Journal: Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society
Volume: JETS 66:3 (Sep 2023)
Article: Water Alone Cannot Sanctify: The Holy Spirit As Sanctifier For Cyprian Of Carthage
Author: D. Forrest Mills

JETS 66:3 (September 2023) p. 523

Water Alone Cannot Sanctify: The Holy Spirit As Sanctifier For Cyprian Of Carthage

D. Forrest Mills*

^*D. Forrest Mills is Associate Pastor of Family Ministry and Discipleship at Euclid Avenue Baptist Church, 900 Euclid Avenue, Bristol, VA 24201, and Adjunct Professor of Church History and Christian Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2825 Lexington Road, Louisville, KY 40280. He may be contacted at [email protected].

Abstract: A survey of Cyprian’s corpus reveals that he understood holiness to be the work of the Holy Spirit, who operated through the ministries of the church. Sanctification began when the Spirit indwelled believers at their baptism. Cyprian claimed he had biblical warrant for this notion, drawing from passages like Genesis 2, John 20:21–23, and 1 Corinthians 6:11. After baptism, Christians cooperated with God’s Spirit to persevere in sanctification, becoming perfectly holy at death. This sanctification came through the weekly ministries of the church and helped Christians live for God daily, persevering in the faith despite opposition, even in the face of martyrdom. This article continues discussions in Cyprianic studies concerning his pneumatology and soteriology, and advances scholarship on his ecclesiology. It coincides with recent attempts to interpret him within the context of Latin North Africa, rather than reading him through the lens of medieval Christianity.

Key words: Cyprian of Carthage, Holy Spirit, sanctification, holiness, godliness, schism, early bishops, baptism, the Christian life, virtue

For Cyprian of Carthage, who served as a bishop from 248 to 258, the Holy Spirit sanctified bishops so that they could perform their ministries, through which the Spirit sanctified the laypeople. Cyprian developed his pneumatology within the context of rancorous debate and ecclesial schism. Besides persecution and plague, Cyprian faced two major predicaments during his time as bishop. First, a debate arose over how to treat lapsi, those who had temporarily apostatized during the Decian persecution (250–251).1 Up to half of his congregation in Carthage might have apostatized during the persecution. The sheer number of lapsi created a pastoral and theological dilemma for bishops as they mulled over what protocols they should follow to lead so many people back into full membership within the church.

JETS 66:3 (September 2023) p. 524

This debate over the lapsi led two groups to disfellowship themselv...