CHAPTER 7
Reading the Early Church Fathers 80. The moral interpretation is based on Jewish midrash, or commentary/homily. The anagogical interpretation is based on Jewish pesher, the interpretation of dreams and prophecy using metaphor. This assumes an apocalyptic promise-fulfillment format.
See Dockery, Biblical Interpretation Then and Now, 29-31, 38.
CHAPTER 7
1. Contrary to popular myth, the gnostic gospels were never considered for the New Testament canon, since the communities that produced them were already separated from the mainstream Church by the time they were written. In fact, they were written because of the separation and the perceived need for the Gnostics to have gospels of their own. Therefore it is not legitimate to refer to them as the "lost books of the Bible."
2. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 66. According to tradition, the founder of the Manichaeans was a Persian named Mani, whose father was a Gnostic. Mani was not satisfied with the gnosticism he inherited, however, and he added more syncretistic elements, including Persian Zoroastrianism, to create a new version of gnosticism. Eventually, Mani was exiled from Persia by the Magi
(the priests of the Zoroastrian cult) and was forced to travel the world, spreading his ideas. In the late fourth century, Augustine of Hippo would join the Manichaeans for a time before becoming
Christian.
3. Note that in the Valentinian gnostic Gospel of Truth, the Son is called the "name of the Father" (Gospel of Truth 38.7-12,
39.2426). This demonstrates the similarity between gnosticism and modalism (see Larry W. Hurtado, Lord Fesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity [Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003],
544).
4. This was probably at least partly influenced by the imprecise language of some of the apologists who talked of the incarnation as if Christ had "put on" flesh. It may also have been influenced by the hybrid Christology of some Gnostics, who acknowledged a tangible body of Jesus even while they denied a true human nature.
Notes 5. Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 9.2-5.
Cf.
Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 57.
6. Hippolytus, Against Noetus 1-2, Refutation of All Heresies 95.
7. Hippolytus, Against Noetus 1-2. See also Refutation of All Heresies 10.23.
8. Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 9.5.
9. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 62.1-2.
10. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 62.1.4.
Sabellius describes God as "three names in one hypostasis," or one person with three names.
11. Itis not clear to what extent the proponents of modalism had the concept of the theater mask in mind. In Greek, the words for "person" could have a range of meaning to include the idea of "personality" or even "character." However, it is not as simple as saying that the three names for the Trinity are three "faces" of God, since the point is that in modalism the names refer to God's activity and/or the chronological distinction of Old Testament/New
Testament/Church. A better analogy might be to suggest that the three different names for God in modalism are like three different hats that God wears, depending on the task at hand.
12. Sabellius used some of the same analogies for the Trinity that the mainstream writers used, including the analogy of the sun
(which 'Tertullian also used), where the star itself is like the Father, its light is like the Son, and its heat is like the Holy Spirit. However,
Sabellius understood this in a way that removed any real distinction between the three, and it is a testimony to the imperfection of analogies that writers on both sides of the debate can use the same analogies to explain their differing Christologies. In fact, what we observe is that it is not the analogy but the explanation of it that becomes the argument in favor of one version of Christology or another.
13. Ironically, this type of distinction is not acceptable to the orthodox, since it violates the principles of inseparable operation and appropriation.
14. The implication of modalism is that God is not a Trinity, since he can only be one "person" at a time, rather like Peter Parker and Spiderman—they cannot both be in the same room at the same time. It is important to see that some analogies that are often used
Reading the Early Church Fathers for the Trinity, such as HO (ice, water, steam), are actually analogies of a modalistic "Trinity," not an orthodox one. You cannot have both ice and steam at the same time.
15. John Behr, The Way to Nicaea: The Formation of Christian Theology, Volume 1 (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press,
2001), 138, see especially note 1.
16. Aloys Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition, Volume 1:
From the Apostolic Age to Chalcedon (451) (New York: Oxford University Press, 2004), 165. Cf. Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion 65.
17. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.30.
18. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.27-30. See also Malchion, In the Name of the Synod of Antioch Against Paul of Samosata.
