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c. 155 – 325 AD
Cyprian of Carthage
c. 210 – 258 AD
Carthage, North Africa (modern Tunisia)
Overview
A rhetorician turned bishop who guided the church through persecution, schism, and plague with unusual steadiness.
Did You Know?
He is famous for the line: "He can no longer have God for his Father, who has not the Church for his mother."
Historical Note
Saint*He argued that converts coming from heretical groups should be baptized on entering the Catholic Church.
Status: Saint. The wider Church later rejected his position, but Cyprian remained within communion and is honored for his martyrdom and pastoral courage.
Major Writings
Read Cyprian of Carthage’s Commentary
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Open Bible ReaderHistorical Context
The Ante-Nicene Fathers
Apologists, pastors, and theologians writing before Nicaea, often under pressure from persecution and from rival visions of Christianity.
7 Church Fathers in this era
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Part of The Ante-Nicene Fathers