Ante-Nicene Fathers • VOLUME 5
Hippolytus, Cyprian, Caius & Novatian
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Epistle XLII. [2418]
Epistle XLII. [2418] To the Same, on His Having Sent Letters to the Confessors Whom Novatian Had Seduced. Argument.--The Argument of This Letter Sufficiently Appears from the Title. It is Manifest that This Letter and the Following Were Sent by One Messenger. Cyprian to Cornelius his brother, greeting. I have thought it both …
1,350 wordsSECTION 202Epistle XLV. [2424]
Epistle XLV. [2424] Cornelius to Cyprian, on the Return of the Confessors to Unity. Argument.--Cornelius Informs Cyprian of the Solemn Return of the Confessors to the Church, and Describes It. 1. Cornelius to Cyprian his brother, greeting. In proportion to the solicitude and anxiety that we sustained in respect of those confe…
1,060 wordsSECTION 203Epistle XLVI. [2432]
Epistle XLVI. [2432] Cyprian's Answer to Cornelius, Congratulating Him on the Return of the Confessors from Schism. Argument.--He Congratulates Him on the Return of the Confessors to the Church, and Reminds Him How Much that Return Benefits the Catholic Church. 1. Cyprian to Cornelius his brother, greeting. I profess that I b…
861 wordsSECTION 204Epistle XLVIII. [2438]
Epistle XLVIII. [2438] Cyprian's Answer to Cornelius, Concerning the Crimes of Novatus. Argument.--He Praises Cornelius, that He Had Given Him Timely Warning, Seeing that the Day After the Guilty Faction Had Come to Him He Had Received Cornelius' Letter. Then He Describes at Length Novatus' Crimes, and the Schism that Had Befo…
1,331 wordsSECTION 205Epistle XLIX. [2444]
Epistle XLIX. [2444] Maximus and the Other Confessors to Cyprian, About Their Return from Schism. Argument.--They Inform Cyprian that They Had Returned to the Church. Maximus, Urbanus, Sidonius, and Macharius, to Cyprian their brother, greeting. We are certain, dearest brother, that you also rejoice together with us with equa…
1,127 wordsSECTION 206Epistle LI. [2450]
Epistle LI. [2450] To Antonianus About Cornelius and Novatian. Argument.--When Antonianus, Having Received Letters from Novatian, Had Begun to Be Disposed in His Mind Towards His Party, Cyprian Confirms Him in His Former Opinion, Namely, that of Continuing to Hold Communion with His Bishop and So with the Catholic Church. He E…
2,326 wordsSECTION 20711. For with respect to Trophimus also, of whom you wished tidings to be written to you, the case is not as the report and the falsehood of
11. For with respect to Trophimus also, of whom you wished tidings to be written to you, the case is not as the report and the falsehood of malignant people had conveyed it to you. For, as our predecessors often did, our dearest brother, in bringing together the brethren, yielded to necessity; and since a very large part of the …
2,296 wordsSECTION 20821. And, indeed, among our predecessors, some of the bishops here in our province thought that peace was not to be granted to adulterers, an
21. And, indeed, among our predecessors, some of the bishops here in our province thought that peace was not to be granted to adulterers, and wholly closed the gate of repentance against adultery. Still they did not withdraw from the assembly of their co-bishops, nor break the unity of the Catholic Church [2485] by the persisten…
2,203 wordsSECTION 20928. And oh, mockery of a deceived fraternity! Oh, vain deception of miserable and senseless mourners! Oh, ineffectual and profitless traditi
28. And oh, mockery of a deceived fraternity! Oh, vain deception of miserable and senseless mourners! Oh, ineffectual and profitless tradition of heretical institution! to exhort to the repentance of atonement, and to take away the healing from the atonement; to say to our brethren, "Mourn and shed tears, and groan day and night…
1,257 wordsSECTION 210Epistle LII. [2511]
Epistle LII. [2511] To Fortunatus and His Other Colleagues, Concerning Those Who Had Been Overcome by Tortures. Argument.--Cyprian Being Consulted by His Colleagues, Whether Certain Lapsed Persons Who Had Been Overpowered by Torture Should Be Admitted to Communion, Replies, that Inasmuch as They Had Already Repented for the Sp…
