The Epistles of Cyprian, Volume Three

Before his conversion Thascius Caecilianus Cyprianus, better known as Cyprian, was a wealthy, unmarried, aristocrat and rhetorician born sometime around A.D. 200. As a result of knowing a Carthaginian pastor, Caecilius, he became a Christian in 246. Two years later he was elected bishop of the church in Carthage and remained in his post until his martyrdom in 258.

While Cyprian inherited much of the theological and moral outlook of Tertullian, his spirit is perhaps closer to that of Ignatius. His was a wartime bishopric, for in A.D. 250, the Decian persecution began and the government attempted to force Christians to sacrifice or be severely punished. As though that wasn’t enough, a plague broke out in Carthage and there was schism in the Church of Rome. Through these trials, Cyprian remained committed to defending the faith and purity of the Church, holding steady in his conviction and steering the faithful through difficult moral and theological issues.

This episode contains the third volume of a series of epistles written by, written to, or including Cyprian. This invaluable collection of 81 documents provides insight into the practical workings and controversies of the Early Church. Here, we find church leaders struggling with how to handle the Lapsed, or those who sacrificed to the Roman gods at the behest of the government, schism within the leaders of the Church, and general issues of life and polity.

This volume contains a number of epistles dedicated to those issues of life and polity. Here we find deacons sleeping with, but not doing anything strictly immoral to, the virgins of the Church, questions about how to handle the Lord’s Supper, the denunciation of acting as a viable career for a Christian, and infant baptism. This provides an intriguing window into the cultural and moral issues facing the Carthaginian Church in Cyprian’s day and can inform our own response to similar problems today.

And now, please enjoy the third installment of the Epistles of Cyprian. Please note that before each epistle there is a summary from the original editors of the collection, which will begin with the word “argument.”

If you would like to read more of the writings of the Early Christian Fathers, please visit ccel.org to view the full collection.