Edwina Murphy on Cyprian’s Reception of Paul

Last updated on: May 25, 2019 at 5:37 am by Michael F. Bird

Edwina Murphy on Cyprian’s Reception of Paul 2019-02-03T00:00:57-04:00 Michael F. Bird

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Here is my interview with Dr. Edwina Murphy about her book The Bishop and the Apostle: Cyprian’s Pastoral Exegesis of Paul (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2018).

Who was Cyprian and why should we care?

Cyprian was bishop of Carthage in North Africa in the middle of the third century. North Africa was very influential in the development of western theology – before Cyprian was Tertullian, who gave us the language for the Trinity, and after him was Augustine, perhaps the most influential thinker in the West. Cyprian is best known for saying, “Outside the church there is no salvation,” and most scholarship has focused on his view of the church and what he thought about the bishop of Rome. The unity of the church was certainly important to Cyprian, but there’s a lot more to him than that. He’s especially interesting on what it means to follow Christ in a hostile world.

I saw the movie Agora and Cyprian was really a religious fanatic who led a mob of Christians to murder the secular saint Hypatia and to burn down the library of Alexandria. Is that true?

Well, that was Cyril of Alexandria, although it was Peter the lector, not Cyril, who was personally involved. That incident has been used polemically since the Enlightenment to purportedly show that Christianity is opposed to science and reason, which is not the case. (After all, a future bishop studied under Hypatia.) But Cyprian, who lived while the church was still being persecuted by the state, was all about non-violence, so I don’t think he would have approved, even if there were extenuating circumstances.

How did you get the idea for your thesis?

I’d already written my master’s thesis on Cyprian, so I was keen to explore him further. Not a lot of work had been done on Cyprian’s exegesis, and I thought Paul would be a good place to start!

How did the apostle Paul influence Cyprian**?**

Given Cyprian’s context of persecution, schism and plague, he’s not interested in opposing faith and works but in encouraging his flock to persevere in their faith. So he draws on Paul’s emphasis on imitating Christ, especially in his suffering and humility, but also with the assurance of one day being transformed into the likeness of Christ. He also emphasizes forsaking the life of the flesh for the life in the Spirit and the importance of love and unity among believers. He especially uses Paul’s teaching on future rewards – present trials will give way to future glory.

Did Cyprian have a favorite Pauline verse?

Given his focus on unity, Cyprian does use Eph 4:4-6 quite a few times. But another Pauline verse which is central to his thought is Rom 8:18: “The sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come which shall be revealed in us.”

Reception studies, especially of Paul, are all the rage, would you recommend any other books on the topic?

There’s a great book edited by Michael Bird and Joseph Dodson called Paul and the Second Century. Jennifer Strawbridge’s The Pauline Effect looks at the most influential Pauline passages in the early church. There’s also a series edited by Todd Still and David Wilhite and published by Bloomsbury T&T Clark which looks at the reception of Paul before Constantine. Disclaimer: I have a chapter in the forthcoming volume The Apologists and Paul.

How can Cyprian help us to be better practical theologians?

One thing I appreciate about Cyprian and other early Christian authors is that they don’t separate exegesis from theology from spirituality. They write as pastors, and the academic and the practical come together as they seek to apply Scripture to the lives of their congregations and point them to maturity in Christ.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 23, 2019

Oxford Moral Theologian Targeted by Outrage Mob

Next Post

May 26, 2019 Is the New Perspective on Paul a Product of the West's Cultural Moment

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Bible Lands Blogosphere Book Review Calvinism Colleges & Universities Ecclesiology Emerging Adulthood Evangelicalism Foreign Affairs Gospel of John Greco-Roman World Humor Just War N. T. Wright Old Testament Resurrection Terrorism Theological Education Travel Uncategorized Writing

Select a Month September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group believes in "Anabaptism"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mennonites Lutherans Presbyterians Anglicans

Books by This Author Books by Mike Bird

See All Titles »