[2928] [Peter and Paul could not be quoted, then, as speaking by the mouth of any one bishop; certainly not by any prerogative of his See. See Guettée, The Papacy, p. 119. New York, 1866.]
[2929] Literally, "in the vanity (or unreality) of a baptism."
[2930] These words in italics are conjecturally interpolated, but have no authority.
[2931] [Another use of this word as generic for all but deacons.]
[2932] [A provincial council of the East; and note, in Asia, not Europe.]
[2933] Mark xiii. 6.
[2934] Facere. [Demoniacs. See Apost. lessons, so called, lxxix.]
[2935] Gal. iii. 27.
[2936] 2 Cor. xi. 2.
[2937] Ps. xlv. 11.
[2938] Cant. iv. 8.
[2939] Cant. v. 1.
[2940] Luke xi. 23.
[2941] Cant. iv. 12, 13.
[2942] 1 Pet. iii. 21.
[2943] Matt. xvi. 19.
[2944] John xx. 22, 23. [The two texts here quoted lie at the base of Cyprian's own theory; (1) to Peter alone this gift to signify its singleness, (2) then the same to all the apostles alone to signify their common and undivided partnership in the use of this gift. Note the two alones and one therefore. And see Treatise I. infra.]
[2945] [Cyprian's theory is thus professed by the Orient.]
[2946] [This place and succession are conceded in the argument; but Stephen himself does not appear to have claimed to be the Rock or to exercise the authority of Peter. Vol. iii. p. 266.]
[2947] [Stephen abolishes the Rock, and "deserts unity;" here, then, is evidence that he was not the one, nor the criterion of the other.]
[2948] [The Roman custom seems to have been a local tradition, to which more general custom is opposed. See p. 375, supra.]
[2949] [i.e., Montanists.] Or, "as we do the prophets."
[2950] [See sec. 7, supra.]
[2951] Phil. i. 18.
[2952] Or, "they not only speak of, (but have)," is a proposed reading of this obscure passage, "non modo dicunt."
[2953] [These, as the schoolmen teach, do virtually receive the sacrament, though in voto tantum.]
[2954] 1 Cor. xi. 27.
[2955] Prov. ix. 19 (LXX.).
[2956] Prov. xix. 5. [Note the charge of schism that follows.]
[2957] Prov. xxix. 22.
[2958] [This, by the structure of the argument, is supposed to be said to Stephen.]
[2959] Eph. iv. 1, 6.
[2960] [By Canon XIX. of Nicæa the Paulianists were compelled to observe the Carthaginian discipline, which was a Catholic decision, so far, in Cyprian's favour. His position was not condemned.]
[2961] [These passages are noted here, because they all must be borne in mind when we come to the Treatise on Unity.]
[2962] [These passages are noted here, because they all must be borne in mind when we come to the Treatise on Unity.]
[2963] Eph. iv. 5, 6.
[2964] Otherwise "unity." Some commentators omit this clause.
[2965] ["Pseudo-Christum, pseudo-apostolum, et dolosum operarium." Compare Cyprian's meekness (p. 386) with this.]
[2966] [This letter may be too much like Stephen's, in a spirit not so meek as is becoming; but it is not less conclusive as a testimony.]
Epistle LXXV. [2967]
To Magnus, on Baptizing the Novatians, and Those Who Obtain Grace on a Sick-Bed.
Argument.--The Former Part of This Letter is of the Same Tenor with Those that Precede, Except that He Inculcates Concerning the Novatians What He Had in Substance Said Concerning All Heretics; Moreover, Insinuating by the Way that the Legitimate Succession of Cornelius at Rome is Known, as the Church May Be Known. In the Second Part (Which Hitherto, as the Title Sufficiently Indicates, Has Been Wrongly Published as a Separate Letter) He Teaches that that is a True Baptism Wherein One is Baptized by Sprinkling on a Sick-Bed, as Well as by Immersion in the Church.
