, these three letters specified Novatian as the cause of
concern and discussed his baptismal practice in detail. Cyprians responses were
initially gracious but became increasingly impatient as he faced the arguments
advanced for the salvific efficacy of Christian rituals performed in opposition to the
church of Christ, in rebellion against its bishops. The letter to Magnus, as has been
seen, appears to be the earliest of the three and thus will be considered first; then the
letters to Jubianus and Pompeius will be reviewed together. Finally, the views of
Cyprian which were reflected in the letter of Firmilian of Caesarea in Cappadocia will
be considered.

The letter to Magnus

Cyprians response to Magnus shared the perspectives and many of the arguments of
the conciliar letters; it regularly elaborated their themes, however, and introduced new
considerations. The first set of reasons which Cyprian offered for the inefficacy of the
rivals baptism was its being performed outside and in opposition to the church. The
texts of Lk. 11.23 and 1 Jn. 2.18-19 which were used in the first conciliar letter to brand
the schismatics as enemies and antichrists were here joined by that of Mt. 18.17, in
which the community was instructed to treat those who refused to heed its warning as
heathen. 108 Cyprian next introduced an array of related images which portrayed the
church as the bride of Christ, a beloved only daughter, an enclosed garden, a sealed
fountain, a well of living water, the ark of Noah riding above the flood. All showed that
the churchs treasures were fully protected from the outsider, who could not share them.
109
Finally, the unity of the church was compared to the house in which the passover
meal was eaten and the home of Rahab in Jericho where her family found refuge: those
who voluntarily deserted its safety were personally responsible for their own
destruction. 110
-115-

From these images of its separateness and exclusivity, Cyprian moved to the cosmic
foundation of the unity of the church, in the harmony of wills shared by Christ and the

Father. In discord from the unanimity of the church, a person could be neither a shepherd
nor a member of the one flock. 111 The unity of many grains and grapes in the one loaf
and cup of the eucharist also expressed the cohesiveness of the flock of Christ. Because
Novatian rebelled against the ordinance of the gospel and the tradition coming from the
apostles, he and his supporters could not share the effects of the churchs one and only
baptism; 112 instead, they would share the fate of the heathen. 113
As in the earlier letters, the discussion of the unity of the church led Cyprian to the
examination of the ritual of baptism itself. In response to Magnus observation that
Novatian used the same ritual and profession of faith as the Catholic bishops, Cyprian
focused on the link between the church, the Holy Spirit and the efficacy of the rituals.
Modifying an earlier argument, Cyprian asserted that Novatian, who had abandoned the
unity of the church, should omit that section of the baptismal interrogation in which the
candidate was asked to confess that sins were forgiven only through the holy church. 114
Nor, he observed, had sharing belief in the one God turned the divine wrath aside from
those Israelites who rebelled against the authority of Aaron. 115 Even the ritual of
imposing hands, which Magnus proposed for the reception of schismatics, demonstrated
to Cyprian that no one could receive or confer the Holy Spirit outside the church. 116 Yet
Christ clearly indicated that only those who shared the Holy Spirit could exercise the
power of forgiving sins and could thus perform baptism. 117 The text of Jn. 20.22-3, 118
which was here employed, would play a prominent role in the revision of On Unity,
where it demonstrated the equality of all the bishops who received their common power
directly from Christ. In the letter to Magnus, the text confirmed the link between the
possession of the Spirit and the power to purify from sin through baptism. 119 Finally,
Cyprian observed that even John the Baptist had received the Holy Spirit in his mothers
womb, thereby demonstrating that only those who shared the gift of the Holy Spirit could
baptize. 120
Nor could the efficacy of the ritual be partitioned, Cyprian argued, in response to
Magnus suggestion of a parallel between schismatic baptism and that performed by a
deacon or presbyter for the sick, when the bishop did not immediately add the anointing
and sealing. The implication would have been that the schismatic
-116-

baptism might have a lesser though real effect which was

subsequently completed by the imposition of a true bishops hands.
Cyprian insisted that the washing ritual alone had a full salvific effect
when performed within the unity of the church. 121 He admonished
Magnus not to belittle the baptism of the church in a vain attempt to
assign some value to the rituals of schismatics. 122
Since Magnus had focused attention on Novatian, Cyprian moved
beyond his earlier arguments based on the unity of the church and the
structure of its baptismal ritual to attack the attempted usurpation of

the episcopate. In violating the procedure established by Christ for

selecting bishops, he asserted, Novatian had made himself not only an
outsider to the unity of the church but an object of divine wrath. When
the ten tribes rebelled against the Davidic kingship, God had destroyed
the northern kingdom which they set up. Even the prophet sent to
warn the rebels was killed by a lion on the return journey because he
disobeyed the prohibition of eating or drinking with schismatics.
During his own ministry to Israel, Christ forbade his disciples to preach
to or help the Samaritans who continued that division of Israels
worship. 123 Even within a community of faith, Cyprian observed, those
who challenged the priesthood of Aaronalong with all their
followerswere immediately destroyed by God and their ritual
instruments were ordered to be set up as a warning to future
generations. 124 Cyprian professed amazement that any of his
colleagues could defend Novatians right to share their efficacious
rituals. 125
In many of these arguments, it will have been noted, Cyprian assumed
a more severe stance toward the followers of Novatian than he had
taken toward the adherents of that schism treated in the earlier
letters. Those who left the sanctuary established by God in the unity of
the church were responsible for their own destruction, he asserted,
since unlike the lapsed, they were not cast out by the bishops but had
departed of their own accord. 126 Even the supporters of those who
challenged Aarons office were ordered to be shunned by Israel and
summarily punished by God. 127 Thus Cyprian concluded that all who
intentionally joined themselves to the Novatianists had been defiled by
their sin and would justly share their fate. 128 In the earlier letters, it
will be recalled, the schismatic laity had been regarded as
unintentionally stained by impure rituals. All these rigorist schismatics,
in contrast, were fully responsible, since they deliberately participated
in the sin of their leaders. 129
In tone and argument, Cyprians letter to Magnus seems to
-117belong to the intense conflict which arose in the summer of 256, a
conflict clearly focused on the Novatianist schism. As such, it serves to
distinguish the earlier stage of the controversy, which was apparently
confined to the laxists in Africa. Close examination of the two letters
which can be more firmly dated during this later period will confirm
this hypothesis.

The letters to jubianus and Pompeius

The letter of Jubianus to Cyprian and the unidentified letter he sent
along introduced new theological elements into the controversy and, in
particular, appeal to the efficacy of both the divine name and the faith
of the person baptized. The letter to Pompeius indicated that the
bishop of Rome had strongly defended an apostolic tradition of
accepting the baptism performed by heretics. Cyprian responded to
these theological and historical arguments by appeals to scripture and
practice but he regularly returned to what had always been, for him,
the defining issue in the debatethe exclusive unity of the church and
the boundary effectively dividing insiders from outsiders.
In response to the claim that baptism could be effective because of its
invocation of the name of Jesus, Cyprian cited instances in which
Christ himself warned that calling on his name might be inefficacious
or even deceitful; he added other texts in which Christ required
recognition of the Father and baptism in the name of the Trinity. 130 He
then observed that the name of Jesus could not win the forgiveness of
sins outside the unity of the church. 131 Would Christ, after threatening
to deny anyone who denied him, then support someone who had
denied his Father instead? Or, Cyprian added, the church, the very
mother claimed by the false Christian? 132
To the argument that the faith of the recipient of baptism won the
forgiveness of sins, independently of the heretical beliefs of the
minister, Cyprian replied that the appeal to saving belief proved too
much. If the recipients faith could win the forgiveness of sins, it would
also earn the gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet even the objector required that
such a convert receive the imposition of hands for the giving of the
Holy Spirit. 133 Returning to familiar ground, he argued that not even
martyrdom, the most perfect of baptisms and professions of faith,
could save when it was suffered in opposition to the unity of the
church. 134
A third set of objections appealed to a tradition deriving from
-118the apostles themselves which recognized the efficacy of baptism,
even when performed in heresy or schism. Had not the same apostles
clearly handed down the teaching of a single church and one baptism
within that church, Cyprian asked. 135 His own analysis, moreover,
showed that apostolic practice supported the exclusive unity of the

church. Certainly Paul recognized the preaching of envious brothers,

but within the church. 136 Peter and John received the Samaritans by
the imposition of hands alone but they had been baptized by Philip
within the church. 137 Paul, in contrast, rebaptized the disciples of John
the Baptist, even though he had been filled with the spirit (of Elijah),
because Johns baptism was performed outside the unity of the
church. 138 Thus Cyprian met Stephens appeal to an apostolic tradition
maintained in the Roman Church by demonstrating that according to
the clear evidence of scripture, the apostles had always defended the
unity of the church and its exclusive claim to both the Holy Spirit and
baptism. The objectors, he asserted, were preferring human custom to
divine law. 139
A fourth group of arguments was based upon established practices of
the church. In insisting on rebaptism, Jubianus implied, the Africans
were following an innovation introduced by Novatian. Cyprian retorted
that Novatian was absolutely right in principle: because he recognized
that the one baptism could be held and conferred only by the one
church, he claimed both of them for himself alone by refusing to
recognize the baptism given by bishops outside his communion.
Novatian was inconsistent, Cyprian wryly observed, only in failing to
rebaptize himself and all who joined him in founding his church. 140
Thus Cyprian reversed the charge: because some Catholic bishops
could not grasp a principle obvious to Novatian, they ignored their own
identifying boundaries and allowed the treasures of the church to be
carried off by renegades. 141 Cyprian found this same failure to
appreciate the unity of the church evident in other objections raised
against the practice of rebaptism. A catechumen who died a martyr
before formal baptism not only achieved the more perfect baptism, he
explained, but owed its efficacy to confessing Christ within the unity of
the church. Even the communicants who might be admitted by erring
bishops through the imposition of hands but without rebaptism could
be saved through the divine mercy, because they belonged to the
unity of the church. 142
Although new arguments, specific to the practice of Novatian and the
traditions of the church, had been introduced by his
-119correspondents, Cyprian continued to define the status of heretics and
schismatics primarily if not exclusively on the basis of their relation to
the unity of the church and the authority of its bishops. He repeated
and augmented the images by which he had earlier asserted and

illustrated the significance of the containing boundary of the church:

its waters could not flow outside of paradise; the water from the belly
of Christ was given only in the church founded on Peter; the church
was like an enclosed garden with a sealed fountain or like the ark of
Noah. l43 How, he demanded, could a person be born a child of God
apart from the one bride whom Christ washed and sanctified; how
could one who had not yet been born of God be sanctified by the
imposition of hands; how could the offspring of an adulteress or
prostitute be acknowledged by the Father? 144 Could the Holy Spirit be
divided and parceled out between two opposed and conflicting
communities, so that baptism might be performed in both? 145 The
issue, he insisted, would be easily settled by defining and defending
the boundaries which separated insiders from outsiders. 146
Cyprian also appealed to the differentiation of roles within the one
church, specifically the divinely established procedures for selecting
and empowering its ministers. The power of forgiveness had been
given first to Peter and then to the other disciples; thus only their
legitimate successors within the unity of the church received the power
to baptize and forgive sins. Gods annihilating those who usurped the
authority and power conferred upon Aaron clearly demonstrated that
no one attacking the divine ordinances could exercise the churchs
power or escape the divine wrath. 147
Over the summer of 256, as this review indicates, Cyprian became
increasingly impatient with bishops who did not share the African
understanding of the church and its powers. After repeatedly
attempting to explain and demonstrate the basis for this position, he
began to denounce his opponents. As he charged heretics and
schismatics with practicing fraud and deceit by offering a baptism
which polluted rather than cleansed, with preventing rather than
conferring the grace of faith, 148 so he warned his Catholic colleagues
that they were contributing to that deception. Converts to the true
church knew that the baptism they had earlier received in schism was
empty and vain. When they came seeking the gifts of the true church,
however, some bishops denied them. 149 By refusing to rebaptize these
converts, moreover, the Catholic bishops sent a false signal to those
remaining in schism: that the schismatics possessed and conferred
true baptism, and
-120thereby forgiveness of sins and the other saving blessings of the
church. Reviving an argument he had originally directed against the

laxist clergy after the persecution, Cyprian charged them with making
the schismatics complacent in their error and thereby cruelly
preventing their salvation. Receiving schismatics by baptism rather
than the imposition of hands alone was, Cyprian urged, the only
responsible course of action. 150
Finally, Cyprian had become exasperated at the objections raised by
his correspondents who were obstinately defending erroneous custom
even after the Holy Spirit had made the truth clear. 151 Indeed, he
suggested that the defenders of the efficacy of heretical and
schismatic baptism were participating in the evil of their clients by
dismissing their blasphemy against the Father and Holy Spirit as
harmless, as well as by sharing communion with sinners whom they
refused to cleanse in the waters of baptism. 152 Not only had such
bishops failed to protect the gifts which had been bestowed on the
church by God, 153 they now threatened to split the unity of the
episcopal college by quarreling with their fellow bishops in order to
defend heretics. 154 Although Cyprian ended by granting each bishop
freedom to follow the direction he considered best, 155 the rhetoric of
these letters clearly marked out the one path of sanity and sanctity.

The letter from Firmilian of Caesarea

The letter which Firmilian addressed to Cyprian certainly reflected the
viewpoint of the dossier of letters which had been sent to him and the
additional information which the courier, the deacon Rogatianus, was
able to provide. 156 Although Firmilian professed that he was adopting
Cyprians reasoning and even his words, he also indicated his intention
to add his own thoughts. 157 In a few areas, Firmilians arguments
were more elaborate than they appeared in Cyprians surviving
correspondence. In recalling the image of the ark of Noah, for
example, he observed that everyone outside the ark had been
drowned, specifying the fate of the schismatics which Cyprian had
implied. 158 Additional scriptural citations supported Cyprians thesis
that the church was the only bride of Christ and sole mother of the
children of God. 159 Schismatics admitted to the communion without
the prior cleansing of baptism, he warned, were placed in grave
danger by coming into contact with the body of Christ. 160
Firmilian provided information about the policy of the church in
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Cappadocia which paralleled and confirmed the position adopted by

the African bishops. In particular, he attacked Stephens assertion that
apostolic tradition required all bishops to accept baptism performed by
heretics. He insisted that such practice could hardly be traced back to
the founding of the church, because heresy had arisen only after the
establishment of true faith by the apostles. 161 The Romans had not
always preserved customs accurately, he observed, as instanced by
their deviation from the authentic practice of the earliest Christian
churchthe one in Jerusalemon the proper date of the Easter
observance. 162 Having thus prepared the ground, Firmilian asserted
that the Cappadocian church had always followed the practice of
rebaptizing converts from heresy. When the policy was questioned
because of the activities of Montanus, an episcopal council had
confirmed the original practice even in the case of schism. He
congratulated the African church for giving up the erroneous custom of
accepting converts by the imposition of hands and embracing the truth
once it had been recognized. The Cappadocians, he boasted, had
always united truth and custom. 163 Firmilian also attacked the appeal
to the similarity of the schismatic to the Catholic ritual by citing an
instance in which a woman who turned out to be possessed by a
demon had baptized and offered the eucharist in the customary
manner but with a different effect. 164
Firmilian did not, however, share Cyprians appreciation of the salvific
efficacy of participation in the unity of the church. In response to the
objection that in the past heretics and schismatics had been admitted
to the communion without baptism, Firmilian suggested as a parallel
the case of a catechumen who died before receiving baptism. 165 Both
the convert and the catechumen received some unspecified but real
advantage by abandoning idolatry or heresy to accept the true faith
but neither qualified for the fullness of grace and the remission of sins.
166
Unlike Firmilian, Cyprian had steadfastly refused to divide the
efficacy of divine grace, so that a person might receive only a partial
measure. 167 The implications of his distinction were clarified,
moreover, when Firmilian warned that on the day of judgment Christ
would hold bishops responsible for the deaths of the converts from
heresy and schism from whom they had withheld the waters of life. 168
Cyprian, in contrast, believed that the divine mercy could reach those
who shared the unity of the church even though they had not been
properly baptized, and consequently, he allowed each bishop to follow
the procedure he considered best in admitting converts to communion.
169
Relying on the indivisibility of the divine grace, he could
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trust in the efficacy of the eucharist to supply for the inadequacies of baptismal
initiation.
Firmilians response to Cyprian affirmed the African policy and the reasons which had
been advanced to justify it. Even in supporting the practice of rebaptizing, however,
Firmilian showed that the Africans had drawn out the implications of the unity and
exclusivity of the church in ways which the Cappadocians had not yet grasped. The
laxist schism had shaped the thinking of the African bishops.

The climactic council

On 1 September 256, bishops from the provinces of Proconsular Africa, Numidia and
Mauretania, along with a number of priests and deacons and a great number of the laity,
gathered in extraordinary session in Carthage to meet the challenge of Stephens
rejection of the decision made by the council of the previous spring. The
correspondence between Jubianus and Cyprian was read out as an introduction to the
expression of judgments: the original inquiry, Cyprians response, and Jubianus
consent to the reply. Each of the bishops was then asked to give his opinion in the
matter. The secretary recorded eighty-five voices, one of which carried proxies for two
colleagues. All asserted that the baptism performed outside the church was not to be
accepted; converts were all to be baptized upon first entrance into the Catholic
communion.
Some of the arguments which Cyprian had been making were clearly reflected in the
opinions of his colleagues. Twenty-four of the sententiae explicitly affirmed that there
was only one baptism and that could be performed only within the one church. 170 Six
made the point that to approve the baptism performed by the opponents was to make
their own ritual vain and empty. 171 Individual bishops picked up variations of this
theme: those who do not have the Father, Son and Spirit could not have the church or
baptism; 172 forgiveness of sins could not be given outside the church. 173 A significant
minority of the bishops affirmed the hard line that Cyprian himself had inserted into the
debate, asserting that to admit the converts without baptizing them was actually to
communicate in their sin. 174 Three went so far as to imply that if the converts were not
baptized upon entrance into the true church, they would not be saved. 175
The listing of episcopal judgments in the acta of the meeting indicated that the primary
issues in the controversy were those
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which the two earlier councils and Cyprian himself had put first. The ritual of baptism
could be effectively performed only by the power of the Holy Spirit within the unity of
the one church. The term church was used to encompass a set of local gatherings of

the faithful, each of whose bishops brought it into union with the others. Any local
communion which stood outside or in opposition to one of those local gatherings was
not a church or part of the larger church. Thus the boundary between the church and the
nonchurch was very carefully and definitely drawn. To grant to any opposed gathering
the status of church, with its power to act in the name and authority of God, would have
been to deprive oneself and ones whole communion of that status. For the African
bishops, this was a matter not of discipline or custom but of foundational belief: those
who divided from them were heretics, whose faith did not save. 176 The church itself
had become part of the dogma of the African Christians.

Opposition within Africa

The treatise On Rebaptism, whose authorship and exact dating cannot be precisely
established, was apparently written as part of a continuing controversy within the
African church. It argued against the position which had been advanced by Cyprian and
supported by his colleagues but does not appear to know their correspondence on the
subject which has survived. 177 In many ways, however, it relied on principles and a
perspective which were remarkably similar to those the African bishops had offered for
the practice it challenged. Citing scripture to buttress its assertion of the efficacy of the
ritual, the treatise argued that the name of Jesus produced results which were
independent of the individuals and communities by whom it was invoked. The enemies
of Jesus, according to Mt. 7.22-3 178 and 24.23-4, 179 could perform miracles and
control demons by calling upon his name, even though they would thereby neither gain
nor confer salvation. 180 Thence the author inferred that even Christs opponents could
baptize with water in his name. He then reasoned that by repeating the invocation in a
repetition of that baptism, the church would dishonor Jesus and the power of his name.
181
The treatise did not succeed in specifying the effect which water baptism alone
might have outside the unity of the church, though it insisted that it either helped or
hindered, depending on the persons subsequent action. 182
Since the effect of water baptism, at least when performed
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outside the church, remained unspecified, this author assigned the heavenly efficacy of
the churchs ritual of initiation to baptism in the Holy Spirit, which was usually given by
the imposition of episcopal hands within the church. 183 Again citing scriptural
precedent, the author argued that this spirit baptism had the power to forgive sins and
bring a person to salvation. 184 Thus the normal ritual of initiation included both water
and spirit baptism, in a two-stage ceremony. Within the unity of the church, water
baptism alone might be salvificas regularly occurred in the emergency baptism of the
dying by lower clergybecause Christ himself would substitute for the bishop by
conferring the Holy Spirit upon the departed. 185 If the newly baptized recovered, the
bishop would confer the saving baptism of the Spirit. 186 Water baptism conferred

outside the church, however, must be completed through the imposition of the bishops
hands upon reception into the true church. 187 If the heretic or schismatic did not join the
church before death, Christ would refuse to supplement the water baptism by conferring
the Spirit himself; the outsider would be condemned as an enemy. The schismatic was
condemned as an evil doer; the heretic for refusing to seek Christ himself, being satisfied
with the name alone. 188
On Rebaptism partially shared Cyprians understanding of the cosmic significance of the
boundary separating the true church from false Christians. Salvation was limited to the
unity of the church: the saving spirit baptism could be received only by those within the
church, either from the bishop or from Christ. Outside the true church, heretics and
schismatics could neither confer nor receive the Holy Spirit. 189 Even within the church,
only the bishop could give the baptism of the Spirit. 190 In order to assign some efficacy
to water baptism performed outside the church, however, the treatise had to postulate a
heavenly supplement performed for those who died within the church after water baptism
but before receiving the imposition of episcopal hands. By implication, this requirement
would have undercut the efficacy of the water baptism performed within the church,
removing its power to forgive and sanctify, to carry the recipient across the cosmic
boundary between heaven and hell. 191 What Cyprian, his colleagues, and their
congregations celebrated as the ritual of crossing both a social and cosmic boundary
became a preparatory ceremony, a step toward the saving ritual of spirit baptism through
the imposition of hands. Tertullian had proposed such a distinction between the two parts
of the ritual. 192 The second, saving ritual, however, might even be performed in
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heaven by Christ. Thus On Rebaptism accepted the communion of the

church as a necessary condition rather than a cause of salvation.
The difference between the estimation of the heavenly significance of
the church in On Rebaptism and that of Cyprian was also evident in its
consideration of the status of heretics. Like the first bishops who wrote
to Cyprian about the problem of schism, the treatise focused Christian
dogma on the Creator and the Christ. 193 Cyprian and his colleagues, it
will be recalled, agreed that the schismatics were actually heretics not
because they dissented on the identity of the Creator or the status of
Christ but because they did not profess faith in the one church as the
sole agent of forgiveness, sanctification and salvation. 194

The significance of social structures

The controversy over rebaptism among the bishops of Africa and
against the bishop of Rome can be analyzed in terms of the coherence
of the social groups and the differentiation of roles within them. In this

instance, moreover, the belief in the efficacy of ritual requires

particular attention.
During the conflict over the power to forgive sins, Cyprian and his
colleagues had been uncertain of their ability to forgive the sin of
idolatry, because Christ had asserted that anyone who denied him on
earth would be denied by him in heaven. As was proposed in the
analysis of that controversy, the bishops solved the problem of
readmitting the idolaters to the church by relying on the parallel
element in Christs statement: those who confessed him on earth
would be acknowledged in heaven. 195 With the persecution over, of
course, there was no longer an opportunity for the kind of public
confession of Christ which would reverse the equally public denial. The
laxist schism, however, did provide just the sort of opportunity for
confession of Christ which the lapsed needed.
The laxists asserted that submission to the penitential ritual of the
church and the authority vested in the bishop was not necessary for
receiving forgiveness of the sin of idolatry. Instead, the lapsed could
attain direct access to Christ through the martyrs and their delegated
agents among the surviving confessors. Cyprian interpreted this as a
revolt against the church and a second form of persecution. He
identified the schismatics as agents of the devil. Thence he suggested
that to resist the temptation by remaining within the unity of the
church and submitting to its penitential discipline was to confess Christ
by recognizing the assemblies and
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their bishops as Gods designated agents. Those who gave up the letters of peace
received from the martyrs and submitted to the discipline of penance thereby confessed
before the community that Christ had made the church the sole means of access to the
kingdom. Moreover, when Cyprian asserted that the sin of schism, of attempting to
divide the church, was equivalent to idolatry, he implied that to resist this sin was itself
a rejection of false gods and a confession of Christ. While they judged that confessing
the unity and holiness of the church was more ambiguous and its heavenly result less
certain than martyrdom, Cyprian and his colleagues asserted that it did sufficiently
rehabilitate and cleanse the penitents, so that their idolatry was rendered non-contagious
and the penitents would win a hearing before the tribunal of Christ.
The admission of the certified was begun in spring 251. Two years later, in April 253,
the penitent sacrificers were reconciled to the church in anticipation of renewed

persecution. The surviving records of the controversy over rebaptism indicate that this
question arose in spring 254 or 255, one or two years after the admission of the last of
the lapsed. Apparently, some of Cyprians colleagues were confused because the
schismatics were using the same ritual and confession of faith as they were. Cyprian,
however, immediately focused attention on the well-established role of the church as
the agent of Christ in the forgiveness of sins. As enemies of the church, he insisted, the
schismatics could not forgive sins by calling on the name of Christ in baptism any more
than they had been able to forgive the sin of idolatry by appeal to the martyrs. Instead,
their rituals would spread the guilt of schism, just as they had the pollution of idolatry.
Only the one church built by Christ upon the bishops had been given the authority to
purify and sanctify. Observing that the role of the church as the agent of forgiveness
was included in the baptismal confession of faith, he concluded that no one could
profess faith and win forgiveness in opposition to the church.
Because the African episcopate had made acceptance of the churchs power to forgive
sins in the face of the laxist schism a form of public confession of faith in Christ,
Cyprian argued that it could not recognize the efficacy of schismatic baptism. As a
result, the gift of the Holy Spirit which endowed the one church with the authority to
forgive sins was made a dogma of the African church. This advance in its turn
eliminated the distinction between heretics and schismatics: no one could confess the
forgiveness of sins through the church while acting in opposition to the unity of the
church.
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Thus the foundational issue in the African stand on the efficacy of baptism performed
outside the church was the significance of the boundary which defined the communion of
the church. In the view of Cyprian and his colleagues, this was a clearly delineated social
boundary which marked off insiders from outsiders, those who were allowed to
participate in the eucharist from those who were not. This social boundary was assigned a
heavenly as well as an earthly significance: because it specified the limits of the presence
and operation of the Holy Spirit, it also determined who might gain access to the
kingdom of heaven. Within the church, water and oil could be sanctified, the divine name
could be invoked, saving faith could be professed; outside the church, water and oil were
polluted by idolatry or schism, appeals to Christ were in vain, the baptismal profession
contradicted its very interrogation. Cyprian asserted that the rituals and prayers of the
church were efficacious not because their formulae were properly invoked or their actions
correctly performed but primarily because they were operations of the church.
The significance of the bounded community itself in the thinking of the African church
can be grasped in the two points at which Firmilian of Caesarea differed from Cyprian.
The Asians allowed some positive standing to the catechumen who had renounced
idolatry but died without baptism and to the schismatic admitted to the church by the
imposition of hands but without baptism. The Africans refused salvation to both the
unbaptized catechumen and the unreconciled penitent because they died outside the unity

of the communion. By relying on the efficacy of the eucharistic ritual, however, the
Africans could regularize the status of schismatics who had been admitted to the unity of
the church without being rebaptized in the past and could even tolerate such future
admissions without jeopardizing the salvation of the converts. The Asians, in contrast,
feared the unbaptized as polluters of the eucharistic fellowship. Unlike the Asians, the
Africans made the bounded community itself the agent of salvation.
The African treatise On Rebaptism shared this positive view of the unity of the church.
Because it acknowledged the efficacy of the name of Jesus, even when it was invoked
outside the church, its author identified the imposing of hands within the church as the
ritual necessary for crossing the boundary into the kingdom of heaven. Christ himself
would confer spirit baptism upon those who died after water baptism in the unity of the
church but not upon those who died in opposition to it. Outside the church, the name of
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Jesus was effective but inadequate; inside the church it was actually a
sufficient condition for salvation.
The differentiation of roles within the church also played a part in the
African understanding of the efficacy of baptism. In the conflict with
the laxists and rigorists over penance, Cyprian had focused on the
bishop, symbolized by Peter, as the basis for the unity in the local
church. In the controversy over rebaptism, he relied more heavily on
the role of the apostolic college as the recipient and transmitter of the
gift of the Holy Spirit and the consequent power to forgive sins. The
succession of legitimate bishops guaranteed the efficacy of the
baptismal ritual. Both the laxist and rigorist bishops lacked this power
not only because they stood in opposition to the church but also
because they had not qualified for the episcopal role by legitimate
succession. To admit that a rival bishop had the power to forgive sins
through baptism or to advance salvation in any other way was to
abandon ones own claim to be the one legitimate bishop in the one
church authorized by Christ. For Cyprian, moreover, it was to undercut
the interpretation of schism upon which he had built the purification
and admission of the lapsed who submitted to the authority of the
church.
The Africans understanding of the significance of the episcopal office
appeared as well in their map of the unity of the church. To Cyprian
and his colleagues, the church was first and foremost the specific local
assembly whose unity was established by Christ upon the one bishop
symbolized by Peter. These local churches were built into the full flock
of Christ through equally concrete alliances of their episcopal leaders,

all of them in succession to the original apostolic community, all

meeting to deliberate on the good of the whole. The Holy Spirit had
been conferred upon Peter and the other apostles and passed to their
successors, who in turn shared the Spirit within their local
communions. That someone could quit the unity of this assembly,
rebel against the authority of its bishop, establish a competing
community within the same town, and there exercise the power to
forgive and sanctify, was unimaginable and inconceivable to Cyprian.
In his view, the Holy Spirit and thus the power to purify simply could
not be found on both sides of such a division between churches. His
African colleagues, who had shared the struggle to maintain the
coherence of the local communities under the twin attacks of the
Decian persecution and the laxist schism, came to think, and more
importantly to imagine, in the same way. Cyprian articulated a world
view, sketched a map of the union of
-129heaven and earth; once his colleagues grasped it, they defended it
adamantly.
Cyprian and his colleagues also believed in that system of ritual
efficacy which is characteristic of tightly bounded communities. All
rituals were effective: those performed within the church cleansed and
sanctified; those performed in opposition polluted and condemned.
Within the unity of the church, the ritual of water baptism
accomplished the initiation of the Christian, even if it was not
supplemented by the imposition of episcopal hands. If a Catholic
bishop failed to rebaptize a schismatic or heretical convert, the
eucharistic ritual could effect the initiatory cleansing. Outside the
church, the rituals of idolaters, heretics and schismatics were not
empty and harmless; they would contaminate and condemn those who
shared them. On Rebaptism even recognized an efficacy in the
invocation of the name of Jesus which transcended the church itself,
though it asserted the necessity of spirit baptism, even if it had to be
performed in heaven by Christ himself. The Africans agreed in
believing that the rituals were both necessary and effective in gaining
access to the kingdom of heaven.
Finally, the African Catholic insistence on control over the boundary of
the church by the rituals of baptism and reconciliation must be
understood within the context of active struggle against the imperial
culture and the schismatic churches. The social boundary of their
church had been severely challenged. The Christians lived under

recurring threat of persecution; they suffered repeated internal conflict

and division. In the debate over rebaptism, the schismatics were
former colleagues and the conflict was personal. Thus the sympathy
which Cyprian extended to those who had first become Christian in the
laxist and rigorist communions was not extended to those who had
perpetrated the rebellion. This legacy of partisan conflict would
continue to trouble the African church for centuries to come.

Conclusion
The analysis of the controversy over the rebaptism of schismatics
which is here proposed rests upon two foundational hypotheses. First,
the controversy was a continuation of the conflict between the three
communions in Africa over the power to forgive sins rather than being
driven by a demand to coordinate the procedures for accepting
significant numbers of converts baptized in schism. Second, the
controversy began over relations with the laxist
-130communion and only later involved the rigorist schism, which was
much less significant in Africa than in Italy. The thesis here advanced
states that the African bishops responded to the question of rebaptism
as they had to that of the forgiveness of the sin of idolatry; they were
guided by their assumptions about the social boundary of the church
and the role differentiation within it. Thus they concluded that the
unity of the church and its exclusive power to sanctify were integral to
the Christian confession of faith. Schism, therefore, became a form of
heresy.
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7
PURITY OF THE CHURCH
Cyprian might seem to have inaugurated a mediating position for
preserving the holiness of the church by restricting to the clergy the
purity requirement which had extended to the whole assembly: he
argued that penitent apostates could be admitted to communion
without polluting the entire congregation accepting them; yet he
insisted that the sanctifying power of the church depended upon the
holiness of the clergy, particularly their freedom from all taint of

idolatry, apostasy or schism. The outcome of Cyprians actions in

response to the ecclesiastical consequences of the Decian persecution
might be so summarized but his stance was actually less innovative
and more nuanced. Cyprians primary concern at the time he
considered the admission of the penitent lapsed was not the danger of
pollution which would jeopardize the churchs holiness and power to
sanctify but a fear of inciting divine wrath by contravening the
corrective function of the persecution itself. When he dealt with failed
clergy within the unity of the church, he judged that they posed a
threat of contamination only to clergy and laity who actually consented
to their sins. In neither of these cases was the holiness of the church
itself necessarily in jeopardy. When Christian rituals of baptism and
eucharist were performed outside and in opposition to the unity of the
church, however, they not only failed to sanctify but polluted their
participants in the same way as the idolatrous ceremonies of Roman
polytheism.
In fact, Cyprian did not introduce an entirely new policy for dealing
with either lapsed laity or unworthy clergy. The custom of the Roman
church and at least some parts of the African church had allowed
penitentseven those who had accused themselves of apostasyto be
reconciled and readmitted to communion at the time of death. This
position was announced by the presbyters of the church
-132in Rome 1 and Cyprian himself adopted it under pressure from the
community in Carthage even during the persecution. 2 Penitents
admitted at the last moment of life only for the purpose of dying in the
communion would still have posed a threat to the purity of the church,
as Novatian later insisted; their survival in the communion, moreover,
could not be precluded. 3 The true innovations were made when the
bishops voted to allow first the penitent certified and then the
sacrificers into communion while still in good health. Similarly, Cyprian
inherited an established practice which required that clerics who had
proven themselves unworthy be removed from office. Nor was
apostasy the sole charge on which clerics were excluded. 4 This view
was shared not only by the bishops of Africa but by Cornelius and the
bishops he consulted in Rome, as well as bishops in Spain. 5 Privatus
of Lambaesis, for example, had been removed from office in a council
held while Cyprians predecessor, Donatus, was bishop of Carthage,
and the decision was confirmed by the Roman bishop. 6 The
innovation, introduced in Rome rather than Africa, seems to have been
in demoting rather than excommunicating failed clerics. 7 Thus, at

least in principle, the basic scheme for preserving church purity had
been established prior to the Decian persecution and was followed
during and after it.
The first task of the present chapter is to specify the concerns which
faced Cyprian and his community on the admission of fallen laity and
the exclusion of unworthy clergy. Then the specific positions which he
and his episcopal colleagues took on the dangers posed by the
sacrilegious rites of idolatry and schism will be explored.

