Bellarmine · De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis · On the Ecclesiastical Writers
Chapter 7: The Third Century: Cyprian, Pontius, Dionysius of Alexandria, Zeno of Verona
Our translation, from the Latin of the Opera Omnia (Paris: Vivès, 1870–74), vol. XII, De Scriptoribus Ecclesiasticis, of the New Testament, third century. The Latin source text is public domain; this English rendering is released with the site. Scripture quotations follow Bellarmine's Vulgate citations, rendered in Douay-Rheims wording where he quotes exactly. Click “Show the Latin” for the original (raw OCR of the scan; scanning errors remain — the scan itself is the authority).
St. Cyprian. 250
St. Cyprian, a most eloquent and most holy man, suffered martyrdom under Valerian and Gallienus, on the witness of St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers; but he was raised to the episcopate in the times of Pope Fabian and the emperor Philip; so he sat in the times of Fabian, Cornelius, Lucius, Stephen and Sixtus, Roman Pontiffs. Many of his works are extant, but not all undoubted. First, then, we shall draw up a catalogue of the undoubted works.
The undoubted works of St. Cyprian. Four books of Letters, which Pamelius arranged in the order of time, and they are 83 in number. On the Dress of Virgins, one treatise; On the Lapsed, 1; On the Simplicity of Prelates, or On the Unity of the Church, 1; On the Lord's Prayer, 1; Against Demetrian, 1; On the Vanity of Idols, 1; On Almsgiving, 1; On the Good of Patience, 1; On Jealousy and Envy, 1; On the Exhortation to Martyrdom, 1 [“2” printed]; To Quirinus against the Jews, three books; To Jubaianus on baptizing heretics, 1; To Pompeius against the letter of Pope Stephen, 1 (these two books, however, Pamelius put among the letters, and they are letters 73 [“63” printed] and 74); the Opinions of the Council of Carthage on baptizing Heretics, 1.
Forged or doubtful works. On Mount Sinai and Sion, one treatise. On the Revelation of the Head of St. John the Baptist. The Exposition of the Creed. On the Single Life of Clerics. On the Cardinal Works of Christ, 12 sermons. On the Praise of Martyrdom. On the Discipline and Good of Modesty. To Novatian, that the hope of pardon is not to be denied to the lapsed. On the Double Martyrdom. On Dice-players. On the Arrangement of the Supper. On the Twelve Abuses of the World. On the Shows. On Jewish Unbelief, to Virgilius. On the Jews who Persecuted Christ. The poem Genesis. The poem Sodom. The poem to an Apostate Senator. The Hymn on Easter. The Prayer for the Martyrs which begins Agios. The other Prayer, which begins Domine Sancte Pater.
The treatise On Mount Sinai and Sion does not have St. Cyprian's style. The treatise On the Revelation of the Head of St. John the Baptist is not St. Cyprian's, but of a much more recent author, who in this very work mentions Saints Athanasius and Cyril, likewise the emperor Theodosius and Pepin King of the Franks; and the revelation itself of the head of St. John the Baptist happened under Theodosius, as Nicephorus testifies, book 12, chapter 49. So the revelation treated here was made more than a hundred years after the death of St. Cyprian. The Exposition of the Creed is not St. Cyprian's but Rufinus's: under Rufinus's name it is found among the works of St. Jerome; and Gennadius testifies in the book On Illustrious Men that Rufinus excelled in the explanation of the creed; lastly the style is Rufinus's, not St. Cyprian's.
The treatise On the Single Life of Clerics, where living with women is forbidden to Clerics, is notable and useful, and without doubt of an ancient author; to some it seems rather Origen's than Cyprian's. But the style plainly protests, and cries out that the author is a Latin, not a Greek. The same style also is quite different from St. Cyprian's, and mixes in many hardly Latin words that are not found in Cyprian, such as inordinaliter, contubernalitas, mulcedo, passibilitas and others.
