This celebrated prelate was a native of Africa, born, although the exact year cannot be
ascertained, about the beginning of the third century. We are not acquainted with the
particulars of his life as long as he remained a Gentile; but it is evident from his writings
that he must have been educated with no common care. St. Jerome and Lactantius assure us, that
he practised the art of oratory, and taught rhetoric with distinguished success, and by this
or some other honourable occupation he realised considerable wealth. About the year A. D. 246, he was persuaded to embrace Christianity by the exhortations of
Caecilius, an aged presbyter of the church at Carthage, and, assuming the name of the
spiritual patron by whom he had been set free from the bondage of Paganism, was henceforward
styled THASCIUSCAECILIUSCYPRIANUS. At the same period he sold all that he had, and
distributed the price among the poor. The popularity acquired by this liberality, combined
probably with the reputation he had previously enjoyed, and the pride naturally felt in so
distinguished a proselyte, secured his rapid elevation. In A. D. 247
he was raised to the rank of a presbyter, and in the course of the following year the
bishopric of Carthage was forced upon his reluctant acceptance by a large majority of the
African clergy, not without strenuous opposition, however, from a small party headed by
Novatus [NOVATUS] and Felicissimus, whose obstinate resistance and
contumacy subsequently gave rise to much disorder and violence.
When the persecution of Decius burst forth (A. D. 250), Cyprian,
being one of the first marked out as a victim, fled from the storm, in obedience, as he tells
us (Epist. xiv.), to an intimation from heaven that thus he might best
discharge his duty, and remained in retirement until after Easter of the following year.
(A. D. 251.) During the whole of this period he kept up an active
correspondence with his clergy concerning various matters of discipline, much of his attention
being occupied, as the violence of the persecution began to abate, by the fierce controversies
which arose with regard to the readmission of the Lapsi or apostates,
who, according to the form and degree of their guilt, were designated Sacrificati, or Thurificati, or Libellatici,
and were seeking, now that the danger had passed away, the restoration of their ecclesiastical
privileges. Cyprian, although not perfectly consistent throughout in his instructions, always
manifested a disposition to follow a moderate course ; and while on the one hand he utterly
rejected the extreme doctrine of Novatianus, who maintained that the church had no power again
to admit the renegades to her communion, so he was equally opposed to the laxity of those who
were willing to receive them at once, before they had given evidence of their contrition by
lengthened penitence, and finally decided that full forgiveness should not be extended to any
of the offenders until God should have granted peace to his servants. Novatus and
Felicissimus, taking advantage of these disputes, endeavoured to gain over to their faction
many of the impatient and discontented Lapsi. Novatus actually appointed Felicissimus his
deacon without the permission or knowledge of his diocesan, who in his turn caused
Felicissimus to be excommunicated; while the latter, far from submitting to the sentence,
associated with himself five seditious presbyters, who breaking off in open schism, elected
Fortunatus, one of their own number, bishop, and ventured to despatch an epistle to Cornelius,
bishop of Rome, announcing their choice. This cabal, however, soon fell to pieces ; Cornelius
refused to listen to their representations, their supporters gradually dropped off, and their
great bond of union was rudely snapped asunder by the defection of their great champion,
Novatus, who, upon his visit to Rome at the commencement of A. D.
251, not only ceased to plead the cause of the Lapsi, but espoused to the full extent
the views of Novatianus. Scarcely were these troubles happily allayed, and Cyprian once more
securely seated in his chair, when fresh disturbances arose in consequence of the acrimonious
contest between Cornelius and Novatianus [CORNELIUS; NOVATIANUS] for the see of Rome, the former finding a warm supporter in
the bishop of Carthage, by whose exertions his authority was acknowledged throughout nearly
the whole of Africa. In the month of June, A. D. 252, began what is
commonly termed the persecution of Gallus, but which in reality originated in an unauthorized
popular movement excited by the refusal of the Christians to join in the prayers and
sacrifices offered up on account of the deadly pestilence which was devastating the various
provinces of the Roman empire. On this occasion, as formerly, the mob of Carthage loudly
demanded that Cyprian should be thrown to the lions; but the danger does not appear to have
been imminent, and while in Italy Cornelius was banished to Civita Vecchia, where he died on
the 14th of September, and his successor Lucius suffered martyrdom a few months afterwards
(5th March, 253), Africa remained comparatively undisturbed, and the political confusion
consequent upon the assumption of the purple by Aemilianus restored to the church external
tranquillity, which continued uninterrupted for nearly four years. But in proportion as there
was repose from without, so discord waxed hot within. The never ending
discussions with regard to the Lapsi were vexatiously and bitterly revived under a thousand
embarrassing forms; next arose a dispute with regard to the age at which infants might receive
baptism ; and lastly the important controversy concerning the rebaptizing of those who had
been admitted to the rite by heretics and schismatics, which first arose in Asia, now began to
call forth a storm of angry feeling in all the provinces of the West. In this case, Cyprian
was no longer the advocate of moderate opinions. He steadfastly and sternly maintained that
the unity of the visible church was essential to Christianity; that no Christianity could
exist beyond the pale of that church; that no sacrament was efficacious if administered by
those who had violated this principle by disobedience to episcopal authority; and that
consequently the baptism performed by heretics and schismatics was in itself null and
void--doctrines confirmed by the acts of a numerous council held at Carthage in the autumn of
A. D. 255, and unhesitatingly repudiated by Stephen, at that time
bishop of Rome. The tempest thus aroused was stilled for awhile by the unlooked-for
persecution of Valerian, hitherto considered the friend and protector of the Christian cause.