The danger of divine wrath

In dealing with the lapsed laity during and immediately following the
Decian persecution, Cyprians concern was primarily the danger posed
by their moral failures rather than their ritual impurity. During the
early part of his exile, he wrote to the congregation in Carthage
offering an interpretation of the persecution and urging the response
appropriate for the community to make to it. Appealing to dream
visions, Cyprian explained that God had allowed the persecution in
order to demonstrate the churchs negligence in its prayers and refusal
to promote unity among its members. Since it was a divine call to
repentance and reform, the persecution would be brought to an end
once the entire church had mended its ways and prayed for the
forgiveness of its sins. 8
-133Cyprian argued that this divine intention to purify the church was manifest in the move
from the first to the second phase of the enforcement of the Decian edict. After
withstanding their interrogation by the Roman authorities, the initial set of confessors
had been sent into exile. Some of them had then proven unworthy of their achievement:
they violated their sentence by returning to Carthage, so that they might subsequently
be punished as criminals rather than Christians; in addition, they transgressed the moral
standards of the community in the celebration of their victory. Clearly, Cyprian
observed, they had failed to grasp the divine intention in allowing the persecution; they
returned to the community worse than when they had been dragged away from it. 9 As a
consequence, Cyprian explained, God had allowed the Roman authorities to intensify
the prosecution by introducing torture into the interrogation of the next set of Christian
confessors, a development which produced both martyrs and reluctant apostates. 10 On
this basis, Cyprian exhorted the community to repentance and united prayer, explaining
that the persecution would continue a bit longer so that additional members of the
church could be tested. 11 By reforming their lives and praying for one another in unity,
however, Christians might voluntarily satisfy the purifying purpose for which God had
brought the persecution. Divine forgiveness and imperial peace would then follow. 12

Clearly, Cyprian believed and expected his congregation to believe that God governed
the universe according to moral standards; that God tested, rewarded and punished
according to the merits and for the best interests, perhaps of all humans, but certainly of
Christians. He asserted that the imperial prosecution was carried out by the Roman
officials under both the instigation of Satan and the control of God. Thus he explained
that although Christians had brought on the persecution by their negligence, God
intended it for their correction and salvation. If they would heed the call to repentance
and improvement, the imperial action would stop; if they continued to sinas the first
set of confessors hadit might be intensified still more. The divine intention to correct
and punish would become Cyprians guiding principle in directing the churchs
response to the persecution and in deliberating on the readmission of the lapsed.
By the letters of peace which they began to issue to all and sundry in the name of the
martyrs, the Carthaginian confessors proposed the admission of the lapsed through the
intercession of the martyrs and without requiring any penance. In three letters to the
confessors, clergy and people, Cyprian then opposed this policy by
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signaling the danger of provoking divine anger through refusing that reform which the
persecution was intended to promote. 13 The letter to the confessors did refer to the
profanation of the body of the Lord which was perpetrated when the lapsed were
admitted to communion without a purifying penance but Cyprians focus was on the
insult offered to God by the impenitence of the sinners rather than the pollution of the
Christian offering. By cooperating in the audacity of the lapsed, he charged, the
confessors would lead them to destruction rather than salvation. 14 In writing to the
clergy, Cyprian again warned of the peril in which the lapsed had placed themselves by
offending the Lord and recounted recent visions which confirmed his interpretation of
the persecution as a correction. 15 God continued to rebuke, he warned, but the lapsed
and their supporters, both oblivious to the threat, were in extreme danger. In contrast,
Cyprian praised the faithful laity for the prayer and penance they were undertaking.
Finally, he asked their support for the policy of delay in reconciling the lapsed until
God had relented and given peace to the church as a whole, implying that additional
time was necessary to allow the correction of Christians and even the purging of some.
16
In a subsequent letter to the clergy of Rome, in which he defended his voluntary exile
and summarized the actions he had taken to care for the community, Cyprian
emphasized the need for repentance and for imploring the mercy of God. 17 Thus his
first response to the admission of the lapsed was to signal not the contamination of the
communion by their participation but the danger of their flaunting the divine call to
repentance given in the persecution itself. Even as God continued to rebuke and cleanse
the church, some of the clergy and confessors were apparently allowing the lapsed,
whom God had purged, to return unrepentant to the churchs communion.

In writing to his community in Carthage, as has been seen, Cyprian did refer to the
profanation of the body of Christ by the lapsed, using 1 Cor. 11.27 and 10.20-1. 18 In
his first letter to the Roman clergy, he again spoke of the pollution of the hands and
mouth of the lapsed through their contact with the sacrilegious sacrifices and even of
their conscience by accepting the certificates of compliance from the imperial officials.
19
Once again, the context indicates that his intention was to signal not the threat which
the lapsed posed to the sanctity of the communion but the clear and present danger that
their readmission would provoke the anger of God. 20 Even after God had exhibited
their sin to these people, they did not repent. Their very impenitence, he argued,
confirmed the
-135-

rightness of the divine judgment in bringing down persecution upon the church. 21
Once he had returned to Carthage after Easter 251, Cyprian picked up the theme of
persecution as reform again in his address to the community, On the Lapsed. After he
had catalogued the sins of the Carthaginian community and the wider church which had
originally made the persecution necessary, 22 he charged that the fallen had further
provoked the divine anger by refusing to do penance. 23 Next he turned on the
confessors and their clerical supporters: in a stupefying act of presumption, they
claimed to have come to the aid of the church by securing divine mercy for the fallen.
Could they truly have believed that God was in need of their assistance to forgive sins,
to rescue Christians? In their blindness, the confessors and laxist clergy had failed to
recognize that God was working the salvation of the church by testing, purifying and
correcting. By their arrogance, they were impeding rather than aiding Gods saving
action. 24 The divine wrath of which he had been warning since the outbreak of
persecution could now be discerned, Cyprian observed, in the very refusal of the lapsed
to recognize and do penance for their sin. These fallen, he explained, were now being
rejected rather than corrected by God. 25
The understanding of persecution as divine correction and purification of the church
remained an interpretative resource which could be applied to new situations. A year or
so after his return to Carthage, for example, Cyprian argued that the lapsed bishop
Fortunatianus must not be allowed to return to his office because God had intended to
expose and remove such unworthy bishops through the persecution. 26 When a new
imperial action was anticipated in spring 253, Cyprian again advanced his explanation
of the divine purpose but in a modified form. Since he and his episcopal colleagues had
decided to reconcile and restore to communion those who had received certificates and
the penitent sacrifices who had come close to death, he would not assert that the church
once again needed divine purification, and thereby suggest that God might be intent on
removing those whom the bishops had readmitted. Instead, he argued that the church
was being tested rather than purified, specifically that the divine mercy was providing a

new opportunity for those sacrificers who were still doing penance to prove their
devotion by public confession of the faith and thus regain full communion. 27 When the
government in Rome struck at Cornelius but ignored Novatian, Cyprian observed that
the persecution served the further function of distinguishing the true church
-136-

from schisms. The sparing of the rigorists indicated not divine but demonic protection:
Novatian was already serving Satans cause by rebelling against Cornelius and need not
be tempted again to abandon Christ. 28
The persistence of this theme of divine testing and cleansing in Cyprians interpretation
of the persecution clearly demonstrates its significance for him. Though he signaled the
impurity of hand, mouth and mind which the lapsed had incurred by their contact with
idolatry, he did not identify this pollution as a source of danger to the church as a whole.
Instead, as shall soon be seen, he believed it threatened primarily the individuals who
carried it. His concern was not that admitting the lapsed would contaminate the
communion and all its members but that their acceptance would further provoke divine
wrath, which might then engulf even those who were still standing in the faith.
The danger of ritual pollution
Although ritual pollution from idolatry did not provide Cyprians weapon of choice for
attacking the laxists during and after the Decian persecution, he did hold and employ a
concept of contamination through bodily contact, even involuntary contact, with the
satanic ceremonies of idolatry. As has been noted, during the persecution he cited 1 Cor.
10.20-1, which he interpreted as forbidding contact with the table of the Lord after eating
at the table of the demons. 29 He accused the lapsed of profaning the body of Christ by
eating it unworthily, using 1 Cor. 11.27. 30 Similarly, in writing to the Roman clergy, he
described the lapsed as having soiled their hands and mouths through contact with
sacrilegious sacrifices. 31 In On the Lapsed, Cyprian employed the categories of ritual
pollution more fully, returning over and again to the contamination which the fallen had
incurred through their manual and oral contact with the sacrifices, again citing 1 Cor.
10.20-1 and 11.27. In this instance, however, he clarified the meaning of these texts by
quoting Lev. 7.20: Those who eat flesh from the Lords sacrifice of well-being while in
a state of uncleanness shall be cut off from their kin. 32 Thus Cyprian clearly indicated
that the true danger was to the unclean individual touching the holy food of the Christian
eucharist. 33 Similarly, he decried the foolishness of the lapsed when they assaulted the
clergy who were trying to protect them from the divine wrath which would fall upon the
sinners through their contact with the eucharist. 34 To illustrate the danger
-137to anyone contaminated by idolatry, Cyprian then recounted the bodily and mental
injuries which had resulted from sacrilegious contact with the eucharistic body of the

Lord. 35 The Christian eucharist posed a danger to the contaminated, not the impure to
the communion!
The examples of pollution which Cyprian offered to his congregation indicated that
African Christians understood that idolatry contaminated not only through voluntary
bodily contact but also when the touching was involuntary or even contrary to a
persons explicitly manifest intention. In one striking instance, an infant who had been
fed the demonic food by a nurse, without the knowledge or consent of the childs exiled
parents, refused the eucharistic cup and then suffered extreme pain when the sacred
blood was poured into its mouth. 36 In a similar vein, Bishop Caldonius wrote to
Cyprian inquiring about the proper handling of the case of a wife who had been
dragged to the place of sacrifice against her will. Her husband had actually forced her
hand through the motion of the forbidden rituals, even as she maintained the purity of
her conscience, Caldonius explained, screaming in protest that he rather than she was
performing the deed. Caldonius asked whether the exile imposed by the governor for
her steadfast confession of Christ, an exile shared with two male companions who had
themselves sacrificed, was adequate to purify her from the sin. 37 In his response,
Cyprian failed to distinguish the impurity of this woman who had been forced from that
of the men who had willingly complied; he praised their confessions of Christ and
consequent exile as a repentance for the sins. 38 Thus, Cyprian seems to have agreed
with Caldonius in accepting a bodily pollution which could be incurred even contrary to
a persons intention and thus required repentance and purification.
This significance of physical contact with idolatry was also evident in the distinction
which the people made and the bishops accepted between the certified and the
sacrificers. During the persecution, the focus of both Cyprian and the Roman confessors
was on the moral failure of the lapsed. He declared that the certified were no less
contaminated than the sacrificers. 39 Their successful avoidance of bodily contact with
idolatry had, he implied, done nothing to lessen their guilt and protect them from divine
wrath. The Roman confessors focused primarily on the defilement of the conscience
which then entailed the pollution of the hands and mouth touching or tasting the
sacrifices, and even the eyes which had looked upon the idols. 40 When his fellow
bishops, both in
-138Africa and Italy, decided to admit these penitents immediately after the persecution,
Cyprian had to acknowledge that the particular circumstances of each case were
important in determining the individuals status. 41 He recognized that the certified had
retained the purity of their hands and mouths; he allowed that many had acted with
good-will, believing they were allowed to accept the certificates as long as they
declared themselves unwilling to sacrifice. Still, Cyprian described their consciences as
polluted and asserted that they had themselves admitted as much by repenting of an
action which had actually been construed as a failure to confess Christ. 42 Thus
Christians in Carthage were apparently prepared to allow the notion of bodily pollution

through involuntary contact with idolatry to be extended to a pollution of conscience

through misguided intentional contact. 43 Yet they insisted that the contamination of
this non-bodily contact was not as serious as that brought on by touching, eating or
drinking; it could be more easily purified or forgiven.
Finally, to advance his polemical purpose, Cyprian did not refrain from suggesting an
even more contagious contamination. When the laxist schismatics appeared before
Cornelius in Rome to accuse him of cruelty and rigorism, Cyprian recalled the
readiness of these schismatic presbyters and bishops to enter into communion with the
sacrificers whose hands and mouths were still reeking from the incense, the sacrificial
meat and libation wine of idolatry. He sought to inspire horror at Cornelius petitioners
who had polluted themselves by embracing the lapsed and might infect him in turn. 44
In this particular instance, however, Cyprian was dealing with voluntary
communication through what he regarded as a sham eucharist celebrated outside the
protection of the church. In the later conflict over rebaptism, he would make a sharp
distinction between the churchs pure rituals and the polluting ceremonies of the
schismatics. 45
In the understanding of Cyprian, and apparently some portion of his community in
Carthage, any form of contact with idolatrous sacrificesaccording to intention, apart
from intention, contrary to intention, or even by misguided intentioncontaminated, so
that the polluted person had to be purified by repentance. Within the unity of the
church, however, that impurity was dangerous only to the person carrying it and not to
any others who came into involuntary contact with it. The body and blood of Christ, at
least when celebrated in the true church, could neither be defiled by the pollution of an
unworthy recipient nor could it serve as a vehicle for
-139involuntary contamination of others; instead, the polluted recipient would be harmed by
contact with this holy reality. Outside the unity of the church, the laxist presbyters were
contaminated by their contacteven if misguidedwith the carriers of idolatrous
impurity. Those contaminated in body or mind by their contact with idolatry were a
danger to themselves and not to the holy church.

Sinful laity in the church

During and immediately after the persecution, Cyprian, his brother bishops, and his
congregation did not regard the presence of penitents who had been guilty of apostasy
and idolatry as a threat to the holiness of their communion. The twin dangers, from his
perspective, were that the church would bring down divine wrath upon itself by
rejecting the call to reform and that the impure would suffer from contact with the holy
realities within the church. As the controversy between Novatian and Cornelius
developed in Rome and the rigorists attempted to gain a foothold in Africa, Cyprian and
his colleagues were drawn into the debate over the communication of impurity through

the communion of the church. He consistently argued that admitting the lapsed into
communion as lay persons would not jeopardize the holiness of the church, its
relationship to God, or its power to sanctify. 46
In a letter to the confessors in Rome who had joined Novatians communion upon their
release from prison, he referred to the parable of the wheat and tares, observing that the
presence of some who were unworthy was no reason to leave the communion of the
church. At this time, the tares would have been understood as symbolizing the certified
whom Cornelius had elected to admit and the sacrificers who were in the congregation
of Bishop Trofimus. 47 Shortly thereafter, in defending the African preference for
Cornelius over Novatian, Cyprian explicitly repudiated the principle that one person
can infect another with sin through their sharing communion in the church. Had this
been the case, he observed, Novatian himself should not have followed the already
established practice of accepting repentant adulterers into communion. 48 While he
recognized the danger of condoning or approving of sin within the unity of the true
church, he argued to the Roman confessors that sharing communion did not of itself
imply consent to anothers sin. 49 To an African colleague, he observed that the
innovative practice of admitting repentant adulterers had not harmed the practice of
-140-

continence and marital chastity within the community. 50 As has

already been seen, however, in his attack on the laxist clergy, Cyprian
did allude to the danger of contamination through communion with the
polluted outside the unity of the church. 51
Thus Cyprian explicitly rejected the thesis that ritual pollution or even
voluntary sin could be transmitted through the communion of the true
church. Instead, he did recognizeas has been discussed in
considering the necessity of penancethat accepting sinners into
communion without the process of public repentance jeopardized the
identity of this voluntary community and its relationship to God.
Intentionally disregarding the cosmic significance of apostasy, as the
laxists had done, could bring down divine rejection on the church.
Unlike the satanic rituals practiced in idolatry or schism, however, the
unity and rituals of the church did not transmit impurity and sin among
the participants.

Sinful bishops in the unity of the church

Cyprian insisted that clerics who had failed by sacrifice, certificate or
similar crime must be removed from office and could be readmitted to
communion only among the laity. In particular, any church which

knowingly allowed lapsed bishops to perform the functions of

sanctifying and praying for the community not only failed to receive
the benefits of these ministries but stood in danger of sharing the sin
of the leader. Apart from the controversy over the efficacy of baptism
performed by heretics or schismatics, Cyprian dealt with six instances
of unworthy bishops within the church. His position was remarkably
consistent and his explanations provided a rationale for the established
practice of removing unworthy bishops once they have been
discovered.
In rehearsing the evils which God had used the persecution to punish
and correct, in On the Lapsed, Cyprian did not hesitate to describe the
greed and negligence of some of his episcopal colleagues. They shared
the evils which had afflicted the people. Yet he did not speak of their
sinfulness as posing a threat to the efficacy of their ministry. It had
rather contributed to the sufferings of the persecution. 52
In defending Cornelius against charges reported by his African
colleague Antonianus, Cyprian implied that two of the counts might
have justified Novatians call for the deposition and replacement of his
rival in Rome. The Roman bishop, he asserted, had not himself fallen
during the persecution. 53 Nor had he allowed the
-141sacrificer bishop Trofimus to enter his communion as a bishop but only as a layman. 54
Such accusations could be defended only on the basis of fact; proven true either would
have disqualified Cornelius, as is evident in subsequent instances.
In his insistence that the African bishop Fortunatianus must be removed because he had
been guilty of sacrifice during the persecution, Cyprian presented a full consideration of
the dangers associated with unworthy bishops. As a stained priest, the bishop was
himself in danger of incurring the wrath of God by approaching the altar to sacrifice, as
certified by Lev. 21.17, Ex. 19.22 and Ex. 28.43. 55 Secondly, the bishops sin had
deprived him of the power to exercise the priestly role for the community: having lost
the Holy Spirit, he could not sanctify; by Jn. 9.31, the sinners prayer could not gain a
hearing before God. 56 Thus the community which tolerated him would lose its
intercessor before God and its rituals would have no power to sanctify. Accepting the
ministry of such a sinful priest, moreover, would lead the laity to assume that penance
was superfluous and that God would ignore sin. 57 Cyprian adapted his earlier
interpretation of the persecution as a divine cleansing of the church to apply it
specifically to unworthy bishops: God had acted to expose them, so that they could be
removed and further contact between the clean and the unclean would be thereby
prevented. 58 He warned that returning such a sinful bishop to office would result in his
polluting the altar and infecting the community. 59 If the bishop refused to step down,

the community must desert him: by supporting or even tolerating a known sinner as its
representative, it would identify itself with his failure. 60 In this instance, Cyprian
implied that the bishop might communicate his contagion to the entire community
through the eucharistic sacrifice. The danger began, however, only once the ministers
unworthiness had been made manifest by Gods testing. Though Cyprians language
described a pollution by bodily contact, the communitys voluntary acquiescence
played an essential role in the contamination. 61
Attacking the appeal for recognition made by the laxist college of bishops to Cornelius,
Cyprian noted that its leader, Privatus of Lambaesis, and three of his colleagues had all
been removed from office by their colleagues, the three followers for sacrificing during
the persecution. 62 Cornelius should recoil in horror, Cyprian implied, from the
emissaries of such polluted bishops. 63
Cyprian repeated many of the arguments he had developed for the case of Fortunatianus
when he responded in the name of an epis-142-

copal synod to an appeal from colleagues in Spain for assistance in

preventing the two bishops, Basilides and Martialis, deposed for
apostasy, from regaining their offices. The assertion that such priests
were incapable of praying and offering was again supported by Jn.
9.31, God does not hear sinners. 64 He then cited Hosea 9.4, Such
sacrifices shall be like the bread of mourning; all who eat of it shall be
defiled, to indicate that sinful clergy would defile those who accepted
their communion and consented to their ministry. 65 In a similar vein,
the immediate divine punishment of all who had supported the revolt
of Core, Dathan and Abiron against the priesthood of Aaron, in Num.
16.1-26, was invoked to show that anyone who supported the ministry
of an apostate priest would thereby participate in the sacrilege of his
sacrifice. 66 The unity of the church would not protect Christians who
knowingly consented to polluted priests presenting their prayers,
petitions and offerings to God. In a move aimed at the Roman bishop
Stephen, who was apparently supporting the claims of the failed
bishops to be restored to their offices, Cyprian charged that any bishop
who recognized and entered into communion with such colleagues
would become a willing partner in their sin and punishment. 67 This
assertion might reflect the stance developed in the struggle against
the laxist schism in Africa, whose episcopal college included at least
three bishops condemned and deposed by their Catholic colleagues as
sacrificers. 68

In defending himself against the attack of a rigorist, Cyprian argued

through a reductio ad absurdum by spelling out the full implications of
the charges which were being brought against him. 69 Were he a failed
priest, then all whom he had baptized, reconciled and communicated
would have lost their salvation. 70 Were he polluted by communion
with idolaters, as his opponent Puppianus claimed, then all who had
communicated with him shared his contagion and thereby lost the
hope of eternal life. 71 The sarcastic and even ridiculing tone of this
riposte makes Cyprians commitment to the principles of his argument
uncertain; the premises might have been those of his adversary. In
this instance alone, for example, he implied that Christians who acted
within the unity of the church might lose their salvation through the
hidden defects of the priest from whom they received baptism,
eucharist and reconciliation. 72 The rhetoric employed, therefore,
prevents this letter supporting the conclusion that Cyprian believed
pollution could be transmitted unwittingly through the communion and
rituals within the unity of the church.
In four of these six instances, Cyprian clearly affirmed that fallen
-143-

bishops were capable of polluting the altars and infecting the congregations which
accepted their ministry and even the other bishops who recognized them as
colleagues. In all but Cyprians self-defense, the leaders sin was public and widely
known, however, so that those who communicated with the failed bishop could be
construed as tolerating or approving his sin. In dealing with the Spanish apostates, for
example, Cyprian built his argument on the peoples role in choosing a bishop whom
they knew to be worthy, and thus their responsibility for rejecting one they had come
to recognize as unworthy. 73 He allowed that the Spanish bishop Basilides deception
might have protected the Roman bishop Stephen but warned that such an excuse
could not endure once the blasphemy and apostasy were known. 74 Although he used
the language of ritual contamination, the evidence seems to focus Cyprians concern
on intentional acquiescence and wilful participation in a leaders sin. He appears to
have held to the principle articulated in dealing with the acceptance of the laity into
communion: within the churchs unity, contamination was not transmitted through
unwitting or unintentional contact. Still, he signaled a clear difference between the
intentions operative in tolerating a penitent as a lay person and allowing a failed priest
to represent the community before God. The repentance of bishops such as Trofimus,
Fortunatianus, Martialis and Basilides did not mitigate the danger which they posed to
their churches. Once they had sinned and their sin was known, their acceptance as
bishops by the laity or other bishops would jeopardize the churchs relationship to
God and the saving power of its rituals. To tolerate a penitent apostate as a

communicant was only to preserve a sinner for the mercy or judgment of God; to
tolerate an idolater or blasphemer as priest was to mock the holiness of the Spirit, to
violate the baptismal oath of fidelity to Christ, to insult the holiness of God.

The sacrilege of schism

The controversy over the rebaptism of converts who had originally been baptized
outside the unity of the true church focused the question on the role of the bishop in
the holiness and sanctifying power of the church. Like the problem of unworthy
bishops within the unity of the church, this issue involved the inability of the sinful
minister to sanctify and the peoples voluntary participation in a sin instituted by their
bishop. According to the analysis presented earlier, the controversy in Africa over the
power to baptize focused
-144on the laxist communion, some of whose bishops were guilty of apostasy as well as
schism. 75 In Italy, the primary opponent was Novatian, who did not carry the pollution
of idolatry but only the sin of schism. To clarify the focus of Cyprians concern,
therefore, the two stages of the controversy over rebaptism will again be distinguished
and treated separately.

The laxists
The laxist organization built in Africa by Privatus of Lambaesis included bishops who
had been accepted into its fellowship although they had performed no penance after
being guilty of sacrifice during the persecution. 76 Nor did this church require
penitential purification of any of its lapsed members. Thus Cyprian and his
correspondents could have attacked this entire group, unlike the Novatianists, as having
been polluted by voluntary contact with idolatry. 77 The correspondence reporting
synodal decisions and Cyprians own letters, however, focused not on the impurity of
idolatry but on the contamination arising from rebellion against Christ and the church.
As the persecution in Africa was dying down, it will be recalled, Cyprian had already
begun to characterize the rebellion of the laxists as a second form of persecution and
the laxist clergy as taking over the demonic duties of the imperial commissioners. 78
Similarly, in noting the imperial governments neglect of Novatian at the time of
Cornelius arrest, he implied that the rigorists had already entered into the service of
Satan by their rebellion against the church. 79 He did not hesitate to adopt the categories
of sacrilege and ritual impurity which were proper to idolatry as weapons for attacking
the rituals performed by the schismatics. 80 Later he asserted not only that the outsiders
could not sanctify the converts they received but that their schismatic rituals
contaminated the participants in much the same way as the idolatrous rituals of Roman
religion had and would. A second, opposing altar was necessarily sacrilegious.

In the initial stage of the controversy over rebaptism, which appears to have been
focused on the laxists in Africa, Cyprian clearly asserted that any minister who acted
outside the unity of the church lacked the power to sanctify and thus could not cleanse
from sin, purify the water of baptism, consecrate the oil of anointing, forgive sins or
sanctify the recipients of his baptism. 81 Going further, he quoted texts of scripture
which implied that the schismatic ritual polluted those who received it: Num. 19.22,
And
-145-

everything which the unclean touches shall be unclean, Ps. 140.5;

Let not the oil of a sinner anoint my head. 82 The synod writing to
Stephen in spring of 256 asserted that the profane water of the
heretics and schismatics stained those they washed. 83 Even a person
erroneously seeking the church among the outsiders incurred the sin
of sacrilege through contact with their ministry and need not have
been guilty of their formal rebellion against the bishops and the unity
of the church to be blemished by it. 84 Cyprian and his colleagues
made similar arguments about inefficacy and contagion to support the
policy of deposing unworthy bishops within the unity of the church. 85
There, however, the contagion of idolatry could spread from a failed
minister only to a knowing and consenting recipient. In contrast, the
contamination from schismatic rituals was described as independent of
intention, like that of direct contact with idolatry. Despite the language
of the scriptural citations, which focused on the sin and uncleanness of
the priest, the bishops argument was that the schismatic rituals
themselves were polluting, like those of idolatry.
This law of impurity through contact also applied to any minister who
had left the true church or been ordained in schism: he was
permanently stained with the contagion of rebellion against Christ and
the sacrilegious sacrifices which he had offered in schism. The African
synod pronounced schismatic clerics subject to the same pollution as
the bishops who had offered sacrifice to the demons during the
persecution. Because such a priest was blemished and impure, the
Lord would desert him; because he was sinful, he would be injured
through contact with the holy altar. 86 The bishops asserted that
schism caused an uncleanness as disabling and contagious as that of
idolatry. As a result, such a cleric might be returned and admitted to
the unity of the church only as a layman. 87 Because of the shortness
of time between the original schism and this controversy, no more
than four years, all the clerics under consideration in this letter would

have been baptized in the unity of the church before going into schism
and thus could be purified from their contamination only through
penance. They were to be treated exactly as a cleric who had failed
during the persecution; they could be accepted only among the laity.
Although the laxist communion, which is here identified as the focus of
the first stage of the controversy over rebaptism, contained at least
three sacrificers among its bishops, Cyprian and his colleagues did not
rely on this defect as the basis for their arguments. Instead, they
charged that the rituals of their opponents
-146were sacrilegious and contaminating because they were performed in
rebellion against the unity of the church. Moreover, they regarded the
pollution of schismatic rituals as equivalent to that of idolatrous ones:
it could be contracted even in error or unintentionally; it created a
disability which could not be removed by repentance.

The Novatianists
In the second phase of the rebaptism controversy, this charge of
contaminating sacrilege was extended to the Novatianists, who had
been careful to keep their communicants, both clerical and lay, free of
all stain of idolatry. In writing to Stephen in Rome about Marcianus,
the rigorist bishop of Arles, Cyprian accused Novatian of setting up a
profane altar, establishing an adulterous episcopal throne, and
performing sacrilegious sacrifices. He then repeated the charge in
writing to Magnus. 88 The assertion of using impure and contagious
water, which had been implied in attacking the laxists, was boldly
applied against the rigorists. 89 Instead of appealing to the purity code
of Exodus and Leviticus, however, Cyprian adapted the scriptural
support which had been used to warn the Spanish congregations
against accepting their apostate bishops back as priests. 90 The
rebellion against the priesthood of Aaron mounted by Core, Dathan
and Abiron had brought summary punishment on leaders and followers
alike. 91 Hoseas characterization of intentionally participating in an
irregular sacrifice as eating the bread of mourning was transferred
from idolatry to schism. 92 In a third appeal to precedent, Cyprian
recalled the rebellion of the sons of Aaron in bringing their own fire to
the altar. 93 Schism had become an act of sacrilege equivalent to
idolatry.

In the controversy over rebaptism, Cyprian concluded that the rituals

of the schismatics polluted those who received them in the same way
that the rites of idolatry contaminated those who participated in them,
even involuntarily. The original charge that the laxist clergy were
continuing the work of the devil by preventing the repentance of the
lapsed had been extended to the college of bishops they established in
Africa. The rituals they performed to deceive failed Christians and
incautious converts were not only ineffective because of the absence of
the Holy Spirit outside the church but demonic: they polluted anyone
who participated in them. 94 Once the schismatic rituals of the laxists
had been characterized as sacrilegious, that judgment was extended to
the rigorists as well.
-147-

The significance of social structures

The failures in unity and morality within the Christian community
required the persecution as a means of correcting and purifying. The
first and greatest danger which the lapsed posed was not, therefore,
the contamination of the church through their contact with idolatry but
the provoking of divine wrath by readmitting to communion those
whom God had purged, without their having demonstrated repentance
and a sincere commitment to the standards of Christ. The risk of ritual
pollution through contact with idolatry was a secondary, though real,
consideration. Cyprian and his community clearly manifested a fear of
the contagion which had been contracted by voluntary or involuntary
bodily contact with idolatrous rituals. They distinguished the certified
who had avoided bodily contact with idolatry, but still required
purification of their conscience. Cyprian later identified schismatic
rituals as demonic and equally polluting.
The Christian who had been contaminated by idolatry, particularly
voluntarily, was not so much a threat to, as a sinner threatened by the
holiness of the church. Although Cyprian occasionally referred to the
profaning of the body of Christ, the polluting of the holy altar and the
infecting of the community, the injuries which he actually described
were all suffered by the impure themselves rather than by the holy
realities with which they came into contact. A Christian who had
participated in the rituals of idolatry or schism after baptism could be
readmitted to the communion of the church so that its priest and
people could serve as advocates before God for winning forgiveness
and salvation. Such a person could not, however, serve as an advocate
for others. Thus the lapsed or schismatic clergy were removed from

office and reconciled penitents were permanently disbarred from

presenting prayer, petition or sacrifice to God for the community.
The rituals of baptism and eucharist celebrated within the unity of the
church could not communicate impurity among the people
independently of the intention of the participants. Because the holiness
of the eucharist was stronger than the impurity of idolatry, Christians
sharing the eucharist within the unity of the church were protected
from any contagion carried by their fellow communicants. Thus, if an
initiant had not been properly baptized, a penitent had not been
purified, or a bishop was hiding infidelity from his congregation, then
the endowments of the church itself supplied for their defects and
protected their colleagues from harm. A behavioral standard was
applied to the differentiation of roles just as it was to the
-148-

protection of the boundary: an evil intention had to be addressed when it was acted
upon and manifest to other members of the community; the hidden or secret sin was to
be judged by Christ alone. Once impurity became public, however, the community
could not tolerate or acquiesce in its presence within the communion. If sharing in the
ritual indicated approval of the known sin of a fellow, then the guilt would also be
shared. That union of consent was broken, however, by the ritual of public penance in
which both the sinner and the community repudiated the sin. Through the rites of
reconciliation, the community was protected from any contagion which might exist
among the people. The churchs ritual, itself pure and holy, would not transmit evil or
pollution from one participant to another.
Bishops and other clergy, even within the communion of the church, posed a greater
danger. They were public persons chosen or approved by the congregation, who
represented it before God, to other congregations and even before the enemies of
Christ. They held their positions by the continuing consent and approval of the
community. Pastoral necessity provided no excuse because their salvation depended
upon their standing among the people, not upon their holding office. To tolerate their
sin, therefore, was to approve and thus to share it. Unworthy bishops apparently posed
the same danger to any episcopal colleagues who welcomed them into communion: if
their sin was known it would contaminate but apparently not if it was unrecognized.
Thus within the unity of the church, contamination seems to have been communicated
primarily voluntarily. Still, Cyprian did employ the language of involuntary
contamination by ritual contact or consensual communion with a bishop who was
unrecognized as a sinner. In his self-defense against Puppianus, however, the
implication that his flock could have been polluted and destroyed by his own failings
was mockingly repudiated. In practice, Cyprian applied a behavioral standard to the

clergy as well as the laity: sin which was unknown could be neither approved nor
repudiated and thus could not contaminate another within the unity of the church.
The rituals celebrated by heretics and schismatics, in contrast to those of the true
church, would infect those who participated in them in the same way as idolatrous rites,
even without knowledge of and consent to the demonic evil they symbolized. Cyprian
had insisted that schism was a form of idolatry and he equated the contaminating power
of the two sets of rituals. Only the power of baptism, not a ritual of penance following
baptism, could so cleanse
-149-

from the stain of idolatry or schism that a person could be entrusted with the priestly
and mediatory role of the church. Moreover, outside the unity of the church, no
minister shared the episcopates gift of the Holy Spirit, which conferred the power to
sanctify. The absence of the Spirits power to sanctify, the sacrilege of the rituals
themselves, and even the unacknowledged crimes of unworthy ministers resulted in
the pollution of all who shared in schismatic rituals.
The logic of Cyprians identification of the power to sanctify with the reception and
retention of the Holy Spirit and his belief in the contaminating power of idolatry
could have rendered the ministry of failed clerics within the church not only void but
even polluting. Their congregations could have been left unprotected against the
holiness of God and stained by the impurity of their leaders. The power of the
scriptural texts he quoted against the schismatics could have made the sinful minister
within the Catholic communion no less dangerous to his community than to himself.
Yet Cyprian consistently refused to draw these conclusions and held back from these
implications. He was no less assured that those outside the true communion of the
church, both idolaters and schismatics were not only deprived of all power to sanctify
but afflicted with no less effective a power to pollute and contaminate. Such
assurance of the cosmic power of its own rituals, as well as the contrary power of the
rituals of its opponents, is characteristic of a community which assigns cosmic
significance to its boundaries, its internal differentiation of roles and offices, and the
behavioral standards of conduct by which it defines them. Thus his firm sense of the
unity of the Catholic church was inseparable from Cyprians belief in the sanctifying
and contaminating power of ritual.
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8
UNITY OF THE EPISCOPATE

The issue of church unity has been an element throughout this study
of the episcopacy of Cyprian. In the schisms which challenged the
Carthaginian church at the end of the Decian persecution, he found a
way for the lapsed to confess the unity of the church and thereby to be
released from their sin, at least on earth. In commissioning Peter, he
insisted, Christ had established the bishop as the foundation of unity
for the local church. That unity, though reflected in the charity and
harmony of the eucharistic fellowship, was grounded in the unity of
God and the bond between Christ and the Father. The church was
indivisible in principle; schismatics could leave but not divide it. All this
Cyprian taught about the local church, gathered under the leadership
of its bishop. Though he made similar assertions about the solidarity of
the episcopate and the harmony of the world-wide church, his
understanding of its unity was significantly different. Though Christs
great flock was indeed one, it had many shepherds. Each of them had
been assigned a portion of the flock to govern and would answer to
the Lord for his stewardship. Though none was to intrude on the work
of another, all were jointly responsible for the whole and even for each
of its parts. Thus the theory of the unity of the world-wide church
contained conflicting elements whose balance was achieved by
negotiation. It is better understood by examination of actual practices
and their justification than by making any one of its components the
guiding principle of a systematic whole.
Attention will first be directed to the practice of unity, to the structures
of collaboration developed by the bishops. Only then will Cyprians
justification of these structures be examined. The final revision of On
the Unity of the Catholic Church, which was undertaken during the
conflict over the practice of rebaptism, will be investigated and
interpreted in the light of contemporary developments.
-151On this basis, an attempt will then be made to sketch Cyprians
understanding of the unity of the world-wide church.