The Sermons on the Cardinal Works of Christ are of a learned and ancient author, but they do not seem to be Cyprian's. For first, the style is much lower than St. Cyprian's is wont to be. Then in the sermon on temptation and fasting this author teaches that the Devil fell from heaven before the creation of man; the contrary of which opinion St. Cyprian holds in the treatise On Jealousy and Envy. Lastly in the preface he addresses Pope St. Cornelius thus: “Because fathers are sometimes wont to smile at childish trifles and to take delight in stammering tongues, lowliness deserves indulgence, which by what approach it can holds itself out to the hands of your sublimity to be handled”; so he. But St. Cyprian always called Cornelius brother and colleague; nor did he not know that he was no less learned and eloquent than Cornelius was; and since besides he had been ordained Bishop before Cornelius, and was wonderfully renowned in the whole Church, he would certainly never call his writings childish trifles, nor say that the sublimity of Cornelius ought to be delighted by Cyprian's stammering tongue.
The little book On the Praise of Martyrdom is put among the doubtful works of Cyprian because Erasmus doubted it for some unlikeness of style. But it is commonly admitted among the true works of St. Cyprian; especially since Moses and Maximus, to whom this book is written, in the letter to Cyprian which is 26th among the letters of St. Cyprian, mention this very book; nor does the style differ from the other works, except that it is more worked than some other works of his, but not more than all. For the second letter, which is to Donatus, does not yield to this little book; and yet that is a letter, while this book is like an oration in the demonstrative kind. The book On the Discipline and Good of Modesty, and the book to Novatian on the hope of pardon to be given to the lapsed, seem to me St. Cyprian's, whatever Erasmus says, who sometimes judges too finely of unlikeness of style.
The book On the Double Martyrdom cannot be St. Cyprian's, since the author mentions the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, who had not yet begun to rule when St. Cyprian suffered martyrdom; and, that we may wonder the more with what face such books are published under Cyprian's name, this same author mentions the Emperor's war against the Turks. The book On Dice-players is useful and learned, but does not seem to be Cyprian's; since at the beginning the author signifies plainly enough that he presides over the universal Church, and bears the Apostolate on which Christ founded the Church, and holds the vicarious seat of Christ, and that the keys of binding and loosing have been handed to him, and so on. So the little book seems to be of some Roman Pontiff who imitates the writings of St. Cyprian, though he does not reach the elegance of his style. The book On the Arrangement of the Supper is not only not Cyprian's, but not even of any learned man. Perhaps its author was called Cyprian, but far different from the one we are now treating; for it has neither words nor thoughts worthy of a learned man, but silly and ridiculous stories and tales.
The book On the Twelve Abuses of the World cannot be St. Cyprian's, since it cites the Scriptures everywhere from St. Jerome's version; by which reason neither will it be St. Augustine's, though it is carried among his works too. The book On the Shows is excellent, and written in imitation of Tertullian's book on the same subject; the only reason for doubting whether it is Cyprian's or not seems to be the difference of style. The book On Jewish Unbelief, to Virgilius, is nothing else than a version into the Latin tongue of the Greek dialogue between Jason the Christian and Papiscus the Hebrew; which Greek dialogue is most ancient, since Origen mentions it in book 4 against Celsus. And the author of the Latin version is said to be not Cyprian but Celsus, as is plain from the last words of the book. The book On the Jews who Persecuted Christ does not seem to be St. Cyprian's, because of the too great difference of style. Of the poems and prayers I have nothing certain; for we neither have testimonies of the ancients by which to prove those works are Cyprian's, nor have we arguments by which to prove they are not; for the works are weighty and learned, and worthy of St. Cyprian.
St. Pontius the Deacon. 250
St. Pontius, deacon of St. Cyprian, wrote a notable volume on the life and passion of St. Cyprian, on the witness of St. Jerome On Ecclesiastical Writers. That volume is extant at the beginning of St. Cyprian in the edition of Jacob Pamelius.