751 wordsSECTION 211Epistle LIII. [2514]
Epistle LIII. [2514] To Cornelius, Concerning Granting Peace to the Lapsed. Argument.--Cyprian Announces This Decree of the Bishops in the Name of the Whole Synod to Father Cornelius; And Therefore This Letter is Not So Much the Letter of Cyprian Himself, as that of the Entire African Synod. [2515] Cyprian, Liberalis, Caldoni…
2,092 wordsSECTION 212Epistle LIV. [2522]
Epistle LIV. [2522] To Cornelius, Concerning Fortunatus and Felicissimus, or Against the Heretics. Argument.--Cyprian Chiefly Warns Cornelius in This Letter Not to Hear the Calumnies of Felicissimus and Fortunatus Against Him, and Not to Be Frightened by Their Threats, But to Be of a Brave Spirit, as Becomes God's Priests in O…
2,414 wordsSECTION 2137. Nor ought it, my dearest brother, to disturb any one who is faithful and mindful of the Gospel, and retains the commands of the apostle w
7. Nor ought it, my dearest brother, to disturb any one who is faithful and mindful of the Gospel, and retains the commands of the apostle who forewarns us; if in the last days certain persons, proud, contumacious, and enemies of God's priests, either depart from the Church or act against the Church, since both the Lord and His …
2,793 wordsSECTION 21414. To these also it was not sufficient that they had withdrawn from the Gospel, that they had taken away from the lapsed the hope of satisf
14. To these also it was not sufficient that they had withdrawn from the Gospel, that they had taken away from the lapsed the hope of satisfaction and repentance, that they had taken away those involved in frauds or stained with adulteries, or polluted with the deadly contagion of sacrifices, lest they should entreat God, or mak…
2,552 wordsSECTION 215[2522] Oxford ed.: Ep. lix. a.d. 252.
[2522] Oxford ed.: Ep. lix. a.d. 252. [2523] Indicating also by the way whence heresy and schisms are wont to take their rise, so that the letter is with good reason inscribed by Morell "Contra Hæreticos." [2524] [He was a purse-proud layman. But see Elucidation XIII, infra.] [2525] ["The sacramental host of God's elect."--Th…
926 wordsSECTION 216Epistle LV. [2595]
Epistle LV. [2595] To the People of Thibaris, Exhorting to Martyrdom. Argument.--Cyprian First of All Excuses Himself to the Thibaritans that He Had Not Been to Visit Them, and Gives Them Warning of the Persecution at Hand; He Then Furnishes Inducements Readily to Undergo Martyrdom. [2596] 1. Cyprian to the people abiding at …
2,453 wordsSECTION 2178. For the secular contest men are trained and prepared, and reckon it a great glory of their honour if it should happen to them to be crown
8. For the secular contest men are trained and prepared, and reckon it a great glory of their honour if it should happen to them to be crowned in the sight of the people, and in the presence of the emperor. Behold a lofty and great contest, glorious also with the reward of a heavenly crown, inasmuch as God looks upon us as we st…
1,287 wordsSECTION 218Epistle LVI. [2619]
Epistle LVI. [2619] To Cornelius in Exile, Concerning His Confession. Argument.--Cyprian Praises in Cornelius and His People Their Confession of the Name of Christ Even to Banishment; And Exhorts Them to Constancy and to Mutual Prayer for One Another, as Well in Respect of the Approaching Day of Struggle in This Life, as After…
1,450 wordsSECTION 219Epistle LVII. [2623]
Epistle LVII. [2623] To Lucius [2624] The Bishop of Rome, Returned from Banishment. Argument.--Cyprian, with His Colleagues, Congratulates Lucius on His Return from Exile, Reminding Him that Martyrdom Deferred Does Not Make the Glory Less. Then, Pointing Out that the Martyrdom of Cornelius and the Banishment of Lucius Had Happ…
1,067 wordsSECTION 220Epistle LVIII. [2626]
Epistle LVIII. [2626] To Fidus, on the Baptism of Infants. Argument.--In This Letter Cyprian is Not Establishing Any New Decree; But Keeping Most Firmly the Faith of the Church, for the Correction of Those Who Thought that an Infant Must Not Be Baptized Before the Eighth Day After Its Birth, He Decreed with Some of His Fellow-…