19. Specifically, for Arius the Logos is a real preexistent entity, though not eternally preexistent, and created, not divine.
While Arius is the fourth-century legacy of adoptionism, he modified it to accept a qualified divinity in Christ. For Arius, however, the divinity of Christ was acquired, received as a reward, and it was a lesser degree of divinity than the Father, so that for him the Father and Son were not consubstantial.
20. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.30. See also Malchion, In the Name of the Synod of Antioch Against Paul of Samosata.
21. Malchion, In the Name of the Synod of Antioch Against Paul of Samosata 3.
22. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.30. See also Malchion, In the Name of the Synod of Antioch Against Paul of Samosata.
23. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.30. Eusebius's account includes a possible mention of a church building (ekklesias otkou) in Antioch. If this is a reference to a building, it would probably have been a house converted for worship. It is unlikely that there would have been any buildings built specifically as Christian houses of worship at this time; however, there were dedicated worship spaces converted from domestic or other purposes. Before the Church was a legal entity, churches in some cities could own property as social organizations, such as the funerary societies that provided burial for their members. On the other hand, it could be an anachronism in Eusebius's fourth-century text.
Notes 24. There was a growing consensus within the Church, based on apostolic succession, that all churches should agree with Rome, at least on matters of doctrine. For example, see Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.3.2.
25. Clement of Alexandria, Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved? 8, Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.20.3, Novatian,
On the Trinity 15.7-9.
26. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.29.
27. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.2.6-11.
28. Grillmeier, 154-58. Dionysius of Rome may also have chosen to write the document this way because of accusations that he himself was a follower of Sabellius. While the accusation was unfounded, his own emphasis on the consubstantiality of the persons of the Trinity led some to accuse him of modalism.
29. Lewis Ayres, Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to FourthCentury Trinitarian Theology (New York: Oxford University Press,
2004), 94.
30. Dionysius of Rome, Against the Sabellians 2-3.
31. Athanasius of Alexandria, Defense of Dionysius 18.
Reprinted in J. Stevenson, A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrating the History of the Church to AD 337 (London: SPCK, 1957, revised edition 1987), 254-55. See also Ayres, 94.
32. Hippolytus, Agaist Noetus 3-4.
33. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.6, 19-20, 27.
34. Novatian, On the Trinity 11.5, 11.9, 30.6.
35. For a more detailed treatment of the development of doctrine along these lines, see James L. Papandrea, Novatian of Rome and the Culmination of Pre-Nicene Orthodoxy (Eugene, OR:
Wipf & Stock/Pickwick Publications, 2011).
36. Tertullian is also an example of a lay teacher, though his relationship to the hierarchy is unclear. On the assumption that teachers (at least in some places) could be lay or clergy, see the Apostolic Tradition 19. On the episcopacy as teaching office, see
Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.3.3. In the early Church, prebaptism catechesis focused more on morality (how to live as a Christian) than theology (what to believe). Apparently, the early bishops thought it was more important to emphasize the behavioral
Reading the Early Church Fathers commitments that new converts were making, assuming they would learn their theology after baptism.
37. Or, as we have seen, Hippolytus may have been the bishop of a smaller town near Rome.
38. For a detailed treatment of the monoepiscopacy, see Allen Brent, Hippolytus and the Roman Church in the Third Century:
Communities in Tension Before the Emergence of a Monarch-Bishop (Leiden: Brill, 1995).
39. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.43.
40. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 40.2, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 5. See Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Philadelphians 2.2, 6.2, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 9.1.
41. See also Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.2.2, and Didascalia Apostolorum 9.
42. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.21, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 6. The importance of this question was extended to the sacraments, since the authority to administer the sacraments came from the bishop through ordination (Cyprian of Carthage,
Epistle 75.3, 8; see also Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Philadelphians 3.3). In reality, this view was universally held in the early Church. The question was not whether there was the possibility of salvation outside the Church, the question was how to define the Church.
43. Cyprian of Carthage, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 7.
44. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Philadelphians 8.1. For Ignatius, reconciliation meant returning to the bishop.
45. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle $1.21, 53.2, 54.5.
46. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 75.3, 8, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 13, 17. See Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians 5.2, 20.2, Letter to the Philadelphians 4.1, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 8.1. We will see this same principle applied to baptism in the baptismal controversy.
47. Marriage was not yet considered a sacrament at this time, nor was what is now called the anointing of the sick (formerly
Extreme Unction); however; the bishop still controlled these.
48. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 40.2, 51.8, 54.5-6. See also Apostolic Tradition 1.9.6-8.
Notes 49. David Rankin, Tertullian and the Church (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 191, 195.
50. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 48.2, 75.3, 8, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 10.
51. Tertullian, On Modesty 1.7-8. Tertullian mentions "bishops of bishops." Note that Ignatius had said only bishops had the authority to convene a council (Letter to Polycarp 7).
52. The English word pope is simply one of several possible translations for the Greek and Latin words for "father." Therefore, it is not clear when the term comes to be used exclusively of metropolitans, or if in fact it was used for bishops first, and then the concept of "father" was transferred to the priests along with the authority granted to them by the bishops.
53. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 73.
54. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.7.
55. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 26.1. Clement of Alexandria had said that Peter was the preeminent apostle because Jesus had paid his tax for him (Matt 17:27) (Clement of Alexandria, Who Is the Rich Man That Shall Be Saved? 21).
56. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 3.3.2.
57. Tertullian, The Prescription Against the Heretics 36.
Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 28, 42, 51.6-8, 54.14, 62.1, 70.3, 71.1-3. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage,
Epistle 74.3-6, 24. Cf. Michael M. Sage, Cyprian, Patristic Monograph Series, vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: The Philadelphia
Patristic Foundation, 1975), 301.
58. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.13, 73.1-3, 73.9-10, 75.5. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle
74.16-17. Cyprian, like some other bishops, questioned the limits of Rome's authority over other cities. While many would have agreed that all churches should agree with Rome on matters of doctrine, some questioned whether they had to submit to Rome on other matters. Cyprian argued that each bishop is the highest authority in his own area, but is free of the authority of other bishops. Thus the councils of Carthage need not submit to the bishop of Rome. After all, Peter had deferred to Paul on the issue of the Gentiles (see Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 62.1, 70.3, 71.3).
Cyprian argued that truth takes precedence over tradition (see
Reading the Early Church Fathers Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.13, 73.2-3, 9, and the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.19). Firmilian pointed out that the Romans do not always agree among themselves, so he reasoned that the Roman bishops might err (see the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.3, 6; see also Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 73.1). Therefore, the bishops, even the bishops of Rome, must be teachable and ultimately submit to the consensus of the greater Church (cf. 1 Cor 14:29-30) (see Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 70.3, 73.10). This attitude was confirmed by the seventh Council of Carthage, which criticized Stephen for setting himself up as a "bishop of bishops." Nevertheless, the idea of metropolitans was firmly entrenched. Cf. Tertullian, On Modesty 1.7-8.
Firmilian summed it up when he wrote as if to Stephen, "...for while you think that all may be excommunicated by you, you have excommunicated yourself alone from all" (see the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.24).
59, Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.30.
60. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 9.1, 3-4, 10.2, 11.2, 26.1, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 5.
61. It is interesting to note that in the Didascalia Apostolorum 9, the deaconess is compared to the Holy Spirit.
62. Didache 15, 1 Clement 41-42, 44, Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 45.2, 51.7, 54.12, 75.5, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 6,
11, 23. See also the anonymous Against Novatian 3, 7-8, 12.
63. Rankin, 5, 18.
64. Rankin, 49. Note that this is similar to the Gnostics, who grouped humanity into classes, seeing themselves as the most enlightened.
65. Rankin, 43. Some sources put the year at 172, but that is only five years before the synod in Rome, and so it is unlikely that the controversy would have spread to the West by that time.
66. See Tertullian, On the Soul 9.4.
67. Rankin, 41, 44.
68. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 5.16. Note that these synods are some of the earliest councils of the Church.
