(born &circa; 200, Carthage—died Sept. 14, 258, Carthage; Western and Eastern feast day September 16; Anglican feast day September 26) Early Christian theologian and Church Father. He converted to Christianity &circa; 246 and within two years was elected bishop of Carthage.
In 250 he went into hiding to escape the Decian persecution, when many Christians apostatized. The following year he returned; bishops in council supported his assertions that the church could remit the sin of apostasy, that bishops in council had final disciplinary authority, and that even unworthy laity must be accepted. In disputes with the bishop of Rome, Cyprian asserted that the people and their bishop constituted the church, that there was no “bishop of bishops” in Rome, that all bishops equally possessed the Holy Spirit, and that their consensus expressed the church's unity. He was martyred under Valerian.
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