Cyprian being at once pointed out by his high character and conspicuous station, was banished
by Paternus the proconsul to the maritime city of Curubis, whither he proceeded in September,
A. D. 257, attended by his friend and constant companion, the deacon
Pontius, to whom he communicated that he had received a revelation of approaching martyrdom.
After having lived in this agreeable residence for eleven months, treated with the greatest
indulgence and surrounded by every comfort, he was recalled by the new governor, Galerius
Maximus, and returned to his villa in the neighbourhood of the city, from whence he was soon
summoned to appear before the proconsul at Utica. Conscious of his approaching fate, he
withdrew for a time into concealment, in consequence, say his enemies, of his courage having
failed him, or, according to his own declaration, because he considered it more becoming to
die in the midst of his own people than in the diocese of another prelate. It is certain that,
upon the return of Maximus, Cyprian reappeared, resisted all the entreaties of his friends to
seek safety in flight, made a bold and firm profession of his faith in the praetorium before
the magistrate, and was beheaded in a spacious plain without the walls in the presence of a
vast multitude of his sorrowing followers, who were freely permitted to remove the corpse and
to pay the last honours to his memory with mingled demonstrations of grief and triumph.
Assessment
While Cyprian possessed an amount of learning, eloquence, and earnestness, which gained for
him the admiration and respectful love of those among whom he laboured, his zeal was tempered
with moderation and charity to an extent of which we find but few examples among the
ecclesiastics of that age and country, and was combined with an amount of prudence and
knowledge of human nature which enabled him to restrain and guide the fiery spirits by whom
he was surrounded, and to maintain unshaken to the close of his life that influence,
stretching far beyond the limits of his own diocese, which he had established almost at the
outset of his career. His correspondence presents us with a very lively picture both of the
man and of the times; and while we sometimes remark and regret a certain want of candour and
decision, and a disinclination to enunciate boldly any great principles save such as were
likely to flatter the prejudices of his clergy, we at the same time feel grateful in being
relieved from the headstrong violence, the overbearing spiritual pride, and the arrogant
impiety which disgrace the works of so many early controversialists. His character, indeed,
and opinions were evidently, in no small degree, formed by the events of his own life. The
clemency uniformly exhibited towards the Lapsi was such as might have been expected from a
good man who must have been conscious that he had himself, on one occasion at least,
considered it more expedient to avoid than to invite persecution, while the extreme views
which he advocated with regard to the powers of the church were not surprising in a prelate
whose authority had been so long and so fiercely assailed by a body of factious schismatics.
On one point only is his conduct open to painful suspicion. He more than once alleged that he
had received communications and directions direct from heaven, precisely too with reference
to those transactions of his life which appeared most calculated to excite distrust or
censure. Those who are not disposed to believe that such revelations were really vouchsafed,
cannot fail to observe that the tone and temper of Cyprian's mind were so far removed from
fanaticism, that it is impossible to imagine that he could have been deceived by the vain
visions of a heated imagination.
In his style, which is avowedly formed upon the model of Tertullian, he exhibits much of
the masculine vigour and power of his master, while he skilfully avoids his harshness and
extravagance both of thought and diction. The fruits of his early training and practice as a
rhetorician are manifested in the lucid arrangement of his matter, and in the copious,
flowing, and sonorous periods in which he gives expression to his ideas; but we may here and
there justly complain, that loose reasoning and hollow declamation are substituted for the
precise logic and pregnant terseness which we demand from a great polemical divine.
Works
The following is a list of Cyprian's works :--
1. De Gratia Dei liberDe Gratia Dei liber, addressed in the form of a letter to his
friend Donatus, who appears to have followed in early life the same profession with himself,
and to have been converted at the same time. This work was probably composed in A. D. 246, very soon after the admission of its author into the church.
