c. AD 200 – 258
Cyprian of Carthage
His letters and treatises are a primary source for third-century Church discipline, the readmission of the lapsed, and relations between African bishops and Rome.
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- Location
- Carthage
- Role
- Bishop of Carthage; martyr
- Major writings
- On the Unity of the Catholic Church; On the Lapsed; eighty-one letters
- Teachings
- The unity of the episcopate
- Pastoral care for Christians who lapsed under persecution
- Connection to apostolic Christianity
- He grounded episcopal authority in Christ's commission to Peter while defending the independent judgement of local bishops — including in a sharp disagreement with Pope Stephen I over baptism by heretics.
Quotations with references
“He can no longer have God for his Father who has not the Church for his mother.”
Sources and References
- Cyprian, On the Unity of the Churchnewadvent.org