Structures of collaboration
Many of the responsibilities facing the bishops could be discharged
successfully only through collaborative action. As has already been
noted, the election, consecration and recognition of a new bishop
required the cooperation of neighboring bishops. When a succession
was disputed, consultation and a unified response were essential. 1 A
bishop who had proven unworthy could be deposed and replaced only

by a judgment made and enforced by his colleagues. 2 The breakdown

of consensus, such as that which occurred in the case of the Spanish
bishops Basilides and Martialis, could paralyze or divide local churches.
3
Similarly, the discipline of penance required the adoption of common
policies which could be enforced at least regionally. The travel of
Christians between Rome and Carthage had required the coordination
of practice between these churches, even during the persecution;
movement of people within Africa must have required even closer
collaboration. 4 The Africans adopted the changes recommended by
the Roman presbyters 5 and worked to prevent the circumvention of
the Roman policy of withholding reconciliation from all but dying
penitents until the end of the persecution. 6 The proclamation of a
general forgiveness by the Carthaginian confessors required the
immediate coordination of practice by the African bishops. 7 After the
persecution, all African policies were formed in councils of bishops and
the Romans were immediately informed of their decisions. 8 Common
action was taken on the bishops who had failed in Africa 9 and on the
presbyters who had extended peace to the lapsed without requiring
penance. 10 When conflict arose over the practice of rebaptism of
converts originally initiated into schismatic or heretical communities,
they used extensive correspondence and consultation to develop a
common policy. 11
In their disciplinary decisions, the African bishops seem to have
experienced no difficulty in making judgments once they had acquired
the relevant factsthus the preference for Cornelius over Novatian, 12
the confirmation of Cyprians exclusion of the rebel clergy of Carthage,
13
the depositions of Fortunatianus of Assuras and Marcianus of Arles.
14
Making policy decisions was more complex. In considering the
reconciling of the lapsed, the bishops claimed to have consulted
scripture, weighed the pastoral conse-152quences of particular options, and even read the signs and warnings of
the times. 15 The attempt to mediate between such texts as Mt. 10.33,
in which Christ threatened to disown those who had denied him, and
Mt. 16.18-19, in which Peter was given authority to bind and loosen on
earth and in heaven, can be discerned in the decrees of the councils. 16
In the case of the rebaptism controversy, Cyprian built his arguments
from scripture and pastoral practice but claimed that the truth which
required the displacement of prior custom had actually been revealed.
17
The bishops seem to have realized that their situation could be
different from that of the apostolic times and therefore that they

needed to go beyond what had been handed down from the apostles
even if it were accurately transmitted in the practice of some single
churchor what was reflected in the scripture. 18
In most instances, the bishops of Africa and Italy agreed on the proper
practice. In cases of conflict, however, the Africans both argued that
theirs was the right policy and defended their right to regional
autonomy within the unity of the universal church. When the laxists
appealed to Cornelius for the recognition of their episcopal college,
Cyprian insisted that the African bishops were adequately equipped
and authorized to judge the merits of the case. 19 They reversed
Stephens judgment on the deposition of the Spanish bishops and
Cyprian insisted that Stephen cooperate in the removal of Marcianus of
Arles. 20 The Africans defiantly refused to bow to the jurisdiction of the
Roman bishop in the matter of rebaptizing schismatics. 21 Rather than
simply claiming autonomy, they sought the support of other regional
groups of bishops in overcoming the threat of isolation from the other
churches. 22
The authority of the collective and the autonomy of the individual were
delicately balanced in the cooperative action of the African bishops.
Although Cyprian and his colleagues regularly insisted that individual
bishops retained the right to dissent from common decisions, they did
not hesitate to reprimand deviants, particularly where common
discipline was jeopardized. The plan adopted in spring 251 allowed
individual bishops to withhold the allowed reconciliation from the
penitent lapsed. 23 They were not, however, authorized to liberalize
the policy by admission of any sinners without public penance or of
sacrificers who were not in danger of death. 24 When Bishop Therapius
gave the peace of the church to a former presbyter who was in good
health without first consulting his congregation, he was threatened
with sanctions by a synod of his colleagues. 25 A bishop who wanted to
advance the
-153giving of peace to a group of sacrificers who had finally fallen after an
extended confession under torture took the precaution of seeking the
advice and approval of his colleagues gathered for the consecration of
a new bishop. Cyprian, to whom the matter was then referred,
professed his sympathy for the proposal but also refused to
recommend action on his own authority and promised to place the
question before a provincial synod which would soon meet in
Carthage. 26 At a subsequent council, the bishops again deliberated

and together decided to liberalize their policy by admitting sacrificers

who had persevered in penance up to that time. They allowed
individual bishops to restrict the liberation but this time warned that
anyone who did not follow the common decision would answer to the
Lord on judgment day for his severity and cruelty. 27 The adherence to
these policies seems to have been general, which it had not been in
the earlier decision to allow reconciliation of adulterers. 28 The
unanimity and cooperation of the bishops of Africa in facing the
problem of the lapsed allowed Cyprian to argue later that in following a
practice contrary to the one which had become universal among his
colleagues, Marcianus of Arles demonstrated that he did not share the
common gift of the episcopate. 29 Still, the council of seventy-one
which pronounced on the rebaptism of schismatics in spring 256
allowed individuals to follow other practices, within the peace and
harmony of the episcopal college. 30
The agreement of the bishops did not preclude sharp and extended
debate on the questions before them. The sustained epistolary
exchange over the practice of rebaptism lends credence to Cyprians
assertion that the deliberations in spring 251 had been lengthy, with
scriptural arguments advanced for both sides of the issue. 31 His own
positions on the churchs power to reconcile apostates and on
distinguishing the certified from the sacrificers were changed by the
council, whose decisions he later defended. 32 The unanimous vote
recorded in the meeting of September 256 may itself have been the
result of a sustained campaign of persuasion which preceded it rather
than being an indication of normal practice. 33 In these debates,
Cyprian did not hesitate to urge compliance in the strongest terms,
threatening the wrath of God in the final judgment upon those who
took a different stance than had been recommended. 34 Despite their
willingness to tolerate differing practice in other regions of the world,
the Africans expected to reach and follow common decisions. 35
The bishops also mediated cooperation between local churches in the
sharing of financial resources. Cyprian offered to accept and
-154-

support a member of another community who had given up his theatrical profession to
become Christian. 36 He and his community provided significant funds for the ransom
of Christians who had been taken captive by raiders, recognizing them as fellow
members of the one body of Christ. 37 During the Valerian persecution, he also sent

funds to support the Christians condemned to the mines. 38 This sharing of goods
between local communities reflected the practice within them.
Coordinated episcopal action required structures of collaboration. Bishops met and
consulted with one another on the occasion of the election of a new colleague. 39
Synods were held regularly after Easter in Numidia and Proconsular Africa, as is
evidenced by their consultations with one another. 40 Other meetings drew bishops from
these two provinces and even Mauretania to Carthage, 41 one of which seems to have
been an extraordinary, September 256 session called to address the challenge of the
Roman bishop in the rebaptism controversy. 42 Although the bishop of Carthage or
Rome might consult with his colleagues in Cappadocia, Syria or Egypt, no general
meeting of bishops from across the empire seems to have been conceivable before
Christian emperors provided the necessary logistical support. 43 Even a meeting of
eighty or ninety African bishops with their deacons, some presbyters, and other
assistants, must have taxed the resources of the communities in Carthage and
Lambaesis. 44
The bishops of the imperial administrative centers, Carthage and Lambaesis, had
particular responsibilities for maintaining the flow of communication between their
colleagues and with overseas bishops. Questions were addressed to Cyprian on which
he was expected to advise or which he was to place before the next council. Individual
bishops and groups wrote for direction in reconciling the lapsed, handling a local
financial crisis, regulating the behavior of converts and dedicated virgins, disciplining
an obstinate deacon, and receiving converts from schism. 45 Cyprian briefed all the
Africans traveling to Rome individually during the period of uncertainty over its proper
bishop. 46 He informed the Roman bishop of the decisions of the African synods and
sought the support of the bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia in the dispute with Rome
over rebaptism. 47 Letters were addressed to him from Spain and Gaul seeking his
support in local disciplinary actions and he responded in his own name or that of a
council. 48 As the proceedings of the council in September 256 made clear, the bishop
of Carthage functioned as the coordinator of an episcopal college. 49 Indeed, some of
-155-

his correspondence suggests that Cyprian may have been in the habit of making the
rounds of the churches in his province, much as the Roman proconsul did. 50 Though the
force of his own social standing, education and personality must certainly have
contributed to the status which his colleagues ceded to Cyprian, the location of his see in
Carthage must certainly have been a significant factor. 51
In practice, the African bishops maintained a balance between the autonomy of each
bishop in his own church and the authority of the body of bishops acting as a group.
Though they were jealous of their regional independence, they enforced strict limits on
local variation when a common policy had been adopted. The desire for agreement does

not seem to have hampered Cyprians colleagues in questioning and objecting to his
proposals, nor he in explaining and defending them.
The unity of the episcopate
While the commissioning of Peter to judge and govern in the name of Christ seems to
have provided a clear and effective justification for the authority of the bishop within the
unity of his local church, the theories which legitimated the regional structures and
expressed the unity of the episcopal college as a whole were developed gradually and
piecemeal.
The role of the neighboring bishops in supervising elections and in consecrating new
bishops lent credibility to Cyprians assertion that the members of the episcopal college
shared a single power among them which had first been bestowed upon Peter and passed
down from the apostles, the original episcopal college. 52 The regular deliberations on
policy also provided an experience of bishops exercising the episcopate in unison with
their fellows. 53 These successes may have been more influential than scriptural or
theoretical justifications for the unity of the episcopate.
Cyprian had originally appealed to the foundation of the church upon Peter as a
justification for the bishops claim, against those of the martyrs and confessors, of
possession of the power of binding and loosening within the local church. During the
schisms and formation of competing episcopal colleges in Italy and Africa, he asserted
that in commissioning Peter, Christ had established the indissoluble unity of the
episcopate itself. 54 He cited the Petrine primacy against the division of the Roman
church 55 and later noted with outrage that the laxist pretender in Carthage had lodged an
appeal in Rome, the chair of Peter, whose success would have
-156divided the African church. 56 Even when he added the giving of power
to all the disciples in Jn. 20.22-3 to the bestowal of authority on Peter
alone in Mt. 16.18-19, he did not abandon the foundation of the
episcopal unity in Peter. 57
The empowering of Peter and the other apostles first served as a basis
for the authority of individual bishops in their local churches and
Cyprian continued to support the autonomy of the local bishop. He
introduced a second consideration: the one flock of Christ was so large
that individual bishops had been assigned responsibility for different
parts of it, and thus that they would answer only to Christ for their
decisions in governing them. 58 Yet in practice, synods of bishops
regularly acted to depose leaders whom they judged unworthy or
dangerous to their communities. 59 To justify such action, Cyprian
argued that the many shepherds shared a common responsibility for
the one flock and must come to the assistance of those Christians

whose salvation was being jeopardized by the action of a bishop who

contradicted the consensus of his colleagues. 60 A bishop was neither
solely responsible for his own community nor responsible for his
community alone because that community was itself an integral part of
the universal church. A unity of episcopal authority was thereby based
on the unity of the church, for whose governance it had been given.
Cyprian understood the college of bishops as successor to the apostles
as a group rather than as individuals. 61 In addressing the division of
the Roman church, he moved from the commissioning in Mt. 16.18-19
to that in Jn. 21.17, in which Peter was commanded to feed Christs
sheep. Christ addressed Peter alone in order to show that he
established but one church and chair, and that he has but one flock.
All the apostles, however, shared that authority and responsibility,
feeding the flock in common accord. 62 The episcopate was one and
each bishop shared it in union with his fellows. 63 After developing the
image of the church as the indivisible tunic of Christ, Cyprian returned
to the metaphor of the unity of a flock by citing Jn. 10.17, one flock
and one shepherd. He attacked the schismatics in both Carthage and
Rome by asking how anyone could believe that Christ had authorized
more than one flock or more than one shepherd in the same place. 64
As he had originally appealed to the glue of concord which united the
members of a local church, 65 he later characterized the mutual love of
the bishops as the glue which bound together the universal church. 66
During the rebaptism controversy, Cyprian broadened the
-157-

scriptural foundation for the unity of the episcopate by introducing the text of Jn. 20.223, in which Christ bestowed the power to forgive sins upon all the disciples
simultaneously. The thesis that the bishops were successors to Peter and the apostles as
a college had already been functioning in the exercise of episcopal office. 67 It justified
individual bishops ceding their own judgment to the collective decision of their
colleagues, as Cyprian had in agreeing that the bishops had the authority to reconcile
first the certified and then the sacrificers. 68 It legitimated collective action against
individuals who dissented from common accord, such as the warning of Therapius not
to grant peace without penance and the removal of Marcianus for refusing pardon to
dying penitents. 69 It had also been used to protest Cornelius review of the disciplinary
decisions of the bishops of Africa, 70 and to remind Stephen that he too was bound by
the decisions of his predecessors and colleagues. 71 Although the text of Jn. 20.22-3 was
introduced late in Cyprians writing, the structure it supported had been functioning for

years.
The thesis that the individual bishops succession to Peter guaranteed his authority to
forgive and sanctify had to be argued over and again in the face of challenges from the
martyrs and schismatics. In contrast, the idea of an episcopal college was so well
established in church practice that it required and received minimal justification. Even
the schismatics sought recognition from the established bishops and formed competing
colleges when they were rejected. 72 Only when disagreements arose among bishops did
Cyprian advance arguments to legitimate the regular practice of consultation and
common action.
Cyprian did not offer a justification for the authority which the bishops of imperial
administrative cities, such as Carthage and Lambaesis, actually exercised within the
episcopal college. When Stephen asserted such a right, by virtue of being the successor
of Peter and the bishop of a church which preserved authentic apostolic practice,
Cyprian explicitly rejected the claim. 73 Firmilian of Caesarea ridiculed Stephens
assertion and gave priority to the church of Jerusalem, particularly in the matter of
remembering when to celebrate Easter. 74 Stephens decree of excommunication against
the bishops who opposed his practice of accepting schismatic baptism was greeted by
Cyprian with outrage and by Firmilian with sarcastic incredulity. Neither could
conceive of such authority being wielded legitimately by a single bishop over his
colleagues. 75 Such action could be taken only by a community of bishops large enough
to address and resolve the issue. The primatial
-158sees which have been identifiedRome, Carthage, Lambaesis, and
Caesarea in Cappadociamust have emerged because they were
necessary for effective collaboration of the bishops. In the African
understanding of the church, however, their status was simply
functional and not based upon any divine ordinance or cosmic
foundation, as was the unity of the episcopal college itself. Thus the
idea of a council of bishops from all over the empire may have been
inconceivable not only because it was logistically impossible but
because these African bishops could not imagine who might preside
over a universal council in the way that the bishops of Carthage and
Lambaesis regularly did over provincial and regional synods. 76

The baptismal controversy and the

revision of On Unity
The issue which occupied the last of Cyprians polemics was the
exclusivity of the churchs power to forgive sins. In his conflict with the
confessors and laxist presbyters, he had asserted that within the

church only the bishopand not the martyrhas been granted the
power to loosen and hold bound. This issue arose again in the
controversy over the rebaptism of converts who had originally been
baptized in schism. This time Cyprian insisted that the power to forgive
was held and exercised only by bishops who were established within
the unity of the church in legitimate succession from the apostles upon
whom the authority had originally been conferred by Christ himself. In
the letters of this controversy and in a final revision of his treatise On
Unity, he explained that a single power was held in common by all and
only those bishops joined in the unity of the episcopal college. Thus he
linked the authority of the bishops, the unity of the episcopate and the
unity of the church.
In the baptismal controversy, Cyprians interest was the churchs
exclusive authority to forgive sins. He insisted that those outside the
unity of the church had no access to this power and thus could not
perform the ritual of baptism. For the most part, his arguments were
derived from scripture, though they built upon the experiential
foundation of the unity of the episcopate. In two instances, Cyprian
began to use texts in new ways. The commissioning of Peter in Mt.
16.18-19 had been the standard for establishing the bishops exclusive
power to forgive sins since the lapsed advanced the claims of the
martyrs. To this, he began to add the bestowal of power on all the
apostles in Jn. 20.22-3 because it associated the authority to forgive
with the gift of the Holy Spirit to the apostles,
-159Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained. In his
letter to Magnus, Cyprian used the latter text alone, arguing that only
those who had received the Holy Spirit could baptize and forgive sins.
He immediately observed that John the Baptist had also been filled
with the Holy Spirit in his mothers womb because he was to baptize
Jesus. 77 In writing to Jubianus shortly afterward, Cyprians objective
was to show that only those established within the church could
baptize and forgive sins. He began with the anticipated allusion to the
power conferred on Peter and continued with the citation of Jn. 20.223, concluding that only those within the church could bind and loosen.
78
This point was then amplified in responding to an objection
regarding the baptism of the Samaritans by Philip. Peter and John
imposed hands to confer the Holy Spirit, not to forgive sins, because
the Samaritans had been baptized in true faith and within the unity of
the church by a deacon sent out by the apostles. 79 Later in this letter,

he cited the account of Paul rebaptizing those who had already been
baptized by John the Baptist to show that baptism was effective only
within the church. 80 He then described John as filled with the divine
grace while in his mothers womb and supported by the spirit and
power of Elijah, 81 carefully avoiding the earlier assertion that John had
been given the Holy Spirit: that gift now belonged exclusively to the
apostles and the church. 82 John could baptize Christ, through whom
everyone else would be baptized, but he could no longer be recognized
as filled with the Holy Spirit because he had been the precursor and
not the follower of Christ and thus had not been established within the
church itself. Cyprian continued to argue that the foundation of the
churchs unity was laid upon Peter, linking the two commissions in the
letter of Jubianus and the final revision of On Unity. 83 The objective in
adding the text of Jn. 20.22-3 was not to lessen the importance
assigned to Peter but to expand the meaning of Mt. 16.18-19 by
identifying the authority to forgive sins with the gift of the Holy Spirit
to the first bishops.
Similarly, the text of Eph. 4.4-6, There is one body and one Spirit,
just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father, had been used at the time of
the schisms to affirm the unity of the church. 84 During the baptismal
controversy, however, this text was consistently employed in the
letters and in the revision of On Unity to affirm the connection
between the unity of the church, the power to baptize, 85 and the
presence of the Holy Spirit. 86 By these two texts, Cyprian
-160was able to introduce a new argument which limited the authority to
forgive sins to the unity of episcopal college. 87
Cyprian also introduced other incidents, all connected with the
privileges of Aaron to function as priest, to bolster the connection
between membership in the episcopal college and the authority to
sanctify. Core, Dathan and Abiron, along with all their followers, were
incinerated by divine fire and then swallowed by the earth for
challenging the exclusive authority of Aaron. 88 Even the sons of Aaron
who appeared with strange fire for the altar were destroyed. 89 Finally,
King Uzziahs usurpation of the priestly role was punished with leprosy.
90
The danger threatening anyone who attempted to usurp the role of
the bishops was thus illustrated by the fate of rebels against the
Israelite priests. All three texts were employed in the revision of On
Unity.

In the letters of the second, Novatianist phase of the baptismal

controversy and the contemporary revision of On Unity, Cyprian also
introduced a new set of scriptural images to illustrate the restriction of
sanctifying power to the unity of the church. In writing to Magnus, he
linked the injunction which forbade taking any of the passover lamb
outside the house in which it was being eaten to the warning given the
family of Rahab that they would be safe during Joshuas assault on
Jericho only by staying within the confines of her house. 91 In On
Unity, he interrupted the reflection on concord and the Holy Spirit to
insert these two texts, insisting that the sacred flesh of Christ cannot
be eaten outside the one church. 92 He also began to use texts from
the Canticle of Canticles to characterize the church first as dove and
chosen daughter. 93 To these images he then added those of the bride,
the enclosed garden, the sealed fountain and the well of living water.
94
In a third instance, he joined to these the figure of a paradise filled
with fruit-bearing trees, all drawn from the Canticle of Canticles. 95 The
exclusiveness of the church as the source of salvation was also
reinforced by linking the images of the enclosed garden and sealed
fountain to that of the ark of Noah, the sole vehicle of safety in the
flood. 96 In introducing all these new images, Cyprians objective was
to illustrate and establish that the sanctifying power of the church
could be held and exercised only within its clearly defined boundary.
These images were juxtaposed and intermingled with those texts
which linked the sanctifying power itself to the Holy Spirit conferred
upon the apostles.
These scriptural images and arguments, which are peculiar to the
baptismal controversy and in particular to its second or Novatianist
phase, appeared together in Cyprians treatise On Unity and indicate
-161a final revision of that text during the conflict. Two of the most
important texts, Jn. 20.22-3 and Eph. 4.4-6, were introduced in the
alternate, Textus Receptus version of chapter 4, thus indicating a
replacement of either the original version, or of the Primacy Text
revision prepared for dealing with the Novatianist schism in Rome. 97
The text of the Canticle of Canticles introduced in this chapter was also
cited in one of the letters. 98 Some of the most striking images drawn
from the Canticle of Canticles, such as the enclosed garden, the
paradise, and the sealed fountain, focused on baptism and thus
appeared not in this text but only in the letters of the controversy. 99
Thus the Textus Receptus version of chapter 4 seems to belong to the

period of conflict with Stephen and concern with the Novatianist

practice of baptism. 100
The rewriting of On Unity was not, however, confined to the
replacement of chapter 4 and part of chapter 5. Other scriptural
references which were peculiar to the baptismal controversy are found
throughout the common version of the treatise. The texts which
defended the prerogatives of Aaron were common to the second stage
of the controversy and the treatise, 101 as were the references to the
passover meal and the house of Rahab. 102 The discussion of the
usurpation of the power to baptize, the assertion that schismatic
washing polluted rather than purified, and the reference to crumbling
cisterns from Jer. 2.13 all reflected the arguments peculiar to the
baptismal controversy. 103 They indicate that the treatise was
extensively revised during the baptismal controversy.
Cyprians objectives in this final revision of On Unity do not seem to
have been exhausted by the elimination of unfortunate language about
the primacy of Peter among the apostles. Except for the insertion of
Jn. 20.22-3 and the excision of the term primatus, the relations
between Peter and the other apostles are remarkably similar in the
two surviving versions of chapter 4. Even if Stephens claims were the
precipitating cause, Cyprian took the opportunity to link the unity of
the church, the unity of the episcopate, and the power to forgive sins.
Peter remained the foundation and symbol of unity but the authority
conferred upon him was actually the gift of the Holy Spirit bestowed
upon the apostles in their role as the apostolic college, after Jesus had
been glorified.

The unity of church and episcopate

The argument of this chapter is that Cyprian built his theory of the
unity of the world-wide church up from the collaborative practice of
-162the African bishops. Local churches were never autonomous units but
always part of a whole, since they were dependent upon the leaders of
neighboring churches for the establishment and removal of their
bishops. Individual bishops actually held and exercised their power to
judge and sanctify in union with their colleagues. Thus the
commissioning of Peter by Christ, which was the foundation of the
unity of the local church in its bishop was in practice also the
foundation of the unity of the church as a whole.

The foundational text, then, for the unity of the church, was the
commissioning of Peter in Mt. 16.18-19. Cyprian introduced this during
the conflict with the confessors and rebel presbyters but he was still
using it during the baptismal controversy and the final revision of On
Unity. It had been modified only to restrict the loosening power to
earth, as a necessary condition for being loosened in heaven. This first
commissioning of Peter was developed through two post-resurrection
commissionings. The first was in one or both of the versions of On
Unity (chapter 4 PT) prepared during the summer 251, in which Jn.
21.17 authorized Peter to feed the sheep of Christ. Thence Cyprian
argued that Christ has one flock and all the apostles together were
called to feed that one flock. In this reading, the unity of episcopal
power was justified and balanced by the unity of the church, the
purpose for which it was given. The multitude of pastors was seen as a
function of the greatness of the flock, as was laid out in the first
version of On Unity and repeated in other contexts. 104 The second was
in the final version of On Unity (chapter 4 TR) in 256, in which Jn.
20.22-3 placed the emphasis, as was appropriate in the baptismal
controversy, upon the one sanctifying power which was held by the
many pastors. They and they alone had the authority and power to
pastor the flock of Christ. Anyone not in the union of the college which
succeeded to them had no part in this power.
In practice and chronologically in the development of Cyprians theory,
the unity of the church as a whole preceded and justified the unity of
the episcopate. The richness and fecundity of the church made it too
large for any individual to rule, so the shepherds were multiplied and
assigned parts of the flock. The autonomy of each leader was strictly
limited, however, because the unity of the flock and the bishops
shared responsibility for it required the unity of coordinated and
collaborative action. As the persecution ended, Cyprian had already
asserted the power of the local bishop in his church; the local bishop
was not a delegate of the college but a constituent member. As the
schisms developed, Cyprian recognized
-163-

that the individual bishops autonomy was limited by his membership in the college: he
had responsibility not only for his own part of the flock but together with his colleagues
for the whole of the flock; each of his colleagues had a corresponding responsibility for
his part of the flock within the whole. The collaboration which had become absolutely
essential for the good of the whole and of its individual parts was justified by the theory

of the one flock and its many pastors.

As the schisms developed and controversy continued, however, the unity of the
episcopate itself became the necessary means for maintaining the unity of the church.
Churches were understood as linked to one another through the mutual recognition of
their bishops. Some of the laxist Christians in Carthage abandoned a bishop isolated in
a small, Numidian college for Cyprian, who held his place in a large college linked to
those across Africa and beyond the sea. Thus the second set of texts comes into play:
the unity of the episcopate and its indivisible authority to judge and sanctify became the
foundation of the unity and unicity of the church. Only those communities whose
leaders were recognized members of the world-wide college could be parts of the true
and universal church, benefiting from its power to sanctify on earth and intercede in
heaven. The one power shared by their pastors made many local communities into a
unified church.
In Cyprians theory, the unity of the church and the unity of the episcopate were
dialectically related. The episcopate existed for the sake of the church and must be one
because the church was one. The church functioned as one because the episcopate was
one; its structures of unity beyond the local level were those of episcopal collegiality.
The local church and the episcopal college had radically different social structures. At
the local level, the community had a variety of differentiated roles which were assigned
by the group as a whole. Some had authority over others, though all were responsible to
the community. In the episcopal college, each member was the equal of every other and
no one had authority over another, though the group as a whole had authority over each.
In actual practice, of course, some bishops had greater influence over their peers but
their power was based on the location or size of the city, the wealth of the congregation,
or the talents of the individual; it was not based upon any cosmic or religious
foundation, as was the differentiation of roles in the local church.
Placed in the context of the development of the practice of the
-164North African church and the theory through which Cyprian and his
colleagues justified their actions, the primacy language used in the
early version of On Unity could have had a very limited range of
meanings. It could have referred to authority and power over others
only within the local church, which must surely have been the authors
intention in the summer 251. It could have referred to the symbolism
of the single power which was given to one person to demonstrate its
singularity and indivisibility, which must surely have been the authors
meaning in summer 256. The primacy of one bishop over others which
developed into the patriarchal system in the fourth and fifth centuries
might have been practically conceivable by Cyprian and his colleagues.

Such a regional primacy of the patriarch, however, would have been

contradicted by their shared belief that bishops are equally and
communally successors to the apostles. Furthermore, they consistently
rejected the Roman bishops claims to authority on the basis of
apostolic foundation. They may have welcomed the possibility of an
ecumenical council as an expression of the unity of the episcopate,
though like Firmilian of Caesarea they may have expected the bishop
of Jerusalem, as custodian of apostolic tradition, to preside. The
primacy of the papal system which emerged in the medieval period
would have been puzzling to the African bishops of the third century:
they firmly grasped Peter as a symbol of unity but understood the
Petrine office only at the local level. They found the reality of their
shared episcopate, first conferred upon Peter, in the gift of the Holy
Spirit bestowed upon all the apostles once Christ had been glorified.
Both locally and universally, the church was in the bishop and the
bishop in the church.
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9
CYPRIANS AFRICAN HERITAGE
Investigation of the correlation between the social structures of
Cyprians church and its theology depends upon the unusual historical
evidence, Cyprians letters and treatises, which permit modern
scholars to specify many aspects of church life in the third century in
Roman Africa. For the life of this church during the 140 years which
separated the death of Cyprian from the ordination of Augustine, the
historical record is much less full. Only with the surviving letters,
controversial writings and preaching of Augustine, as well as the
decrees of the African councils which carried forward the reform
program of Bishop Aurelius of Carthage, does the historical record
once again reflect the life of Christian communities in any detail. By
that time, however, the situation of Christianity within the Roman
world and the social structures of the churches had changed
significantly. The thesis of this study can be confirmed by a sampling
of these social changes and the corresponding shifts in the
appropriation of the Cyprianic theology.
At the end of the Diocletian persecution, the situation of the African
church changed dramatically. The Constantianian toleration and

support of Christianity brought to the fore a conflict over the episcopal

succession at Carthage, which was cast in Cyprianic terms. The elected
candidate, Caecilian, was charged with cooperation with the
government and one of his consecrators, Felix of Aptunga, was
charged with denying Christ by turning over the scriptures to the
imperial authorities. A schism resulted in which commissions of
bishops appointed by the emperor and the bishop of Rome chose
between the rival candidates. They recognized Caecilian as the rightful
bishop but as a condition for communion required that he adopt the
Roman practice of receiving schismatics and heretics without
rebaptism. Having made the concession, this Catholic party enjoyed
the support of the imperial government and the universal church. The
opposing Donatist party claimed freedom
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from idolatry and identified itself through resistance to imperial oppression. It

ostentatiously continued Cyprians practice of rebaptism, especially of converts from
the Catholic communion. Both parties developed their claims to the heritage of
Cyprian, the one appealing to universal unity and being charged with contamination by
idolatry; the other claiming purity and being charged with schism.

