5...The Church also is one, which is spread abroad far and wide into a multitude by an increase of fruitfulness. As there are many rays of the sun, but one light; and many branches of a tree, but one strength based in its tenacious root; and since from one spring flow many streams, although the multiplicity seems diffused in the liberality of an overflowing abundance, yet the unity is still preserved in the source. Separate a ray of the sun from its body of light, its unity does not allow a division of light; break a branch from a tree,—when broken, it will not be able to bud; cut off the stream from its fountain, and that which is cut off dries up. Thus also the Church, shone over with the light of the Lord, sheds forth her rays over the whole world, yet it is one light which is everywhere diffused, nor is the unity of the body separated. Her fruitful abundance spreads her branches over the whole world. She broadly expands her rivers, liberally flowing, yet her head is one, her source one; and she is one mother, plentiful in the results of fruitfulness: from her womb we are born, by her milk we are nourished, by her spirit we are animated.
Previously Cyprian had written about the "unity of the episcopate" (or bishops) as a focal point for the visible unity of the Church. Now he extends that unity to the Church as a whole. The key point here is that "the unity is still preserved in the source". So what is the source? It must be only "the light of the Lord". Any other "source" of unity will result in no unity at all. And so one might ask: what do we think of when we think of the unity of the Church? If it not Christ, then it is not a source of unity.
6. The spouse of Christ cannot be adulterous; she is uncorrupted and pure. She knows one home; she guards with chaste modesty the sanctity of one couch. She keeps us for God. She appoints the sons whom she has born for the kingdom. Whoever is separated from the Church and is joined to an adulteress, is separated from the promises of the Church; nor can he who forsakes the Church of Christ attain to the rewards of Christ. He is a stranger; he is profane; he is an enemy. He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother. If any one could escape who was outside the ark of Noah, then he also may escape who shall be outside of the Church.
The Lord warns, saying, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who gathereth not with me scattereth.” He who breaks the peace and the concord of Christ, does so in opposition to Christ; he who gathereth elsewhere than in the Church, scatters the Church of Christ. The Lord says, “I and the Father are one;” and again it is written of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, “And these three are one.” And does any one believe that this unity which thus comes from the divine strength and coheres in celestial sacraments, can be divided in the Church, and can be separated by the parting asunder of opposing wills? He who does not hold this unity does not hold God’s law, does not hold the faith of the Father and the Son, does not hold life and salvation.
Here we have one of Cyprian's most famous quotes: "He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother."
Now we can see a bit of the issues of the day cropping up in Cyprian. There were the pure (those who remained steadfast under Roman persecution) and then there were the lapsed (those who were apostate, but later asked to be received back into the church after the persecution ended). This was a thorny issue in the time of Cyprian. Some thought that only the pure should be admitted to the Church, since the purity of the church was to found in its members, and especially its bishops. Others held that if the apostate was repentant, then he should be admitted back into the fellowship of the Church.
Cyprian gives strong warnings against anyone who "breaks the peace and the concord of Christ". The unity of Christ and the Church is also ultimately founded upon the unity of the Father and the Son, and of the unity of the Trinity. As a side note, if you think that ideas about the Trinity only crop up in a post-Constantine world, just read a few more of the early Fathers and you will see them holding such things in faith.
There are a few ideas to consider here. Just as the unity of the Church should be found in its leaders (its bishops) so also Cyprian writes that the holiness of the church should be visible in its members, and most notably we should presume, in its bishops. On the other hand, it would be fair to reply that just as the unity of the Church is ultimately found in its Lord, so also the holiness and purity of the Church can ultimately only be found in Christ. Cyprian wrote well before our more modern/ Reformation ideas of the distinction between the visible and invisible church. I'm not sure he would even recognize those categories as helpful or true.
At any rate, those who pursue "unity" in the Church need also be aware that the unity of the Church is, for Cyprian, linked to its "purity" and "holiness". While it might be rightly argued that Cyprian was too much of a rigorist in the purity department, he might say that our own age is guilty of the opposite error. We have forgotten the role of repentance in the life of the Church.
related posts: Cyprian On the Unity of the Church
intro
part 1
part 2
part 3
part 4
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