Cyprian of Carthage
Church father · died 258
Bishop of Carthage from about 248, beheaded there in 258. He was a teacher of rhetoric before his conversion. His treatises and letters, in Latin, quote the Old Latin Bible of North Africa at length; On the Unity of the Church (251) was written during the dispute over Christians who had lapsed in persecution.
Quoted For
- Acts 8:37 “And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God”
- 1 John 5:7–8 “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one …”
The church fathers are the early Christian writers. Their quotations show which reading was known, where, and when, often earlier than any manuscript of the passage that survives.