It depicts in glowing colours the happy condition of those who, enlightened by the grace of
God, have turned aside from Paganism to Christianity; dwells upon the mercy and beneficence
by which this change is effected, and upon the importance of the baptismal rite ; and draws
a striking parallel between the purity and holiness of the true faith as contrasted with the
grossness and vice of the vulgar belief. Although frequently placed among the Epistles of
Cyprian, it deserves to be considered in the light of a formal treatise.
2. De Idolorum Vanitate liberDe Idolorum Vanitate liber, written in A. D. 247, the year in
which he was ordained a presbyter, is imitated from the early Christian Apologies,
especially that of Tertullian. Three points are chiefly insisted upon. 1. The folly of
raising earthly kings, that is, mere mortal men, to the rank of divinities,
the impotence of such imaginary powers, and the emptiness of the science of augury. 2. The
Unity of God. 3. The Advent of Christ, and his Consubstantiality with the Father. This tract
is expressly ascribed to Cyprian by Jerome in his Epist. ad Magnum
Orat.
3. Testimoniorum adversus Judaeos libri tres.
A collection of remarkable texts from Scripture, divided into three books, and illustrated
by remarks and applications. Those in the first are quoted for the purpose of proving that
the Jews, by their disobedience, had, in accordance with prophecy, forfeited the protection
and promises of God; those in the second demonstrate that the Christians had taken their
place, and that Jesus was the Messiah foretold in the Old Testament; those in the third
exhibit within a short compass the great moral and religious obligations of the Christian
life. The precise date at which this compilation was arranged is unknown, but it probably
belongs to the early part of Cyprian's career. It is quoted by Jerome (Dial.
I. adv. Pelag.) and by Augustin. (Contra duas Epist. Pelag. 4.8,
10.)
4. De Disciplina et Habitu Virginum liberDe Disciplina et Habitu Virginum liber, written in A. D. 248, the year in which he was raised to the episcopate, in
imitation of the dissertations of Tertullian, " De Virginibus velandis," " De Habitu
Mulierum," &c., the object being to enforce upon those holy maidens who had made a vow
of celibacy the necessity of simplicity in their dress and manner of life. He commences with
an encomium on virginity, insists upon the propriety of abstaining from all sumptuous
apparel and vain ornaments, from paint, from frequenting baths, marriages, or public
spectacles, and concludes with a general exhortation to avoid all luxurious indulgencies.
This book is referred to by Jerome (Epist. ad Demetriad. et Eustoch.)
and by Augustin (de Doctrina Christi, 4.21).
5. De Unitate Ecclesiae Catholicae liberDe Unitate Ecclesiae Catholicae liber, written and despatched
to Rome in A. D. 252, at a period when both Italy and Africa were
distracted by the pretensions of Novatianus, with the view of bringing back to the bosom of
the church those who had wandered from her pale or were wavering in their allegiance, by
pointing out the danger and sin of schism, and by demonstrating the necessity of a visible
union among all true Christians. This remarkable treatise is of the utmost importance to the
student of ecclesiastical history, since here we first find the doctrine of Catholicism and
of the typical character of St. Peter developed in that form which was afterwards assumed by
the bishops of Rome as the basis of Papal supremacy. It is quoted by Augustin (c. Crescon. 2.33; see also Cyprian. Epist. 51).
6. De Lapsis liberDe Lapsis liber, written and despatched to Rome in the month
of November, A. D. 252. It may be considered as a sort of
supplement to the preceding work, explaining and defending the justice and consistency of
that temperate policy which was adopted both by Cornelius and Cyprian with regard to the
readmission of fallen brethren into the communion of the church. The tract is quoted by
Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. 6.33), by Augustin (de Adult.
Conj. 1.25), and by Pontius (Vit. Cyprian). See also Cyprian, Epist. 51.
7. De Oratione Dominica liberDe Oratione Dominica liber, written about A. D. 252, in imitation of Tertullian, " De Oratione," contains a lengthened
commentary on each of the petitions in the Lord's Prayer, accompanied by remarks upon prayer
in general, and upon the frame of mind which best befits those who thus approach the throne
of God. This work is highly extolled by Hilarius in his commentary on St. Matthew, by
Augustin in many places (e. g. de Don. persev. 2), by Cassiodorus (Divin. Instit. 19), and by Pontius in his life of Cyprian, while among
moderns, Barth pronounces it one of the noblest productions of ancient Christian Latinity.
(Advers. lviii.)