1,518 wordsSECTION 221Epistle LIX. [2635]
Epistle LIX. [2635] To the Numidian Bishops, on the Redemption of Their Brethren from Captivity Among the Barbarians. Argument.--Cyprian Begins by Deploring the Captivity of the Brethren, of Which He Had Heard from the Numidian Bishops, and Says that He is Sending Them a Hundred Thousand Sesterces, Contributed by Brethren and …
1,238 wordsSECTION 222Epistle LX. [2645]
Epistle LX. [2645] To Euchratius, About an Actor. Argument.--He Forbids an Actor, If He Continue in His Disgraceful Calling, from Communicating in the Church. Neither Does He Allow It to Be an Excuse for Him, that He Himself Does Not Practice the Histrionic Art, So Long as He Teaches It to Others; Neither Does He Excuse It Bec…
2,329 wordsSECTION 223Epistle LXII. [2663]
[2647] Oxford ed.: Ep. iv. He suggests the kind of discipline by which virgins may be kept in their duty, and some matters concerning the power of excommunication in the Church. Circa a.d. 249. [2648] [See vol. ii. p. 57, Elucidation II.] [2649] Jer. iii. 15. [2650] Wisd. iii. 11. [2651] Ps. ii. 12 (LXX.). [2652] Some edito…
2,433 wordsSECTION 22410. Moreover, the blessed Apostle Paul, chosen and sent by the Lord, and appointed a preacher of the Gospel truth, lays down these very thin
10. Moreover, the blessed Apostle Paul, chosen and sent by the Lord, and appointed a preacher of the Gospel truth, lays down these very things in his epistle, saying, "The Lord Jesus, the same night in which He was betrayed, took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, This is my body, which shall be given fo…
2,541 wordsSECTION 225Epistle LXIII. [2710]
19. Therefore it befits our religion, and our fear, and the place itself, and the office of our priesthood, dearest brother, in mixing and offering the cup of the Lord, to keep the truth of the Lord's tradition, and, on the warning of the Lord, to correct that which seems with some to have been erroneous; so that when He shall b…
2,062 wordsSECTION 226Epistle LXIV. [2722]
Epistle LXIV. [2722] To Rogatianus, Concerning the Deacon Who Contended Against the Bishop. Argument.--Cyprian Warns the Bishop Rogatianus to Restrain the Pride of the Deacon Who Had Provoked Him with His Insults, and to Compel Him to Repent of His Boldness; Taking Occasion to Repeat Once More Whatever He Has Said in the Previ…
1,209 wordsSECTION 227Epistle LXV. [2735]
Epistle LXV. [2735] To the Clergy and People Abiding at Furni, About Victor, Who Had Made the Presbyter Faustinus a Guardian. Argument.--Since, Against the Decision of a Council of Bishops, Geminius Victor Had Named in His Will Geminius Faustinus the Presbyter as His Guardian or Curator, He Forbids that Offering Should Be Made…
823 wordsSECTION 228Epistle LXVI. [2739]
Epistle LXVI. [2739] To Father Stephanus, Concerning Marcianus of Arles, Who Had Joined Himself to Novatian. Argument.--As Marcianus, Bishop of Arles, When He Followed the Sect of Novatian, Had Seduced Many, and by His Schism Had Separated Himself from the Communion of the Rest of the Bishops, Cyprian Warns Stephanus, that He …
1,784 wordsSECTION 229Epistle LXVII. [2751]
Epistle LXVII. [2751] To the Clergy and People Abiding in Spain, Concerning Basilides and Martial. Argument.--Basilides and Martial, Bishops, Having Lapsed and Become Contaminated by the Certificates of Idolatry, Cyprian with His Fellow-Bishops Praises the Clergy and People of Spain that They Had Substituted in Their Place by …
2,353 wordsSECTION 230Epistle LXVIII. [2783]
9. Wherefore, although there have been found some among our colleagues, dearest brethren, who think that the godly discipline may be neglected, and who rashly hold communion with Basilides and Martialis, such a thing as this ought not to trouble our faith, since the Holy Spirit threatens such in the Psalms, saying, "But thou hat…
2,314 wordsSECTION 2318. You have written also, that on my account the Church has now a portion of herself in a state of dispersion, although the whole people of