The Donatists
In their theology the Donatists held to Cyprians understanding of the purity of the
church as the necessary condition for its power to sanctify. They focused the purity of
the church on the freedom of the clergy from all taint of idolatry and apostasy. Any
Christians who had been contaminated by these sins after baptism were permanently
banned from functioning among the clergy, though the sinner might presumably be
admitted to communion among the laity. The sin of schism does not seem to have been
regarded with the same horror: Augustine pointed out that Parminian and his colleagues
had accepted the supporters of Maximinians schism back into communion and even
into episcopal offices. 1
The Donatists also insisted that the Christian rituals transmit contamination, within the
church or outside it, from a bishop to the participants in his communion and among the
members of the episcopal college. Cyprian, as has been seen, had focused this danger
within the unity of the church on situations in which the acceptance of the minister had
been with knowledge and approval of his sin, though his language and his citations
from the Hebrew scriptures had not so limited his thesis. The Donatists claimed that
Caecilians apostasy had spread from his consecrator to the new bishop and thence to
those bishops in Africa who recognized him, and finally to the whole episcopal college

which maintained communion with the polluted African episcopate. Donatus charges
of apostasy were rejected at the time of the schism and contested continuously
thereafter. Thus the operative question quickly became whether a bishops sin could
contaminate his church and colleagues rather than whether it actually had done so. The
debate focused on Cyprians understanding of the constitution of the episcopal college
and particularly on the recognition and approval by which a bishop became and
remained a member. The consecrators acceptance of the candidate elected by the
people and the letters through which other bishops welcomed a newly elected bishop
into
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their communion seemed to indicate a judgment of his standing before God and
worthiness for ministry. Thus a bishops colleagues might be construed as supporting
his sin and thereby sharing his guilt. Over the longer term, therefore, the debate
focused not only on the transmission of guilt without informed consent but on the role
of mutual recognition in the establishment of a bishop and constitution of the episcopal
college. A college built, as Cyprian had conceived it, on mutual acceptance seemed
necessarily an instrument for transmitting sin and sharing guilt. On the basis of this
theory, the Donatists accused the Catholic bishops of a complicity in apostasy which
disqualified them for office and voided their sacramental ministry.
The Donatists maintained Cyprians understanding of the defined social boundary of
the Christian church and the episcopate. In their practice, the local church seems to
have retained a large measure of voluntary adherence because it involved active
opposition to the government and the suffering of certain civil disabilities. The
episcopal college was also a voluntary community, in which each of the bishops
consented to the initiation of a new member and thereby became responsible for any
guilt he was carrying. These closely bounded groups retained the social structure which
supports both a belief in efficacious rituals which could purify or contaminate and a
behavioral standard of conduct for determining purity. The retention of a hierarchal
differentiation of offices and roles within the local church allowed the Donatists to
develop Cyprians system and to assign responsibility for the purity of the church to the
bishop and clergy. 2 Cyprians understanding of the episcopal college, however,
allowed no differentiation of roles within it, through which sin and impurity could be
isolated and thereby tolerated. Because each bishop was a full member, the sin of any
one could pollute the whole. In order to maintain the plausibility and functioning of
their system, therefore, the Donatists narrowed the behavioral standard to the sin of
apostasy or idolatry. The principal danger of such pollution in the fourth and fifth
centuries arose not from the practices of the imperial cult but from contact with the
Catholics, who were judged to be burdened with the guilt of Caecilian and his
consecrator. To protect the purity which identified and justified their separate church,
the Donatist bishops had to maintain the assertion that the Catholic communion had
been contaminated. 3 As they became increasingly isolated from the church outside

Africa, they also had to overlook Cyprians warning to the Roman confessors that
schism, even schism undertaken in
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protection of the gospel and the holiness of the church, was as sacrilegious and polluting
as idolatry.
The Donatists adapted the theology of Cyprian to a new social circumstance, in which
their church found itself isolated from the universal Christian church. They maintained
the dependence of sanctifying power on purity from apostasy while ignoring its
restriction to the unity of the universal episcopate and church. As a clearly bounded and
role-differentiated community, the Donatists maintained Cyprians trust in the efficacy of
rituals for sanctification or contamination.
The Catholics
The Catholic position after the Constantinian toleration and the Theodosian establishment
of Christianity was significantly different from that of the Donatists. Though the Catholic
communion in Africa was in the minority, it enjoyed communion with the universal
Christian church and thus could claim continuity with the apostolic foundations
throughout the empire. The Catholics had the support of the imperial government and
were preferred to the Donatists and the traditional polytheists. Catholic bishops, for
example, were civil magistrates and had access to various forms of imperial assistance
and support. This recognition carried a price. To gain the approval of the bishops
appointed to judge between the rival candidates in the schism, Caecilian and his
supporters had to commit themselves to the Roman practice of accepting converts from
schism and heresy by imposition of hands rather than baptism. The subsequent imperial
preference for Catholics meant that many of those who associated themselves with the
church made no significant commitment to its standards of conduct; their objective was
economic and political advancement. The result was a lowering of the voluntary cohesion
and a blurring of the boundary which defined the Catholic communities.
In accepting the Roman practice of receiving converts from schism, the African Catholics
had to face a major problem in the definition of the boundary of their church. In
Cyprians theology, baptism was identified as the sacrament of initiation by which a
candidate was purified and transferred across the border separating the holy realm of
Christs church from the demonic realm of idolatry and schism. If baptism could be
effectively performed in an opposing Christian community, it could no longer define and
negotiate the boundary of the Catholic church. The Roman practice of
-169accepting baptism performed in schism or heresy came without a theoretical
justification; it was based upon customary practice alone. In Africa, however, the

Catholics had to explain how they could recognize the baptism of the Donatists without,
as Cyprian had warned, giving up their own claims to be the true church and to exercise
the single power to sanctify conferred upon it by Christ. The Catholics had available a
combination of theoretical positions: they could redefine their boundary so that it
included the schismatic communities as still part of the one church; 4 they could divide
the efficacy of baptism so that it might be performed without purifying; 5 they could
assign some other ritual, such as the imposition of hands or the eucharist, as the
purifying and boundary-crossing action. 6 Could the Donatists be recognized as a true
Christian church, though they lived in active schism from the universal communion?
Could the Christian ritual of baptism fail to purify? Could the imposition of hands,
either as the second part of the baptismal ritual or as the culmination of the ritual of
reconciliation, become the actual boundary-crossing ceremony? To accommodate the
new practice required of them, the bishops had to make some adjustment in Cyprians
understanding of the necessary link between the power to purify and adherence to the
unity of the church and its episcopate.
In accepting citizens who joined the Catholic church in order to secure their status and
fortune in the empire as much as their standing before God, the bishops had to expand
the marginal classes at the boundary of the churchinside and just outsideand
redefine the efficacy of baptism and the eucharistic fellowship in the economy of
salvation. Many converts enrolled as catechumens but sought baptism late in life or at
the time of death. Others accepted baptism but withdrew from communion after serious
sinoften under episcopal threat of exposureand sought reconciliation only on their
deathbeds. Some failed a second time after the one public penance and reconciliation
allowed by the church; forbidden communion even at death, they persisted in private
penance and hoped to receive that forgiveness from Christ which the church could or
would not mediate. 7 What had been transitional stages toward full communion in
Cyprians church became long-term forms of limited adherence in the imperially
sponsored church. The baptismal, eucharistic and even reconciliation rituals were
transformed into means of gaining access to the kingdom of heaven rather than
ceremonies for constituting and maintaining the church as its sacrament on earth.
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Faced with the continuing dispute about the idolatry of Caecilian and its implications
for their power to sanctify, with the recognition of schismatic baptism as a real but
inadequate means of salvation, and with the blurring of the boundary defining the
church, the Catholics eventually modified and developed Cyprians theology.
Augustine put together what may be described as a four-part solution. First, instead of
the purity of the episcopate, he focused on the link between the unity of the church and
its sanctifying power. Second, he recognized that the churchs rituals could be
performed outside its social boundary, which he then redefined as the limit of the
eucharistic fellowship. Third, he modified the priority which Cyprian had assigned to

behavior over intention, so that performance became a condition but not an effective
cause of unity and sanctity. Fourth, he abandoned the distinction which Cyprian had
made between the episcopal college and the universal church, so that the church
community as a whole held the power of sanctifying and guaranteed the efficacy of
episcopal ministry.
First, Augustine broadened the definition of the necessary purity of the church to
exclude sins other than idolatry and apostasy. Cyprian had accused Novatian of
inconsistency in accepting adulterers but not idolaters. Augustine accused the founding
generation of Donatist bishops and their successors of murder, fraud and civil strife.
The objective was to show that maintaining the standard of purity set by Cyprian was
beyond the capacity, or at least the achievement, of the Donatists. More importantly, he
seized on the significance of the sin of schism, which Cyprian had treated as equivalent
to idolatry. The gift of the Holy Spirit, which Cyprian had identified through Jn. 20.223 as the power to forgive sins, was also the foundation of unity within the church. To
violate the unity of the church, therefore, was to lose the power both to sanctify and to
be sanctified. As a result, he asserted, none of the Christian rituals performed in
opposition to the unity of the church had any sanctifying effect.
According to Cyprian, schismatics who had originally been baptized within the church
retained that sacrament and could be readmitted through the ritual of reconciliation.
Similarly, he charged that the clergy who revolted against the church had turned the
arms and endowments which the church had bestowed upon them against it. Thus
Augustine proposed a second point: that the Donatists had retained baptism, eucharist
and the priesthood in schism, as well as the power to transmit them to their adherents
and successors. Hence, the schismatic rituals were true Christian
-171-

sacraments and need not be repeated or replaced upon their return to the church. The
African bishops not only accepted schismatic converts without rebaptism but offered
to install returning Donatist bishops as successors to Catholics without a new
ordination.
Thus the sharing of the eucharistic fellowship, rather than the acceptance of baptism,
became the behavior which indicated and effected membership in the unity of the
church. Using Cyprians identification of Christ and the community in the eucharistic
elements, Augustine expanded the symbol from the local to the universal church.
Thus the bread and wine in the celebration actually united the participant to Christ
and to all true Christians. In this way, the eucharist not only symbolized but actually
effected the unity of Christians in Christ. Participation in the eucharist, therefore, was
the appropriate ritual of adherence to the unity of the church. Those who refused to
accept the behavioral obligations which accompanied eucharistic fellowship were

outside the church and would be excluded from the kingdom of heaven.
Cyprian had recognized a limited efficacy in the ritual of reconciliation because the
people and bishop could not accurately judge the interior dispositions of the penitent.
He asserted, however, that the performance of the ritual was necessary to qualify the
sinner for appearing before the judgment of Christ and winning his approval.
Augustine, in a third development, expanded this distinction and applied it to the
other Christian rituals, even those celebrated within the unity of the church. Baptism
could be performed, inside or outside the unity of the church, but it sanctified only a
recipient who was truly converted and adhered to the unity of the church. Thus both
the schismatic and the Catholic seeking temporal gain remained in their sin, having
added to it the abuse of the sacrament. The same principle was applied to
participation in the eucharist: the schismatic and the false Catholic received only the
sacrament, and that to their harm; the true Christian was joined to Christ and the
church. Augustine even allowed that good intention alone could save a Christian
unjustly excluded from the unity of the church or a penitent who was refused a second
opportunity for reconciliation. Thus all performances of the rituals were recognized as
effective but the purifying or polluting effect followed upon the intention of the
recipient rather than the community in which it was performed or status of its
minister.
More generally, Augustine defined the unity of the Catholic church primarily by
intention rather than bodily inclusion. Many
-172persons might be found within the visible, social unity of the church who did not adhere
to its true reality, the union of wills in love of God and neighbor. Schismatics were
presumed to dissent from this unity and thus to be separated from the true church.
Within the church, the union of wills in love rather than joint participation in the
eucharist defined the true church. Thus Augustine distinguished within the social unity
of the church between the society of saints and the sinners whom they supported and
tolerated in the hope that they might be converted and saved. The cohesion and unity of
the visible church spread throughout the world was the visible manifestation and effect
of the mutual love of the saints, through the sharing of the gift of the Holy Spirit. A
union constituted by love of God and forgiveness of neighbor could not transmit sin and
guilt. Thus the true church remained pure and holy, though indistinguishable from the
visible communion.
Finally, Augustine explained that the gift of the Holy Spirit which Christ bestowed
upon his disciples in Jn. 20.22-3 was given to the whole church, or more specifically to
the true church formed by the society of saints within the visible church, and not to the
episcopal college alone. Christ had empowered his true disciples to forgive sins and the
saints performed this service by their prayer and intercession. The bishops acted as the
agents of the true church, exercising a power which individual leaders may or may not

have shared. 8 Thus the standards of purity which Cyprian had applied to the bishops
were more appropriately applied to the society of saints which constituted the true
church than to either the entire assembly of the faithful or the episcopal college. The
purity of the saints was itself maintained by the sharing of the Spirits gift of charity,
which covers and wins forgiveness for their sins. 9
As a corollary of these positions, Augustine redefined the episcopal college so that it
was constituted by the same means as the communion of the church, the sharing of
charity. An unworthy bishop might hold a place in the visible assembly of his
colleagues, just as he did in his local church. He was not, however, joined to them in
charity and they tolerated rather than approved him as an office holder. The episcopal
college, like the local church communion, could not serve as the instrument for
transmitting guilt because the evil were not members of its true inner reality.
The Catholics, no less than the Donatists, had to modify the theology of Cyprian to
make it fit the structures of their church. Some of Augustines transformations of
Cyprians thought, such as the understanding of the unity of the local and universal
church as
-173-

the invisible society of saints constituted by the charity which inspires love of God and
neighbor, and the distinction between the performance of a ritual and its sanctifying
effect, were shifts from a behavioral to an intentional standard which followed upon the
loss of the sharply defined boundary of the community. Others were necessary to deal
with problems arising from the application of Cyprians theory, such as the transfer of
the sanctifying power from the bishops to the invisible society of saints and the
redefinition of the episcopal college itself, which avoided the unresolved problems of
the ministry of unworthy bishops, whether known or hidden. Much of Cyprians
heritage remained well established, particularly the belief that salvation must be
mediated through a social institution which acts through its rituals.
The theology of Cyprian was not only transformed by the changed social circumstances
of Christianity in Roman Africa during the fourth and fifth centuries; it also shaped
those churches. The Donatist church was inconceivable outside Africa and won no
support elsewhere. The theology of Augustinenot only his understanding of the
church and its sacraments but of grace and divine electionwas immediately accepted
in the African Catholic church shaped by Cyprian but only gradually and with
continuing resistance elsewhere, even in the Latin church.

Uniquely Cyprian
Theologies, particularly theologies which are well rooted in practice, have a hard time

leaving home and settling elsewhere. Yet Cyprians writings, like the relics of his body,
were precious to North African Christians, who were more avid disciples of his than he
had been of Tertullian. As has just been seen, Cyprians understanding of the church
and its sacraments set the terms of debate between Catholics and Donatists and laid the
foundation upon which Augustine was to build much of Latin Christian theology. Some
of Cyprians more important ideas and practices, however, seem to have remained
behind in the third century, or at least not to have been so widely taken up in other
times and places.
This study has revealed, for example, the degree to which Cyprian not only insisted that
the church is in the bishop and cannot be separated from him but also that the bishop is
in the church and cannot act independently. Although his people accepted a hierarchy
of offices and roles within the church, theirs was a voluntary adhesion to the
community and consequently a face-to-174-

face form of government in which the leaders were the subject of immediate and
effective pressure from their people and colleagues. Cyprian steadfastly resisted the
privileges of the martyrs and their laxist supporters but he accommodated his own
judgments to his people and colleagues on many issues. His biographer explained that
his people forced him to serve as their bishop. During the persecution, he agreed to
the reconciliation of dying penitents; afterwards he accepted the distinction between
certified and sacrificers; two years later he affirmed the churchs power to forgive, at
least on earth, the sin of apostasy. He recognized that the lapsed and their supporters
were attracted to the laxist communion, so he cultivated and rewarded their loyalty to
the one church. He observed that the bishop must be prepared to learn as well as to
teach and he followed that principle. 10
Cyprian recognized implicitly in facing the deliberations on the lapsed and explicitly
in the conflict over schismatic baptism that he and his colleagues were dealing with
questions and situations which were truly new and for which, consequently, the
scripture provided inadequate or ambiguous precedents and principles. He followed a
well-established African tradition in seeking the divine guidance of new revelations.
These came in dreams setting forth the reasons for the persecution, in reading the
actions of the Roman government when it instituted torture during the Decian
persecution and threatened renewed prosecution of Christians, in deliberations with
his fellow bishops in council, and in changing established custom to respond to a new
challenge to the unique authority of the church to baptize and sanctify. When the
martyrs urged the reconciliation of all the lapsed, for example, Cyprian responded that
he could find no scriptural foundation for such action and would need some other sign
of divine approval of the proposal. 11 Thus he did not oppose the prophetic charism
within the church but balanced it with the established structures of office.

In opposition to the laxists, both Cyprian and Novatian recognized that the judgment
of Christ and the standards of the kingdom of heaven might be significantly different
from those of the earthly church. The laxists claimed that the advisory and
intercessory role promised the martyr at the judgment of Christ should be exercised in
the decisions made by the people and bishop. Cyprian clearly distinguished the
earthly deliberations of the church from the final judgment of Christ and refused to
accept any role for the martyr. Moreover, in making his decisions, Cyprian
recognized that the earthly church could judge a persons dispositions only on the
basis
-175-

of conduct and behavior; reading the intentions of the heart belonged to Christ alone.
Hence he was prepared to loosen sins on earth while recognizing that Christ might not
loosen them in heaven. Yet he insisted that the judgment of the church, and particularly
its binding of sinners on earth, would be binding in heaven. Christ might reject some
whom the bishop had accepted but Christ would not reverse the rejection pronounced
by the bishop; instead he would require from the hands of the bishop those to whom he
had refused the peace of the church on earth. Novatian seems to have taken a contrary
stand, that Christ might loosen and forgive sins which the church had been denied the
authority to loosen. While Cyprian and his community seem to have believed firmly
that the communion of the church was the earthly sign and the only way to gain access
to the kingdom of heaven, they had already recognized that some in the church might
not be admitted to the kingdom. Yet they were content to act with the resources at their
disposal for judging individuals, for binding and loosening.
Finally, following Tertullian before him, Cyprian asserted that the church itself was an
integral part of Christian faith and the necessary means of salvation. To submit to the
rituals and invoke the intercessory role of the church was, he would explain, to confess
Christ and thus to reverse the sin of apostasy. His episcopal colleagues should, he
suggested, reflect upon the creed in which the forgiveness of sins was professed as
given through the church. Most tellingly, Cyprian insisted upon the necessity and the
efficacy of the churchs rituals for establishing and maintaining the heavenly standing
of the Christian. Sins must be repented, confessed and forgiven in the church because
there was no such ritual in the grave after death. The eucharist joined the community
and each of its members to Christ, empowering them to offer their bodies and shed their
blood for him. The Holy Spirit who would give the Christians words to speak before the
proconsul was conferred by the imposition of the bishops hands. He believed and led
others to believe that the local communion of the Christian church was actually, though
not exclusively, the enclosed garden, the fruitful paradise, the bride of Christ, the
earthly reality of the kingdom of heaven.
The Christian church in Africa would grow, in divergent and opposed ways, and be

nourished by the life of Cyprians church. His disciples would change and adapt much
of what he defended and held dear. The Christians of AfricaCatholic and Donatists
alike-held him their father in faith and celebrated his triumph each year, with singing
and dancing.
-176-

NOTES
PREFACE
1

Mary Douglas, Cultural Bias, in The Active Voice, Boston, Routledge & Kegan
Paul, 1982, pp. 183-254.

Mary Douglas, Natural Symbols, 2nd edn, Barrie and Jenkins, 1973, and with a new
introduction, London, Routledge, 1996.

E.W. Benson, Cyprian: His Life, His Times, His Work, London, Macmillan, 1897.

Michael M. Sage, Cyprian, Cambridge, MA., Philadelphia Patristic Foundation,

1975.

Clarke, Letters 1-4.

In addition to the introduction to the CCL edition and the extensive bibliography
listed therein, see The Tradition of Manuscripts: A Study in the Transmission of St.
Cyprians Treatises, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1961.

Michael A. Fahey, SJ, Cyprian and the Bible: a Study of Third-Century Exegisis,
Tbingen, J.C.B. Mohr, 1971.

On Rebaptism: Social Organization in the Third Century Church, Journal of Early

Christian Studies, 1 (1993):367-403.

Confessing the Church: Cyprian on Penance, Studia Patristica, ed. Edward

Yarnold, SJ. and Maurice Wiles, Leuven, Peeters, 2001, 36:338-48.

1
HISTORY OF CYPRIANS CONTROVERSIES
1

Pontius, uita Cyp. 5; ep. 43.1.2.

The edict itself has not survived. See Clarke, Letters 1:27-8 for evidence that the
requirements may have extended to those who were not citizens as well.

For the current state of scholarship on the libelli, see Clarke, Letters 1:26-7, 134,
n.135. Striking witness to the process of compliance is provided in epp. 8.2.3, 21.3.2.
In ep. 43-3, Cyprian made an oblique reference to the five commissioners who
supervised the procedures in Carthage.

The certificate provided to those who complied with the edict does not mention the
renunciation of any other religious loyalty. The central statement in the surviving
Egyptian copies of libelli runs, I have always and without interruption sacrificed to
the gods, and now in
-177-

your presence in accordance with the edicts decree I have made sacrifice, and
poured a libation, and partaken of the sacred victims. See J.R. Knipfing, The
Libelli of the Decian Persecution, Harvard Theological Review, 16 (1923):345-90.
In the two accounts of the martyrdoms of bishops during the subsequent persecution
of Valerian, they were not required to disavow Christianity but only to participate in
the Roman cult. Of course, even an apostate Christian would have committed perjury
by swearing the required statement. See the acta proc. 3-4 for the interrogation and
sentencing of Cyprian and Eusebius, h.e. 7.11, for Dionysius of Alexandria.
5

The clergy had full access to the imprisoned confessors, including the holding of
services in the prison, epp. 5.2.1, 12.1.1-2.2. Christians were apparently witnesses to
the death under torture of some of the confessors, ep. 10.2.2. For the full evidence,
see Clarke, Letters 1:132, n.118.

G.W. Clarke, Some Observations on the Persecution of Decius, Antichthon, 3

(1969):63-76. On the Jewish exemption from the edict, see Clarke, Letters 1:131,
n.117. Christians were disliked as a separatist group which did not participate in
common rituals, see ep. 7.1. This resentment was the principal danger to the
presbyters visiting the confessors in prison and to the Christians in the city, epp.
5.2.1, 6.4, 40.1.

Eusebius, h.e. 6.40. He was subsequently rescued by other Christians.

The death of Fabian was first noted in Cyprians ep. 9-1.1, in response to him
receiving a copy of a eulogy from the Roman clergy.

Cyprian defended his conduct to the Roman clergy in ep. 20.1.2. This letter gave a
summary of the progress of the persecution and the Christian response to it through
the summer of 250. Throughout his exile, Cyprian insisted that he had withdrawn
because of the danger which his presence, as both a notable person in the city and the
leader of the Christian community, posed for the community itself. See epp. 7.1,
14.1.2-2.1, 43.4.2.

10 Cyprian later charged that many Christians in Carthage eagerly complied with the
edict as soon as it was promulgated, ep. 11.8; lap. 7-9. Epp. 15.4, 24.1 imply that
some involved their dependants as well. For evidence of compliance at Rome, see
ep. 8.2.311 Those who obtained certificates either did so in person or through an agent by a
payment. Some later asserted that they had explained to the imperial commissioners

that they were Christians and could not comply with the edict. They regarded the
payment as a fine or bribe. By this means, some Christians were able to exempt and
to protect their families and dependants. Similarly, some of the sacrificers also seem
to have protected other Christians by their compliance. On the different attitudes, see
epp. 21.3.2, 55.13-2-14.2, 26.1. Precedents for the use of subterfuge are detailed in
note 58 below.
12 See epp. 14.1.1, 11.8. Cyprian later indicated that the majority of the Christians at
Carthage had failed to honor their commitment to Christ, lap. 4, 7. In addition, some
of the bishops in Africa and Italy complied and even led their whole congregations
into idolatry, epp. 55.11.2, 59-10.3.
-17813 Cyprian expected their torture and deaths, ep. 6.1-2. The problems addressed in ep.
13 made it clear that many of the confessors had been released and rejoined the
community; see also ep. 14.2.2. The punishment of exile was also indicated in ep.
13.4.1. Ep. 19.2.3 showed that some of the exiles had suffered confiscation of their
property.
14 Epp. 10.1.1-2.3, 12.1.2, 20.2.2, 21.4.1, 22.2.1. When the Roman confessor been
held for eight months already, apparently without formal trial, epp. 31.1.1, 5.1,
37.1.3. The experience of Celerinus in Rome was recounted in ep. 39.2.2. For the
dating, see Clarke, Letters 1:226.
15 For death under torture in Carthage, see epp. 11.1.3, 10.1.2-2.3, 12.1.3, 22.2.2. In
Rome, the presbyter Moyses seems to have died under these conditions; in ep.
55.5.2, Cyprian referred to him as a martyr.
16 Lap. 13; epp. 24, 25, 55.13.2, 56.1.
17 The letter of the Roman clergy to Cyprian, written by Novatian, rejected any
distinction between those who sacrificed and those who acquired certificates by
other means, ep. 30.3.1.
18 Ep. 21.3.2.
19 This policy is enunciated in ep. 8.2.3-3.1 and repeated in ep. 30.8. In ep. 30.8 it is
identified as the common practice of the bishops in the area. In a similar way, the
comfort of baptism was to be extended to a catechumen in danger of death, ep.
8.3.1.
20 The Roman confessors urged restraint on their counterparts in Carthage, ep. 28.2.3.
Their following of the policy of delay was also indicated in the letter of the Roman
clergy, ep. 30.4, and in the confessors own letter to Cyprian, ep. 31.6.2-7.1.
Celerinus appeal from Rome to the confessors in Carthage attempted to evade this
policy, ep. 21.3.2.

21 Cyprian became aware of this problem before mid-April 250, if ep. 14.4 indicated
this practice. He treated it in epp. 15-17, which date from May of that year. See
Clarke, Letters 1:254-5, 261, 269-70 for dating. Ep. 16.3.2 indicated that the death
of the martyr was necessary for the validation of the letter of peace. See Tertullian,
pud. 22, for an earlier witness.
22 Ep. 16.2.3. The letters may have specified that the lapsed were to be admitted to
communion only after peace had been restored to the church as a whole, epp.
15.1.1, 16.3.2.
23 Cyprian charged that favors were extended to certain individuals and that some
persons were actually selling the letters, ep. 15.3-4.
24 Epp. 22.2.1, 27.1.1. See also ep. 21 which requested such a letter of peace. One of
the martyrs, Paulus, authorized another of the confessors, Lucianus, to grant peace
in his name after his death to whoever asked, ep. 22.2.1.
25 Ep. 16.2.3 specified the procedures which must be followed in the reconciliation of
a penitent. Cyprian reminded his clergy and people of the seriousness of the sin of
apostasy, epp. 16.2.2, 17.2.1. Still, he seems to have been assuming that
forgiveness could be given, though perhaps only by Christ after death, epp. 17.3.12, 18.2.1.
26 Cyprian seems to have regarded the persecution as Gods chastisement of the
church for its sinfulness. He insisted that granting peace to
-179those who had fallen would incur the divine wrath and place the entire church in
danger. See epp. 13.6, 11.3-7, 15.2.1, 16.1.2, 17.1.2.
27 He referred explicitly to the intercessory power of the martyrs, ep. 18.1.2. Earlier, he
cited the precedents of the African church to restrain the confessors in the
distribution of letters, ep. 15.3.1. At the same time, he instructed that catechumens
were also to be allowed the peace of the church through baptism, if they were in
danger of death, ep. 18.2.2. See Clarke, Letters 1:29528 His policy had caused conflict in Carthage between those who had letters of peace
and those who did not, ep. 19.2.1-3. In ep. 20.3.2, he broadened the dispensation to
include all dying penitents. This might not have seemed a significant concession to
Cyprian at the time he made it, since he seemed then to have shared Novatians
belief that penitents would appear before the tribunal of Christ even if they had not
been admitted to the communion of the church. For the Roman practice, see notes
19-20 above.
29 Ep. 19.2.1. Elsewhere in Africa some of the lapsed were tried a second time and
refused to comply. Some suffered torture, ep. 56.1, and others were exiled with loss
of goods, thereby restoring themselves to the peace of the church, epp. 24.1-2, 25.1-

2. See Clarke, Letters 1:346 for the location of Caldonius see, where these events
took place. The Roman clergy envisaged an involuntary second arrest following
repentance, ep. 8.3.1.
30 Ep. 17.3.2, the Romans agreed to this procedure in ep. 30.5.3.
31 The consensus is reported in ep. 26.2, written in late summer 250.
32 Epp. 15.1.2, 16.3.2, 23.
33 Ep. 22.2.1 of Lucianus to the confessor Celerinus in Rome, announced that the
martyr Paulus had authorized him to grant peace to anyone who asked. The
confessors as a group had then decided to grant peace to everyone. Ep. 23 announced
this decision to Cyprian and instructed him to communicate it to the other bishops.
34 Ep. 26, to which he appended his correspondence with Caldonius on the
reconciliation of those who had confessed the faith after an initial failure, epp. 24,
25. He also sent an urgent letter to the Roman clergy, which had not yet
corresponded directly with him, ep. 27. In addition, it seems that the Roman
confessors had written to their counterparts in Carthage, attempting to restrain them,
ep. 28.2.1.
35 Ep. 33.2.1, they did have certificates from the martyrs.
36 Cyprians ep. 33 responded to these letters. His letter to the Roman clergy recorded
the claim that the martyrs had already given peace, ep. 35.1, and the response of the
Roman clergy reported the claim that peace had been already given in heaven, ep.
36.1.2.
37 The rebels seem to have written anonymously, in the name of the church. Cyprian
responded that the church was built upon the bishop, the clergy and the faithful who
had remained standing. He demanded that the correspondents identify themselves,
ep. 33.1.1-2, 2.2.
38 Ep. 31.6.2. Ep. 30 from the clergy and ep. 31 from the confessors were sent in
response to Cyprians report of the general amnesty granted by the confessors in
Carthage. Ep. 35, from the clergy, followed the receipt of a copy of the subsequent
letter in which the lapsed claimed immediate peace.
-18039 Ep. 31.7.2-8.1. Celerinus appeal to the confessors in Carthage indicated that the
Roman confessors actually followed this policy, ep. 21.3.2.
40 Ep. 32.1-2.
41 Cyprian commented on the difficult position of the loyal clergy in epp. 26.1, 4,
27.2.2, and reported that some had been forced to grant the peace in ep. 27.3.1. There
is no reason to believe that such pressure would have been stopped by the

distribution of the letters from Rome.

42 Epp. 34.1, 38.2.2, 39.1.1 mentioned these collaborators.
43 Two clerics, one a confessor, had been appointed during the summer of 250, to serve
as couriers in the extensive correspondence of that period, ep. 29. The new readers,
Aurelius and Celerinus, were famous confessors, and were marked out to become
presbyters in the future, epp. 38.1.2-3, 39-4.1-5.2. Numidicus, also a martyr and
already a presbyter, was enrolled among the clergy of Carthage and destined for the
episcopate, ep. 40.3.
44 The bishop Caldonius and the presbyters Rogatianus and Numidicus can be
identified as confessors; the status of the bishop Herculanus cannot be confirmed.
See ep. 41 for the identity of the commission and epp. 24.1.1, 40, 43.1.1 for the
status of the confessors.
45 The status of the identified leader, Felicissimus, is somewhat uncertain, though he
seems to have been a deacon, see Clarke, Letters 2:204-5. The role of the five
presbyters is asserted in ep. 43.1-3. The laity who supported the movement may have
feared the loss of financial support, since Cyprian had specified that it should be
given only to those who had been faithful, epp. 5.1.2, 12.2.2, 14.2.1.
46 Ep. 41.2.1-2. The sentence against Felicissimus and some of his lay supporters was
reported by the commission in ep. 42, an action joined by the bishop Victor. Cyprian
pronounced sentence on the presbyters in ep. 43.1.2. The refugee presbyter Gaius
may have been excommunicated earlier, ep. 34.1.
47 Ep. 43.4.2; unit. 12, 20-23, and Clarke, Letters 2:214, n.2.
48 Ep. 43.3.1, 6.1-7.2.
49 Decius himself was not killed until June of that year. The imperial action had
apparently ceased earlier but Cyprian remained in exile because of the fear of
popular action upon his return. See ep. 43.4.2.
50 The characterizations were apparently derived from the position taken by the group
during the assembly. Tertullian described the penitents as prone, begging for the
intercession of their standing colleagues. See paen. 10.6.
51 This division of the community grouped the fugitives, such as Cyprian, and all those
who had escaped detection in Carthage with the public heroes, lap. 2, 3. Any who
had lacked this firm intention to confess (should it have been required by the
imperial commissioners) were invited to repent privately of their failure, lap. 28; ep.
55.13.2-14.1.
52 Lap. 7-9, 27-28, 36. Cyprian upheld the Roman position that no distinction was to be
made between the certified and the sacrificers, ep. 30.3.1.
53 Lap. 15-16, 34. The same charge had been made in ep. 43.2.2-3.2, and would be
repeated in unit. 1-3 and ep. 59.12.2-13.2.

-181-

54 Vnit. 19, 23. Bvenot indicates that chapter 19, like chapter 4, of this treatise
underwent a subsequent revision. Both versions survived. See his Hi qui
sacrificaverunt, Journal of Theological Studies, 5 (1954):68-72. This issue will be
revisited in chapters 5 and 8.
55 In one early version, the primacy of Peter provided an argument for the unity of the
local church under its bishop, lap. 4.
56 Probably in late April, about a month after Easter, according to Clarke, Letters
2:222.
57 Ep. 55.6.1.
58 Ep. 55.13.2-14.2. Tertullian indicated that the practice of paying bribes in order to
avoid prosecution was widespread among the wealthy Christians of Carthage and
even institutionalized in the case of one church. Christians regularly signed or
accepted business contracts which were sworn before the Roman deities, though
they avoided actually pronouncing the oaths. See idol. 23 and fuga 5.3, 12-14.
59 Ep. 55.17.3, a decision which Cyprian defended by noting the confu-sion and even
compulsion under which the certified acted, ep. 55.14.1, 26.1.
60 Ep. 55.17.3. Some of them, of course, would recover from the illness and would
remain in the peace of the church, ep. 55.13.1.
61 Ep. 55.23.4.
62 Ep. 55.6.2. For information on this meeting, see Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.2 and Clarke,
Letters 3:172.
63 Ep. 45.1.2, 4.1. Clarke suggests that an independent commission of bishops, of
which Cyprian was not a member, investigated the dispute and decided on the
formal excommunication, Letters 2:242-3.
64 Ep. 59.10.1, where the action is reported to Cornelius. Fortunatianus of Assuras,
who had failed in the persecution, tried to regain his see sometime during this year,
ep. 65.1.1. For the dating, see Clarke, Letters 3:316-7.
65 In epp. 52.2.5 and 54.3.1, written after some of the confessors abandoned
Novatian, Cyprian indicated that the parties divided over the policy of reconciling
the lapsed. For the support of the confessors, see epp. 49.1.4, 54.2.2. Cornelius
account of the events is preserved in Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.5-20.
66 Ep. 45.2.1-3.1.
67 Epp. 44.1.2-2.2, 45.3.1

68 Ep. 44.1.3.
69 Cornelius reported on the events in ep. 4970 Because of miscommunication, the church at Hadrumetum initially recognized
Cornelius and then withdrew its approval pending the report of the episcopal
commission. Cornelius protested the withdrawal of support and Cyprian tried to
explain the sequence of events, ep. 48. Cyprian later considered Cornelius
altogether too willing to entertain the Carthaginian rebels complaints against him,
in apparent retaliation for his own questioning of Cornelius credentials, ep. 59.1-2,
18.
71 Cyprian recounted the agreement in ep. 55.6.2.
72 Cyprian argued that the Italian bishops had no real options in this case, ep. 55.11.
He expressed horror of lapsed clergy in epp. 65.1-2, 4, 67.3, 9.
-182-

73 Cornelius provided a detailed defense of this decision to Cyprian in ep. 49. The
confessors themselves claimed to have been deceived by Novatian, ep. 53. Cyprian
congratulated Cornelius and the confessors on their reunion without comment on
the procedures adopted, epp. 51, 54.
74 Novatian apparently sent letters to African bishops attacking Cornelius practices.
The charges can be reconstructed from Cyprians responses to accusations drawn
from that letter in his ep. 55. Cornelius was charged with entering into communion
with idolaters: bishops who had sacrificed (10), Trofimus and his congregation
(11), sacrificers among the laity (12), and those who received certificates (14-15).
Cyprians letter implies that Novatian denied reconciliation to all the penitent
lapsed, even at the time of death (17-18, 26, 28).
75 Ep. 44.3.1.
76 Ep. 50.1.1-2.
77 Ep. 55 responding to such an attack defended Cornelius person and policies; it
also pointed up inconsistencies in Novatians own behavior.
78 Ep. 59.9.2, not to be confused with the confessor presbyter who had returned to
Cornelius, epp. 53, 51.1.1. Earlier references to this individual as a supporter of
Novatian appear in epp. 44.1.1, 50.1.1. See Clarke, Letters 2:226, 278, 3:249 for
his identity.
79 Cyprian detailed the background of each member of this group for Cornelius, see
ep. 59.10.

