Chapter 50.—98. It is indeed worth while to consider the whole of the passage in the aforesaid letter to Magnus, which he has put together as follows: "Not dwelling," he says, "in the house of God—that is to say, in the Church of Christ—in which none dwell save those that are of one heart and of one mind, as the Holy Spirit says in the Psalms, speaking of ‘God that maketh men to be of one mind in an house.’
1896
Finally, the very sacrifices of the
Lord declare that
Christians are united among themselves by a firm and inseparable
love for one another. For when the
Lord calls
bread, which is compacted together by the union of many
grains, His body,
1897
He is signifying one people, whom He bore, compacted into one body; and when He calls
wine, which is pressed out from a multitude of
branches and clusters and brought together into one, His
blood,
1898
He also signifies one
flock joined together by the mingling of a multitude united into one." These words of the
blessed Cyprian show that he both understood and
loved the
glory of the
house of
God, which
house he asserted to consist of those who are of one
heart and of one
mind, proving it by the
testimony of the
prophets and the meaning of the sacraments, and in which
house certainly were not found those envious persons, those malevolent without
charity, who nevertheless
used to
baptize. From whence it is clear that the sacrament of
Christ can both be in and be
administered by those who are not in the
Church of
Christ, in which Cyprian himself bears witness that there are none dwelling
save those who are of one
heart and of one
mind. Nor can it indeed be said that they are allowed to
baptize so long as they are undetected, seeing that the
Apostle Paul did not
fail to detect those of whose ministry he bears unquestionable
testimony in his
epistle, saying that
he
rejoices that they also were proclaiming
Christ. For he says of them, "Whether in pretense or in
truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice."
1899
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
