Letter 68: Cyprian — also known as Thascius — to Florentius, also known as Pupianus, his brother, greetings.

Cyprian — also known as Thascius — to Florentius, also known as Pupianus, his brother, greetings. I had hoped, brother, that you had finally come to repent of the reckless things you heard and believed about me in the past — accusations so wicked, so disgraceful, so outrageous that even pagans would recoil from them. But now, reading your latest letter, I see you are the same as before. You believe the same things about me, you persist in what you believed, and — lest the dignity of your eminence and your martyrdom be "stained" by communion with me — you are carefully investigating my character. After God the judge, who makes priests, you wish to sit in judgment. Not of me — for what am I? — but of the judgment of God and of Christ himself. This is not faith in God. This is rebellion against Christ and his Gospel. He who says, "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them falls to the ground without your Father's will" [Matthew 10:29] — he who shows that even the smallest things do not happen without God's knowledge — do you think God's priests are ordained in the Church without his knowing or willing it? To believe that those who are ordained are unworthy — what is that but to believe that the priests of the Church are not appointed by God? You think my testimony about myself should be trusted? The Lord himself teaches otherwise. He says that testimony is not valid if a man bears witness to himself: "If I bear witness of myself, my testimony is not true; but there is another who bears witness of me" [John 5:31-32]. If the Lord, who will one day judge all things, would not rely on his own testimony but preferred to be approved by the testimony of God the Father, how much more must his servants be approved by God's judgment rather than their own claims? Brother, I have been made bishop. Whether that pleases you or not is God's concern, not yours. I was chosen by the judgment of God, by the testimony of my colleagues, by the vote of the people. I have harmed no one. I have injured no one's faith. That you should appoint yourself as my judge — placing yourself above the judgment of God and the consent of so many bishops — reveals not your righteousness but your pride. Examine yourself before you examine me. The one who submits to God's ordering of the Church walks safely. The one who resists it walks alone. Farewell.

Epistle 68