69. Tertullian, Against Praxeas 1.5.
70. Rankin, 51.
Notes 71. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 5.16-17. The apologist Quadratus is quoted by Eusebius as saying, "The false prophet speaks in ecstasy."
72. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 5.18. The latter point, that the Montanists were accused of prophesying for money, may actually be evidence of one of the earliest cases of church leaders receiving stipends for their ministry. The accusation may even be the result of sour grapes on the part of mainstream clergy who were jealous that the leaders of the New Prophecy were getting paid in the time before leadership in the mainstream
Church was an occupation.
73. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 5.16. They are compared to Judas, who betrayed Christ and then killed himself.
According to Epiphanius of Salamis, Maximilla had claimed that she would be the last prophet (see Epiphanius of Salamis, Panarion
48.2).
74. Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 8.12, 10.22. See also Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 2.8, and Ayres, 101.
75. On the other hand, the Roman bishops were at first reluctant to condemn Noetus and his followers, and some have accused bishops Zephyrinus and Callistus of being Modalists themselves. In the end, the excommunications of Noetus and Sabellius show that the Roman bishops were not Modialists, and Tertullian's association with the Montanists makes the charge impossible to pin on them as well.
76. Tertullian, On Monogamy 1. See Rankin, 38. Note that the so-called "Tertullianists" were fourth-century Montanists in North Africa. However, if they were descendants of Tertullian's followers, it is unlikely that their theology was heterodox.
77. Tertullian, Against Praxeas 13.
78. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 5.16.
79. Tertullian, On Monogamy 3.9.
80. Tertullian, Against Praxeas 30, On Monogamy 3.9. See Rankin, 48.
81. Rankin, 172-74.
82. With regard to the separation of clergy from laity, by the third century, the clergy were spatially segregated from the laity in the assembly. The third century would also see the development of
Reading the Early Church Fathers a paid clergy, which assumed that clergy could be a profession supported by the laity (see the Didascalia Apostolorum 9, 12).
83. Irenaeus said that the gnostic liturgy included a magic trick, in which water was poured from a large cup into a smaller cup without spilling. In this ritual, there were said to be women assisting. This probably means that the groups which Irenaeus is criticizing allowed women to function as deacons (see Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies 1.13.2).
84. Tertullian, On Baptism 17.5, On the Veiling of Virgins 9.1.
See Rankin, 175.
85. Tertullian, On Baptism 17.5. Some have speculated that the Passion of Perpetua and Felicitas is a Montanist document (see
Timothy D. Barnes, Tertullian: A Historical and Literary Study [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1971], 77ff).
86. Tertullian, The Prescription Against the Heretics 41. See also Didascalia Apostolorum 15, Apostolic Church Order 26. There women are not to stand in the assembly (to preach or to preside) but are expected to remain seated. In the Apostolic Constitutions 3.1
(3.9), it is argued that if women were meant to baptize, then Jesus would have been baptized by his mother Mary, rather than by John the Baptist.
87. Didascalia Apostolorum 15, Apostolic Constitutions 3.1 (3.6).
88. Apostolic Tradition 10.
89. Didascalia Apostolorum 16. The point being made seems to be that women who have been Christian for a time can help the newly baptized women adapt to the Church's expectations of morality and modesty.
90. Didascalia Apostolorum 16.
91. Didascalia Apostolorum 16. It is possible that the visitation of the sick might include helping the person bathe or accomplish other personal tasks, which would make it impossible for a man to visit a woman.
92. Justin Martyr, 1 Apology 67, Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor 3.12. See also the letter of Cornelius of Rome in Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.43, in which Cornelius writes that in the middle of the third century there were over 1,500 widows and other needy people supported by the church in Rome.
Notes 93. Didascalia Apostolorum 14-15. The Didascalia states that widows should know who gave the money, so that they can pray for that person by name, but they should not divulge the name to anyone.