80 Ep. 59.1.1-2.5.
81 During the persecution, his position on the exclusion of the lapsed had resembled
the rigorist stance of the now disgraced Novatian.
82 In ep. 59-15.1-16.2, Cyprian defended his own practice as extremely lenient; in ep.
59.18.1, he referred to Novatians threat and closed with the specific request that
his own letter of defense be read out to the Roman community as a whole, ep.
59.19-1.
83 Ep. 55.13.1. The plague which Cyprian described in detail in de mortalitate would
have influenced the decision to grant peace to those expected to die.
84 Ep. 59.16.1-2.
85 Ep. 57.1.2-2.1.
86 Epp. 57.1.1, 68.5.1. Pressure from the laxist church may have influenced this
decision. In arguing for it, Cyprian asserted that the sacrificers needed the strength
which only the bishops could provide to face the coming challenge, ep. 57.4.1-4.
He admitted to having perceived no such need during the prior persecution when
the lapsed were urged to regain the communion of the church by publicly
confessing their faith, ep. 19.2.3. The peace was to be extended, of course, only to
those who had submitted to the authority of the bishops.
87 Ep. 57.4.1-4. In his subsequent letter praising Cornelius confession of faith,
Cyprian pointed to the triumph of the united Roman church, including those who
had failed during the earlier persecution, as a sign of the efficacy of this policy, ep.
60.2.1-5.
88 Ep. 57.5.1-2.
89 Ep. 60.1-2. Cyprian interpreted this public display by the penitents as a confession
of faith by which they reversed their prior failure and earned the peace of the
church.
-18390 On Cornelius death, see ep. 61.3.1; on his adoption of the lenient policy, see ep.
68.5.1.
91 Ep. 68.5.1. On the exile, see ep. 61.1.1-2.
92 Ep. 68, written late in 254 or early in 255. Cyprian argued that a bishop who
dissented from this common decision of his colleagues could not be participating in
the same Spirit (5.2). The Novatianist in Arles apparently posed no threat to
Stephens authority in Rome.
93 Ep. 67, esp. 9.1-3. Cornelius had admitted Trofimus, a sacrificer, but only as a
layman. Cyprian allowed that Stephen might have been deceived by the petitioner

but that would neither excuse his violating established procedure by overruling the
local church nor protect him from the danger of pollution by the apostate, ep. 67.4-5.
94 Tertullian disputed the practice in bapt. 15.
95 The question of custom and the change made by the Africans appears in epp. 70.1.2,
71.2.1, 73.13.1. Reference to the council under Agrippinus appears in epp. 71.4.1,
73.3.1. Though Cyprian tried to hide the fact, Firmilian of Caesarea in Cappadocia
explained that, unlike the Asians, the Africans had actually changed their practice in
the council, ep. 75.19-3. For a full discussion of the council under Agrippinus, see
Clarke, Letters 4:196-9.
96 The identity of faith appeared as an argument for the efficacy of Novatians baptism
in ep. 69.7.1; the argument was pushed back to Marcion in ep. 73.4-5.
97 The treatise de rebaptismo may also have been written in Africa before Cyprians
death. See J. Quasten, Patrology 2:368.
98 According to Clarke, Letters 4:173-4. The dating of the letters of this controversy
will be considered more fully in chapter 6.
99 Ep. 70. This meeting was held in 254 or 255; the later date is judged more likely by
Clarke, Letters 4:192-3.
100 Ep. 72.1.1-3. This letter also indicated that Stephen may have been admitting
schismatic clerics to office, contrary to all established policy, ep. 72.2.1-3. Along
with it went copies of the letter sent by the council to the bishops of Numidia (ep.
70) and Cyprians subsequent letter to Quintus in Mauretania (ep. 71).
101 The vehemence of Stephens response might have been caused, in part, by his receipt
in the same packet of a copy of the letter to the Spanish congregations (ep. 67), in
which he was strongly criticized. For the conjectural dating, see Clarke, Letters
4:139-40, 142-4.
102 Stephens letter has been lost (or discarded, since the Roman correspondence
survived only in the African collection); his position was reported in Cyprians letter
to Pompeius, ep. 74.1-3.
103 The reference to excommunication can be found in ep. 74.8.2, as something well
known to the addressee. Firmilian of Caesarea reported that Stephen had broken
communion with the bishops of Asia as well on this same issue, ep. 75.24.2, 25.1. He
added that Stephen had characterized Cyprian as a false Christ, a false apostle and a
deceiver, ep. 75.25.4.
104 Firmilian of Caesarea was presumably not the only bishop whose support Cyprian
sought.
105 The record of the voting is to be found among the works of Cyprian, sententiae
episcoporum numero LXXXVII.

-184106 Cyprian reported Sixtus martyrdom, 6 August 258, in ep. 80.1.4. The uita Cyp. 14
characterized him as peace-loving.
107 On which, W.H.C. Frend, The Donatist Church, Oxford, Oxford University Press,
1952.
2
CHRISTIANS OF CARTHAGE UNDER PERSECUTION
1

Thus Cyprian urged the consecrated virgins to make their wealth available to the
poor, habitu 10-11. After the persecution, the fallen were warned that their love for
property had bound them to the world; they were urged to contribute to the common
chest and thus to place their treasure in heaven, lap. 10-13, 35.

The eucharistic ritual seems to have been celebrated in common on a regular basis,
perhaps even daily, early in the day, ep. 63.15.2, 16.1-2. Mention was never made of
dependence upon particular individuals for assembly space. Moreover, the church
had access to space which could accommodate gatherings of up to eighty-five
bishops, with their assistants, see sententiae episcoporum.

Ep. 41.1.1-2.1 showed the conflict between the laxist party and the bishop for control
of the church funds; the deacon Felicissimus was charged with embezzlement.
Cyprian himself asserted that the funds belonged to the church and were dispensed
by the bishop, ep. 41.2.1. In the support of the confessors, however, both common
and private funds were used: common ep. 5.1.2, private ep. 7.2, unspecified epp.
12.2.2, 13.7, 14.2.2.

Epp. 1.1.2, 34.4.2, 39.5.2.

For support of the poor, widows and those who had given up inappro-priate
professions, epp. 2.2.2, 5.1.2, 7.2. During the persecution, this fund was used to
sustain the poor and the families of the confessors, as well as the confessors
themselves, epp. 5.1.2, 13.7. Cyprian later authorized his representatives to give aid
for setting people up in trade again, ep. 41.1.2. The salaries of the clergy were paid,
ep. 39.5.2; but those who had fled during the persecution were not to be paid when
they returned, ep. 34.4.2.

Ep. 62.3.1-4.2. In this instance, a special collection was made among the laity of
Carthage and Cyprian named the major contributors; he also indicated that bishops
of other cities made gifts in the names of their whole communities.

Epp. 5.1.1-2, 77.3.1, 78.3.1, 79.1.1.

During the persecution, there were some indications that Christians used alms as
bribes to win the intercession of the martyrs from their agents among the confessors,

ep. 15.3.2. Those who had fallen undertook works of charity as a sign of their
commitment, epp. 21.2.2, 4.1, 33.2.1, 33.7.1. In lap. 35, Cyprian exhorted the fallen
to give alms as a method of repentance.
9

Subsequent references to the reconciliation of the lapsed usually indicated the

offering of the sacrifice and the giving of peace, epp. 15.1.2, 16.2.3, 17.2.1. In the
case of the dying penitents, the reference was always to the giving of peace, epp.
18.1.2, 19.2.1, 20.3.1; there was no explicit reference made to offering of sacrifice
and giving of the eucharist.
-185-

10 In ep. 63.13.5, Cyprian made the connection between the united community and the
one loaf which is the body of Christ. He made a similar symbolic connection
between the people and the water which is mixed into the wine in the cup. In ep.
63.16.2, he asserted that the true sacrament was celebrated with the whole
community present, rather than a select portion. It should be noted that this letter
cannot be securely dated; it might indicate attitudes which were in place prior to the
persecution, Clarke, Letters 3:287-8. At the first sign of division, Cyprian stressed
the one altar in the one church, ep. 43.5.2.
11 The laity overrode the objections of a number of presbyters in electing Cyprian, epp.
43.1.2, 59.6.1. The decision once made was reversible only for the gravest infidelity,
epp. 65.4.1, 67.4.1, 5.1.
12 The appointment of clergy was usually with the approval of the laity, epp. 34.4.1,
38.1.1. When Cyprian acted without the agreement of the community, he provided
an explanation, epp. 29-1.2, 38.1.2, 39.1.1, 40.1.1. The bad performance of the
clergy was to be judged by the people as a whole. The threat against rebels was
made, ep. 16.4.2; it would be carried out for the clergy who had taken to flight, ep.
34.4.1; and those who rebelled, ep. 34.3.2.
13 The practice was reported in ep. 59.15.2. During the persecution, Cyprian asserted
that the whole community would be involved in setting policy and judging individual
cases, epp. 14.1.4, 17.3.2, 19.2.1, 20.3.3, 26.1.2.
14 During the persecution, the confessors were called upon to pressure their fellows, ep.
15.3.2, and the people were urged to bring the clergy into line, ep. 17.3.1-2.
Afterwards, Cyprian had to persuade the people to welcome schismatics as penitents,
ep. 59.15.3. Some of these schismatics failed to persevere, perhaps because they
were being shunned, ep. 59.15.4.
15 Thus Cyprian spoke of breaking the sacramentum Christi, lap. 7.
16 Tertullian, idol. 23, fuga 5.3, 12-14. This might have been part of the problem with
having the clergy serve as guardians for minor children in wills, ep. 1.1.1. Cyprian
castigated the fallen for both taking oaths and breaking them, lap. 6.

17 The Roman confessors spoke of the sin of the eyes which had looked upon heathen
images, ep. 31.7.1; for Cyprians own belief, see ep. 58.9.2 and lap. 28.
18 Thus for example ep. 2.1.2 for an actor. Interestingly, the confessor Celerinus, like
his martyr uncles before him, seems to have been in the Roman army because he was
tried before the emperor himself, ep. 39.2.1, 4.
19 Evidence can be found for the presence of wealthy people in the community. Some
had slaves and property to protect, and attempted to add to their patrimony, lap. 6.
Bishops were leaving their sees and flocks to seek estates and loaning money at
interest, lap. 6; ep. 65.3.1. Cyprian urged that Christians should have abandoned
their patrimony, lap. 10, 11, 12; he asserted that the persecution was allowed by God
because the people were seeking after property and profit, ep. 11.1.2. The practices
of personal decoration which Cyprian described in lap. 30, would have required
considerable wealth. The contribution which Cyprian and his community made to the
ransoming of Christians
-186taken captive was quite large. The total gift, of which the Carthaginian Christians
accounted for the greater part, would have fed 12,000 persons for a month, see ep.
62.3.2-4.2, with Clarkes notes in Letters 3:284-5. In addition, Cyprian indicated that
some Christians had large numbers of dependants, both family members and farm
workers, over whom they exercised control and responsibility, ep. 55.13.2.
20 The use of the bath, cosmetics and the concern for wealth were advanced in lap. 6,
30. De habitu uirginum shows that the virgins wanted to retain control of their
property and to follow the Roman practices in dress and use of the baths, habitu 5, 79, 14-19. Ep. 63.15.2 addressed the concern that participation in the morning
eucharist would leave the smell of wine on the breath and thereby identify
Christians, a care which Cyprian characterized as a precursor to apostasy.
21 Cyprian was concerned to replace the tools of the craftsmen, which may have been
confiscated during the persecution, ep. 41.1.2. They needed additional financial
support during the persecution to prevent them from failing, epp. 12.2.2, 14.2.1.
22 During the persecution, some of the poor were supported by church funds, lest their
indigence provide a further temptation to apostasy, epp. 12.2.2, 14.2.1. This was,
moreover, a form of control since those who did fall were cut off from financial
support. Thus in ep. 7.2, Cyprian provided support for all the poor; thereafter he
specified that only those who had stood fast would be given support, epp. 5.1.2,
12.2.2, 14.2.1. The episcopal commission which acted for Cyprian may have been
charged with seeing that none of the fallen were receiving alms from the church, ep.
41.1.2.
23 Lap. 8-9 and ep. 55.13.2 may imply that slaves were forced to comply with the
imperial edict by some Christian masters.

24 L. William Countryman, The Rich Christian in the Church of the Early Empire,
Toronto, Edward Mellen Press, 1980, pp. 22-6.
25 The letter of the Roman clergy to their counterparts in Carthage indicated some level
of resentment of the insignis, ep. 8.2.3. As shall be seen below, the Roman
enforcement of the Decian edict affected the rich and poor in radically different
ways. The upper classes might be subject to confiscation of property and exile but
not to torture, as the lower classes were.
26 The clergy were not allowed to assume financial responsibilities which were
permitted to other Christians, ep. 1.1.1. They were chosen by the bishop with the
advice of the community as a whole, epp. 29.1.2, 34.4.1, 38.1.1 They were paid by
the church, epp. 1.1.2, 34.4.2, according to rank, ep. 39.5.2.
27 The rights of the catechumens are mentioned in epp. 18.2.2, 8.3.1 (Rome). Cyprian
referred to the use of excommunication in ep. 4.4.1-3. He also distinguished others
who were in a probationary state but within the communion: the virgins who had not
been defiled even though they had shared their beds with men were to do penance
and be warned that they would be excommunicated if the practice were repeated, ep.
4.4.1; the persons who had been repeat offenders were treated more harshly,
specifically the men who had slept with virgins, ep. 4.4.1; the clergy who had
abandoned their duties during the perse-187cution were suspended from office but not communion, ep. 34.4.1-2. Even the
persons who had lapsed were still within the church, under the care of the bishops,
who had to look to their salvation, epp. 31.6.3, 35.1.2. If these people fell away
because they were not offered the hope of reconciliation, the bishops would be held
responsible by Christ, ep. 55.6.1, 15.1, 17.2. Finally, some persons were in a
penitential state or subject to certain restrictions within rather than outside the
communion: those who sinned only in their intention during the persecution, lap.
28.
28 Epp. 43.1.2, 55.8.4, 59.5.2-3, 64.4.1-2, 66.1.2.
29 Epp. 65.4.2, 66.10.1, 67.3.1-5.2, 68.2.1-4.3.
30 Cyprian complained of bishops who abandoned their pastoral responsibilities to
pursue personal financial advantage, lap. 6. He even recommended that one be
excommunicated after his death for financial irregularities, ep. 1.2.1, with
Clarke, Letters 1:151, n. 4. Moreover, Cyprian had to explain his own voluntary
exile as serving the good of all rather than his own protection, epp. 14.1.2, 20.2.1,
43.4.2.
31 Epp. 2.2.2-3, 5.1.2, 12.2.2, 14.2.1, 34.4.2, 39.5.2, 62.3.1-4.2, 77.3.1, 78.3.1, 79.1.1.
32 On appointing clergy, epp. 29.1.2, 38-40, 64.1-2; on their discipline, epp. 3.3.1-3,

16.4.2. Interestingly, a vision of the personified church convinced Celerinus to

accept the ordination which Cyprian had unsuccessfully urged upon him, ep. 391.2.
33 Cyprian took the initiative in calling synods and in writing the reports of them, epp.
3, 4, 56, 57, 58, 62, 63, 64, 70, 72. Cyprian also had the central role in determining
the African policy regarding the lapsed, epp. 25.1.2, 26.1.2, 56, 57.
34 Once they were satisfied that he had not abandoned his office, for example, the
Roman presbyters began to deal primarily with Cyprian himself, epp. 30, 36. His
extensive correspondence with the Roman bishops showed his role as spokesman
for the whole of the African church, epp. 44, 45, 47-52, 59, 61. He also dealt with
problems in Spain, ep. 67, Gaul, ep. 68, and Asia, ep. 75.
35 This claim was advanced during the controversy: the bishops action was evident in
ep. 59-3.3, 4.2. His authority came from God, through the apostles, unit. 4-5, but
was not independent of the community, so that decisions were made with the
advice of all, epp. 14.4, 16.4.2, 17.3.2, 26.1.2. The presbyters and deacons could be
authorized to grant reconciliation, ep. 18.1.2.
36 Ep. 63-14.3. In ep. 5.2.1, Cyprian indicated that the presbyters were celebrating in
the prison but in ep. 16.4.2, he threatened to withdraw authorization to celebrate
from presbyters who were abusing their position.
37 See chapters 3, 4 and 6 for fuller discussions of these roles.
38 Vnit. 4; epp. 33.1.1, 43.5.2, 59.7.3, 66.8.3.
39 In appointing Celerinus and Aurelius readers, Cyprian acknowledged that they
were too young to be presbyters, but still assigned them the higher salaries
appropriate to that rank, ep. 39-5.2.
40 Cyprian asserted that only the bishop was chosen by God, like the apostles were,
epp. 55-9.1, 59-5.3, 66.1.2; the deacons were created by
-188the apostles or bishops, ep. 3.3.1. Deacons may have been assigned to individual
presbyters, epp. 34.1.1, 52.2.3.
41 Ep. 1.1.1. Cyprian claimed that this was a conciliar decision.
42 Ep. 7.2. In ep. 5.1.2 the specification was added that only those who remained
faithful should receive support. This restriction was continued in epp. 12.2.2,
14.2.1. The commission established by Cyprian during his exile may have had the
responsibility of weeding the lapsed from the welfare rolls, see ep. 41.1.2.
43 Epp. 4, 62.2.3. The virgins retained their property, though they were exhorted to

use it for the good of the church, habitu 7, 11.

44 Thus Cyprian seems to have been particularly concerned not only for their physical
integrity, ep. 4.1.1, 3.1, 4.1, but also for their separation from contact with men
which might undercut their symbolic value, ep. 4.2.1-3, 4.2. Ep. 62.2.3 focused on
the dishonoring of Christian virgins which was an attack on the church as a whole.
In addition, Cyprian demanded that they serve as outstanding examples of that
separation from Roman values which all Christians were to practice, particularly in
regard to clothing and grooming, habitu 11-17.
45 Ep. 18.2.2, they would be rewarded if martyred, ep. 73.22.1-2.
46 For descriptions of the penitential ritual, see epp. 4, 15.1.2, 16.2.3, 17.2.1; lap. 16,
36. The requirement of charitable works is evident in epp. 21.2.2, 31.7.1, and lap.
35. It is also evident that not all of the penitents were excluded from communion:
consider the cases of the virgins whose integrity remained intact despite their
improper relations with men, ep. 4.4.1; and the Christians who admitted that they
would have lapsed had they been called before the Roman authorities, lap. 28.
Peace was to be given to those in danger of death, epp. 20.3.1-2, 55.13.1. The
bishops also had to be concerned that the penitents did not become discouraged and
fail, epp. 4.5.1, 55.17.2, 28.1.
47 During the persecution, Cyprian argued that the Church did not have the right to
turn them away, epp. 18.2.1, 35.1.2 Afterwards, he learned that the community was
occasionally opposed to accepting back schismatics as penitents, ep. 59.15.2-3.
48 Ep. 3.3.3. Such a provision was made for Bishop Trofimus, ep. 55.11.2-3, the
African presbyter Victor, ep. 64.1.1, and the bishops in Spain, ep. 67.6.3. Cyprian
would later put reconciled apostates in this same class.
49 Pontius, uita Cyp. 5.
50 Ep. 43.1.2. Jumping over established clergy was not totally unprece-dented: Fabian
of Rome had been a layman when elected bishop, though he may have been a
Christian of long standing. Eusebius, h.e. 6.29.2-3. Novatian was unfavorably
compared to Cornelius, however, who had a longer record of service in the clergy,
ep. 55.8.2.
51 The initial report of the Carthaginian clergy to their counterparts in Rome set
Cyprians exile in a particularly bad light, if judged by the Roman response, see ep.
8.1.1. For the signs of conflict, see epp. 14.4, 15.1.2 with the explanation provided
by Clarke, Letters 1:266, n. 32. The clergy in Carthage initially refused to respond
to Cyprians letters from exile, ep. 18.1.1. The disaffected presbyters were said to
be the force behind the actions of the confessors as well as the revolt of the deacon
Felicissimus, ep. 43.2.1.
-189-

52 The presbyter Novatus was awaiting discipline for fraud, causing his wifes
miscarriage, and allowing his father to starve, ep. 52.2.5. The deacon Felicissimus,
an associate of Novatus, was charged with stealing and adultery, epp. 41.1.1, 2.1,
59.1.2. Cornelius had similar complaints about some of his clergy, ep. 50.1.2.
53 Habitu 3, 22. They were the glory of the church but they were acting in ways which
did not indicate the separation, habitu 1 and ep. 4.2.1. The same complaint was made
with regard to the other privileged group in the community, the confessors, who were
charged with defiling themselves, not providing good example, and not renouncing
the world, ep. 13.4.1-5.3.
54 Many in the community whom Cyprian grouped as standingwith the confessors
because they had allowed the deadline to pass without complying with the edict also
admitted that they would have fallen, lap. 2-3, 28. The honestiores, however, were a
target for the authorities; their proper course of action was voluntary confession of
Christian faith by abandoning their property to imperial confiscation and
withdrawing into exile, lap. 10. Two of the Carthaginian presbyters were among the
first group of those arrested, which also included whole families, ep. 6. Cyprians
own station was an obstacle to his being in the city because he was a target, not only
as a bishop but as a prominent person, epp. 12.1.1, 20.2.1; his goods were forfeited
and his punishment was demanded by the mob, ep. 62.4.1. Many of the other
presbyters were in little or no danger, ep. 14.2.1. The Roman clergy signaled the
same problem for honestiores, ep. 8.2.3.
55 In contrast, Cyprian was later allowed house arrest and was executed by beheading,
acta proc. 1, 2, 4. He was not subjected to torture, imprisonment or the imperial
mines as were the humiliores in the same persecution, epp. 76-79.
56 Cyprians particular status was noted in epp. 8.1.1, 12.1.1, 43.4.2, 66.4.1.
57 The clergy and a large number of the faithful were even able to visit the confessors
in prison without particular danger, ep. 5.2.1. Some of the clergy, however, did take
to flight, ep. 34.4.1.
58 See note 16 above for Tertullians description of this procedure of giving an oath
without really performing it. Cyprian dealt rather harshly with the certified in lap. 27
but more sympathetically in ep. 55.14.1-2. The Roman clergy indicate that some of
the certified used agents to protect them from contact with idolatry, ep. 30.3.1.
59 A significant number seem to have chosen this route, forcing themselves upon the
magistrates to secure their status, lap. 8.
60 Cyprian made explicit provision for the support of these exiles, who sought the
anonymity of the larger cities, ep. 7.2. Celerinus reported the presence of a large
number of Carthaginian refugees in Rome, who were being cared for by the
penitents, ep. 21.2.2, 4.1.
61 These must include many who later confessed that they would have sacrificed had
they been required to do so, lap. 28.

62 Persons who lost their livelihood because of their Christian commitment were, it will
be recalled, often supported from church funds, ep. 41.1.2. In ep. 34.4.1-2, Cyprian
suspended clergy who had taken to a
-190flight which was perhaps not essentially different from his own voluntary exile;
presumably they were not among the honestiores.
63 Cyprian would make allowance for those who failed under torture but not for those
who faced immediate confiscation of their goods, lap. 10, 13.
64 Epp. 59.6.1, 66.4.1.
65 Epp. 20.1.2, 34.4.1-2. The difference might also be explained, however, by
Cyprians episcopal status. Cyprian claimed that the rest of the clergy were not in the
danger that he was as bishop, ep. 14.2.1. Caldonius had been a confessor before
taking refuge in Carthage, ep. 24.1.1. Herculanus and Victor were bishops in good
standing but were in apparently voluntary exile in Carthage, see epp. 41, 42.
66 Ep. 12.1.1.
67 Ep. 12.1.2, 2.1.
68 Cyprian suggested, from exile, that the ministers visiting the prison should be rotated
so that none became too prominent in the minds of the guards, ep. 5.2.1.
69 Cyprian implied this differentiation in lap. 13-14 as well as ep. 56.2.1-2.
70 They were living riotously, ep. 11.1.3; they refused to subject themselves to the
authority of the clergy, ep. 13.3.2.
71 Cyprian tied this privilege to Wis. 4.8 in ep. 6.2.1, and acknowledged it again in ep.
15.3.1. The Roman confessors also indicated the judging role of the martyr in ep.
31.3, 4.2. Cyprian readily recognized the efficacy of the prayer of the Roman
confessors, who did not use their authority to challenge his own, ep. 37.4.2.
Similarly, he asserted that God himself had chosen the confessor Celerinus for
clerical appointment, ep. 39.1.2.
72 Lap. 8-9; ep. 55.13.2.
73 Lap. 27; epp. 30.3.1, 55.14.1.
74 Lap. 13.
75 Lap. 10.
76 Epp. 19.2.3, 24.1.1, 25.1.1.
77 Ep. 4.2.2-3.2.

78 Epp. 10.1.1-2.1, 11.1.3, 12.1.2, 20.2.2, 22.2.1.

79 Epp. 24.1.1, 25.1.1; lap. 13.
80 Lap. 28.
81 Ep. 20.3.2.
82 Ep. 57.3.1.
83 Epp. 11.7.3, 16.4.2, 19.2.2, 26.1.2.
84 Ep. 18.1.1 indicated that the clergy had been ignoring Cyprians frequent letters. The
letter of the Roman clergy criticized Cyprian for having left Carthage, ep. 8.1.1-2.1.
85 They might have used Mt. 10.32, along with Mt. 10.19-20 as foundation for their
claim of freedom, see epp. 10.3, 12.1.3.
86 Cyprian called for such pressure from the clergy, the other confessors, and the
faithful people, epp. 13, 14.
87 Cyprian first addressed this practice in epp. 15-17, directed to the confessors, clergy
andfor the first timeto the laity. Ep. 31.3, of the Roman confessors, witnessed to
the belief that martyrs entered immediately into heaven.
-19188 Mappalicus gave letters only to his mother and sister, ep. 27.1.1, in contrast with the
practice of giving general letters, naming whole households, ep. 15.4.
89 Thus did Lucianus claim in the case of Paul, ep. 22.2.1. In ep. 23 the confessors
granted peace to all the lapsed.
90 Especially, ep. 23.
91 Cyprian excused the self-interest of the fallen in ep. 15.2.1, directed to their patron
confessors.
92 Cyprian even made excuses for the confessors and laid the burden of responsibility
squarely on the clergy, ep. 16.3.2. This tactic might have accurately reflected the
authority which the confessors enjoyed among the faithful, which placed them above
direct attack. He was similarly circumspect in writing to his clergy about the general
letter of amnesty issued by the confessors, ep. 26.1.1.
93 Ep. 15.2.2-4.1.
94 Ep. 25.1.2.
95 Epp. 16.3.2, 43.2.1-3.2, 59.12.1-2.
96 The

provided evidence of multiple gatherings or house-churches in Carthage. Ep.

difference 41.2.1 referred to those communicaturos in monte secum, which might

in
indicate a subcommunity established on the Byrsa which had become
controllingseparatist (CCL 3C:197.34). Cyprians addresses to the community upon his
the lapsed return, however, indicated some plenary meetings of the church.
s access to
the
eucharist
97 In contrast, the presbyters in Rome had little difficulty in maintaining control over
both the confessors and the lapsed, epp. 8, 21, 30.
3
NECESSITY OF REPENTANCE
1

The text of Mt. 10.32-3 played a significant role in the evaluation of the behavior of
the lapsed. See Cyprians use in epp. 12.1.3, 58.3.2, 59.12.2, and lap. 20.

Ep. 55.17.2.

Cyprian provided examples of financial irregularity, disrespect for parents, and

sexual infractions, epp. 1, 4, 42.2.1, 52.3. For a description of the ritual of penance
itself, see Tertullian, paen. 9-12, and Cyprian, epp. 4, 15.1.2, 16.2.3, 17.2.1; lap. 16,
36.

Adultery had originally been one of the excluding sins. Tertullian objected to the
granting of readmission after penance in pud. 1.6 and Cyprian noted that some
bishops had resisted the change, ep. 55.21.1.

Such, it will be recalled, was the policy which Cyprian had urged during the
persecution and which the Roman presbyters supported, epp. 20.3.1-2, 55.13.1.

Ep. 31.3. Tertullian objected to the procedure of appeal to the martyrs for reversal of
the sin of adultery in pud. 22.

Ep. 13.

To use Mary Douglas terminology, the laxist churches shifted downward on the
group scale; some members were forced upward on the grid scale by the martyrs and
their allies, who moved themselves downward on that scale, toward greater
autonomy. See Cultural Bias,
-192-

in The Active Voice, Boston, Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1982, pp.183-254.
9

Thus in epp. 7.1, 14.1.2, 20.1.2. At the end of the persecution, he delayed his return
for the same reason, ep. 43.4.2.

10 They were to vary the persons who went to visit the confessors being held in prison,
ep. 5.2.1.
11 Assistance was to be provided to the widows, the sick, the poor and the refugees, ep.
7.2, but only on condition that they remained faithful, epp. 5.1.2, 12.2.2, 14.2.1.
12 Epp. 5.1.2, 12.1.1, 13.7.
13 Ep. 14.2.2.
14 Epp. 5.1.2, 13.7, though he recognized that individuals were providing help directly
to the exiled confessors, epp. 13-7, 14.2.2. The subsequent charges of theft of church
funds which were directed against rebel clergy would seem to indicate that they had
served as agents for the distribution of these monies, see epp. 41.1.1, 52.2.5, 59.1.2.
15 The three visions, temporally separated, were narrated in ep. 11.3-5. It was revealed
that the community as a whole had refused to pray for certain particular members, as
it had been commanded, and thereby provoked Gods wrath.
16 Ep. 11.1.2, 5.1, 5.3, 7.2.
17 Ep. 11.1.3. This also served as a warning that the community must bring them into
line.
18 Ep. 11.1.1, 5.1, 5.3, 6.2.
19 Ep. 11.7.3-8. This would have corrected the primary cause of the persecution, the
disharmony in prayer specified in ep. 11.3.1-2.
20 Ep. 6.2.1.
21 Epp. 13.4-5, 14.3.2.
22 Epp. 13.2.1, 14.2.2; indeed they might expect even more savage attacks after their
victory, ep. 14.3.1.
23 Ep. 10. He clarified the role itself by declaring that even those who had died as a
result of deprivations in prison rather than under torture must be regarded as martyrs,
ep. 12.1.2-3.
24 Ep. 12.1-2.
25 Ep. 11, which explained the causes of the persecution, seems to have been written in
late April 250. Within a few weeks, Cyprian wrote epp. 15-17, dealing with the
letters of peace. The reference in the earlier ep. 14.4 may have raised this problem
already. On the dating, see Clarke, Letters 1:238-40.
26 Ep. 15.2.1-3.
27 Ep. 15.3.2, 16.4.1, 17.1.2. In accepting the unpurified lapsed, the presbyters were
placing the whole church in danger of offending the Lord, ep. 16.1.2.

28 He addressed three separate letters, to the confessors, the clergy and the whole
people, with instructions that all three were to be read to each group, epp. 15.4,
16.4.2, 17.3.2.
29 Ep. 15.
30 Ep. 16.1.2; the confessors and the people were also urged to remind the presbyters of
the limits of their authority, epp. 15.1.2, 17.2.1.
31 Ep. 16.4.2.
-19332 Ep. 17, especially 3.1. In particular, the warning that the clergy would have to
answer to the entire community authorized the laity to apply pressure, ep. 16.4.2.
33 Ep. 17.2.2.
34 Ep. 14.4. A thinly veiled rebuke to the presbyters who had opposed his election and
now acted independently of both himself and the community.
35 Ep. 17.1.2, to the people; repeated in ep. 19-2.2 to the clergy.
36 Reported in epp. 25.1.2, 26.1.2.
37 Epp. 18.1.2, 19.1.1. At this point, Cyprian might have believed that the penitents
could be accepted by Christ without being admitted to the peace of the church.
38 Ep. 20.3.2. The Roman practice, which had been announced in Carthage and may be
presumed to have increased popular pressure for this concession.
39 Ep. 19.2.3. His subsequent recall of this command indicated that he meant it, ep.
55.4.1-2.
40 Epp. 24.1.2, 25; lap. 13.
41 Ep. 18.2.1.
42 Indeed, the concession of communion to all the dying penitents seems to have been
forced by popular sentiment. The restriction announced in ep. 18.1.2 and reiterated in
ep. 19.2.1 was soon removed, as reported in ep. 20.3.2.
43 Ep. 15.3.1. In the same vein, he asserted that precedent had already been established
in the African church which limited their authority, ep. 15.1.2, 3.1.
44 Ep. 27.3.3.
45 Ep. 28.2.3.
46 Epp. 33.2.1, 35.1.1.
47 Ep. 34.1, with the advice and support of refugee bishops in the city. On the identity

of Gaius, see Clarke, Letters 2:155-6.

