The very fact that Cyprian devoted a little treatise to the topic of church unity might cause us to ask whether there was any disunity, which caused him to think and write about this topic. The answer, of course, is yes. In fact, the disunity was a bit complicated at the time. The occasion for this treatise is, on the surface, some trouble over who was the bishop of Rome. All of this took place just at the end of a persecution by the Emperor Decius, around the year 250-51.
The persecution was on a grand scale: every person in the Empire was required to sacrifice to the cult of the Emperor or to face the consequences. Many Christians decided to give in and make the appropriate sacrifices to please the Romans. Others had bought little “get out of persecution free” papers. And others refused to give in and suffered the consequences. In the midst of this we have Cyprian becoming bishop in Carthage, North Africa.
So when the persecution ended, there was a bit of a problem. On the one hand were large numbers of those Christians who had remained steadfast and had suffered for their faith. Against this group were those who had, either in earnest or pretence, made the appropriate sacrifices and had denied Christ. So then within the Church there arose the question of whether or not these lapsi could or should be admitted back into the fellowship of the Church. They had, after all, denied Jesus. Strong voices argued that they were out: they Church was pure, and there was no penance for those who had denied Christ.
With me so far? Then we have a vacancy for the position of Pope bishop of Rome. (Sorry, couldn’t resist, mea culpa) and we have Cornelius elected. Novatian, who tended to be more on the strict side regarding the lapsed Christians, was in the running, but lost. He immediately set himself up as bishop of Rome. So we have two bishops of Rome. This was schism – and it was to last for several decades.
Meanwhile, back at home, Cyprian was also faced with some questions about authority and the role of bishops. Again, these questions came about in the wake of the end of the persecution and the questions about the standing of those who had lapsed.
So to a great extent, Cyprian wrote about the unity of the church, located and made visible in the unity of the bishops. And when we come to his interpretation of the role of Peter and the primacy of Rome, remember that there was in fact a schism in Rome at that time. I'll add a bit more background as we get into the treatise itself.
related post: here
For some further thoughts on Cyprian and the contemporary church, see this excellent post by Phil Snider.
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