St. Dionysius of Alexandria. 250
St. Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, was a contemporary of St. Cyprian, but a little earlier in the episcopate and a little later in death; and he wrote many books and letters, on the witness of St. Jerome On Ecclesiastical Writers. There is now extant one quite short letter among the ecclesiastical canons of the Greeks, with the notes of Balsamon. There are extant also many and great fragments of the works of this Dionysius in Eusebius, History book 6, chapter 33 [40], and following, up to 21 [of book 7?]. There are extant lastly other fragments in Athanasius, in the book On the Opinion of Dionysius of Alexandria and in the book On the Opinion of the Nicene Synod. Nor is there any controversy about these.
St. Zeno, Bishop and Martyr. 260
The Church of Verona venerates St. Zeno the Bishop, whom it proclaims to have suffered under the emperor Gallienus, and has lately published very many of his sermons. Of this Zeno, Bishop and Martyr, no mention is made in Eusebius in the History, nor in St. Jerome in the book On Ecclesiastical Writers. The first is St. Gregory, who names St. Zeno Bishop of Verona a Martyr, Dialogues book 3, chapter 19; but he makes no mention of his works. His sermons are extant under his name, published at Verona in the year 1586:
On Genesis, 4 sermons; On Abraham, 3; On Jacob's Dream, 1; On the Patriarch Judah, 15 [as printed]; On Exodus, 11; On the precept, Attend to thyself, 1; On Job, 1; On the Psalms, 9; On Isaias, 6; On the Martyrdom of Isaias, 1; On Daniel, 9; On Jonas, 1; On the Gospel according to Luke, 1; On the Gospel according to John, 1; On the letter to the Corinthians, 1; On the Eternal Generation of the Son, 3; On the Coming of Christ, 1; On the Birth of Christ, 3; On the Circumcision, 1; On Faith, 1; On Faith, Hope and Charity, 1; On the Truth of Faith, 1; On Easter, 9; The Invitation to the Font, 8; To the Newly Baptized, 7; On Spiritual Building, 1; On Patience, 1; On Modesty, 1; On Continence, 1; On Justice, 1; On Fear, 1; On Fasting, 1; On Spirit and Body, 1; On Avarice, 3; On Jealousy and Envy, 1; On St. Arcadius, 1; On the Resurrection, 1.
Of these, the sermon on the words Attend to thyself, and the sermon on the Gospel of Luke, and the sermon on fasting, and the sermon on jealousy and envy, are not St. Zeno's but St. Basil the Great's; and this is known both from the style and from the common opinion. Likewise the sermons on the Psalms, if not all, certainly for the greater part are found in Hilary. Of the others I have nothing to say, except that some are so very short that they do not deserve to be called sermons; some are repetitions of others; some so obscure that they cannot be understood; and, what troubles me, that no mention of these sermons is extant among the ancients. For the first who found them was Guarino, orator of Verona, about a hundred years ago; and they were published at Venice in the year 1508, and afterwards more correctly and in finer type at Verona in the year 1586. Let the reader consult Cardinal Baronius in the notes on the martyrology.