48 Epp. 41, 42. The bishop Caldonius and the presbyters Rogatianus and Numidicus can
be identified as confessors; the status of the bishop Herculanus cannot be confirmed.
See epp. 24.1.1, 40, 43.1 for the status of the confessors. On the identity of the
clergy, see Clarke, Letters 2:202-3.
49 Lap. 1, 5, 7, 21.
50 Lap. 2, 3.
51 Lap. 13.
52 Lap. 28. This confession of a sin of intention was used to shame those lapsed who
were refusing to do penance for their open, voluntary sin of action. Those admitting
it may have intended to blur the sharp lines of the distinction and thus assist the
fallen.
53 Lap. 10-14.
54 Lap. 16.
55 Ep. 43.3.1-2.
56 Lap. 14.
57 Lap. 17.
58 Lap. 18-19. The text of Rev. 6.9 provided the evidence against the martyrs, whose
own deaths were not yet vindicated by God. For the
-194others, Cyprian cited Ex. 32.31-3, Jer. 11.14 (LXX) and Ezek. 14.13-18.
59 Lap. 20-21, recalling the themes of ep. 11, and the opening sections of de lapsis.
60 Lap. 20, a point which the Romans may have originated in the lost letter to which
reference is made in ep. 21 A. Cyprian advanced the argument in his ep. 28.2.3 and
the Romans echoed it in their ep. 36.1.3-2.2.
61 Lap. 22.
62 Ep. 11.3-5.
63 Lap. 23-26. The communitys belief in the efficacy of both the Christian and the
pagan rites and of the moral governance of the universe is evident in these stories.
According to Mary Douglas analysis, such a view is characteristic of tightly
bounded or high-group communities.
64 Lap. 30. In de habitu uirginum, Cyprian indicated that all these were ways in which

the Christian should be distinguished and separated, habitu 6-17.

65 Lap. 33, 34.
66 Lap. 27, 28. The communitys morality was not limited to performance, though it
did judge the sacrificers more harshly than the certified and those who failed in
intention alone most leniently.
67 Lap. 29. These arguments were repeated in ep. 65, which dealt with the attempt of
a sacrificer bishop to regain his office after the persecution.
68 It is interesting to compare Cyprians explanations of the onset of the persecution
as a correction of the church, of the summer plague as morally and religiously
neutral, and of the threat of persecution under Galienus as an indicator of the
coming end of the world; ep. 11; mort. 8; epp. 57.5.1, 58.1.2, 60.3.2, 61.2.3.
69 In ep. 55.6.1, Cyprian explained that the lapsed would return to the way of the
world, pointedly ignoring the invitation of the laxists, which would not have helped
his apology for the decision. The letter was written in response to the challenge of
an African bishop who was under Novatianist influence.
70 Ep. 55.17.3. Setting aside the observation of lap. 27, that the certified had tried to
serve two masters, Cyprian defended this decision by arguing that they had acted
under compulsion and had avoided participating in the sacrifice.
71 Ep. 55.17.3; ep. 57.2.1 indicated that the penance may have been intended to last
throughout the persons life.
72 Ep. 55.23.4.
73 Epp. 45.4.1, 59.1.1, 9-1. Clarke suggests that a commission, of which Cyprian was
not a member, was established to review and thus lend authority to his decision,
Letters 2:242-3.
74 Ep. 59-14.2; thus the community which had been offended would serve as judge of
the penitent. This retained a necessary face-to-face system of justice.
75 Cyprian had urged them to do penance in lap. 28.
76 Some colleagues requested approval for the immediate admission of sacrificers
who had failed under torture, after three years of penance, ep. 56.2.2.
-19577 Thus the bishops in ep. 57.3.3, 4.3, 5.2. Cyprian expanded on these themes in
subsequent letters of exhortation, epp. 58.2.1-3, 3.1, 61.2.3, 4.1.
78 Ep. 58.3.2; indeed Cyprian anticipated that the whole faithful body would
immediately march to glory in heaven, ep. 58.10.1. So was Cornelius portrayed as

leading the Roman church to glory, as the faithful accompanied him to arraignment
at his arrest, ep. 60.1.2.
79 Epp. 57.2.1, 3.3, 5.1, 58.8.2. The bishops feared Gods wrath if they failed to admit
the penitents, ep. 57.4.3-5.2.
80 The bishops made provision for the reconciliation of only those who had never
forsaken the church, ep. 57.1.2.
81 Ep. 57.3.1-2.
82 Nec enim fas erat aut permittebat paterna pietas et diuina clementia ecclesiam
pulsantibus cludi et dolentibus ac deprecan-tibus spei salutaris subsidium denegari,
ut de saeculo recedentes sine communicatione et pace ad Dominum dimitterentur,
quando permiserit ipse et legem dederit ut ligata in terris et in caelis ligata essent,
solui autem possent illic quae hic prius in ecclesia soluerentur.
(CCL3B:301.14-25.)
See Clarke, Letters 3:218. M. Bvenots appeal to de zelo 18 for an interpretation
of the grammatical form is instructive but does not remove the lexical distinction
between essent and possent, The Sacrament of Penance and St. Cyprians De
Lapsis Theological Studies, 16 (1955):210-11. The bishops themselves made the
point clear later in the letter by observing that Christ himself would soon judge
those whom they had decided to admit and would himself remove any who were
not truly penitent but he would require of them the souls of those who would have
stood fast had they been given the peace of the church, ep. 57.3-3, 4.3-5.2. Thus the
bishops recognized that they could present the penitents to Christ but not guarantee
forgiveness of their apostasy. Those whom they declined to present, however,
could not be forgiven by Christ and thus he would punish their cruelty. The same
point was made during the baptismal controversy when Cyprian attributed to Peter
and his successors the authority to loosen on earth, omitting any reference to
heaven, ep. 73.7.1. For an analysis of the question from a different perspective, see
the discussion in chapter 4, pp. 70-1.
83 Ep. 57.4.2, echoed by Cyprian in ep. 58.5.2.
84 Ep. 57.2.2, 4.2; echoed by Cyprian in ep. 58.1.2.
85 In ep. 57.4.3, the bishops warned of the consequences of refusing the peace of the
church to penitents who might subsequently die as refugees during the persecution.
86 In lap. 3, Cyprian counted the returned refugees among the confessors; in ep.
58.4.2, he proclaimed that communicants who died even by acci-196dent in voluntary exile thereby won the crown of martyrdom. Here both were denied.

87 See ep. 19.2.3 and the peroration of de lapsis, 36.

88 Ep. 57.4.1. He had shared the earlier position with Novatian, who maintained it, see
epp. 19-2.3, 55.25.1-2.
89 Ep. 57.3.1, 5.1. The renewal of the persecution could have been viewed as a form of
judgment by Christ himself, who would soon come, epp. 57.3.3, 58.2.1, 7.1.
90 In ep. 60.4, written to congratulate Cornelius on his confession, Cyprian argued that
by rejecting peace on earth, schismatics excluded themselves from the kingdom of
God.
91 The laityfrom the laxist church, ep. 59.15.1-4. No provision was made for reconciling
was much those who had not been loyal to the church, ep. 57.1.2.
less
sympathetic
to the
rebels who
were
returning
92 Ep. 31.3; lap. 20.
93 Epp. 10.4.1, 57.4.3, 58.5.2.
94 Epp. 6.2.1, 15.3.1, 31.3.
95 Epp. 16.3.2, 18.1.2, 19.2.1, 20.3.2, 21.2.1-2, 3.2, 4.1, 37.3.1, 4.2, 39.3; lap. 17.
96 Even the public confession of Christ without death was efficacious, epp. 19.2.3,
25.1.1-2. Cyprians own evaluation of the Roman churchs massive display of faith,
ep. 60.1.2, made the same point. See also Tertullians concession of this point in pud.
22.
97 Lap. 18-19.
98 Epp. 15.3-4, 20.2.1-2. A promise to care for surviving family members might have
been regarded as an act of charity by the confessor or as a bribe by the bishop. Even
some of the more restrained martyrs, whom Cyprian praised, did issue a few letters,
ep. 27.1.1.
99 Epp. 22.2.1, 27.1.2.
100 Epp. 22.2.1, 27.2.1. In lap. 20, Cyprian observed that the martyrs gave the
appearance of having replaced God as patron or benefactor of the church.
101 For the delay, epp. 15.1.2, 16.3.2, 22.2.2; for the confession, ep. 22.2; for the
examination of life, epp. 22.2.2, 23, 26.1.4, 27.2.2
102 Epp. 34.1, 2.1-2, 43.2.2, 3.2, 7.2, 59.12.2, 13.2, 13.4-5, 14.1; lap. 16, 31, 33-34.
Cyprian argued that they regarded the invocation of the martyrs as the equivalent of

the naming of the Trinity in baptism, ep. 27.3.3.

103 Epp. 15.1.2, 16.2.3, 3.2, 17.2.1, 20.2.3, 34.2.1, 43.2.1-2, 3.2, 59.12.2; lap. 15-16.
104 Epp. 19.2.1-3, 20.3.1, 25.1.2, 27.3.1, 35.1.1, 55.4.2.
105 Epp. 35.1.1, 36.1.2, 3.2.
106 The action was forced by Cyprians delegation of confessor bishops and presbyters,
which excommunicated the leaders and some supporters, epp. 41.1.2-2.2, 42. This
action was later confirmed by the bishops of Africa, ep. 59.9.1, 14.2, 15.1.
107 Cyprian claimed that Privatus of Lambaesis had been condemned before the
persecution and that all his episcopal colleagues had sacrificed during the
persecution, epp. 36.4.1-2, 59.10.1. Ep. 65.1.1
-197provided evidence of another attempt by a sacrificer bishop to regain his see.
108 In advance of their rejection at the meeting in May 252, the laxists had promised to
ordain a bishop for Carthage, ep. 59-10-11. For their attempts to establish
communion with Rome, see ep. 59.1.1-2.1, 9.1, 11.2, 14.1.
109 This was Cyprians charge, ep. 15.3.2.
110 Cyprians community, in contrast, had to be persuaded to allow certain of the
rebellious lapsed to be admitted to penance; indeed the lingering disapproval of the
community may have ultimately driven off some of the penitents, ep. 59.15.2-4.
111 Cyprian later attacked the unrepentant lapsed for their unwillingness to assist their
poor brethren, lap. 30.
112 Ep. 19.2.3.
113 They even threatened the faithful who were cooperating with Cyprians delegates,
ep. 41.1.2.
114 Ep. 41.1.2.
115 According to Cyprian, all of the laxist bishops had been sacrificers and as such
would not have been eligible for continuing membership in the African college of
bishops, epp. 59.10-11, 65.1.1.
116 Cyprian made the charge in ep. 15.3.2. It might also be noted that the Carthaginian
confessors exiled in Rome recommended the two lapsed Christians who were
providing them with lodgings, ep. 21.4.1. Cyprian himself indicated that some of
the fallen provided refuge to exiled confessors, who would then intercede for them
before the bishop, ep. 55.13.2.

117 Ep. 59.15.1. Cyprian reported the return; the causal connection is an interpretation
of events.
118 Unlike the rigorists gathered by Novatian, the laxists soon ceased to be an effective
force in the affairs of the church.
119 On the efficacy of baptism, see habitu 2; epp. 63.8.1-3, 64.2.1-5.2.
120 Cyprian also pointed out that a hasty readmission of the apostates would give nonChristians cause for despising the church, ep. 15.3.1.
121 The distinction between sins committed against God and against humans was used
in lap. 17. The significance of Christs threat to deny before the Father those who
had denied him (Mt. 10:33), should not be underestimated.
122 Even as the persecution itself continued, Cyprian began this process by ordaining
confessors to clerical office and by appointing a commission including clerical
confessors to oppose the rebels in Carthage, epp. 29, 38-42.
123 Thus sins of insubordination, sexual irregularity, and misuse of money were
handled by the normal procedures, see epp. 3, 4, 41.2.1, 52.3. Tertullian provided a
full description and explanation of this ritual in paen. 9-10, which was fully
compatible with Cyprians use of the practice, see epp. 4, 15.1.2, 16.2.3, 17.2.1;
lap. 16, 36.
124 This presumption was evident in the demands for reconciliation before death and in
Cyprians presentation of the judgment itself, see epp. 55.18.1, 29.2-3, 65.5.1-2,
57.3-3.
125 Deprecatio was used in 1 John 2.1-2, which Cyprian cited in ep. 55.18.1. The term
also appears in epp. 17.2, 34.1, 43-3, 55.11.2, 29-1,
-19865.5, 57.1, 59.13, 67.6, lap. 13, 16, 18, 19, 22, 28, 29, 30, 36. Rogare is used in epp.
55.6, 59.14, lap. 16, 29, 32, 35, 36. Orare and exorare in ep. 11.1, 55.29.1; lap. 17,
32, 35, 36.
126 Epp. 19.1, 26; lap. 31, 32.
127 Epp. 16.2, 55.6, 23, 29, 65.5; lap. 17, 18, 28, 29, 32, 36.
128 Epp. 16.2, 17.2, 55.11, 65.5, 59.12, 13, 14; lap. 17, 28, 29, 32, 36. It was used
independently in ep. 59.16 and lap. 15.
129
34.1, 55.23, 28; lap. 32, 35.
Relying
on Joel
2.12-

13, in
lap. 29.
For the
same
point,
see
epp.
19.1,
130 Lap. 30.
131 Lap. 33.
132 Lap. 35.
4
EFFICACY OF THE RECONCILIATION RITUAL
1

Cyprian argued, for example, that unless the certified were allowed to enter the
communion after doing penance, they and their supporters would defect to the
laxists, ep. 55.15.1.

He originally refused the churchs peace to the dying penitents, ep. 18.2.1 and later
made no distinction between the certified and the actual sacrificers, lap. 27.

Ep. 8 does not seem to have reached Cyprian before June 250, when it was
presumably responsible for his shift in position on the reconciling of dying penitents.
See Clarke, Letters 1:204-5.

Ep. 8.1.1, 2.3.

Ep. 8.2.3-3.1. The granting of peace to penitents at the time of death, confirmed in
ep. 30.8 from the Roman clergy, was apparently traditional practice in Rome.

Ep. 21.2.1, 3.2. In ep. 8.3.3, the Roman clergy had claimed the support of the
imprisoned confessors. Celerinus appeal to the African martyrs indicated that at
least the African immigrants within the Roman church were attempting to
circumvent the clergys policy, ep. 21.4.1-2.

Epp. 18.1.2, 19.2.1.

Epp. 18.2.1, 19.2.1.

Ep. 19.2.3.

10 Ep. 20.3.2.
11 Ep. 20.2.1. We might speculate that these letters had an influence on Novatian, who
then took over the Roman churchs correspondence with Cyprian.

12 Cyprian himself attributed ep. 30 to Novatian, ep. 55.5. The confessors named in the
greetings of the accompanying ep. 31 subsequently supported Novatians position.
For the attribution of epp. 31 and 36 to Novatian, see Clarke, Letters 2:133-4, 165.
Of course, Novatian may also have been involved in writing the earlier (lost) letters
which are summarized in ep. 30.
13 Ep. 8 had probably been sent in spring 250. Its language stands in sharp contrast to
that of the later letters, epp. 30, 31, 36. See Clarke, Letters 1:203-5.
14 Reference was made to these lost letters in ep. 21 A.I and their contents were
outlined in ep. 30.3.1-2.
-199-

15 The letter was acknowledged in ep. 27A.I and in ep. 28.2.1-3, Cyprian
congratulated the Roman confessors on the admonition which they had sent to
their counterparts in Carthage on this point. The content of the letter was reported
in ep. 30.4. The point was echoed by the Roman clergy in ep. 36.2.1, indicating
that it may have originated with Novatian himself.
16 Ep. 30.2.1-2, 3.3, 7.1-2.
17 Ep. 30.8. Abuse of the privilege of the ill, specified in ep. 8.3.1, might have
already begun.
18 Ep. 31.8.1-2. The second letter of the clergy made the same point, ep. 36.2.2.
19 Ep. 31.6.2.
20 Ep. 36.2.1-3.
21 Ep. 30.8. A similar concern for the charge of harshness is found in ep. 36.3.2.
22 Epp. 30.6.2-7.2, 31.6.3, 8.2, 36.1.1-2.1. Lucianus responded to Celerinus, still in
Rome, that peace had been granted to everyone by the African martyrs, ep.
22.2.1. This could have affected the discipline of the Roman church or at least the
clergys control of the Carthaginian exiles in Rome.
23 The second surviving letter of the clergy, attributed to Novatian, allowed the
practice, ep. 30.8. The accompanying letter of the confessors, also drafted by
Novatian, made no mention of the practice, ep. 31. Ep. 55.13.1 indicated that the
practice continued to give rise to controversy. Indeed, Cornelius later accused
Novatian of refusing to comfort the faithful who were in danger during the
persecution, Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.16. The further charge that he renounced his
priesthood and Christianity to preserve his personal safety is hardly compatible
with the position Novatian actually occupied in the church at Rome and his

ministry to the confessors in prison, who later took up his cause. The event
behind Cornelius slander may have been Novatians refusal to bring
reconciliation and the eucharist to an allegedly dying penitent.
24 The confessors included those who had corresponded with Cyprian during the
persecution, see epp. 28, 31, 37, 46. Clarke differentiates two stages in the
schism, the first focused on Cornelius character and the second on his policy of
reconciling the lapsed, see the comments on epp. 48.4.1, 55.8.3 in Letters 2:2612, 3:174-5. The principal issue may always have been the reconciling of the
lapsed and the attempted character assassination may have been an extension of
the polemics, such as are found in Cornelius letter to Fabius of Antioch, in
Eusebius, h.e. 6.43, and in Cyprians attacks on the rebels in Carthage, ep. 52.2.15.
25 Cyprian reported the events in defending Cornelius to an African colleague, ep.
55.6.2. Clarke asserts that Cyprian is accurate in claiming priority for the African
decision, against Eusebius report in h.e. 6.43.2, see Clarke, Letters 3:172.
26 Ep. 55.11.1-3.
27 Ep. 55.13.1. Novatians letter during the persecution had apparently foreseen and
attempted to forestall the abuse of this privilege by calling for delay until the last
moment, ep. 30.8.
-20028 Cyprian advanced this charge in a defense of the policy of reconciliation, ep.
55.27.2; later he threw it up to an opponent in Africa, ep. 66.7.3. One of the
specific charges against Cornelius was that he had entered into communion with
apostate bishops. Cyprian denied the fact but not the implication of contagion
which would have resulted, ep. 55.10.2; indeed he later charged Stephen with
incurring such pollution through communion with a failed bishop, ep. 67.9-2.
29 Epp. 55.13.2-16.1, 24.1, 60.3.1.
30 Epp. 30.6.2-7.2, 31.6.3-7.2, 36.1.2, 3.3.
31 Ep. 55.22.1-23.3.
32 Ad Nouatianum 7.1, CCL 4:142-3. For the dating and attribution see CCL4:134-5.
33 The charges are echoed in the fourth century by Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.1, and the
Spanish bishop Pacian, ep. 2.4; PL 13:1060; see Clarke, Letters 3:188.
34 Ep. 55.22.1, 28.1. The same charge was made against Marcianus of Arles, who was
said to be following Novatians policy, ep. 68.1.1.
35 Ep. 8.3.1. This letter is not attributed to Novatian himself; see notes 12-13 above.

36 Ep. 57.4.1.
37 Ep. 60.2.5.
38 The text of Mt. 10.32-3 is cited in Ad Nouatianum 7.1; CCL 4:142-3. A similar
stance can be found in Cyprians concurrence with Caldonius reconciliation of
those who stood firm in a second trial and in the peroration of de lapsis, where he
urged that repentance might lead to the crown of martyrdom rather than to
reconciliation, ep. 25.1.1-2; lap. 36.
39 The letters of neither the clergy nor the confessors in Rome asserted that the church
had authority to forgive this sin of apostasy. See epp. 8.2.3, 21.2.2.
40 Thus Cyprian would have anticipated the objection which he had earlier raised
against the laxists that granting communion prevented the true repentance and
restoration of the lapsed. In response, he argued that they would have to prove their
mettle during the persecution, ep. 57.3.2, and secure their salvation by confession
of Christ, at least the passive non-compliance which he had acknowledged in lap.
3.
41 Their divergent responses to the threat of renewed persecution might have driven
the final wedge of division between the churches and led Novatian to begin the
practice of rebaptizing converts to his communion. During his conflict with
Stephen, Cyprian never appealed to Cornelius stance in regard to a Novatianist
practice of rebaptism. That silence might, of course, have been based upon
ignorance or the incon-venience of a view opposite to Cyprians own. Cyprian did,
however, appeal to Cornelius practice of admitting lapsed clergy to communion
only as laymen, ep. 67.6.3. Novatian, however, had already sent a rival bishop to
Carthage a year earlier, ep. 59-9.
42 This charge was leveled even by Cyprian in ep. 55.27.1-2.
43 Mt. 10:32-3, which was used in ep. 30.7.1 and ep. 31.2.2, both of which are
associated with Novatians position.
44 Ep. 45.2.5.
-20145 This charge was reported and refuted in ep. 55.3.2-7.3, where Cyprian reviewed his
practice.
46 See Clarke, Letters 1:193-4, 275-6 for evidence of the precedents. The confessors,
for example, never claimed the power to give the peace without the concurrence of
the bishop, see esp. ep. 23.
47 Epp. 18.1.2, 19.2.1, 20.3.1.

48 Ep. 15.1.2, 3.1.

49 Epp. 18.2.1, 19.2.1.
50 Ep. 20.2.2.
51 Ep. 19.2.3.
52 Ep. 8.3.1.
53 Ep. 20.3.2.
54 Ep. 24.1.2, for the report of Caldonius. Cyprian agreed in ep. 25.1.1-2, wishing that
all should repent in this way. He sent copies of both letters to exhort the
congregation in Carthage and to inform the Roman clergy, epp. 26.1.3, 27.3.2. The
same argument was advanced in ep. 55.4.1-2, 7.1.
55 Ep. 27.2.1, 3.3.
56 Ep. 28.2.3. This argument was contained in the first letter of the Roman confessors,
as was reported by Novatian in ep. 30.4.
57 Lap. 20 repeated the Roman argument; lap. 18-19 showed the limited efficacy of the
martyrs intercession.
58 Lap. 35. This point was particularly important to Novatian, as evidenced in ep.
55.13.2. See also the charges that Novatian counted all sins equal, which may have
been directed at a refusal to distinguish the certified from the sacrificers, ep. 55.16.1.
59 He later leveled the charge that Cyprian had slackened in his support for the churchs
discipline, ep. 55.3.2.
60 In fact, this line of argument was suggested in the letter which Novatian drafted for
the Roman clergy, ep. 31.6.2-3.
61 Ep. 43.6.1-7.2. Novatian, of course, faced no such danger nor did the Roman
penitents face such a temptation from a laxist camp in Rome.
62 The Roman confessors, in their lost letter to Carthage, had argued that the martyrs
request was contrary to the gospel, ep. 30.4. Cyprian picked up the argument in ep.
28.2.3.
63 Mandant aliquid martyres fieri, sed si scripta non sunt in Domini lege quae mandant,
ante est ut sciamus illos de Deo impetrasse quod postulant, tunc facere quod
mandant; neque enim statim uideri potest diuina maiestate concessum quod fuerit
humana pollicitatione promissum.
CCL 3:231.366-71.
64 Lap. 5-12.
65 Lap. 13. Cyprian had agreed with Caldonius on a similar case during the persecution,

epp. 24, 25.

66 Lap. 14-16, 22-26.
67 Lap. 29-32.
68 Ep. 43.3.1-2, 6.1-7.2. He even identified the five leaders of the schism with the
commissioners who had enforced the imperial edict, ep. 43.3.1.
69 Lap. 33-35.
-20270 Lap. 36.
71 Ep. 44.1.1-2.1; on the discussion see ep. 55.6.1.
72 Ep. 44.2.1 and ep. 45.2.2. Clarke understands Cyprian to be saying, in ep. 45.2.1-5,
that only Cornelius own letter was read out to the bishops, Letters 2:238-41. Yet in
ep. 45.3.1, Cyprian allowed that his colleagues were aware of the charges Novatian
raised against Cornelius. Cornelius subsequent behavior, in allowing laxist
accusations against Cyprian to be read out in his church, would seem to indicate
that he also believed the rigorist charges against him had been publicly aired in
Carthage, see ep. 59.2.1.
73 Ep. 44.1.2.
74 Thus in ep. 55.6.1.
75 Ep. 55.17.2-3.
76 Repostus of Satunurca, as reported in ep. 59.10.3, 11.2. Cornelius, it will be
recalled, admitted Trofimus and his entire congregation into communion without
extended penance, ep. 55.11.1-3. Cyprian later gave the impression that the
Africans took the initiative in admitting the certified and were followed by
Cornelius, ep. 55.6.2.
77 The phrase euangelium Christi adserere in ep. 46.2.1 may echo a watchword of
the Novatianists, as Clarke suggests in Letters 2:249, or may recall Cyprians
praise of these same confessors in ep. 28 for upholding the discipline of the gospel.
Once they had left to join Cornelius communion, however, Cyprian was free to
accuse Novatian of arrogating a divine privilege to himself, ep. 54.3.1-3. He also
sent a copy of de lapsis, which took a more rigorous stance than had been approved
at the preceding council of African bishops.
78 It is argued in chapter 5 that de unitate was originally prepared for the laxist schism
in Carthage and revised before it was sent to Rome to help deal with the disputed
election or Novatianist schism there. The sections cited here are judged to belong
to the earliest version.

79 Vnit. 20-22.
80 Vnit. 3, citing 2 Cor. 11.14-15.
81 Vnit. 10, along with 19.
82 Epp. 55.17.3, 56.2.2.
83 Ep. 55.16.3-17.1.
84 Ep. 55.17.3.
85 Ep. 55.13.1. Even when the peace had been improperly given to the healthy, the
bishops refused to withdraw it upon review, ep. 64.1.1-2.
86 Only later, they claimed, did they learn from the clergy that they should not even
have accepted the certificate in return for their paying a fine, ep. 55.13.2-14.2.
87 Cyprian feared that not only the apostates but all those they had assisted would find
his requirement of life-long penance implausible. They might abandon him to join
the laxists. See ep. 55.15.1.
88 Ep. 57.1.2, 3.1-2.
89 Ep. 57.2.2, 4.2.
90 Ep. 57.4.3-5.2. The bishops feared the judgment of Christ. As has been noted
earlier, they did not remark on the probability that some of the penitents might
actually win the crown of martyrdom outside the church and thus be elevated to sit
in judgment with Christ upon the very bishops who had excluded them from
communion.
-203-

91 Ep. 60.2.2-5.
92 Ep. 55.20.3.
93 Ep. 55.29.2.
94 Cyprian argued that none of the lapsed would undertake penance if they were
refused admission to communion before death, ep. 55.28.1-29.2. This assumption
was also attested in Cyprians own appeals for the replacement of Marcianus of
Arles, ep. 68.3.1, 4.2.
95 All these charges are to found in Cyprians response to the letter of an African
colleague which argued for the Novatianist position, ep. 55.

96 Cyprian answered this charge in ep. 55.13.1.

97 Ep. 55.15.1, 17.2, 19.1-2.
98 Ep. 55.27.1-2. On this point, Novatian seems not to have returned to the position of
the prior rigorist schismatic in Rome, Hippolytus.
99 Ep. 55.27.3. As shall be argued below, the difference in his perspective and
Novatian s on this point can be correlated with the difference in the internal
structures of their communities.
100 This provision was made for Trofimus, Basilides and Martialis in Italy and Spain,
epp. 55.11.3, 67.6.3. It was apparently used as well for a presbyter in Africa, ep.
64.1.1. Other African bishops were apparently subject to full excommunication, ep.
59.10.1-2.
101 Ep. 4.1-2. Cyprians clergy who had taken to flight during the persecution were
temporarily suspended from office, ep. 34.4.1, but the disposition of their cases is
not known. Another instance of permanent disability might be indicated in
Cornelius charge that Novatian should not have been made a presbyter because he
had been baptized by sprinkling on his sickbed rather than by the full ritual,
Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.
102 Ep. 57.3.2.
103 Ep. 55.20.3 effectively expresses the fear in which the reconciled lapsed
anticipated the judgment of Christ.
104 The same restriction would be applied to schismatics, ep. 72.2.1-3. In contrast, the
confessors were particularly well qualified for clerical positions, epp. 38-40.
105 The communitys assumptions about the necessity of purity among the bishops and
clergy become clearer in the subsequent controversy over the efficacy of baptism.
See chapters 6 and 7.
106 In contrast, in the controversy over rebaptism, Cyprian argued that admitting
heretics to full membership without baptism would pollute the whole communion,
ep. 73.19-3.
107 Thus Trofimus and his congregation were partially excused as incense offerers, ep.
55.2.1.
108 Ep. 55.16.1.
109 Ep. 4.1.
110 See ep. 52.3 for Novatus.
111 The situation of those who had paid to acquire certificates and those who failed
under torture was uncertain, as has been seen. Those who had fallen only in

intention, however, were subject to no penalties within the church, lap. 13, 28; ep.
14.1-2.
112 Cyprian seems to have presumed that even the apostates might eventually be
readmitted to communion, epp. 16.2, 17.3, 18.2.
113 Lap. 17-20; ep. 59.16.3.
-204114 The surviving evidence does not permit the secure determination of the order in
which Cyprian developed and introduced these ideas to his community and
colleagues; the sequence in which they appear in the surviving letters and treatises
may be quite different from their development.
115 Ep. 55.29.3. He argued that having rebelled against the peace and charity of the
church, they could find no place in heaven.
116 Their very inability to recognize the horror of their sin and to turn from their evil was
itself a sign of divine punishment, lap. 33.
117 Ep. 55.17.2-3, 29.2.
118 Ep. 55.29.2.
119 Ep. 55.26.1-27.2, 20.3.
120 Ep. 57.4.1-4. The rationale, however, was given in heavenly terms.
121 Ep. 19.2.2. See also ep. 17.1.2, where the entire community was promised a voice in
judging individual cases.
122 Ep. 55.17.3. They argued that they had acted in good faith, had not actually
sacrificed, and had even identified themselves as Christians. The contrast between
this defense of their behavior and its denunciation in lap. 27 is striking and indicates
the pressures to which Cyprian had been subjected.
123 Lap. 28; epp. 55.15.1, 57.1.2, 3.1.
124 In ep. 57.4.3, the bishops argued that the exiles in particular would need the
encouragement of the church because they would not have the assurance of a public
confession of faith. In ep. 58.4.1-3, however, Cyprian himself stated the firm
conviction that a refugee dying even by accident would be counted a martyr by
Christ. The inconsistency may be accounted for by the exaggerations of exhortation
and the personal pressure which the penitents had brought to bear.
125 If those who had enrolled as penitents were denied any hope of the churchs
advocacy when they stood before the judgment of God, Cyprian had earlier argued
about the certified and the dying sacrificers, they would certainly be driven to seek
the protection of the martyrs which was being offered by the laxists or even return in
despair to their former life according to the ways of the empire. They would,

moreover, have taken all their dependants and supporters with them. See ep. 55.6.1,
15.1, 17.2. In addressing the reconciliation of the sacrificers, the bishops asserted
that they must respond to the endurance which the penitents had already
demonstrated and the sufferings which they proclaimed themselves prepared to
sustain, even as exiles, ep. 57.1.1, 4.3.
126 Ep. 59.15.3. The bishops made no provision for schismatics who had not long
persevered as penitents of the church, ep. 57.1.1.
127 Epp. 55.15.1, 19.2, 29.1, 57.4.3-4, 5.2.
128 This social analysis provides an interpretation of Cyprians assertion of the churchs
power to loosen sins in heaven in ep. 57.1.1 which is different and more literal than
that which Bvenot defends in The Sacrament of Penance and St. Cyprians De
lapsis, Theological Studies, 16 (1955):210-13. See the earlier discussion of this
matter in chapter 3, at note 82, pp. 40, 196.
129 Epp. 55.18.1, 57.3.3.
130 Lap. 28.
-205131 Epp. 55.20.3, 68.1.1, 4.2
132 Ep. 34.4.1-2 for the clergy; lap. 10-11, epp. 57.4.3, 58.4.1 for the laity.
133 Ep. 4.2.3.
134 Ep. 31.6.2.
135 Lap. 15, 22-6. Even during the persecution, Cyprian had warned the lapsed that they
were in danger if they approached the eucharist unworthily.
136 Ep. 57.2.2.
137 Communicating with an unworthy bishop, however, might ruin the value of the
rituals, as shall be seen in chapter 7, pp. 141-4. See for example epp. 65.2.1-2,
67.3.1.
138 The principle of church unity ultimately moved a group of confessors back into
Cornelius church. See epp. 49, 53.
139 In his letter preserved in Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.16, Cornelius made the charge that
Novatian required an oath of loyalty to himself from each of his adherents as he
distributed the eucharist. The reality may have been an oath that the communicant
was not guilty of apostasy or sacrilege through communicating with Cornelius.
140 Ep. 30.3.1.
141 Ep. 30.3.1-2. In responding to a letter defending Novatian, Cyprian attempted to

justify these distinctions, ep. 55.13.1-14.2.

142 This charge seems to have been the lead-off accusation in Novatians letter, to judge
by Cyprians ep. 55.2.1. His removing Trofimus from episcopal office seems to have
been of no significance to the rigorists. Even the differentiation of roles, however,
would not have helped explain the admission of Trofimus entire community, each
member of which apparently sacrificed. No other group of sacrificers seems to have
been admitted before May 253, by which time the rigorist schism was already well
established.
143 For the practice during the persecution, see ep. 30.8; for subsequent practice, see
epp. 55.27.1, 59.18.1, 68.1.1, 3.1, 4.2.
144 De cibis judaicis 7, CCL 4:101. He alluded to 1 Cor. 10.21 but other wise ignored
the more liberal Pauline teaching on this subject.
145 In ep. 73.19-3, for example, Cyprian himself asserted that admitting the
unbaptizedpresumably contaminated by prior contact with Roman idolatry
would spread sin throughout the communion. This question will be further explored
in chapter 7.
146 It must be remembered that Cyprians attacks on Novatianist practice are based on
his own groups assumption that no one could be saved outside the communion, a
position which the rigorists might not have shared, as for example in epp. 55.28.1-3,
68.1.1, 3.1.
147 Epp. 18.2.1, 19.2.3, 55.29.2.
148 Epp. 55.28.1-3, 68.1.1, 3.1.
149 Lap. 36.
150 Ep. 57.4.1.
151 The call for consultation was in the letter of the Roman clergy, ep. 30.5.4. Novatians
behavior contrasted with Cyprians acceptance of the reversal of his position on the
certified by the African bishops.
152 Ep. 44.1.1-2.1. Cyprian, in contrast, was willing to tolerate differences in practices
within the communion of bishops, as long as they did not involve support for those
who divided the church.
-206153 Ep. 55.24.2.
154 Ep. 55.11.3, and that by the decision of some sixty bishops.
155 De pudicitia 3, 11, and passim, CCL 4:115-16, 123-4.