94. Didascalia Apostolorum 15, Apostolic Church Order 21.
95. Apostolic Church Order 21.
96. Didascalia Apostolorum 15.
97. Didascalia Apostolorum 14.' The Didascalia does say that a second marriage is allowed for younger widows (1 Tim 5:14), presumably to relieve some of the burden on the church, since the widows received support from the offerings. However, a younger, remarried widow would not be considered a member of the order of widows.
98. Apostolic Tradition 14.
99. For both men and women, after the end of persecution, asceticism and monasticism become the new martyrdom. By the same token, heresy and schism would become the new apostasy.
100. Tertullian, Apology 1, 37. Of course, this supports Tertullian's argument and may be an exaggeration (see Michael M.
Sage, Cyprian, Patristic Monograph Series, vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA:
The Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1975], 47ff).
101. Tertullian, Apology 40.
102. It seems that Caracalla required loyalty sacrifices for all (new) citizens, and while it was not his intention to persecute
Christians, some may have been executed at this time for refusing to sacrifice.
103. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.21. See also the Historia Augusta, Severus Alexander 22.4, 29.2, 43.6-7, 45.6-7,
49.6, 51.7. The reliability of the Historia Augusta has been questioned; however, even if stories of Alexander's preference for Christianity are exaggerated, his tolerance of the Church is based on historical events. Eusebius says that the emperor Philip (reigned
244-49 CE) was also sympathetic to the Church, and that he actually had once attended an Easter service (see Eusebius of Caesarea,
Ecclesiastical History 6.19.15, 6.21.3-4, 6.36.3). The story of Philip attending Christian worship is probably apocryphal since it would be unlikely for an unbaptized person to attend worship before the end of the persecutions. However, the anecdote does tell us somepu?
Reading the Early Church Fathers thing of the precariousness of the Church's status within the empire before the fourth century—at the drop of a hat the Church could go back and forth from pursued to tolerated. It seems that Philip's reign was the calm before the storm.
104. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.28. It was said that Maximinus believed (or claimed) that an earthquake in Asia Minor was a sign from the gods, demonstrating their anger over the many conversions to Christianity. It was under Maximinus that Hippolytus and Bishop Pontian of Rome were sentenced to the mines.
105. The traditional date for the founding of the city of Rome is 753 BCE. Thus the one-thousand-year anniversary was in 247 CE.
106. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.34, 39.
107. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.41.
108. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.41.
109.James L. Papandrea, The Wedding of the Lamb: A Historical Approach to the Book of Revelation (Eugene, OR: Wipf &
Stock/Pickwick Publications, 2011), 156-59.
110. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 8.11. Note that Eusebius says that some Marcionites were also the victims of this persecution (see Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History f12).
111. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 8.7-8, 8.12.
112. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 8.9.
113. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.41. See also Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed 7-8.
114.Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed 6, 10. See also Hermas, The Shepherd 14, which may have been in Cyprian's mind.
115. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.41.
116. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.5, 8.7-8, 8.12.
117. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 8.12.
118. For an account of the persecution in Alexandria, see the letter of Dionysius of Alexandria to Stephen of Rome.
119.Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.29.
Eusebius records that Fabian was loved by the people of Rome because when he was elected a dove had landed on his head, mir-
Notes roring Jesus' baptism and signifying God's anointing. Cyprian said that the emperor Decius had remarked that he "would rather confront a rival emperor than to see a new bishop installed in the church at Rome" (Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 55.9).
120. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.22.
121. For a thorough treatment of Cyprian and the controversies of the third century, see Michael M. Sage, Cyprian, Patristic
Monograph Series, vol. 1 (Cambridge, MA: The Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1975).
122. Epistles 2 through 39 of Cyprian's correspondence were written from hiding. Later, Cyprian would write that fleeing persecution to avoid the temptation of idolatry was as good as being a confessor (see Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed 3). The Montanists, on the other hand, had said that to flee was to be unfaithful.
123. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 27, 54.9-10.
124. Some of the early sources confuse these two men, as though they were the same person, but they were not. Novatus had been an enemy of Cyprian in North Africa for some time even before the controversy over the lapsed (see Cyprian of Carthage,
Epistle 42, 48.2). Cyprian accused Novatus of taking Luke 9:59-60 literally and failing in his duty to bury his own father.
125. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 48.2-3.
126.Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 11.1-3, 13.2, 27.1-3, 51.3-4, 51.7, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 19.
127. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 9.1-2, 11.2.
128. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 10.1-2, 10.4 (et cum suis), Palsy 20's 129. Cf. Rankin, 193-94.
130.Cyprian of Carthage, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 21.
131. For Cyprian's description of the situation, see Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed 6-8, 10.
132. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 40.1, 48.2.
133. Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed 17.
134. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.18.
135. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 26.1, On the Lapsed 17. The granting of the authority to forgive sins in Matthew 16:18-19 was ual
Reading the Early Church Fathers interpreted as having been given to all the apostles, not just Peter.
Thus it was seen as extended to all bishops through apostolic succession. This authority could be granted by a bishop to the priests under his authority (see Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 58.1).
136.Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 53.4, On the Lapsed 14-15, 18.
137. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 27.3, 51.4, 54.4.
138. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 12.1-2, 51.5.
139. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 27.3, 51.4, 13, 16, 26. On the Lapsed 14, 35. The early Christians did not believe that all sin was equal. Rather, they believed that some sins were worse than others (the worst being apostasy/idolatry and adultery). Therefore the penance must fit the sin.
140. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 52.2, On the Lapsed 13-14.
141. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 12.1-2, 51.5, 11, 17, On the Lapsed 27.
142. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.23.
143. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.42-43.
144. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 43, 54.9. See also Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.43.
145. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 55.6, 17. See J. Patout Burns, "On Rebaptism: Social Organization in the Third Century
Church," Journal of Early Christian Studies 1:4 (1993): 374-75, 395.
146. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 48.1, 51.29, 53.4, Cf. On the Unity of the Catholic Church 14.
147. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 40.1.
148. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 40.2, 51.3.
149, Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.4246.
150. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 45.1-3, 51.
151.Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 45.2, 47, 48.2. See also Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.43.
152. For Dionysius of Alexandria's letter to Novatian, see Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.45, 7.7-8. It is also reprinted in Stevenson, 232-33.
153.For Cornelius's letter, see Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.43.
154. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 45.1.
155. Against Novatian 12-14. pad
Notes 156. Against Novatian 8.
157. Acknowledging the distinction, Pacian of Barcelona (late fourth century) would later write, "Christian is my name, but Catholic is my surname...by the one I am approved, by the other | am but marked" (Pacian of Barcelona, Epistle 1.5-8).
158. See Stevenson, 320. The Novatianists were, however, persecuted by the Catholic bishops of the fourth and fifth centuries. For more detail, see Papandrea, Novatian of Rome and the Culmination of Pre-Nicene Orthodoxy.
159. Stevenson, 224.
160. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 54.16.
161.Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.19. See also Against Novatian |.
162. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.15. See also Against Novatian 15.
163. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 53.1-4. See also Burns, 375.
164.Cyprian of Carthage, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 19.
; 165. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.10.
166. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 80.1. See also Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.11. For an excellent overview of where the early Christians were meeting, see Ramsay MacMullen,
The Second Church: Popular Christianity A.D. 200-400 (Atlanta:
Society of Biblical Literature, 2009).
167. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.10.
168. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.13.
169. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 9.2, 10.1, On the Lapsed 15, 26.
170. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 54.13, 58.1. Note that penance here is a verb, to "do penance."
171. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 75.11. Cf. On Rebaptism 10.
172. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.22.
173. Against Novatian 10, 14, 18. See also Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed 17, 29, and the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.4.
174. Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians 10.2, Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed 35. See also 2 Clement 16 (quoting | Pet
4:8). Note that the Didascalia advises that if one cannot afford to
Reading the Early Church Fathers give alms, one should fast and use the money that would have been spent on food to give alms (Didascalia Apostolorum 19).
175. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 9.2, 11.2, 45.2 (the Roman confessors' reconciliation), 58.1, 71.2.
176. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.42.
177. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.27. Although the mainstream Christians did not subscribe to the idea that all sins are equal in the eyes of God, some of the rigorists apparently did, and therefore Cyprian's comment in this letter may be a concession to a rigorist point. However, if the rigorists did hold the conviction that all sin is equal, it led them to create ever-growing lists of sins that could not be forgiven. For the Catholics, admitting that there is some truth to the concept that all sin is a form of idolatry led them to the opposite conclusion, that all sins could be forgiven.
178. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.20-22, 26.
179.1 Clement 57, Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Philadelphians 3. In the Didascalia, schism is referred to as a coveting of the "primacy" (that is, of the bishop), which may be a reference to Novatian (Didascalia Apostolorum 23).
180. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.16, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 15, 19, 21. See also Against Novatian 8, 10, 14. A century earlier, Irenaeus had written concerning other schismatics,
"For no reformation of so great importance can be effected by them, as will compensate for the mischief arising from their schism" (Against Heresies 4.33.7).
181. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.2-3.
182. Cyprian of Carthage, On the Lapsed 9.
183. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.2-3. Cf.
Didascalia Apostolorum 10, 24. See also Burns, 377, 398. There may have been some disagreement over whether the imposition of hands constituted reconciliation or a reconfirmation. If Cyprian saw it as confirmation, then it would be the confirmation of an invalid baptism. See Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 75 and the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.
184. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 71.4, 72.3, 73.3.
185. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 58.3-6, 71.1, 72.1. See also Stevenson, 224. pt
Notes 186. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 71.1, 73.1-2. See also Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.2-3, 7-9. Note that the church of Alexandria agreed with Rome on this issue.
187. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 73.8.
188. Burns, 377-78.
189. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 62.8, 70, 75.12-13. Note that Cyprian admits even a clinical (emergency) baptism is not to be repeated, and the sacrament is not made any less valid by sprinkling or pouring. See also On Rebaptism 10.
190. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.7, 75.11. The authority to forgive sins rested with the bishops; however, they could delegate this authority to the priests in their respective areas (see
Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 58.1).
191, Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 71.2, 72.6, 24, 73.7, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 11, 13, 17. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.26 and Against Novatian 3. Note that all schismatic sacraments would be considered invalid. Ordination, though it was not yet considered a sacrament, would also not be valid outside the succession (see Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 48.2, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 10).
192. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 58.2, 62.8. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.8.
193. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 70.1, 71.1-5, 72.1.
194. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 70.1. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.22.
195. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 71.2, 75.12.
196. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.3. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.23.
197. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.16, 21. Cyprian paraphrases Paul in 1 Corinthians 13, that it profits nothing even to give one's body to be burned, if one dies for a heresy. Note that in this interpretation, the love of 1 Corinthians 13 is love for orthodoxy. Cf. On Rebaptism 13.
198. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.21, 75.1, 7-9. This was aimed specifically at Novatian. Cyprian acknowledged that his theology was orthodox but said that this did not excuse schism. Note that Montanists are also mentioned in the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.7, 19.
Reading the Early Church Fathers 199. Cyprian of Carthage, On the Unity of the Catholic Church
Ib 35) 200. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.2, 72.6, 24. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.26, and Burns,
See 201. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.19-20. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.21-23.
202. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.24-25.
203. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.2. See also Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 7.7, where the statement that Novatian, "sets at naught the holy washing" may refer to his practice of rebaptism. In reality, Novatian was probably doing what we would now call, "provisional baptisms," since he probably did not rebaptize those baptized before the schism.
204. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.4.
205. On Rebaptism 10.
206. On Rebaptism 10. According to the Didascalia Apostolorum 26, rebaptism would "undo" the original baptism.
207. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 73.2.
208. On Rebaptism 6, 9.
209. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.18, On Rebaptism 10.
210. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.4—5, 12, 18.
211. On Rebaptism 10, 12. Any baptism that was not trinitarian would not be considered valid, even by Stephen.
212. On Rebaptism 12.
213. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.23.
214. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 73.8.
215. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 70.1, 72.12, 20-21, 23-24, 75.34. For Cyprian, baptism outside the Church is "adulterous water." See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage,
Epistle 74.14, 23.
216. However, Cyprian did apparently make a distinction between the visible Church and the true, or invisible, Church (see
Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 48.4, 54.13). Note that there was a belief that the invisible Church was eternal, or at least preexistent
(probably connected to the concept of the preexistence of Christ as Logos). It had been created before the sun and moon, but was only revealed in the "last days" (the Church age) for the sake of salvation
Notes (see 2 Clement 14, and Hermas, The Shepherd 8.1). This strain of thought, running through Cyprian, may have contributed to Augustine's concept of election.
217. On Rebaptism 11-13.
218. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 75.10. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.8.
219. The reception of the Holy Spirit was associated with the imposition of hands in the confirmation. Baptism and confirmation were thought to be parallel to baptism with water and baptism with the Holy Spirit (and fire) (see Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 71.1,
73.7, and On Rebaptism 3, 12, 17). Baptism and confirmation were originally one rite, but by this time they were becoming two separate rites, in part because of the practice of infant baptism (see
Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 71.1, 72.21). Baptism could be delegated to priests, but only bishops could confirm (see Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.9, and On Rebaptism 3).
220. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.43. See also Apostolic Tradition 14.
221. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.43. Note that the office of exorcist is also mentioned in the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.10. The office of exorcist seems eventually to have been absorbed by the bishops.
222. On Rebaptism 11.
223. Cyprian called baptism the sacrament of unity (Epistle 75.6). As we have seen, the question of baptism begs the question of rebaptism and baptismal validity. It was, of course, believed that in general baptism defined Church membership (see the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.14, 17). However, a catechumen could be considered a Christian, as in the case of Perpetua. The term hearer described the catechumens, and the term believer seems to have been reserved for the baptized, except that a confessor was considered a believer, even if not yet baptized
(see On Rebaptism 11).
224. Rankin, 114.
225. Those who might take the Eucharist unworthily included the uninitiated, who were to be protected from the Eucharist for their own good. It was believed by some that the unbaptized would risk damnation by taking the Eucharist, even out a
Reading the Early Church Fathers of ignorance (see the Apostolic Constitutions 7.2 [7.25]). In general, however, to receive the Eucharist without confession would be considered unworthy. By the third century, this included penance and reconciliation (Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 9.2, 10.1, On the Lapsed 15, 26). For the concept that the Eucharist would be ineffective if one held malice against another (Matt 5:23-24), see the Didascalia Apostolorum 11.
226. Against Novatian 2, 5. See also Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 73.11-12, 75.2, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 6. For Cyprian, the Church is the ark, and the persecution is the flood.
227. Tertullian, The Prescription Against the Heretics 31, 33, Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 50.3, 51.13, 25. Cyprian was, of course, not a rigorist and his argument here is aimed at the Novatianists. Cyprian said that rigorism came from a "too rigid philosophy" (Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 51.16).
228. Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies 9.7.
229. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 53.13, On the Lapsed 15.
230. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 75.1. 1 am careful to distinguish what I am calling North African ecclesiology from the North
Africans in general, since Cyprian would agree with significant elements of what I am calling the Roman ecclesiology. However, these categories, simplified though they may be, are proven useful by the ongoing controversy between the Donatists of North Africa and Augustine, who though he was North African, held to more of a Roman ecclesiology.
231. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 72.21, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 6. See also the letter of Firmilian in Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 74.18. This was confirmed in the canons of the seventh Council of Carthage. On the Church as mother, see
Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 9.3, 10.2, 40.2, 42, On the Lapsed 9.
232. Cyprian of Carthage, Epistle 54.21, 75.1, 9, On the Unity of the Catholic Church 19, 21. See also the letter of Dionysius of Alexandria to Novatian in Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical
History 6.45. Schism was compared to the split between the northern and southern kingdoms in the Old Testament (2 Kgs 17:20-21).
233. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 6.43.
234. 'Tertullian, The Prescription Against the Heretics 20-21, 282 32)