Cyprian of Carthage: Crisis in the 3rd Century

Amid persecution and turmoil, Cyprian of Carthage stood firm in his faith and led the church with wisdom. Today, Stephen Nichols reflects on Cyprian’s call for unity, repentance, and steadfast faith in times of suffering.

Welcome back to another episode of 5 Minutes in Church History. On this episode, we are still talking about the crisis of the 3rd century, and we left off last week with Decius and his persecution. Well, a key figure in all of this in the church is Cyprian of Carthage. He was born into a very wealthy pagan family. He had the best education money could buy, of his day, and went on to be quite a rhetorician and a lawyer. And then he converted to Christianity. In 248, he became the Bishop of Carthage. And then 250 comes the Decian persecution. Again, that was empire wide. It was very intense. And Cyprian chose to go into hiding rather than get caught and arrested. He felt like it was important to preserve the leadership of the church there at Carthage. And Carthage is a very important city in the Roman Empire, would of course play a role later in the life of Augustine, but back to Cyprian and back to the 3rd century.

After Decius dies, the persecution comes to an end and there is a time of reprieve, and Cyprian goes back into his post as bishop. And this created a moment of crisis in the church because now you have three groups in the church, because you have people who under Decius would make that sacrifice. And they would, in essence, recant their faith, make the sacrifice to the Roman gods in order to preserve their life. And there were three views on this. One is called the Novatianist Group, and they were more harsh. They thought these folks should not be admitted back into the church under any circumstances. They had apostatized, they had left the church, and, therefore, they are excommunicated for life. There's another group that just wanted immediate forgiveness. Just bring them back into the church. Everybody understands: this was an intense time, and they were under pressure, and bring them in. Cyprian had a balanced approach. He felt there needed to be repentance. And repentance requires time. There needs to be time. And so, after a period of time then, a truly repentant person, Cyprian thought, they should be let back in to the church.

Well, the reprieve didn't last long. Along comes Valerian as the emperor, and initially he tolerated Christians. But by 257, he reversed course, and he began issuing edicts directly aimed at Christian clergy. Bishops were banished. They were forbidden to have meetings. They were forbidden to meet for worship or church services. Cyprian was exiled. He was then recalled, he was arrested, and in 258, he was martyred.

During his lifetime, he was able to write a number of books he wrote On the Lapsed, which of course explores the controversy that we had just discussed. And he wrote the book On the Unity of the Church. He knew in this time of persecution how much Christians needed each other, and how much churches needed each other. So that is why he wrote that book. And it's a wonderful book to discuss that “There are not bodies, but one body,” as Cyprian says, “There are not houses, but one house,” as he says in that book of the church. He also wrote much on suffering. At one point, he sort of brings this to a focus where he just says, “We must glorify God in our sufferings, for in our trials and persecutions, we share in the passion of Christ.”

Cyprian ministered during this crisis of the 3rd century. From the Roman perspective, it was an economic and political crisis that wreaked havoc on the civil state. For the church, it was a time of crisis in terms of persecution. So there was pressure from without and of difference, and even heresies popping up at this time, so there were pressures from within. But in the face of both of these pressures, we see figures like Hippolytus. We see Cyprian. We know of many, many nameless others who were faithful and who were able to stand in the face of persecution, knowing that, as Cyprian writes, “In our trials and persecutions, we share in the passion of Christ.” Well, that is the crisis of the 3rd century: fifty years, 235 to 284. And I'm Steve Nichols and thanks for joining us for 5 Minutes in Church History.