Cyprian’s Communal Model of Episcopal Ministry and Governance
Abstract
St Cyprian of Carthage (c 210-258 AD) delivers a testimony that the Church of his time was unequivocally organized on a basis of monoepiscopal ministry and governance, and that each local gathering of the faithful was presided over by a bishop (episcopos) who safeguarded and coordinated various ecclesiastical activities. There is no ground for doubt that according to Cyprian s understanding and experience bishops were successors of the apostolic ministry in the Church. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to describe the apostles as bishops1 and the bishops as direct successors of the apostles.2 The older notion about the ancient apostolic centers, i.e. about the local churches originally founded by the apostles, which was so important in the theologies of St Irenaeus and Tertullian and functioned as a paradigm and the source of the authentic apostolic tradition and teaching, was not so prominent in Cyprian s thought. This was the case most probably because this idea didn’t need perpetual emp...hasis and argumentation anymore as the influence of Gnostic theologies decreased significantly. Additionally, partially at least, it was the case because the schisms and disorders in Cyprian s time didn’t spring out of problems connected primarily with doctrinal issues. Likewise, he intensely insisted on his insight about utter mutual equality of all apostolic successors, i.e. of all the bishops throughout the Christian oikoumene as well as on the necessity of maintaining the unity of all of the faithful with their bishops (overseers) on a local level.
Keywords:
St Cyprian of Carthage / St Irenaeus / Tertullian / Church / bishopSource:
Philotheos, 2018, 18, 1, 18-25Publisher:
- Гномон, Београд
Collections
Institution/Community
Православни богословски факултет / Faculty of Orthodox TheologyTY - JOUR AU - Jovanović, Zdravko PY - 2018 UR - https://rpbf.bfspc.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/189 AB - St Cyprian of Carthage (c 210-258 AD) delivers a testimony that the Church of his time was unequivocally organized on a basis of monoepiscopal ministry and governance, and that each local gathering of the faithful was presided over by a bishop (episcopos) who safeguarded and coordinated various ecclesiastical activities. There is no ground for doubt that according to Cyprian s understanding and experience bishops were successors of the apostolic ministry in the Church. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to describe the apostles as bishops1 and the bishops as direct successors of the apostles.2 The older notion about the ancient apostolic centers, i.e. about the local churches originally founded by the apostles, which was so important in the theologies of St Irenaeus and Tertullian and functioned as a paradigm and the source of the authentic apostolic tradition and teaching, was not so prominent in Cyprian s thought. This was the case most probably because this idea didn’t need perpetual emphasis and argumentation anymore as the influence of Gnostic theologies decreased significantly. Additionally, partially at least, it was the case because the schisms and disorders in Cyprian s time didn’t spring out of problems connected primarily with doctrinal issues. Likewise, he intensely insisted on his insight about utter mutual equality of all apostolic successors, i.e. of all the bishops throughout the Christian oikoumene as well as on the necessity of maintaining the unity of all of the faithful with their bishops (overseers) on a local level. PB - Гномон, Београд T2 - Philotheos T1 - Cyprian’s Communal Model of Episcopal Ministry and Governance EP - 25 IS - 1 SP - 18 VL - 18 DO - 10.5840/philotheos20181812 UR - conv_5013 ER -
@article{ author = "Jovanović, Zdravko", year = "2018", abstract = "St Cyprian of Carthage (c 210-258 AD) delivers a testimony that the Church of his time was unequivocally organized on a basis of monoepiscopal ministry and governance, and that each local gathering of the faithful was presided over by a bishop (episcopos) who safeguarded and coordinated various ecclesiastical activities. There is no ground for doubt that according to Cyprian s understanding and experience bishops were successors of the apostolic ministry in the Church. Therefore, he didn’t hesitate to describe the apostles as bishops1 and the bishops as direct successors of the apostles.2 The older notion about the ancient apostolic centers, i.e. about the local churches originally founded by the apostles, which was so important in the theologies of St Irenaeus and Tertullian and functioned as a paradigm and the source of the authentic apostolic tradition and teaching, was not so prominent in Cyprian s thought. This was the case most probably because this idea didn’t need perpetual emphasis and argumentation anymore as the influence of Gnostic theologies decreased significantly. Additionally, partially at least, it was the case because the schisms and disorders in Cyprian s time didn’t spring out of problems connected primarily with doctrinal issues. Likewise, he intensely insisted on his insight about utter mutual equality of all apostolic successors, i.e. of all the bishops throughout the Christian oikoumene as well as on the necessity of maintaining the unity of all of the faithful with their bishops (overseers) on a local level.", publisher = "Гномон, Београд", journal = "Philotheos", title = "Cyprian’s Communal Model of Episcopal Ministry and Governance", pages = "25-18", number = "1", volume = "18", doi = "10.5840/philotheos20181812", url = "conv_5013" }
Jovanović, Z.. (2018). Cyprian’s Communal Model of Episcopal Ministry and Governance. in Philotheos Гномон, Београд., 18(1), 18-25. https://doi.org/10.5840/philotheos20181812 conv_5013
Jovanović Z. Cyprian’s Communal Model of Episcopal Ministry and Governance. in Philotheos. 2018;18(1):18-25. doi:10.5840/philotheos20181812 conv_5013 .
Jovanović, Zdravko, "Cyprian’s Communal Model of Episcopal Ministry and Governance" in Philotheos, 18, no. 1 (2018):18-25, https://doi.org/10.5840/philotheos20181812 ., conv_5013 .