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Christian unity: St. Cyprian's and Ours

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2009

Extract

St. Cyprian presided over the church of Carthage in one of the most decisive moments of her history. Persecution by the Roman imperial authorities, mass apostasy, formal schism, and the conflict of authority between bishop and confessors on the one hand, and bishop and clergy on the other, threatened the very existence of his community. He was a passionate believer in the unity of the Church and in the midst of disunity, declared that it was axiomatic, biblically and divinely guaranteed that the Church is visibly indivisible. Moreover, Cyprian has been described as the ‘Father of Western Christianity’, since his teaching belongs to so early a period in the life of the Church, that it has consciously and unconsciously influenced the theological presupposition of Western Christianity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 1970

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References

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