8. De Mortalitate liberDe Mortalitate liber, written in A. D.
252, during the prevalence of the terrible pestilence which for the space of five
years ravaged the most populous provinces of the Roman empire, for the purpose of pointing
out how little death ought to be an object of dread to the Christian, since to him it was
the gate of immortality, the beginning of eternal bliss. It is mentioned by Augustin (Adv Julian. ii.), and elsewhere.
9. Ad Demetrianum liber,Ad Demetrianum liber, also written in A. D. 252. Demetrianus,
proconsul of Africa, catching up the popular cry, had ascribed the famine and plague under
which the world was at this time labouring to the impiety of the Christians, who refused to
render homage to the deities. Cyprian here replies, that the Gentiles themselves were much
more the cause of these disasters, by neglecting the worship of the only true God and
cruelly persecuting his followers. It is quoted by Lactantius (Divin.
Instit. 5.1, 4), by Jerome (Adv. Mag.), and by Pontius. (Vit. Cyprian.)
10. De Exhortatione MartyriiDe Exhortatione Martyrii, a letter addressed to Fortunatus in
A. D. 252, during the persecution of Gallus, on the
reasonableness, the duty, and the reward of martyrdom, in imitation of a treatise on the
same subject by Tertullian. This piece has been by some persons erroneously attributed to
Hilarius, but is now generally acknowledged as the undoubted production of Cyprian.
11. De Opere et Eleemosynis liberDe Opere et Eleemosynis liber, on the duty of almsgiving,
written according to some critics towards the close of A. D. 254,
while others suppose that it belongs to the preceding year, and believe it to be connected
with an epistle (lxii.) addressed by Cyprian to some Numidian bishops who had solicited
pecuniary assistance to enable them to redeem from captivity several of the brethren who had
been carried off and were kept in slavery by the Moors. It is named under the above title by
Augustin (Contra duas ep. Pelag. 4.4), and by Jerome (Ad Pammach.), as a discourse " De Misericordia."
12. De Bono Patientiae liberDe Bono Patientiae liber, written about A. D. 256, in
imitation of the work of Tertullian on the same subject. It is quoted by Augustin (Contra duas ep. Pelag. 4.9) and by Pontius. (Vit.
Cyprian.)
13. De Zelo et LivoreDe Zelo et Livore, written in A. D.
256, at the period when the controversy between Cyprian and Stephen, bishop of Rome,
on the rebaptizing of heretics, was at its height, exhorting Christians carefully to avoid
envy and malice, and to cherish feelings of charity and love towards each other. It is
quoted by Augustin (de Baptism. Parv. 4), by Jerome (In
ep. ad Gal. 100.5), and by Pontius. ( Vit. Cyprian.)
14. Epistolae.Epistolae. In addition to the above we possess a series of
eighty-one official letters, extending over the whole public life of Cyprian, including a few addressed to himself or to his clergy. This collection is of inestimable
value, not only on account of the light which it throws on the life, character, and opinions
of the prelate himself, but from the lively picture which it presents of the state of
ecclesiastical affairs, and of a multitude of circumstances of the greatest importance in
historical and antiquarian researches. Our limits preclude us from attempting to give any
analysis of these documents; but we may remark, that the topics principally considered bear
upon the questions, general and local, which we have noticed above as agitating the
Christian community at this epoch, namely, the treatment of the Lapsi, the schism of Novatus
and Felicissimus, the schism of Novatianus, the baptism of infants, the rebaptising of
heretics, to which we may add a remarkable discussion on a subject which has been revived in
our own day, the necessity of employing wine in the sacrament of the Eucharist, in which
Cyprian strongly denounces the tenets of the Aquarii or Encratites (Epist. 63), and employs many expressions which have been constantly ap pealed to by
those opposed to the practice of the Romish church which denies the cup to the laity.
In most editions of Cyprian the tract De Gratia Dei, together with
the fragment of a letter from Donatus prefixed to it, are set down as the first two
epistles, by which arrangement the number is swelled to eighty-three. Three more were
printed by Baluze, which, however, are now admitted to be spurious.
Possibly Authentic Works
The following works are admitted as authentic by many editors, although they do not rest
on such satisfactory evidence as the foregoing;--
1. De Spectaculis liber.De Spectaculis liber.
2. De Laude Martyrii ad Moysen et Maximum et ceteros
Confessores.De Laude Martyrii ad Moysen et Maximum et ceteros
Confessores.