156 Epp. 30.3.2, 55.16.1. Cyprians discussion of the pollution of the conscience of the
certified was an incoherent extension of the behavioral standards: the persons who
acted in ignorance of the evil involved had contaminated their consciences though
not their hands and mouths, ep. 55.14.2. The African bishops, in contrast, refused to
maintain sanctions against those who had not actually sacrificed.
157 De cibis judaids 3-4, CCL 4:93-7.
5
INDIVISIBILITY OF THE CHURCH
1

Ep. 11.3.1-2, 7.1. The second vision recounted, in ep. 11.4.1-2, was received well
before the persecution itself.

Vita Cyp. 5; ep. 43.1.2-3, 5.4. The uita may well have taken the opportunity to
exaggerate Cyprians virtue.

Ep. 52.3.

Ep. 13.7.

Ep. 14.1.2.

Ep. 14.2.1.

Ep. 13.4.1.

Ep. 5.2 made clear they were performing this duty and ep. 16.4.2 included a threat of
suspension of this privilege.

Epp. 34.1, 59.12.1-2.

10 They were instructed by the Roman clergys exhortation to penance in ep. 8.2.3, as
well as Cyprians demands.
11 Ep. 16.3.2, 4.2.
12 Epp. 15.2.2, 16.3.2.
13 Ep. 19.2.3.
14 Epp. 15.1.2, 22.2.2, 26.1.4, 27.2.2.
15 Ep. 33.2.1.
16 Epp. 14.4, 17.3.2, 26.1.2.
17 Epp. 17.3.2, 19.2.2, 20.3.3, 24, 25, 26.1.1-2.1, 27.3.2-3.
18 Epp. 21, 22.2.1.

19 Ep. 23.
20 Epp. 15.1.2, 16.1.2, 2.3, 3.2, 17.1.2-2.1.
21 Ep. 16.3.2.
22 Epp. 22.2.2, 23. The Roman clergy picked up on this point as well, ep. 36.2.3, but
Cyprian argued that the provision was in fact unen-forceable once forgiveness for the
apostasy had been guaranteed by the martyrs, ep. 27.2.2-3.2.
23 Ep. 26.1.2.
24 Ep. 27.2.2-3.1.
25 Ep. 17.3.1.
26 Epp. 15.3.1, 4, 18.1.2.
27 Epp. 16.1.2, 17.2.1, 19.2.1.
28 Ep. 35.1.1.
29 Epp. 35.1.1, 36.1.2 where the Roman clergy cited their copy of the letter which was
not itself preserved in the collection of Cyprians
-207correspondence. In ep. 27.3.1, he reported that some clergy were being forced to
grant communion to the lapsed.
30 Ep. 33.1.1. This was his earliest surviving citation and explanation of this text.
31 Ep. 43.5.2-4. The text would be cited again in unit. 4 during the summer of 251.
32 Ep. 28.2.2-3. The argument which developed from this observation was based on
Mt. 10.32-3: on the basis of Christs promise to acknowledge confession, no one
could presume to disregard his threat to punish denial. It is fully laid out in lap. 20.
33 Epp. 29, 38, 39, 40. Cyprian even specified that two of the readers, Celerinus and
Aurelius, were to begin receiving the salaries of presbyters immediately, ep. 39.5.2.
34 Epp. 41, 42. Ep. 24.1.1 established the status of Caldonius and ep. 43.1.1 that of the
two confessors.
35 In epp. 5.1.2, 12.2.2, 14.2.1, Cyprian had specified that assistance was to be
restricted to the standing poor. None of these letters had been acknowledged by the
clergy in Carthage.
36 Ep. 41.1.2.
37 Ep. 41.1.2-2.1.

38 Epp. 41.2.1-2, 43.1.2-3.

39 G.W. Clarke notes that at one point, only one of the presbyters actually in Carthage
may have been faithful to Cyprian, see Letters 1:40-1.
40 When the rebels did finally create a rival bishop in 252, they began to lose
adherents, ep. 59.15.1. This sort of pressure technique subsequently worked in
Rome, where the community gathered around Trofimus was admitted to
communion by Cornelius, ep. 55.11.1. It was steadfastly resisted in Africa, ep.
59.10.3, 11.2.
41 Ep. 43.1.2.
42 Ep. 43.2.1-2.
43 Ep. 43.3.1-4.3.
44 Ep. 43.5.2.
45 Ep. 43.5.2. Cyprian characterized this action as adulterium, impium, sacrilegium,
all terms associated with idolatry. He exhorted the people to flee the contagion.
46 Ep. 43.4.3-5.2. He compared them to the elders who had assaulted the chastity of
Susannah.
47 Ep. 43.7.1.
48 Ep. 43.5.2.
49 Lap. 2-3. Those who had actually died in defense of the faith were, of course, in a
different category but they were no longer in the earthly community.
50 In epp. 13, 14, he had already insisted that confessors remain subject to the same
standards and the same temptations as their fellow Christians.
51 Lap. 5-14, 27.
52 Lap. 29-30.
53 These may have been the individuals who were sheltered from the imperial
authorities by a paterfamilias or patron who had acted on behalf of all. They would
have been pushing for the reconciliation of their benefactors. See ep. 55.13.2, 15.1.
-208-

54 Lap. 28. No further decisions or actions regarding this class are recorded; they
were ignored in the episcopal deliberations of 251 and 253 which formed policy for

reconciliation of the certified and sacrificers.

55 Lap. 17-19.
56 Lap. 20, citing Mt. 10.32-3.
57 The martyrs in heaven who petitioned for vengeance in Rev. 6.9 were told to wait;
the prophets often failed to influence God, lap. 18-20.
58 Ep. 55.13.2, 15.1.
59 Thus the confessors presented themselves as coming to the assistance of the church
by doing what the bishops lacked the authority to do, lap. 20.
60 Epp. 33-1.1-2, 43.5.2 provided the interpretative context for unit. 4, in which
Cyprian spoke of Peter as the foundation of unity within the local church. Some
years later he returned to this theme: no one could be in the communion of a church
without being in union with its bishop, ep. 66.8.3. Similarly in unit. 13, he pointed
out that no sacrifice could be offered in opposition to the priests.
61 Ep. 59.6.1, 13.1-17.3.
62 Ep. 59.15.2-3.
63 Ep.
55.13.2,
15.1.
64 Lap. 5-6 detailed the failures of all which had brought on the persecution.
65 See chapter 4.
66 Vnit. 1-3. On the dating of this treatise see Clarke, Letters 2:301-2, Bvenot in CCL
3:245-6, Cyprian and his Recognition of Cornelius, Journal of Theological
Studies, n.s. 28 (1977):346-59, esp. 357, n. 1. Clarke disputes Bvenots
grammatical argument and suggests that the treatise was originally written to deal
with the laxist schism in Carthage and then applied to the rigorist schism in Rome,
before a decision had been made between the contending candidates. The
temptation to schism as a form of persecution had also been treated earlier in ep.
43-3.1, 6.3-7.2.
67 Vnit. 12-13.
68 Vnit. 14-15. This argument was repeated in ep. 55.17.2, 29.2.
69 Vnit. 20-4.
70 Ep. 26.1.2.
71 Ep. 55.6.1-2.
72 Ep. 55.7.2.

73 Ep. 59.14.2.
74 Epp. 45.4.1, 59.9.1, 10.2-3, 13.1.
75 Ep. 55.21.1-2.
76 Ep. 55.8.4, 24.2.
77 Ep. 44.1.3-3.1.
78 Cornelius informed Cyprian of their departure; he indicated that Evaristus had been
a bishop and supporter of Novatian, ep. 50.1.1-2. Cornelius and Cyprian spoke of
Nicostratus as a deacon, epp. 50.1.2, 51.1.2. For discussion see Clarke, Letters
2:103.
79 Cyprians ep. 55 responded to questions raised by one such letter.
80 Ep. 59-9.2.
81 Ep. 55.24.2.
-209-

82 Cyprian was contemptuous of them in ep. 59-9.3, in contrast to his shrill

denunciation of the developing laxist hierarchy.
83 Cornelius had made such a concession to Trofimus, admitting him and his
congregation to communion without penance. Trofimus, however, was admitted
only as a layman. The rebel clergy in Carthage had promised their adherents that
all would eventually be received into communion by the bishops as a group, ep.
59.15.1.
84 Ep. 59.10.2-11.1
85 Ep. 59.9.4, see Clarke, Letters 3:240-1, nn. 6-7.
86 Ep. 59-1.1-2.1. Cyprian was furious to hear that Cornelius had entertained the
delegation. Cornelius may have been settling a score for the lengthy investigation
of his own credentials a year earlier.
87 I am grateful to G.W. Clarke for this insight, communicated in conversation. The
subordinationism of third-century African trini-tarian theology assigned the unity
of the divine rule to the Father, who delegated authority to the Son.
88 Epp. 44, 45, 48.
89 Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.16.

90 Ep. 49.2.4.
91 Epp. 55.24.2, 59-9.2.
92 The letters referenced in ep. 59 would have had to charge Cyprian with misconduct
to justify his replacement; thus he defended his actions to Cornelius. Clarke,
Letters 4:241, n. 7 builds the case for this interpretation.
93 Ep. 59.15.1.
94 A copy was sent to Rome for Cornelius use, ep. 59-9.3.
95 Epp. 55.8.4, 59.6.1.
96 Epp. 55.11.1-3, 67.6.3, for Trofimus and the Spanish bishops.
97 Epp. 59.10.1-2, 65.3.2.
98 Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.10; ep. 52.1.2.
99 Ep. 59.10.1. There is no evidence that the council which deposed Privatus had been
held in Carthage rather than Lambaesis. In either case, the weight of Donatus
endorsement, as presider or an additional signatory, was deemed necessary.
100 Ep. 68. The letter to Cyprian was written by Faustinus of Lyons.
101 Ep. 65.4.2.
102 Ep. 55.8.4 gave the suffragium to the people alone in electing Cornelius, while ep.
68.2.1 shared it between the clergy and the people in the same case. Epp. 59.5.2
and 67.4.2, 5.1-2 specified the peoples vote and the consent of the bishops.
103 Ep. 67.4.1-5.1.
104 Ep. 40.1.3. An identification of the Rogatianus to whom epistula 3 was addressed
with the confessor and presbyter of Carthage, epp. 6, 40, 41, 43.1.1, would give a
second instance of a presbyter of one church being chosen bishop in another. This
elderly mans appeal to Cyprian for help in dealing with an insolent deacon might
have betrayed an earlier supervisory role. Ep. 3 could be dated late enough for
Cyprians former presbyter to have been made a bishop. The constellation of texts
(Deut. 17.12-13; 1 Sam. 8.5-18; Jn. 18.22-3; and Acts 23-4-5) justifying respect for
the bishop occurred only in epp. 59-4 and 66.3, which are dated in 252 and 254 by
G.W. Clarke,
-210Letters 3:235, 321-2. Num. 16.1-35 was otherwise used only in the baptismal
controversy of 256, in epp. 67.3, 69.8, 73.8, and unit. 18.
105 Ep. 55.24.2.
106 Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.8-9.

107 Ep. 59.10.1-11.1, five of the twenty-five he claimed.

108 Epp. 44.3.2, 55.24.2, 69.3.2.
109 Epp. 45.3.1, 48.4.1.
110 Ep. 55.2.1, 10.1-11.2, 12.
111 Ep. 55.8.1-23.4.
112 Ep. 59.2.5, 14.2.
113 Epp. 45.3.1, 48.3.2.
114 Ep. 45.2.1-3.
115 Epp. 44.1.2-3, 45.1.1, 3, 3.1, 48.2.1, 3.2-4.1.
116 Ep. 45.1.2-3. The original letters and delegates were probably sent to Cyprian and
were then received by the council which was actually meeting in Carthage at the
time of their arrival. Cyprian later explained the problem he experienced in
communicating to the church at Hadrumetum that letters were not to be directed to
Cornelius until his claim had been verified, ep. 48.3.2. The communion letter
originally addressed to Cornelius by Bishop Antoninus seems to have been sent to
Cyprian for transmission, ep. 55.1.2.
117 Ep. 59.5.2.
118 Ep. 66.1.1-2, 4.2, 9.1.
119 Epp. 59.5.1, 66.5.1.
120 Ep. 43.1.2-3.
121 The divine approval of Cornelius was also confirmed in his public confession of faith
while Novatian was ignored, ep. 60.3.2.
122 Ep. 55.24.2-4.
123 Ep. 60.3.2.
124 Epp. 67.4.1-5.1, 65.4.1. Thus the bishops gathered to install a new bishop must
respect the decision of the laity who know the qualities of the candidates through
regular contact.
125 Ep. 55.
126 Ep. 67.9.2.
127 Cyprian characterized the charge of the African episcopal delegation in ep. 45.1.1 as
one of reconciliation, though he admitted its judicial function, ep. 45.1.1, 3.1.
128 On the dating of this treatise see note 66 above. The role of the bishop in the local

church had been treated before in letters during the persecution, especially epp. 33,
43.
129 Ep. 46.1.2. He may have sent copies of both de lapsis and de unitate at this time to
the confessors, since in ep. 54.4, Cyprian reminded the confessors of the treatises
which he had sent earlier. As he had to do earlier for the released confessors in
Carthage, he reminded the Roman confessors that their salvation was not yet secure,
that having stood firm once they were now being subjected to greater temptations,
unit. 20-2.
130 Ep. 46.2.1, see also ep. 44.3.2.
131 Ep. 54.4, indicated that both treatises had been sent earlier, though no reference to
them can be found in the surviving correspondence. It
-211will be recalled that de lapsis had been written and delivered prior to the relaxation
of discipline in the episcopal conference in spring 251.
132 Reported by Cornelius in ep. 49.2.4. Clarke argues that Cornelius had approved and
may even have dictated the formula of submission, Letters 2:273. For the parallel
which might also have been the model, see unit. 23. This connection between the
formula in Cyprians treatise and the confessors oath would bolster Clarkes
argument for the treatise having been sent to Rome in spring 251.
133 Ep. 54.1.2.
134 Efforts have been made, principally by Maurice Bvenot, to link the shorter Primacy
Text with the events of 251 and to identify the longer Textus Receptus as a revision
prepared during the baptismal controversy, for the purpose of eliminating any basis
for Stephen of Romes claims to dictate policy and practice to his fellow bishops.
See the introduction to the text in CCL 3:246
135 Ep. 54.4.
136 TR and PT differ only in chapters 4-5 and 19. But the common text contains
elements which could only have been written in 251 and other elements which must
have been added in 256. The present analysis will concentrate on the former.
137 Vnit. 1-3, 20-4. This repeated the admonition which had been given to the released
Carthaginian confessors early in the persecution, epp. 13, 14, and reflected the
argument which Cyprian was developing at the time of his return to Carthage: that
schism was a second and more dangerous form of persecution, ep. 43.3.1, 6.1-7.2;
lap. 16. In epp. 46.2.1, 51.1.1, 54.1.2-3, he first chided the Roman confessors for
failing to witness to the unity of the church and then congratulated them on having
done so.
138 Vnit. 14, 19 and epp. 52.1.2, 55.17.2, 29.3, 60.4, as well as during the baptismal

controversy, ep. 73.21.1.

139 All these text were cited in de unitate and in ep. 43, his last surviving letter from
exile.
140 Vnit. 11 and ep. 43.5.1.
141 Vnit. 17 and ep. 43.5.2.
142 Vnit. 10; lap. 34, and ep. 43.5.2. It continued to be used to attack the schismatics,
epp. 59.20.1, 73.15.1.
143 Vnit. 6 and ep. 43.5.2; it recurred in the baptismal controversy, epp. 69.1.2, 70.3.2.
144 Vnit. 23 and ep. 43.5.2. In 256, he never passed up the opportunity to refer to
baptism as well, epp. 70.1.2, 3.1, 71.1.2, 73.4.2, 13.3, 74.2.2, 3.1, 11.1. The full text
is cited only in unit. 4 TR and in Firmilians echoing it to Cyprian, ep. 75.24.3, with
an additional reference in ep. 75.25.3.
145 Ep. 59.14.1, or the reference to Cornelius as the successor of Fabian and Peter, ep.
55.8.1. In spring 251, the laxist schism provided no context for interpreting the
reference to the primacy of Peter and the equality of the other apostles which
appeared in both PT and TR versions of unit. 4. The present hypothesis is that the PT
version was introduced for transmission of the text to Rome and the TR version
provided a necessary correction. The TR version of unit. 4 can be linked to the letters
of the baptismal controversy.
-212146 Vnit. 4 PT.
147 The TR version of unit. 19, in which penitents were described as lapsed, fits the
situation before Cyprian agreed to distinguish the certified and to reconcile them
immediately, at the council in spring 251. Neither version described the situation
during the baptismal controversy, since all the penitent lapsed had been reconciled
three years earlier.
148 When the text was revised again in 256, none of the lapsed were still doing penance.
Cyprian allowed the passage to stand as he had originally composed it in spring 251.
Neither version of this part of chapter 19 can be identified with a revision belonging
to the baptismal controversy.
149 See chapter 8, pp. 159-162.
150 Vnit. 7.
151 Vnit. 12.
152 Vnit. 8.

153 Vnit. 9. In lap. 33 and ep. 59.13.4 he characterized the leaders of the laxist schism in
Carthage as blinded by God.
154 In ep. 54.3.1, Cyprian would object to the presumption of the Novatianists to pass a
final judgment on the lapsed.
155 In ep. 54.3.1-2, he reminded the Novatianist confessors that no church leader was
authorized to separate wheat from tares or to clear the threshing floor. In ep. 55.25.12, he leveled this charge of presumption at Novatian himself. Cyprian would later
defend himself against the laxist charge of dividing the church by his rigorist stance
toward the fallen, ep. 59.15.3-16.3.
156 Epp. 43.5.2, 59.7.3, 70.3.1, 73.11.1.
157 Epp. 59.4.1-3, 5.1, 66.3.2, 4.2. The first letter was written in defense against the
laxist appeal to Rome, the second in response to a Novatianist in Africa.
158 Epp. 59.7.3, 66.8.3.
159 Ep. 66.8.2-3. The same point was made in ep. 59.7.2-3, though in ep. 65.5.1-2
Cyprian cautioned that the bishop must be sound and worthy.
160 He signaled particular difficulties with the sacrificers and adulterers who had refused
to perform penance, ep. 59.15.2-3.
161 Ep. 59.17.1-20.2.
162
Epp.
65.4.1,
67.2.2.
163 Ep. 63.13.1-4.
164 Ep. 69.5.2.
165 Ep. 63.16.1.
166 See above, chapter 4, p. 63.
167 The plague appeared in Carthage during the summers. Cyprians de mortalitate had
addressed Christian concerns.
168 The problems caused by the survival of the apparently dying penitents were attested
in epp. 55.13.1 and 56.2.1 where the bishops argued that those who fell under torture
should not continue to be excluded.
169 Ep. 64.1.1. The case of Victor might indicate a level of impatience.
170 Ep. 56.1, 2.1, see also ep. 55.13.1 where Cyprian answered a rigorist objection to the
sacrificers remaining in communion.

-213-

171 Ep. 57.3.1-2, 5.1.

172 Ep. 57.1.2, 3.1.
173 Vnit. 4 epp. 33.1.1-2, 43.5.1-2.
174 Ep. 57.2.2.
175 Epp. 69.3.1-2, 70.2.1, 3.1, 71.1.3, 3-2, 73.25.2, 75.16.1-2, 25.3 (assumed to
reflect Cyprians letter to Firmilian).
6
INITIATION INTO UNITY
1

Ep. 64.4.1-5.2 implied that infant baptism was normal; lap. 25 testi-fied to the
participation of infants in the eucharist, indicating their prior baptism.

The conciliar letter, ep. 70.2.3, referred to converts from idolatry.

Though with considerably less sympathy from the companions they had
abandoned. Cyprian recounted the resentment his congregations showed toward
them, ep. 59.15.1-4.

Ep. 59.10.1-11.3.

Ep. 50.1.2 recorded the first arrival of what might have been a rigorist bishop; ep.
59-9.2 indicates that a challenger to Cyprian might not have been in place until
early 252.

Ep. 70 from the Numidian bishops to a council of Proconsular bishops meeting in

Carthage. See Clarke, Letters 4:192-3 for dating.

Precise information on the length of catechumenate or penitence is not available,

though the provision made for baptizing catechumens and reconciling penitents
just prior to death indicated a specific period of time which was observed, epp.
18.1.1-2.2, 20.3.1. In ep. 56.1, reference was made to a three-year period of
repentance as being adequate for lapsed who fell under torture.

Cyprian did not hesitate to appeal to the spiritual damage done to children in
another circumstance, lap. 9, 25. In this case, however, he regarded the
schismatics either as sincere but deceived, epp. 70.2.3, 72.2.3, or responsible for
accepting baptism in rebellion against the church, epp. 69.9-1-10.1, 73.21.2.

There was a plague in summer 252, and a looming renewal of persecution in

spring 253.
10 Reference was made to Novatians practice of rebaptizing all converts in epp.
73.2.1, 74.1.2, which are securely dated in summer 256. This communion,
moreover, would have been concerned to establish the depth of the rejection of
idolatry by its converts.
11 On his deposition and role in establishing the laxist hierarchy, see ep. 59-10.
12 On the status of the bishops in the new laxist communion, see ep. 59-10.1-3.
Repostus entire congregation had been guilty of following him into apostasy
during the persecution.
13 Ep. 70.1.1, which is the earliest of the surviving documents of the controversy,
was the response of a Proconsular synod to the inquiry of a Numidian synod on
the question of receiving converts baptized in schism.
14 This hypothesis is different from that of my study of the rebaptism controversy in
On Rebaptism: Social Organization in the Third
-214Century Church, Journal of Early Christian Studies, 1 (1993):367-403.
15 Tertullian also cited Eph. 4.4-6 in bapt. 15. He referred to a more ample treatment in
Greek which has not survived but which may have been known to Cyprian.
16 Clarke provides a summary of what may be known about this council, suggesting
that it was held about 230, Letters 4:197-8.
17 The bishops in Numidia knew the policy adopted by Agrippinus council but still
raised questions of its application, ep. 70.1.2.
18 Epp. 70.1.2, 71.4.1.
19 Ep. 73.3.1.
20 Ep. 75.19.3-4.
21 Firmilian would have had his information not only from the dossier of letters
Cyprian sent but from the messenger, the deacon Rogatianus, as well. He implied
that a change in custom had been quite recent, though he might have been informed
on Agrippinus council. He asserted that his own church had never accepted heretical
baptism and had, through a council, rejected schismatic baptism. See ep. 75.19-3-4.
22 The key point, the Proconsular synod replied, was that the baptism was performed
outside the church, ep. 70.1.2.
23 Because the opponents did not really believe in the link between the church and the
forgiveness of sins, ep. 70.2.1.

24 Sent, episc. 4, 5, 7, 33. Only the latter two, of Lucius and Felix, presented distinct
arguments against schismatics.
25 The prior instance would have been the Montanists, whose disciplinary dissent
would have paralleled that of the Novatianists. The Cappadocian bishops had dealt
with this as a distinct issue in their own council, ep. 75.19.4.
26 Ep. 73.24.1. He also asserted that Novatian was right to refuse to recognize the
baptism of another church, since it would have undercut his own, ep. 73.2.1.
27 Ep. 70.1.1-2.
28 Ep. 71. Quintus was identified in ep. 72.1.3.
29 Cyprian referred twice to the enclosure of letters, ep. 71.1.1, 4.2. The conciliar letter
was clearly intended in the first instance; the second seems to be a private letter.
Clarke surmises that the second reference was to ep. 69, addressed to Magnus. The
next letter in sequence, addressed to Jubianus, however, referred only to the conciliar
letter and that to Quintus, ep. 73.1.1-2. If a personal letter had preceded that to
Quintus and was sent with it, Cyprian did not think to send it to Jubianus as well. A
second letter enclosed with that to Quintus would have been either that to Magnus,
ep. 69, or a different letter which has been lost. It is argued below that this letter to
Magnus was composed later and thus could not have been the one intended in the
closing paragraph of the letter to Quintus. See Clarke, Letters 4:211, n. 15, 221, nn.
2-3.
30 Ep. 72. The number of bishops was specified in ep. 73.1.2. All evidence of
schismatic clergy recruited from among the African churches related to the laxists;
the rigorist clergy seems to have been sent from Rome, see epp. 44.1.1, 2.1, 3.1,
50.1.1-2, 52.1.1-2.
-21531 Ep. 70 of the Proconsular bishops to the Numidians and ep. 71 of Cyprian to
Quintus. This provided an indicator that all the relevant early correspondence has
survived and that Cyprians letter to Magnus (ep. 69) was written later.
32 Ep. 57.
33 Ep. 72.3.1-2.
34 Not only did the Africans seem to have been unconcerned about a different Roman
tradition of reception by imposition of hands but they made no reference to what
could have been a problem in Rome: the practice of Novatian, who did rebaptize
converts. Had the Africans been concerned with the rigorists as well as the laxists,
a fuller and more nuanced treatment of the issue might have been sent.
35 Ep. 73.2.1-3.

36 Ep. 73.14.3, 20.2, 25.1.

37 The three letters were read out at the beginning of the deliberations held on 1
September 256. See sent, episc. proem. This might have indicated that Jubianus
was himself an African and known to the other bishops gathered at the meeting.
38 Ep. 74.4.1. If accurate, this report implied that Stephen did not regard Novatian as
heretical. Ep. 73.2.1 provided the first evidence in the surviving correspondence of
Novatians practice of rebaptizing, from which Cyprian himself might have gained
the knowledge.
39 Clarke tentatively identifies Pompeius as the bishop of Sabrata in Tripoli, who sent
his proxy to the September meeting, Letters 4:236.
40 Ep. 75. Clarke argues that he must have been sent copies of epp. 69, 73, 74. This
would indicate that the three letters shared a common purpose and were roughly
contemporary. See Letters 4:248.
41 Magnus seems to have been an African, since he did not mention the Novatianist
practice of rebaptizing, which a Roman would have known.
42 See pp. 110-12.
43 One of Pompeius and Dioga, who could not be present, so that eighty-seven
the
sententiae were recorded. Sent, episc. 83-5.
bishops,
Natalis,
spoke as
proxy for
two of his
colleagues,
44 Sent, episc. Only two bishops Lucius and Felix clearly distinguished between
heresy and schism, sent, episc. 7,33.
45 Epp. 73, 74, as well as the response from Firmilian of Caesarea, ep. 75.
46 Epp. 50.1.2, 59.9.2.
47 See the correspondence between Cyprian and Cornelius on these events, esp. ep.
59.10.1-11.3.
48 Ep. 59.15.1-4.
49 Ep. 70.1.2.
50 The only reference to the baptismal interrogation focused on the link between the
church and the forgiveness of sins, ep. 70.2.1. There was no question of difference
in belief regarding God or Christ.

51 Ep. 62 was sent to eight of these bishops, who had requested financial assistance to
ransom Christians taken captive in a raid. See Clarke, Letters 3:280-1 and 4:193-5
for the evidence and its limits. For Privatus, see ep. 59-10.1-11.3.
52 Lambaesis was more than 160 km from the sea by a fairly direct route. The
quartering of III Legio Augusta at the site and the citys serving as
-216capital of Numidia would certainly have increased communication with Rome but
would not necessarily have attracted the rigorists. The converts were likely to have
come from a schismatic church established earlier under Privatus, who had been
deposed perhaps a decade earlier (ep. 59.10.1-11.3). At the time of the inquiry,
they would have been laxist communicants.
53 See Clarke, Letters 4:207.
54 See epp. 44.1.1, 3.1, 45.1.2, 50, 52.1.2-2.2, 59.9.1-11.2 for the persons sent by
Novatian.
55 Thus ep. 69, which fully discussed Novatians rebellion, might not yet have been
composed.
56 Epp. 70.3.1 (to Numidia) and 71.3.1 (to Quintus in Mauretania). In ep. 72.1.2 (to
Stephen) Peters ordering water baptism for Cornelius in Acts 10.44ff might have
been particularly aimed at a Roman audience. For the parallel usage of Peter as a
symbol of local unity in earlier letters, see epp. 33.1.1, 43.5.2, 59.7.3. Prior to the
rebaptism controversy the much interpreted ep. 59.14.1 and unit. 4 PT, provided
the only instances in which Cyprian seemed to assign Peter a role in the universal
communion.
57 In the second stage of the controversy, Cyprian was more concerned to link the
power to forgive sins in baptism to the gift of the Holy Spirit. There he linked
Peters privilege in Mt. 16.18-19 to the gift of the Holy Spirit in Jn. 20.22-3. The
first instance of the change appeared in ep. 69.11.1. The letter of Jubianus referred
to Peter as the basis for local unity but linked him to the other apostles, ep. 73.7.12, 11.1. A similar approach was taken in ep. 75.16.1, where Firmilian was probably
mirroring Cyprians letters to Magnus and Jubianus. Cyprians intention was
clearest in the revision of unit. 4-5 TR.
58 Epp. 70.1.3, 2.2-3, 71.1.3, 72.1.1, 2.2. This second point was raised again in ep.
73.21.2 but without reference to the sinfulness of the ministers themselves.
59 See the letter on the laxist bishops sent to Cornelius, ep. 59.1.1-2, 9.1, 10.1-12.2.
60 Cornelius charged Novatian with cowardice during the persecution but not idolatry,
see Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.16.

61 Epp. 70.2.2-3, 72.2.3.

62 Thus in epp. 69.4.2, 9.1-2, 73.10.3. For the deception perpetrated by the laxists, see
ep. 72.2.3.
63 The information about Novatians practice was attributed to Jubianus letter to
Cyprian and might have been Cyprians first information on the subject, ep. 73.2.1.
Stephen asserted that the general practice of heretics was not to rebaptize, ep.
74.1.2, 4.1.
64 De rebaptismowhich argued for reception by the imposition of hands alone
must have represented the practice of at least a segment of the African church.
65 The letter of the Proconsular bishops to their Numidian colleagues referred to just
such converts, ep. 70.2.3.
66 Ep. 73.2.1 spoke of Jubianus own observation. Ep. 73.4.1 referred to a letter which
he included on the same subject. For the debate over the identity of this anonymous
letter, see Clarke, Letters 4:223.
-21767 Ep. 73.1.2 referred to the meeting as recent; it betrayed no knowledge of Stephens
reply to the synods letter.
68 Ep. 74.1.1 referred to Stephens letter for the first time in the surviving
correspondence.
69 See Clarke, Letters 4:248-9. It was not mentioned in the acta of the council of 1
September 256.
70 Jubianus observed that Cyprian was advocating Novatians practice of rebaptism
while Stephen asserted that the Africans were innovating and that no Christians, not
even heretics, rebaptizedapparently either refusing to take notice of Novatian or
classifying him as a heretic; epp. 73.2.1, 74.1.2.
71 Epp. 73.14.3, 25.1-26.2, 74.2.2, 4.1, 8.2.
72 Ep. 69.1.1.
73 Ep. 69. Clarke discusses the chronology in Letters 4:173-4 and again in CCL
3D:702. He argues for an early dating from the calm and measured tone, without
claims on previous tradition, the general rather than specific focus of the arguments,
the absence of reference to the conciliar resolutions which are reported in epp. 70,
72, or to any other correspondencedespite the practice of including other letters in
writing to Quintus, Jubianus, Pompeius and Firmilian. The letter to Magnus,
moreover, was not listed among those sent to Jubianus, ep. 73.1.1-2, though it seems
to have preceded it.

74 Clarke points out that Firmilians arguments in ep. 75.10.5-11.1 seem to have been
aimed at the objections raised by Magnus, which Cyprian had summarized and
answered in ep. 69.7.1-8.1, see Letters 4:248. It may be presumed that Firmilian also
received a copy of ep. 72, the African councils report to Stephen, which had
provoked his harsh response. Firmilians letter did not reference the items specific to
the letters sent to the Numidian bishops and to Quintus in Mauretania, epp. 70, 71.
75 The letter sent by Jubianus provided the first information on Novatians practice of
rebaptizing converts, ep. 73.2.1, which Cyprian gave no indication of knowing in his
reply to Magnus. Thus epistula 69 may be judged to precede epistula 73, and by
implication, epistula 74.
76 Epp. 69.2.1, 74.11.2. Epp. 73.10.3, 74.11.2 added the paradise of fruit trees. These
images were associated with Canticle of Canticles 6.8, 4.12. Cant. 6.8 was also found
in ep. 69-2.1 and the revision of unit. 4 TR, though not elsewhere in the letters of this
period.
77 Epp. 69.2.2, 74.11.3. Noahs ark appeared also in unit. 6, where it also referred to the
impossibility of salvation outside the church.
78 Ep. 69.2.3, 74.6.2. Based on Eph. 5.25-6. The image was more elaborate in ep. 74,
indicating that it might have been the later use.
79 Epp. 69.8.1, 73.8.1-2. Firmilians response to Cyprian picked up the argument from
the letter to Magnus, ep. 75.10.5-11.1. This incident was also mentioned in unit. 18,
where it might have been part of the revision of the text. It appeared elsewhere only
in ep. 3.1.2, which cannot be securely dated.
80 Epp. 69.11.1, 73.7.2; unit. 4 TR. It did not appear elsewhere in Cyprians writings.
81 Ep. 73.24.3-25.1 appears to be a revision of ep. 69.11.1. It attributed the spirit of
Elijah to John and explained that the apostles rebaptized
-218after him because John had not acted within the unity of the church. This shift seems
to have been under the influence of Jn. 7.38-9, whose first verse was cited in ep.
73.11.1. If Cyprian was working from a written text rather than from memory, he
would have noted that the next verse (Jn. 7.39) said that the Spirit was not given until
Jesus was glorified. Thus he might have changed his interpretation of the giving of
the Spirit to John the Baptist later in the letter. This might also indicate that the text
was fresh in his mind, and that epistula 69 had, therefore, been written recently. The
uncertainty in Cyprians evaluation of Johns baptism reflected Tertullians treatment
in bapt. 10.
82 Epp. 69.4.2, 9.1-2, 73.10.3; contrast with epp. 70.2.3, 72.2.3.
83 Ep. 69.12.1-16.2.