1. Cyprian to Magnus his son, greeting. With your usual religious diligence, you have consulted my poor intelligence, dearest son, as to whether, among other heretics, they also who come from Novatian ought, after his profane washing, to be baptized, and sanctified in the Catholic Church, with the lawful, and true, and only baptism of the Church. Respecting which matter, as much as the capacity of my faith and the sanctity and truth of the divine Scriptures suggest, I answer, that no heretics and schismatics at all have any power or right. For which reason Novatian neither ought to be nor can be expected, inasmuch as he also is without the Church and acting in opposition to the peace and love of Christ, from being counted among adversaries and antichrists. For our Lord Jesus Christ, when He testified in His Gospel that those who were not with Him were His adversaries, did not point out any species of heresy, but showed that all whatsoever who were not with Him, and who, not gathering with Him, were scattering His flock, were His adversaries; saying, "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth." [2968] Moreover, the blessed Apostle John himself distinguished no heresy or schism, neither did he set down any as specially separated; but he called all who had gone out from the Church, and who acted in opposition to the Church, antichrists, saying, "Ye have heard that Antichrist cometh, and even now are come many antichrists; wherefore we know that this is the last time. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us." [2969] Whence it appears, that all are adversaries of the Lord and antichrists, who are known to have departed from charity and from the unity of the Catholic Church. In addition, moreover, the Lord establishes it in His Gospel, and says, "But if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican." [2970] Now if they who despise the Church are counted heathens and publicans, much more certainly is it necessary that rebels and enemies, who forge false altars, and lawless priesthoods, and sacrilegious sacrifices, and corrupted names, should be counted among heathens and publicans; since they who sin less, and are only despisers of the Church, are by the Lord's sentence judged to be heathens and publicans.
2. But that the Church is one, the Holy Spirit declares in the Song of Songs, saying, in the person of Christ, "My dove, my undefiled, is one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her." [2971] Concerning which also He says again, "A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring sealed up, a well of living water." [2972] But if the spouse of Christ, which is the Church, is a garden enclosed; a thing that is closed up cannot lie open to strangers and profane persons. And if it is a fountain sealed, he who, being placed without has no access to the spring, can neither drink thence nor be sealed. And the well also of living water, if it is one and the same within, he who is placed without cannot be quickened and sanctified from that water of which it is only granted to those who are within to make any use, or to drink. Peter also, showing this, set forth that the Church is one, and that only they who are in the Church can be baptized; and said, "In the ark of Noah, few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water; the like figure where-unto even baptism shall save you;" [2973] proving and attesting that the one ark of Noah was a type of the one Church. If, then, in that baptism of the world thus expiated and purified, he who was not in the ark of Noah could be saved by water, he who is not in the Church to which alone baptism is granted, can also now be quickened by baptism. Moreover, too, the Apostle Paul, more openly and clearly still manifesting this same thing, writes to the Ephesians, and says, "Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water." [2974] But if the Church is one which is loved by Christ, and is alone cleansed by His washing, how can he who is not in the Church be either loved by Christ, or washed and cleansed by His washing?
3. Wherefore, since the Church alone has the living water, and the power of baptizing and cleansing man, he who says that any one can be baptized and sanctified by Novatian must first show and teach that Novatian is in the Church or presides over the Church. For the Church is one, and as she is one, cannot be both within and without. For if she is with Novatian, she was not with Cornelius. [2975] But if she was with Cornelius, who succeeded the bishop Fabian by lawful ordination, and whom, beside the honour of the priesthood, the Lord glorified also with martyrdom, Novatian is not in the Church; nor can he be reckoned as a bishop, who, succeeding to no one, and despising the evangelical and apostolic tradition, sprang from himself. For he who has not been ordained in the Church can neither have nor hold to the Church in any way.