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De S. Cypriano. 250. Sanctus Cyprianus vir eloquentissimus et sanctissimus, sub Valeriano et Gallieno mar¬ tyrium passus est, teste S. Hieronymo in lib. de Script. Eccles. sed in Episcopum promo¬ tus fuit temporibus Fabiani papae et Philippi imp.; proinde sedit temporibus Fabiani Cor¬ nelii, Lucii, Stephani, et Sixti, Pontificum Romanorum. Opera ejus multa exstant, sed non omnia indubitata : primo igitur catalo¬ gum texemus operum indubitatorum. 368 DE SCRIPTORIBUS ECCLESIASTICIS Opera S. Cypriani indubitata. Epistolarum libri quatuor, quas Pamelius ordine temporum digessit, et sunt numero 83. De habitu Virginum, tractatus unus, 4 De lapsis, 1 De simplicitate Praelatorum, sive de unitate Ecclesiae, 1 De oratione Dominica, \ Contra Demetrianum, 1 De idolorum vanitate, I De mortalitate, 1 De eleemosyna, 4 De bono patientiae. 1 De zelo, et livore, 1 De exhortatione martyrii. 2 Ad Quirinum contra Judaeos, libri tres, Ad Jubaianum de baptizandis haere¬ ticis, 1 Ad Pompeium contra epistolam Ste- phani Papae, , 1 Hos tamen duos libros Pamelius in epistolas conjecit, et sunt episto¬ lae 63 et 74. Sententiarum ex Concilio Carthagi¬ niensi de Haereticis baptizandis. 1 Opera suppositia, vel dubia. De monte Sina, et Sion, tractatus unus. De revelatione capitis Sancti Jo. Baptistae. Expositio symboli. De singularitate Clericorum. De operibus cardinalibus Christi, sermo¬ nes 12. De laude martyrii. De disciplina, et bono pudicitiae. Ad Novatianum de spe veniae lapsis non neganda. De duplici martyrio. De aleatoribus. De ccenae dispositione. De duodecim abusionibus saeculi. De spectaculis. De Judaica incredulitate ad Virgilium. De Judaeis, qui insecuti sunt Christum. Carmen, Genesis. Carmen, Sodoma. Carmen ad apostatam Senatorem. Hymnus de Pascha. Oratio pro Martyribus, quae incipit, Agios. Oratio altera, quae incipit, Domine Sancte Pater. Tractatus de monte Sina et Sion non ha¬ bet stylum Sancti Cypriani. Tractatus de revelatione capitis Sancti Joannis Baptistae, non est Sancti Cypriani, sed auctoris multo recentioris, qui in hoc ipso opere mentionem facit Sanctorum Atha- nasii et Cyrilli : item Theodosii imp. et Pi- pini Regis Francorum : et ipsa revelatio ca¬ pitis Sancti Joannis Baptistae contigit sub Theodosio, ut Nicephorus testatur lib. xn. cap 49. Itaque revelatio de qua hic agitur, facta est annis plus centum post obitum Sancti Cypriani. Expositio symboli, non est Sancti Cypria¬ ni, sed Ruffini : nomine Ruffini habetur in¬ ter opera Sancti Hieronymi : et testatur Gen- nadius in libro de viris Illustribus, Ruffinum in explicatione symboli excelluisse : denique stylus est Ruffini non Sancti Cypriani. Tractatus de singularitate Clericorum, ubi prohibetur Clericis cohabitatio feminarum, insignis et utilis est, et antiqui sine dubio auctoris : nonnullis videtur esse potius Ori- genis, quam Cypriani. Sed tamen stylus aperte reclamat; et Latinum auctorem, non Greecum esse clamat. Idem etiam stylus satis diversus est a stylo Sancti Cypriani, et verba multa parum Latina admiscet, quae in Cy¬ priano non inveniuntur, qualia sunt, inordi¬ naliter, contubernalitas, mulcedo, passibili- tas, et alia. Sermones de operibus cardinalibus Chri¬ sti, eruditi et antiqui auctoris sunt, sed non videntur esse Cypriani. Primum enim stylus multo humilior est, quam Sancti Cypriani esse soleat. Deinde in sermone de tentatione et jejunio, docet hic auctor, Diabolum ceci¬ disse de coelo ante hominis creationem : cu¬ jus sententiae contrarium habet Sanctus Cy¬ prianus in tractatu de zelo, et livore. Deni¬ que in praefatione sic alloquitur Sanctum Cornelium Papam : « Quia, inquit, solent ali¬ quando Patres nugis infantilibus arridere, et linguisbalbutientibus delectari, indulgentiam meretur humilitas, quse quo potest accessu sublimitatis vestrse manibus se porrigit at¬ trectandam »; hsec ille. At S. Cyprianus semper Cornelium fratrem et collegam ap¬ pellabat : nec ignorabat, se non minus do¬ ctum, et disertum, quam Cornelius esset; et cum praeterea Episcopus ante Cornelium or¬ dinatus fuisset, et in Ecclesia universa miri¬ fice clareret , nunquam profecto scripta sua AB ANNO DOM. 200. AD 300. 369 nugas Mantiles appellaret : neque diceret sublimitatem Cornelii lingua balbutienti Cy¬ priani oblectari debere. Libellus de laude martyrii ideo positus est inter opera Cypriani dubia, quoniam Era- smus dubitavit ob aliquam styli dissimilitu¬ dinem. Sed communiter admittitur inter vera opera Sancti Cypriani, praesertim cum Moses, et Maximus, ad quos liber iste scribi¬ tur, in epistola ad Cyprianum, quae est 26. in¬ ter epistolas Sancti Cypriani, hujus ipsius libri mentionem faciant : neque stylus dissi¬ det ab aliis operibus, nisi quod est magis elaboratus, quam aliqua alia ejusdem opera, sed non magis quam omnia. Siquidem epi¬ stola secunda, quae est ad Donatum, non cedit huic libello, et tamen illa epistola est, hic vero liber similis orationi in genere de¬ monstrativo. Liber de disciplina, et bono pudicitiae ; et liber ad Novatianum de spe veniae danda lapsis, Sancti Cypriani mihi esse videtur; quicquid Erasmus dicat, qui nimis subti liter de styli dissimilitudine aliquando in¬ dicat. Liber de duplici martyrio, Sancti Cypriani esse non potest, cum auctor mentionem fa¬ ciat Diocletiani, et Maximiani imperatorum, qui nondum imperare coeperant, cum San¬ ctus Cyprianus martyrium pateretur : ac ut magis miremur qua fronte ejusmodi libri sub Cypriani nomine edantur, meminit hic idem auctor belli Caesarei contra Tureas. Liber de aleatoribus utilis et doctus est; sed non videtur esse Cypriani, cum in prin¬ cipio satis aperte significet auctor, se uni¬ versali Ecclesise praesidere, et Apostolatum gerere, super quem Christus fundavit Eccle¬ siam, et Christi vicariam sedem obtinere, et sibi traditas esse claves ligandi, et solvendi, etc. Itaque videtur libellus esse alicujus Ro¬ mani Pontificis, qui Sancti Cypriani scri¬ ptiones imitatur, quamvis styli ejus elegan¬ tiam non assequatur. Liber de ccenae dispositione non solum Cypriani non est, verum neque alicujus docti hominis est. Fortasse auctor ejus Cy¬ prianus dicebatur, sed longe diversus ab illo, de quo nunc agijnus : nam neque ver¬ ba, neque sententias habet homine docto dig¬ nas : sed ineptas, et ridiculas narrationes et fabellas. Liber de duodecim abusionibus saeculi S. Cypriani esse non potest, cum passim citet Scripturas ex versione S. Hieronymi : qua Tom. XII. ratione neque S. Augustini erit, quamvis in¬ ter ejus etiam opera feratur. Liber de spectaculis egregius est, et ad imitationem libri Tertulliani de eodem ar¬ gumento conscriptus. Ratio dubitandi sitne Cypriani, an non, sola styli diversitas esse videtur. Liber de incredulitate J udaica ad Virgilium , nihil est aliud, nisi versio in Latinam lin¬ guam dialogi Graeci inter Jasonem Christia¬ num, et Papiscum Hebraeum : qui Graecus dialogus antiquissimus est cum ejus memi¬ nerit Origeneslib. iv. contra Celsum. Auctor autem Latinae versionis non Cyprianus, sed Celsus dicitur, ut perspicuum est ex ultimis verbis libri. Liber de Judaeis, qui insecuti sunt Chri¬ stum, S. Cypriani non esse videtur, ob ni¬ mis magnam styli diversitatem. De carminibus et orationibus nihil certi haheo: nam neque habemus veterum testimo¬ nia, unde probemus opera ista esse Cypria¬ ni : neque habemus argumenta, unde probe¬ mus non esse ; opera enim sunt gravia, et docta, et S. Cypriano digna. De S. Pontio Diacono. 