84 Eusebius, h.e. 6.43.14.

85 Ep. 69.14.1-2. The link between the two questions was explicitly asserted in ep.
69.16.2.
86 Ep. 73.9.1-2. This followed the description of the effects of the different parts of the
ritual in Tertullians bapt. 6.
87 The precise point made in ep. 73.9.1, 24.3-25.1 regarding the baptism performed by
Philip in contrast to that performed by John the Baptist.
88 In addition it might be noted that the first three letters are of similar, short length (97,
86 and 79 lines in CCL edition) while the latter three are significantly longer (380,
473, and 250 lines in the same edition), CCL 3C.
89 Clarke observes that epistula 69 did not share the acerbic tone of the later letters and
made no reference to the decisions of the councils of 254-5 and spring 256. The issue
in this letter to Magnus was Novatians power to baptize, and not his practice of
rebaptizing, of which Cyprian learned only later from Jubianus, ep. 73.2.1. Reference
to the two councils dealing with just this problem (apparently among the laxists)
would not necessarily have been expected. The silence and failure to include prior
letters, were any relevant, would count as an argument against the dating proposed
here.
90 Epp. 70, 71, 72.
91 Epp. 69, 73, 74, 75.
92 Ep. 71.1.2.
93 Ep. 70.3.1, parallel to unit. 4 PT.
94 Ep. 70.3.2, quoting Lk. 11.23 and 1 Jn. 2.18-19. The charge was repeated by Cyprian
in his own ep. 71.1.2, 3.2, without giving the texts themselves, which were quoted in
the accompanying ep. 70.
95 Ep. 71.1.3.
96 Ep. 70.1.3. Ep. 72.2.2 used Lev. 21.17 and Ex. 19.22, 30.20-1 which had been used
earlier in ep. 67.1.2 to urge the deposition of the Spanish bishops who were guilty of
idolatry and blasphemy.
97 Ep. 70.2.1.
98 Ep. 70.3.3 and repeated by Cyprian in ep. 71.2.3.
99 Ep. 70.1.3-2.3.
100 Ep. 70.3.1
101 Ep. 72.1.2.

-219102 Cyprian nowhere explicitly stated such an argument but always interpreted the
imposition of hands as the second part of the baptismal ritual rather than the
reconciliation of a penitent, epp. 70.3.1, 72.1.1-2, 69.11.3, 73.6.2, 74.5.1, 7.1-2,
though he recognized the contrary view, epp. 71.2.2, 74.1.2.
103 Ep. 71.2.1-3.
104 Epp. 70.1.3-2.3, 72.1.1. He was more circumspect in speaking of the effects of rituals
performed within the Catholic communion by unworthy ministers. See chapter 7.
105 Ep. 70.3.2-3, 72.1.3-2.2. The characterization was applied to the laxist clergy who
had originally opposed Cyprians election and administration in lap. 33 and ep.
59.13.4. It did not fit Novatian as well, from whom he received crucial support
during the persecution.
106 Ep. 70.2.2-3, 3.3.
107 Ep. 72.2.3. Thus even those clerics who repented of their rebellion and were
admitted to the Catholic church as laymen faced a terrifying judgment.
108 Ep. 69.1.1-4. Whoever is not with me is against me; and whoever does not gather
with me scatters (Lk. 11.23); As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now
many antichrists have come. From that we know that it is the last hour. They went
out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would
have remained with us (1 Jn. 2.18-19); If the offender refuses to listen even to the
church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector (Mt. 18.17).
109 Ep. 69.2.1-3.
110 Ep. 69.4.1-2.
111 Ep. 69.5.1. The text of Jn 10.30, I and the Father are one, was interpreted by
Tertullian in Prax. 22.10-11 as establishing the unity of will and disposition between
the Father and Son. This seems to be Cyprians meaning, since he implied a
subordinatist Christology, as in ep. 73.18.2-3. Interestingly, Novatian referred the
text to the common deity, de trinitate 13.6 and 15.10 but to the concord of two
individuals in 27.2-3, CCL 4:33, 38-9, 63-4.
112 Ep. 69.5.2.
113 Ep. 69.3.1-2.
114 Ep. 69-7.2. In ep. 70.2.1, the bishops addressed this argument to their colleagues
who wished to accept the opponents baptism, asserting that such Catholics must
either change their own baptismal interrogation or concede the church itself to the
opposition. In ep. 69.7.2, Cyprians point was that Novatian himself should not use
such an interrogation because he did not have the church.
115 Ep. 69.8.1.

116 Ep. 69.11.3.

117 Ep. 69.10.2-11.3.
118
forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.
Receive
the Holy
Spirit. If
you
forgive
the sins
of any,
they are
119 Vnit. 4-5 TR.
120 Ep. 69.11.2. Later, Cyprian would have to revise his estimation of John, whose
baptism was repeated by the apostles. See ep. 73.25.1, and the explanation in note 81
above.
-220121 Ep. 69.14.1-16.1.
122 Ep. 69.16.2.
123 Ep. 69.6.1-3.
124 Ep. 69-8.1-9.2. The citation of the rebellion of Core, Dathan and Abiron served the
purpose of undercutting the argument from the unity of faith, which could be raised
in cases of schism but not heresy.
125 Ep. 69.10.2.
126 Ep. 69.4.2. Cyprian remained sensitive to the charges of cruelty which had been
leveled against him earlier, see ep. 59.15.1-16.3. The distinction between those
forced out and those who left voluntarily fits the laxists and rigorists adherents. He
regarded the laxist leaders as objects of divine wrath, lap. 33; ep. 59.13.4.
127 Ep. 69.9.1.
128 Ep. 69.9.2.
129 The language, however, remained that of ritual contamination: they were defiled by
sharing the sacrilegious sacrifices, ep. 69.9-2.
130 Ep. 73.16.1-17.2.
131 Ep. 73.18.1.

132 Ep. 73.18.2-19.2.

133 Ep. 73.4.1-6.2.
134 Ep. 73.21.1.
135 Ep. 73.13.3.
136 Ep. 73.14.1-2; see Phil. 1.18.
137 Ep. 73.9.1-2; see Acts 8.14-17.
138 Ep. 73.24.1-25.2, referring to Acts 19.1-7. Cyprian refused to recognize that John
had received the Holy Spiritas he had argued in ep. 69.H.2and attributed to him
the spirit of Elijah instead. The two arguments are compatible, but Cyprian was
hardly candid in making both. See note 81 above, where the change is offered as an
argument that epistulae 69 and 73 were contemporary but that epistula 69 preceded.
139 Ep. 74.2.2-3.2. The response of Firmilian indicated that the argument came from
Stephen, ep. 75.5.2.
140 Ep. 73.2.1-3, 25.2.
141 Ep. 73.20.2.
142 Ep. 73.22.1-23.1.
143 Epp. 73.10.3,11.1, 74.11.2-3.
144 Ep. 74.6.1-2, 7.2, 8.2.
145 Ep. 74.4.2.
146 Ep. 73.11.2-3.
147 Ep. 73.7.1-8.2. The same point was made in unit. 7.
148 Ep. 73.6.1, 10.1, 21.2.
149 Ep. 73.20.1-2, 22.3.
150 Ep. 73.24.1-3.
151 Epp. 73.13.1-2, 74.10.1-3.
152 Epp. 73.18.3, 19.3, 74.2.1.
153 Epp. 73.10.2, 11.2, 74.8.4-9.1.
154 Ep. 73.26.2.
155 Ep. 73.26.1.
156 Ep. 75.1.1 refers to Cyprians letter and to Rogatianus.

157 Ep. 75.4.1-2.

-221158 Ep. 75.15.2. Cyprians own letter to Firmilian, which was not preserved, may have
presented these developments.
159 Ep. 75.14.1.
160 Using 1 Cor. 11.27; ep. 75.21.3. Cyprian had made a similar point about the lapsed,
with examples, in lap. 24-5. In the letter to Pompeius he spoke about the
communication of sin through the eucharist, ep. 74.18.3, 19-3 a point which
Firmilian picked up in ep. 75.23.1.
161 Ep. 75.5.2-3.
162 Ep. 75.6.1.
163 Ep. 75.7.3-4, 193-4. The change is presumed to have been made in Agrippinus
council.
164 Ep. 75.10.1-5. This seems to show an awareness of the argument made by Magnus
and answered by Cyprian in ep. 69-7.1-2.
165 Cyprian noted and responded to the objection in ep. 73.23.1. Firmilian took it up in
ep. 75.21.1-3.
166 Ep. 75.21.1-2.
167 Thus in ep. 69.13.3-14.1 and in ep. 74.7.1, dealing with the attempt to separate
baptism from the imposition of hands.
168 Ep. 75.23.2.
169 Ep. 73.23.1, though he dealt with only those catechumens who died as martyrs.
During the persecution, it will be recalled, he was especially concerned that any
catechumen in danger of death from illness should receive baptism, ep. 18.2.2.
170 The main argument was that there was only one baptism in the one church: sent,
episc. 1, 2, 14, 17, 21, 23, 24, 33, 34, 36, 44, 45, 46, 50, 55, 58, 66, 67, 68, 72, 75,
77, 79, 80.
171 Sent, episc. 3, 22, 33, 34, 42, 44.
172 There heretics did not have the Father, Son or Spirit, hence not baptism: sent, episc.
10, 16, 47, 67, 73.
173 Sent, episc. 9, 40, 48.
174 Sent, episc. 1, 12, 15, 20, 40, 41, 53, 81; see epp. 73.18.3, 19.3, 74.10.1-3.

175 Sent, episc. 5, 18. See also sent, episc. 80, which argued that the heretics will blame
the bishops because they were not baptized when they came to the church and thus
did not get remission of sins and consequently were damned. The position
paralleled that of Firmilian in ep. 75.21.1-2, 23.2.
176 Only four of the sententiae even indicated a distinction between heresy and schism.
Most of the others referred to the opponents as heretics. Sent, episc. 4, 5, 7, 33.
177 The treatise engaged a particular but unnamed opponent. On a number of issues,
however, the author seems not to have known the surviving writings of Cyprian.
Cyprian had, for example, responded to the concern for the baptism of the sick
(rebap. 5; ep. 69.12.1-16.2) and the martyrdom of catechumens (rebap. 12; ep.
73.23.1). In addition, the treatise ignored Cyprians major point in ep. 69-7.1-8.3,
that the church itself was part of the Christian confession of faith (rebap. 12-14).
178 On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name,
and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds
-222-

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of power in your name? Then I will declare to them, 1 never knew you; go away
from me, you evildoers. Cited in rebap. 1.
179 Then if anyone says to you, Look! Here is the Messiah! or There he is!do not
believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great
signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. Cited in rebap. 12.
180 Rebap. 7, 12.
181 Rebap. 10.
182 Rebap. 6 said that it would not save but did help a person when supplemented by
spirit baptism; rebap. 12 said that it would be a burden to those who subsequently
failed to seek Christ.
183 Rebap. 10.
184 Rebap. 4-6. Thus the baptism of Cornelius in the Spirit preceded the water baptism;
the spirit baptism of the disciples at Pentecost forgave the sins they had committed
in denying Jesus after their water baptism.
185 Rebap. 3-5. In response to the standard examples of the Samaritans baptized by
Philip, the treatise cited the separation of the water and spirit baptisms of the
apostles themselves. The author rejected the notion that someone other than the
bishop could confer the Holy Spirit.

186 Rebap. 10. Spirit baptism was being substituted for water baptism as the saving
ritual; the author, therefore, had to provide for its conferral, even in heaven.
187 Rebap. 10.
188 Rebap. 6-7 used Mt. 7.22-3 to condemn the outsider as an evil doer. Rebap. 11
condemned heretics because, even as martyrs, they did not confess Christ himself
but only his name. Rebap. 12 condemned surviving heretics for failing to seek the
Lord himself after his name was invoked upon them.
189 Rebap. 10.
190 Rebap. 4, a point which Cyprian explicitly rejected, ep. 69-12-14.
191 As Cyprian insisted it could in ep. 69-12.1-14.2.
192 Bapt. 6.
193 Rebap. 13.
194 Ep. 71.2.1-3.2.
195 See above, chapters 3, 4.
7
PURITY OF THE CHURCH
1

Ep. 8.3-1-

Ep. 20.3.2.

In ep. 55.13-1, Cyprian dealt with the problem of penitents who recovered from the
illness during which they had been reconciled, arguing that they did not constitute a
threat to the church.

Ep. 1 refused prayers for a bishop who involved a presbyter in secular work; ep. 3
instructed an episcopal colleague to remove an insubordi-nate deacon; ep. 52.3
reported the financial and family crimes of the presbyter Novatus, who was facing
excommunication at the time the persecution broke out.
-223-

Cornelius admitted the apostate Trofimus only as a layperson, ep. 55.11.1-3; he

made an exception in allowing the presbyter Maximus to return to his office after
going into schism, ep. 49. The case of the apostate bishops in Spain was discussed

in ep. 67.
6

Ep. 59.10.1.

Cornelius admitted Trofimus as a layman, ep. 55.11.1-3. In Africa, the ordinary

practice seems to have been excommunication, epp. 1.2.1, 4.4.1, 34.3.2, 52.2.5,
59.10.2-3, 65, 64.1.1-2. The exception involved a deacon guilty of insubordination,
ep. 3.3.3, where Cyprian indicated that the punishment of demotion was within the
discretion of the bishop. Such persons could be reconciled and readmitted only as
laymen, see ep. 72.2.1. The clergy of the church of Carthage who withdrew during
the persecution were temporarily demoted upon their return; the disposition of their
case was not recorded, ep. 34.4.1-2.

Ep. 11.1.2, 2.1-5.3.

Epp. 13-5.1, 14.1.1.

10 Ep. 11.1.3.
11 Ep. 11.6.1.
12
Ep.
11.78.
13 Epp. 15, 16 and 17.
14 Ep. 15.1.2-2.1.
15 Ep. 16.1.2-2.2.
16 Ep. 17.1.2-2.2.
17 Ep. 20.2.1.
18 Ep. 15.1.2, to the confessors,"Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup
of the Lord in an unworthy manner, will be answerable for the body and the blood
of the Lord. Ep. 16.2.2, to the clergy, You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and
the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of
demons.
19 Ep. 20.2.2.
20 Item cum conperissem eos qui sacrilegis contactibus manus suas atque ora
maculassent uel nefandis libellis nihilominus conscientiam poluis-sent exambire ad
martyras passim, confessores quoque inportuna et gratiosa deprecatione
corrumpere sine ullo discrimine atque examine singulorum darentur cotidie
libellorum milia contra euangelii legem, litteras feci quibus martyras et confessors
consilio meo quantum possem ad dominica praecepta reuocarem.

(ep. 20.2.2; CCL 36:107.25-108.32.)

21 Ep. 20.2.3-3.1, see also ep. 16.1.1-2, 4.1-2 for the continued divine warnings.
22 Lap. 5-12.
23 Lap. 18.
24 Lap. 20.
25 Lap. 33. This was repeated in ep. 59.13.4.
26 Ep. 65.4.1.
27 Ep. 58.2.2. He had suggested this as an appropriate form of repentance in ep.
19.2.3 and lap. 36.
28 Ep. 61.3.1.
29 Ep. 16.2.2.
30 Ep. 15.1.2.
31 Ep. 20.2.2. The Roman confessors picked up this theme, declaring that
-224the presbyters who administered the eucharist to the fallen were throwing pearls to
swine, ep. 31.6.2, and added the pollution of the eyes which had looked upon the
idols, ep. 31.7.1.
32 Omnis mundus manducabit carnem; et anima quaecumque manducauerit ex came
sacrificii salutaris, quod est Domini, et inmunditia ipsius super ipsum est, peribit
anima illa de populo suo.
(lap. 15; CCL 3:229.302-5.)
33 Lap. 15-16.
34 Lap. 22.
35 Lap. 24-26.
36 Lap. 25-26.
37 Ep. 24.1.1.
38 Ep. 25.
39 Qui sacrilegis contractibus manus suas atque ora maculassent uel nefandis libellis
nihilominus conscientiam polluissent. ep. 20.2.2; CCL 36:107.25-108.27, writing to

the Roman clergy.

40 Epp. 30.3.2, 31.7.2.
41 Ep. 55.13.2, 6.2, 17.3.
42 Ep. 55.14.1-2.
43 As converts who came into voluntary but erroneous contact with schismatic rituals.
shall be
seen
below,
Cyprian
would
make the
same
argument
for
44 Ep. 59.12.2, 14.1, 15.3. Novatian had accused Cornelius of soiling himself by
communion with sacrificers, ep. 55.2.2, 10.2.
45 See below, pp. 145-7. He apparently considered the ceremonies of the schismatics as
demonic, like those of the idolaters.
46 It should be recalled that unworthy clerics were excluded from office by well
established practice. See epp. 1.2.1, 4.4.1, 52.2.5, 64.1.1-2, 65.
47 Ep. 54.3.1.
48 Ep. 55.27.1-3; he noted the scriptural practice of linking adultery to idolatry.
49 Ep. 54.3.1.
50 Ep. 55.20.1-2.
51 Ep. 59.12.2, 14.1, 15.3.
52 Lap. 6.
53 Ep. 55.10.12.
54 Ep. 55.11.3.
55 Ep. 65.2.1. The three texts are: No one...who has a blemish may approach to offer
the food of his God, The priests who approach the Lord must consecrate
themselves or the Lord will break out against them, and or when they come near
the altar to minister in the holy place; or they will bring guilt on themselves and die.
56 Ep. 65.2.2, 4.1, God hears not the sinner,
57 Ep. 65.1.2, 4.1-2, 5.1-2.

58 Ep. 65.3.1-2.
59 Quod ne tales ad altaris inpiamenta et contagia fratrum denuo redeant omnibus
uiribus excubandum est, omni uigore nitendum ut quantum possumus ab hac eos sui
sceleris audacia retundamus, ne adhuc agere pro sacerdote conentur qui ad mortis
extrema deiecti ultra lapsos laicos ruinae maioris pondere proruerunt.
(Ep. 65.3.3; CCL 3O430.62-7.)
-22560 Ep. 65.4.1-2.
61 The bishop had been unworthy even before the persecution exposed him; the
danger arose only afterward.
62 Ep. 59.10.1-3.
63 Ep. 59.20.1.
64 Ep. 67.2.2. Similarly, Is. 29.13, This people honor me with their lips but their
heart is far removed from me, itself cited in Mt. 15.8-9 and Mk. 7.6-7, was used to
warn of the danger of despising the divine mandates, ep. 64.2.1.
65 Nec sibi plebs blandiatur quasi inmunis esse a contagio delicti possit cum sacerdote
peccatore communicans et ad iniustum atque inlicitum praepositi sui episcopatum
consensum suum commodans, quando per Ose prophetam comminetur et dicat
censura diuina: sacrifica eorum tamquam panis luctus, omnes qui manducant ea
contaminabuntur, docens scilicet et ostendens omnes omnino ad peccatum
constringi quique fuerint profani et iniusti sacerdotis sacrificio contaminati. (Ep.
67.3.1; CCL 3C450.53-451.60.)
66 Ep. 67.3.2.
67 Ep. 67.9.1-2, 5.3-4 made clear that Stephen was deceived but negligent.
68 Ep. 59.10.1-3.
69 The charges themselves were not specified in Cyprians response, ep. 66. G.W.
Clarke reconstructs them: the irregularity of Cyprians election (1.2), flight during
persecution (4.1-2), authoritarian style of governance (3.1), responsibility for the
laxist schism (8.1), and reliance on private revelations (9.1-10.2). See Clarke,
Letters 3:322.
70 Ep. 66.5.2.
71 Ep. 66.7 A.
72 After demonstrating the absurd consequences of Puppianus charge that Cyprian

was an unworthy bishop, he mockingly begged his adversary to restore and rescue
all by reversing his private judgment of Cyprian, ep. 66.5.2.
73 Ep. 67.4.1-5.2.
74 Ep. 67.5.3-4, 9.1-3.
75 It has been argued above, pp. 106-12, that epp. 70, 71, and 72 were composed first
and dealt with the problem of laxist baptism in Africa. Epp. 73, 74 and 75 are
explicitly concerned with Novatian. In its arguments and use of scriptural
precedents, ep. 69, which also deals with Novatian, seems to belong with the latter
rather than the former group and thus should be dated somewhat later than is now
customary.
76 Ep. 59.10.1-3.
77 Cyprian rehearsed this argument for Cornelius in ep. 59-10.1-3, 12.1-2, 18.1.
78 Ep. 43.3.1.
79 Ep. 60.3.2.
80 Thus in ep. 43.3.2, 5.2; lap. 17, he charged them with sacrilege for setting up a
second altar and human institutions to rival those established by God.
81 Ep. 70.1.3, 2.2-3.
82 Ep. 70.1.3, 2.2.
83 Ep. 72.1.1.
-22684 Ep. 70.2.3. The possibility of error had been recognized during the persecution itself,
when Cyprian indicated some understanding and appreciation of the desire of the
lapsed to regain access to the communion of the church and exhorted the clergy and
confessors to restrain and educate them, epp. 15.2.1-2, 17.3.1. The Roman confessors
were excused by Cornelius, and by Cyprian, because they had been deceived by
Novatian, epp. 49.2.4, 51.1.2. Cyprian made a similar excuse for African Christians
who erred in following the confessors, ep. 51.2.2. The hardening of attitudes through
the bitter schism seems to have eradicated the tolerance of error.
85 Ep. 65.2.2, 3.3, 4.1, for Fortunatianus and ep. 67.3.1-2, for the bishops in Spain,
which may have come from the same synod.
86 Ep. 72.2.2. What may have been the same synod cited the same texts of Ex. 19.12,
28.43 and Lev. 21.17, 21 in ep. 67.1.2 to deal with the apostate bishops in Spain. See
Clarke, Letters 4:139-42 for the dating.
87 Ep. 72.2.1-2.

88 Epp. 68.2.1, 69.1.4.

89 Ep. 73.11.2, 21.2.
90 Ep. 67.3.1-2.
91 Epp. 69.8.1, 9.1-2, 73.8.1.
92 Ep. 69.9.2.
93 Ep. 73.8.1.
94 The two, distinct charges were clearly articulated in the first council to deal with the
problem of rebaptism, ep. 70.2.3.
8
UNITY OF THE EPISCOPATE
1

Epp. 45, 48. See chapter 5 for a discussion of the process of selection, installation
and deposition of bishops.

Epp. 59-10.1-3, 65.4.2, 68. The people could object to or even desert their bishop but
they could not themselves replace him without the collaboration of other bishops.

Ep. 67.

Thus each case was to be judged where the crime had been committed, ep. 59-14.2.

Epp. 8.3.1, 20.3.2.

Ep. 21.3.2.

Epp. 23, 26.1.1-2.

Epp. 55.6.1-2, 57, 72.

Epp, 59.10.2-3, 65.1.1.

10 Ep. 45.4.1.
11 Epp. 69-74 and sent, episc.
12 Epp. 45.3.1, 55.10.2.
13 Ep. 45.4.1.
14 Epp. 65, 68.
15 Ep. 55.6.1, 11.1-3 for the decisions made in Carthage and Rome regarding the
lapsed, which drew upon scripture and pastoral necessity. Ep. 57.1.2 indicated that
signs and warnings were used for deciding whether to reconcile the sacrificers.

16 This matter has been treated more fully in chapters 3-4. Consider, briefly, the
characterization of the loosening in heaven as a possibility
-227rather than a certainty in ep. 57.1.1, the letter of the council which granted
reconciliation to the sacrificers, and the limitation of Peters authority to loosening
on earth in ep. 73.7.1.
17 Epp. 71.3.2, 73.13.1-2.
18 Epp. 73.13.3, 74.2.4-3.1. Cyprian seems to have been aware that the decision made
under his predecessor Agrippinus was a change in policy, even before Firmilian of
Caesarea pointed this out to him, ep. 75.19-3. He argued that the apostles did not
have to face the heresies which he and his colleagues did, ep. 74.2.4-3.1.
19 Ep. 59.
20 Epp. 67, 68.
21 Sent, episc.
22 Cyprian wrote at least to Firmilian of Caesarea.
23 Ep. 55.21.1-2.
24 The exclusion of the clergy who had granted reconciliation without penance was
confirmed by the synod in spring 251, ep. 45.4.1-2.
25 Ep. 64.
26 Ep. 56.3.
27 Ep. 57.5.1-2. The application of pressure may have been associated with the danger
of giving support to the Novatianists, whose stance was not a factor in the
deliberations in the council of 251.
28 Ep. 55.21.1.
29 Ep. 68.4.3-5.2.
30 Ep. 72.3.1-2, on the number of bishops, see ep. 73.1.2. This freedom was reasserted
in epp. 69.17 and 73.26.1-2 after sustained arguments in favor of the African
practice. In ep. 74.8.2, Cyprian objected to Stephens threat of excommunication of
dissenters from his own policy.
31 Ep. 55.6.1. The debate, it must be recalled, resulted in a change in Cyprians own
views of the churchs power to forgive the sin of apostasy and to distinguish the
certified from the sacrificers.

32 Ep. 55.3.1-7.3.
33 Epp. 69, 70, 71, 73, 74; sent, episc. Bishops who continued to dissent might also
have absented themselves.
34 Epp. 55.22.1-23.2, 57.5.2, 71.2.3, 3.2, 74.11.1.
35 Firmilian of Caesarea evinced a similar attitude. Regional variations in the date of
celebrating Easter could be tolerated, but within a province the bishops had to take
the same stance on the validity of heretical baptism, ep. 75.6.1, 19.4.
36 Ep. 2.2.3.
37 Ep. 62.
38 Epp. 77.3.2, 78.3.1, 79.1.1.
39 Ep. 56.
40 Ep. 70.
41 Epp. 57, 72.
42 Sent, episc.
43 See Eusebius, h.e. 7.4-9.
44 The council which condemned Privatus had ninety participants, ep. 59.10.1; that of
September 256 counted eighty-five, sent, episc.
45 Epp. 1-4, 25, 56, 65, 69, 70, 71, 73, 74.
46 Ep. 48.3.1.
47 Epp. 57, 72, 75.
-22848 Epp. 67, 68.
49 His very insistence upon the independence of each of the individual bishops belies
the influence which he must have exercised, sent, episc. proem. He introduced the
question but was the last to offer his sententia, sent, episc. 87.
50 Ep. 48.2.2, in which he recounted a visit to Hadrumetum and ep. 58.1.1, where he
apologized for his inability to make a planned trip to Tribaris. G.W. Clarke is the
source of this suggestion, in conversation.
51 The status of Lambaesis as a legionary base would have given a similar role to its
bishop, who could also facilitate communications among his colleagues, as well as
with Carthage and Rome.

52 Epp. 45.3.1-2, 55.24.2; unit. 5.

53 Vnit. 5; epp. 55.6.1-7.3, 57.
54 The point is made in both versions of unit. 4, and in epp. 59-7.3, 66.8.3, 70.3.1,
71.3.1.
55 Vnit. 4 PT may have been modified when the original text was sent to Rome, either
as part of the episcopal commissions mission of repairing the schism or in the
attempt to convince the Novatianist confessors to return to Cornelius. See above,
chapter 5, p. 94.
56 Ep. 59.14.1.
57 Ep. 73.11.1, 7.1-2 and unit. 4 TR.
58 Vnit. 5; epp. 57.5.2, 59.14.2, 69.17.
59 This was particularly practiced in removing bishops who prevented repentance by
granting peace to the fallen, epp. 59.10.2-3, 65.1.2.
60 Ep. 68.3.2-4.2, arguing that Stephen must intervene to remove Marcianus of Arles.
61 The equality of the other apostles to Peter was common to both versions of unit. 4.
62 Vnit. 4 PT.
63 Vnit. 4 PT and 4-5 TR.
64 Vnit. 8. In a contemporary letter to the Novatianist confessors, he warned that they
had separated themselves from the peace and harmony of the flock of Christ, ep.
46.2.1.
65 The image was used in unit. 20-4, a section whose appeal to the confessors indicated
that it formed part of the original version, written in summer 251.
66 Epp. 66.8.3, 68.3.2, 73.26.2. The image may have been drawn from Tertullian, pud.
5.9.
67 In unit. 8 and ep. 55.24.4, Cyprian linked the unity of the Spirit and the bond of
peace of Eph. 4.2-3, hinting at a later idea of the common holding of the gift of the
Spirit by all the bishops.
68 In lap. 17-18 he had argued that only Christ could forgive the sin of apostasy. The
agreement of many bishops was used as an argument to defend Cornelius allowing
Trofimus to return to communion, ep. 55.11.3. When Marcianus dissented, he was
said to have lost the common Spirit of the episcopate, ep. 68.5.2.
69 Epp. 64, 68.
70 Ep. 59.14.2.
71 Epp. 67.6.3, 68.5.1.

72 Thus Novatians appeal to the Africans, epp. 44.1.1, 45.2.2; Privatus appeals for
reinstatement, epp. 36.4.1, 59.10.1; Fortunatus appeal to
-229Cornelius, ep. 59-2.1, 9.1. Novatian and Privatus both proceeded to establish their
own networks of bishops, epp. 55.24.2, 59-10.1-11.1.
73 Vnit. 4. Both PT and TR reject the notion that Peter held some authority over his
fellow apostles, though TR provided a fuller foundation by adapting Jn. 20.22-3 to
the purpose.
74 Ep. 65.6.1.
75 Epp. 74.8.2, 75.24.1. The extraordinary African rejection of the practice which
Stephen made the basis of his action clearly demonstrates that they could not
conceive of such an authority of one bishop over many, much less outside his own
province.
76 Thus the attempt to interpret Cyprians use of the term primatus Petri in that sense
which would begin to emerge only in the fourth century appears anachronistic.
77 Ep. 69.11.1-2.
78 Ep. 73.7.1-2.
79 Ep. 73-9.1-2. The same practice was still observed, he remarked, with the newly
baptized being presented to the bishop to receive the Holy Spirit through his prayer
and imposition of hands.
80 Acts 19.1-7.
81 Ep. 73.25.1.
82 In chapter 6, note 81, pp. 218-19, it is suggested that Cyprian may have been
influenced as well by Jn. 7.38-9 which asserted that the Holy Spirit was not poured
out until Jesus was glorified. Allusion was made to this text in ep. 73.11.1.
83 Vnit. 4 TR and ep. 73.7.1-2. The texts were together cited back to Cyprian by
Firmilian of Caesarea in ep. 75.16.1, probably on the basis of ep. 73.7.1-2. Earlier
emphases on Peters role appeared in epp. 70.3.1, 71.3.1.
84 Thus in unit. 23 and in the citation in unit. 8 of the prior verses, as well as in ep.
43.5.2. In none of these instances was any reference to baptism included.
85 Epp. 70.1.2, 71.1.2, 73.2.2, 3.1, 13.3.
86 Epp. 70.3.1, 73.4.2, 11.1. The text was quoted in full in unit. 4 TR. The entire text
was also cited back to Cyprian by Firmilian, ep. 75.24.3.

87 Epp. 70.3.1, 73.11.1.

88 The incident recorded in Num. 16.1-40 was used in this way in ep. 69.8.1. In ep.
73.8.1 and its reflection in 75.16.2, it was linked to Mt. 16.18-19 and Jn. 20.22-3.
The text was used in the same way in unit. 18. In the contemporary, ep. 67.3.2, it was
used for unworthy bishops and in the undatable ep. 3.1 for a rebellious deacon.
89 The incident was recorded in Lev. 10.1-2 and used in ep. 73.8.2 and unit. 18.
90 Vnit. 18, from 2 Chr. 26.16-20.
91 Ex. 12.46 and Jos. 2.18-19, were cited in ep. 69.4.1.
92 Vnit. 8. The prior version of the text would have moved smoothly from the
quotations of 1 Cor. 1.10 and Eph. 4.2-3 to the reflection on the dove as the sign of
the Holy Spirit in unit. 9.
93 Canticle of Canticles 6.9; Vnit. 4 TR, and ep. 69.2.1.
94 Canticle of Canticles 4.12, 15, appearing in ep. 69.2.1 but not in de unitate.
-23095 Canticle of Canticles 4.13; epp 73.10.3-11.1, 74.11.2.
96 Epp. 69.2.2, 74.11.3. The text of Canticle of Canticles 4.13 was cited by Firmilian
with and without the link to the ark of Noah, indicating the presence of these texts in
the documents sent to him by Cyprian, ep. 75.14.1, 15.1-2, 23.1. Reference to
Noahs ark appears only in unit. 6.
97 See above, chapter 5, p. 94.
98 Ep. 69.2.1.
99 Epp. 69.2.1, 73.10.3-11.1, 74.11.2.
100 D. Van den Eyndes La double edition du De unitate de S. Cyprien, Revue
dhistoire ecclsiastique, 29 (1933): 5-24, is useful for dealing with the texts which
appear in the TR version of chapter 5. It does not consider the other texts of parallel
usage which are listed here. The debate over versions of de unitate has been
unfortunately restricted by the manuscript tradition.
101 Vnit. 18; epp. 67.3.2, 69.8.1, 73.8.1-2 and 75.16.2. Only unit. 18 adds the punishment
of Uzziah.
102 Vnit. 8 and ep. 69.4.1.
103 Vnit. Hand epp. 70.1.2, 72.1.1, 73.21.1.
104 Vnit. 5 and epp. 45.3.2, 57.5.2, 59.14.2, 68.3.2-4.2, 69.17.

9
CYPRIANS AFRICAN HERITAGE
1

This might have been justified by appeal to Cornelius practice with Maximus, the
confessor-presbyter who had supported Novatians schism. While Cyprian defended
this action, he had not made such allowance in Africa. On the conflict see Yves
Congars note in Augustine, Traits Anti-Donatistes, Bibliothque Augustinienne,
Paris, Descle, 1963, vol. 29, pp. 724-5.

As has been seen, Cyprian actually found a means of asserting the efficacy of the
ritual of reconciliation, though he did limit it. Placing a repentant sinner in a
leadership role incurred problems of the communitys approval of the sin as well as
that of impurity.

Thus the historical evidence which Augustine introduced at the Conference of

Carthage, which convinced the imperial commissioner that Caecilian and Felix were
innocent, could not be accepted by the Donatists.

This may have been the position taken by the Roman bishop regarding the
Novatianists, see J. Patout Burns, On Rebaptism: Social Organization in the Third
Century Church, Journal of Early Christian Studies, 1 (1993):367-403.

As Magnus had suggested to Cyprian in the case of sick-bed baptism by infusion, ep.
69-12.1-16.2.

As Cyprian himself allowed had happened in the past and might continue to happen
when a bishop decided not to rebaptize a schismatic convert, ep. 73.23.1.

Augustine, ep. 153.3.6-8.

Augustine also described the bishops as the agents of Christ. The coherence of the
two explanations was maintained by the identification of the society of saints as the
body of Christ.

1 Pet. 4.8.
-231-

10 Ep. 71.3.1.
11 Lap. 18. He found the answer in the suffering of the lapsed who approached the
eucharist under the patronage of the martyrs and in the witness to Christ of those
who had undertaken penance.
-232-

BIBLIOGRAPHY
b
Benson, E.W.Cyprian: His Life, His Times, His Work, London,
Macmillan, 1897.
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