8. You have written also, that on my account the Church has now a portion of herself in a state of dispersion, although the whole people of the Church are collected, and united, and joined to itself in an undivided concord: they alone have remained without, who even, if they had been within, would have had to be cast out. Nor do…
1,102 wordsSECTION 232Epistle LXIX. [2807]
Epistle LXIX. [2807] To Januarius and Other Numidian Bishops, on Baptizing Heretics. Argument.--The Argument of This Letter and the Next is Found in a Subsequent Epistle to Stephen; [2808] "That What Heretics Use is Not Baptism; And that None Among Them Can Receive Benefit by the Grace of Christ, Who Oppose Christ; Has Been La…
1,519 wordsSECTION 233Epistle LXX. [2828]
Epistle LXX. [2828] To Quintus, Concerning the Baptism of Heretics. Argument.--An Answer is Given to Quintus a Bishop in Mauritania, Who Has Asked Advice Concerning the Baptism of Heretics. 1. Cyprian to Quintus his brother, greeting. Lucian, our co-presbyter, has reported to me, dearest brother, that you have wished me to de…
1,329 wordsSECTION 234Epistle LXXI. [2838]
Epistle LXXI. [2838] To Stephen, Concerning a Council. Argument.--Cyprian with His Colleagues in a Certain Council Tells Stephen, the Roman Bishop, that It Had Been Decreed by Them, Both that Those Who Returned from Heresy into the Church Should Be Baptized, and that Bishops or Priests Coming from the Heretics Should Be Receiv…
1,309 wordsSECTION 235Epistle LXXII. [2847]
Epistle LXXII. [2847] To Jubaianus, Concerning the Baptism of Heretics. Argument.--Cyprian Refutes a Letter Enclosed to Him by Jubaianus, and with the Greatest Care Collects Whatever He Thinks Will Avail for the Defence of His Cause. Moreover, He Sends Jubaianus a Copy of the Letter to the Numidians and to Quintus, and Probabl…
2,291 wordsSECTION 23611. The Lord cries aloud, that "whosoever thirsts should come and drink of the rivers of living water that flowed out of His bosom." [2859]
11. The Lord cries aloud, that "whosoever thirsts should come and drink of the rivers of living water that flowed out of His bosom." [2859] Whither is he to come who thirsts? Shall he come to the heretics, where there is no fountain and river of living water at all; or to the Church which is one, and is founded upon one who has …
2,387 wordsSECTION 23720. Besides, how vain and perverse a thing it is, that when the heretics themselves, having repudiated and forsaken either the error or the
20. Besides, how vain and perverse a thing it is, that when the heretics themselves, having repudiated and forsaken either the error or the wickedness in which they had previously been, acknowledge the truth of the Church, we should mutilate the rights and sacrament of that same truth, and say to those who come to us and repent,…
2,062 wordsSECTION 238Epistle LXXIII. [2887]
Epistle LXXIII. [2887] To Pompey, Against the Epistle of Stephen About the Baptism of Heretics. Argument.--The Purport of This Epistle is Given in St. Augustine's "Contra Donatistas," Lib. V. Cap. 23. He Says There: "Cyprian, Moreover, Writes to Pompey on the Same Subject, When He Plainly Signifies that Stephen, Who, as We Lea…
2,329 wordsSECTION 2399. But if there be among us, most beloved brother, the fear of God, if the maintenance of the faith prevail, if we keep the precepts of Chri
9. But if there be among us, most beloved brother, the fear of God, if the maintenance of the faith prevail, if we keep the precepts of Christ, if we guard the incorrupt and inviolate sanctity of His spouse, if the words of the Lord abide in our thoughts and hearts, when he says, "Thinkest thou, when the Son of man cometh, shall…
1,579 wordsSECTION 240Epistle LXXIV. [2916]
Epistle LXXIV. [2916] Firmilian, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, to Cyprian, Against the Letter of Stephen. a.d. 256. Argument.--The Argument of This Letter is Exactly the Same as that of the Previous One, But Written with a Little More Vehemence and Acerbity Than Becomes a Bishop, [2917] Chiefly for the Reason, as May Be Sus…
2,237 wordsSource & rights
Historical text source: Christian Classics Ethereal Library. The downloaded text itself records Public Domain.