4. For the faith of the sacred Scripture sets forth that the Church is not without, nor can be separated nor divided against itself, but maintains the unity of an inseparable and undivided house; since it is written of the sacrament of the passover, and of the lamb, which Lamb designated Christ: "In one house shall it be eaten: ye shall not carry forth the flesh abroad out of the house." [2976] Which also we see expressed concerning Rahab, who herself also bore a type of the Church, who received the command which said, "Thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household unto thee into thine house; and whosoever shall go out of the doors of thine house into the street, his blood shall be upon him." [2977] In which mystery is declared, that they who will live, and escape from the destruction of the world, must be gathered together into one house alone, that is, into the Church; but whosoever of those thus collected together shall go out abroad, that is, if any one, although he may have obtained grace in the Church, shall depart and go out of the Church, that his blood shall be upon him; that is, that he himself must charge it upon himself that he perishes; which the Apostle Paul explains, teaching and enjoining that a heretic must be avoided, as perverse, and a sinner, and as condemned of himself. For that man will be guilty of his own ruin, who, not being cast out by the bishop, but of his own accord deserting from the Church is by heretical presumption condemned of himself.
5. And therefore the Lord, suggesting to us a unity that comes from divine authority, lays it down, saying, "I and my Father are one." [2978] To which unity reducing His Church, He says again, "And there shall be one flock, [2979] and one shepherd." [2980] But if the flock is one, how can he be numbered among the flock who is not in the number of the flock? Or how can he be esteemed a pastor, who,--while the true shepherd remains and presides over the Church of God by successive ordination,--succeeding to no one, and beginning from himself, becomes a stranger and a profane person, an enemy of the Lord's peace and of the divine unity, not dwelling in the house of God, that is, in the Church of God, in which none dwell except they are of one heart and one mind, since the Holy Spirit speaks in the Psalms, and says, "It is God who maketh men to dwell of one mind in a house." [2981]
6. Besides even the Lord's sacrifices themselves declare that Christian unanimity is linked together with itself by a firm and inseparable charity. For when the Lord calls bread, which is combined by the union of many grains, His body, He indicates our people whom He bore as being united; and when He calls the wine, which is pressed from many grapes and clusters and collected together, His blood, He also signifies our flock linked together by the mingling of a united multitude. [2982] If Novatian is united to this bread of the Lord, if he also is mingled with this cup of Christ, he may also seem to be able to have the grace of the one baptism of the Church, if it be manifest that he holds the unity of the Church. In fine, how inseparable is the sacrament of unity, and how hopeless are they, and what excessive ruin they earn for themselves from the indignation of God, who make a schism, and, forsaking their bishop, [2983] appoint another false bishop for themselves without,--Holy Scripture declares in the books of Kings; where ten tribes were divided from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, and, forsaking their king, appointed for themselves another one without. It says, "And the Lord was very angry with all the seed of Israel, and removed them away, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, until He had cast them out of His sight; for Israel was scattered from the house of David, and they made themselves a king, Jeroboam the son of Nebat." [2984] It says that the Lord was very angry, and gave them up to perdition, because they were scattered from unity, and had made another king for themselves. And so great was the indignation of the Lord against those who had made the schism, that even when the man of God was sent to Jeroboam, to charge upon him his sins, and predict the future vengeance, he was forbidden to eat bread or to drink water with them. And when he did not observe this, and took meat against the command of God, he was immediately smitten by the majesty of the divine judgment, so that returning thence he was slain on the way by the jaws of a lion which attacked him. And dares any one to say that the saving water of baptism and heavenly grace can be in common with schismatics, with whom neither earthly food nor worldly drink ought to be in common? Moreover, the Lord satisfies us in His Gospel, and shows forth a still greater light of intelligence, that the same persons who had then divided themselves from the tribe of Judah and Benjamin, and forsaking Jerusalem had seceded to Samaria, should be reckon among profane persons and Gentiles. For when first He sent His disciples on the ministry of salvation, He bade them, saying, "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not." [2985] Sending first to the Jews, He commands the Gentiles as yet to be passed over; but by adding that even the city of the Samaritans was to be omitted, where there were schismatics, He shows that schismatics were to be put on the same level as Gentiles.