By Justin Eimers
Introduction
The influence of Cyprian of Carthage is felt to this day in some of the doctrines and theologies of the Roman Catholic Church on penance and church unity. Many have believed that because of this influence Protestants can take little to nothing away from what Cyprian has to say (especially since Protestantism is a schism of Roman Catholicism). However, in doing this the Protestant church cheats itself out of understanding how the church learned both how to deal with intense pressure due to persecution, as well as a working practical theology on a unified Christianity. To do this a walkthrough of Cyprian’s ministry is necessary so that his writings may be given context and in turn meaning to a modern audience that at times is grossly disinterested to it’s ancient forbearers wisdom.
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