On the Unity of the Catholic Church 21
Summary: Confession under persecution is only a beginning; confessors must persevere in humility and unity, or their guilt will be greater.
Latin text · CSEL 3.1:228–229
Confessio exordium gloriae est, non meritum iam coronae, nec perficit laudem sed initiat dignitatem, cumque scriptum sit: qui perseuerauerit usque in finem hic saluus erit, quicquid ante finem fuerit gradus est quo ad fastigium salutis ascenditur, non terminus quo iam culminis summa teneatur. confessor est: sed post confessionem periculum maius est, quia plus aduersarius prouocatus est. confessor est: hoc magis stare debet cum Domini euangelio per euangelium gloriam consecutus a Domino. cui multum datur, multum quaeritur ab eo: et cui plus dignitatis adscribitur, plus de illo exigitur seruitutis. nemo per confessoris exemplum pereat, nemo iniustitiam, nemo insolentiam, nemo perfidiam de confessoris moribus discat. confessor est: sit humilis et quietus, sit in actu suo cum disciplina modestus, ut qui Christi confessor dicitur Christum quem confitetur imitetur. nam cum dicat ille: qui se extollit humiliabitur, et qui humiliat se exaltabitur, et ipse a patre exaltatus sit, quia se in terris sermo et uirtus et sapientia Dei patris humiliauit, quomodo potest extollentiam diligere qui et nobis humilitatem sua lege mandauit et ipse a patre amplissimum nomen praemio humilitatis accepit? confessor est Christi: sed si non postea blasphemetur per ipsum maiestas et dignitas Christi. lingua Christum confessa non sit maledica, non turbulenta, non conuiciis et litibus perstrepens audiatur, non contra fratres et Dei sacerdotes post uerba laudis serpentis uenena iaculetur. ceterum si culpabilis et detestabilis postmodum fuerit, si confessionem suam mala conuersatione prodegerit, si uitam suam turpi foeditate maculauerit, si ecclesiam denique ubi confessor factus est derelinquens et unitatis concordiam scindens fidem primam perfidia posteriore mutauerit, blandiri sibi per confessionem non potest quasi electus ad gloriae praemium, quando ex hoc ipso magis creuerint merita poenarum.
English · Claude translation
Confession is the beginning of glory, not yet the full merit of the crown; it does not complete praise but begins dignity; and since it is written, "He who endures to the end, he will be saved," whatever comes before the end is a step by which one climbs to the summit of salvation, not the goal where the top of the height is already held. He is a confessor: but after confession the danger is greater, because the adversary has been more provoked. He is a confessor: all the more ought he to stand with the Lord's gospel, having obtained glory from the Lord through the gospel. "From him to whom much is given, much is required"; and from him to whom more dignity is ascribed, more service is demanded. Let no one perish by a confessor's example; let no one learn injustice, insolence, or faithlessness from a confessor's conduct. He is a confessor: let him be humble and quiet, let him be modest and disciplined in his conduct, so that he who is called a confessor of Christ may imitate the Christ whom he confesses. For since he says, "He who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted," and he himself was exalted by the Father because he, the Word and the Power and the Wisdom of God the Father, humbled himself on earth, how can he love self-exaltation who both commanded humility to us by his law and himself received from the Father the most exalted name as the reward of humility? He is a confessor of Christ: but only if the majesty and dignity of Christ are not afterwards blasphemed through him. Let the tongue that has confessed Christ not be abusive, not turbulent, not heard resounding with insults and quarrels; let it not, after words of praise, dart the poisons of the serpent against the brothers and the priests of God. But if he afterwards becomes blameworthy and detestable, if he squanders his confession by evil conduct, if he stains his life with shameful foulness, if, finally, forsaking the church where he became a confessor and splitting the concord of unity, he exchanges his first faith for later faithlessness, he cannot flatter himself by his confession as if chosen for the reward of glory, since from this very fact the deserts of punishment have grown the greater.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The quotations are Matt 10:22, Luke 12:48, and Luke 14:11; Christ's humbling and exaltation are Phil 2:8–9; "the Power and the Wisdom of God" is 1 Cor 1:24. "The Word" renders sermo.
Cite this passage
Cyprian, Unit. eccl. 21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-unitate/21/).
Plain text
Cyprian, Unit. eccl. 21 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/cyprian-unitate/21/).
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