Spurious Works
The following works, although frequently found bearing the name of Cyprian, and many of
them, probably, belonging to the same age, are now rejected by all:--
1. Ad Novatianum Haereticum, quod Lapsis Spes Veniac non sit
deneganda,Ad Novatianum Haereticum, quod Lapsis Spes Veniac non sit
deneganda, ascribed by Erasmus to Cornelius.
2. De Disciplina et bono Pudicitiae,De Disciplina et bono Pudicitiae, ascribed in like manner by
Erasmus to Cornelius.
3. De Aleatoribus.De Aleatoribus.
4. De Montibus Sina et Sion contra Judaeos.De Montibus Sina et Sion contra Judaeos.
5. Oratio pro Martyribus-- Oratio in Die Passionis suae et
Confessio S. Cypriani,Oratio pro Martyribus-- Oratio in Die Passionis suae et Confessio S.
Cypriani, assigned by many to Cyprian of Antioch.
6. De Rebaptismate.De Rebaptismate.
7. De Cardinalibus Christi Operibus,De Cardinalibus Christi Operibus, now recognized as the work
of Arnold, abbot of Bona Vallis.
8. De Singularitate Clericorum.De Singularitate Clericorum.
9. In Symbolum Apostolicum Expositio.In Symbolum Apostolicum Expositio. The work of Rufinus.
10. Adversus Judaeos qui Christum insecuti sunt.Adversus Judaeos qui Christum insecuti sunt.
11. De Revelatione Capitis B. Jo. Baptistae:De Revelatione Capitis B. Jo. Baptistae: in this work
mention is made of the Frankish king Pepin.
12. De Duplici Martyrio,De Duplici Martyrio, in which mention is made of the
Turks!
13. De Duodecim Abusionibus Saeculi.De Duodecim Abusionibus Saeculi.
14. Dispositio Coenae.Dispositio Coenae.
15. De Pascha Computus,De Pascha Computus, attributed to Cyprian by Paulus
Diaconus, and found in the Cottonian MS.
16. Three poems
Three poems, the author or authors of which are unknown, have been ascribed to
Cyprian--
Genesis, Sodoma, Ad Senatorem. The first seems to be the same with that assigned by
Gennadius to Salvianus, bishop of Marseilles.
Editions
The editions of Cyprian are very numerous. The editio princeps was printed at Rome
from a Parisian MS., under the inspection of Andrew, bishop of Aleria, by Sweynheym and
Pannartz, 1471, fol.The first edition in which any attempt was made to exhibit a pure text, and to separate
the genuine from the spurious works, was that of Erasmus, whose labours are above all
praise. It appeared at Basle, from the press of Froben, in 1520, fol. The two best
editions are--
1. That printed at Oxford, 1682, fol., and edited by John Fell, bishop of Oxford, to
which are subjoined the Annales Cyprianici of John Pearson, bishop of
Chester; reprinted at Bremen, 1690, fol., with the addition of the Dissertationes
Cyprianicae of Dodwell, which had previously appeared in a separate form, Oxon.
1684, 4to.
2. That commenced by Baluze, and completed by a monk of the fraternity of St. Maur,
who is hence styled Maranus, Paris, fol. 1726.
These two editions taken together contain everything that the student can possibly
desire.
Further Information
As ancient authorities we have a biography of Cyprian still extant drawn up by his
confidential friend the deacon Pontius [PONTIUS], together with the
proconsular acts relating to his martyrdom. Among modern lives we may specify those by Le
Clerc, Bibliothèque Universelle, vol. xii. p. 208-378; by
Tillemont, Mémoires Ecclésiastiques, vol. iv. pp. 76-459;
and by Maranus, prefixed to the edition of Baluze. No publication on this subject contains
such an amount of accurate investigation with regard not only to the prelate himself, but
also to the whole complicated ecclesiastical history of the times, as the
Annales
Cyprianici of Pearson, an abstract of which has been compiled by Schoenemann, and
will be found in his Bibl. Patrum. Lat. vol. i. pp. 80-100 (c.
3.3), and a vast mass of valuable matter is contained in the Dissertationes
Cyprianicae of Dodwell.
Compare also Fabric. Bibl. Med. et inf. Lat. i. p. 444; Funceius, de L. L. veg. senect. c. 10.9; Schröck, Kirchengescht. i. p. 210, and iv. p. 246, &c.; Lumper, Histor.
Theolog. Crit. pars xi. p. 58, &c.; Walch, Bibliotheca
Patristica, ed. Danz; Gibbon, Decline and Fall, 100.16; Milman,
History of Christianity, ii. p. 246; Rettberg, Thasc.
Cäcil. Cyprian dargestellt nach seinem Leben und Wirken, Götting. 1831;
Poole, Life and Times of Cyprian, Oxford, 1840.