Cyprian of Carthage's Ecclesiastical Power and Church Unity

Zoe Anne Brazeau

Abstract:
In this project I will examine Cyprian of Carthage's response to the lapsist controversy during and after the Decian Persecution. In this controversy some Christian's had submitted to Roman authorities and performed the mandatory sacrifice and declaration to the Roman gods thus "lapsing" from the Christian faith. During this persecution Cyprian was in hiding, maintaining his position by sending letters to the other clergymen. Through these letters he urged clergymen not to make any decisions regarding the lapsed without him because they did not have the power to forgive sins like bishops did. When he returned he found his power being undermined by lower clergymen like deacons and ministers who had started making decisions to readmit and forgive the lapsed without consulting him. Cyprian is well known in scholarship for denouncing the lapsed, but for him the true issue was this undermining of his power. My research project will argue that during the lapsist controversy Cyprian stressed unity under his leadership and tried to get all other bishops and clergymen on his side after they had undermined his power during his exile. For Cyprian, the true issue was not heresy, but the undermining of his authority and the deviation from church hierarchy and unity.