250. Sanctus Pontius Diaconus S. Cypriani, scripsit insigne volumen de vita, et passione S. Cypriani, teste Sancto Hieronymo de script. Eccles. Id volumen exstat ad initium S. Cypriani in editione Jacobi Pamelii. De S. Dionysio Alexandrino. 250. Sanctus Dionysius Alexandrinus Episcopus aequalis fuit S. Cypriani, sed paulo prior in Episcopatu, et paulo posterior in morte : et scripsit libros et epistolas multas, teste Sancto Hieronymo de script. Eccles. Exstat nunc epistola una satis brevis inter canones Ecclesiasticos Graecorum cum annotationi¬ bus Bat^amonis. Exstant etiam multa et mag¬ na fragmenta operum hujus Dionysii apud Eusebium lib. vi. hist. cap. 33. et sequenti¬ bus, usque ad 21. Exstant denique alia fragmenta apud Athanasium in libro de sen¬ tentia Dionysii Alexandrini, et in libro de sententia Nicaenae Sydoni. Neque de his ulla controversia est. 24 / 370 DE SCRIPTORIBUS ECCLESIASTICIS De S. Zenone Episcopo , et Martyre. 260. Ecclesia Veronensis Sanctum Zenonem Episcopum veneratur, quem sub Gallieno imperatore passum esse praedicat, et ejus sermones permultos nuper edidit. Hujus Zenonis Episcopi, et Martyris nulla fit men¬ tio apud Eusebium in hist. neque apud Sanctum Hieronymum in lib. de script. Ec- cies. Primus est Sanctus Gregorius, qui San¬ ctum Zenonem Episcopum Veronae, Marty¬ rem nominat, lib. m. Dialogorum, cap. 19. sed de operibus ejus mentionem nullam facit. Exstant suo nomine ejus sermones editi Veronae anno 1586. De Genesi sermones, 4 De Abraham, 3 De Somnio Jacob, 1 De Juda Patriarcha, 15 De Exodo, H De praecepto, Attende tibi, i De Job, 1 De Psalmis, 9 De Isaia, 6 De martyrio Isaiae, 1 De Daniele, 9 De Jona, 1 De Evangelio secundum Lucam, 1 De Evangelio secundum Joannem,! De epistola ad Corinthios, 1 De aeterna filii generatione, 3 De Adventu Christi, 1 De Nativitate Christi, 3 De Circumcisione, 1 De fide, 1 De fide, spe, et charitate, 1 De fidei veritate, 1 De Pascha, 9 Invitatio ad fontem, 8 Ad neophytos, 7 De spirituali aedificatione, 1 De patientia, 1 De pudicitia, 1 De continentia, 1 De justitia, 1 De timore, \ De jejunio, 1 De spiritu, et corpore, 1 De avaritia, 3 De livore, et invidia, 1 De S. Arcadio, J De resurrectione, 1 Ex his, sermo in illud, Attende tibi ; et sermo in Evangelium Lucae, et sermo de jeju¬ nio, et sermo de livore, et invidia, non sunt, S. Zenonis, sed S. Basilii Magni, et notum est, tum ex stylo, tum exjcommuni sententia. Item sermones in Psalmos, si non omnes, certe majore ex parte apud Hilarium inve¬ niuntur. De aliis non habeo , quod dicam, nisi ali¬ quos esse brevissimos, ut sermones dici non mereantur; aliquos esse repetitiones alio¬ rum; aliquos ita obscuros, ut intelligi ne¬ queant; et, quod me male habet, de his sermonibus nullam exstare apud veteres mentionem. Primus enim, qui eos invenit, Guaritius fuit Veronensis Orator, ante annos circiter centum : editi sunt autem Venetiis anno 1508. et postea emendatius, et pul¬ chrioribus characteribus Veronae anno 1586. consulat lector Card. Baronium in notis martyrologii.