Denial of Heretical Baptism and the One True Rite — Cyprian of Carthage, The Sentences of the Eighty-Seven Bishops 19–28, Latin & English

§19

priuatianus a sufetula dixit: Qui haereticos potestatem baptizandi habere dicit, dicat prius quis haeresim condiderit. si enim haeresis a Deo est, habere et indulgentiam diuinam potest: si, uero a Deo non est, quomodo 1 gratiam Dei aut habere aut conferre. alicui potest?

Priuatianus of Sufetula said: “Let him who says that heretics have the power of baptizing first say who founded the heresy. For if heresy is from God, it can also have divine indulgence; but if it is not from God, how can it either have or confer the grace of God on anyone?”

§20

Priuatus a Sufibus dixit: Qui haereticorum baptismum probat quid aliud quam haereticis communicat?

Priuatus of Sufibus said: “He who approves the baptism of heretics, what else does he do than communicate with heretics?”

§21

Hortensianus a Laribus dixit: Viderint¹ aut praesumptores aut fautores haereticorum: nos unum baptisma quod non nisi in ecclesia nouimus ecclesiae uindicamus. aut quomodo possunt in nomine Christi aliquem baptizare quos ipse Christus dicit aduersarios suos esse?

Hortensianus of Lari said: “Let either the presumptuous or the favorers of heretics look to themselves; we vindicate for the church the one baptism which we know only in the church. Or how can they baptize anyone in the name of Christ, whom Christ Himself says are His adversaries?”

§22

Cassius a Macomadibus dixit: Cum baptismata duo esse non possint, qui haereticis baptismum concedit sibi tollit. censeo itaque flebiles et tabidos haereticos baptizandos esse, cum ad ecclesiam uenire coeperint, et sacra et diuina lauatione lotos et in lumine uitae inluminatos non hostes sed pacificos, non alienos sed fidei Domini domesticos, non adulteros sed Dei filios, non erroris sed salutis effectos in ecclesiam recipi, absque his qui de ecclesia fideles supplantati ad haeresis tenebras transierant, sed eos per manus inpositionem restituendos.²

Cassius of Macomades said: “Since there cannot be two baptisms, he who concedes baptism to heretics takes it away from himself. I decree therefore that the lamentable and decaying heretics must be baptized when they begin to come to the church, and, washed with the sacred and divine washing and illuminated in the light of life, received into the church not as enemies but as peaceable, not as strangers but as domestics of the faith of the Lord, not as adulterers but as sons of God, made not of error but of salvation; excepting those who, having been supplanted as believers from the church, had passed over to the darkness of heresy, but that these must be restored through the imposition of hands.”

§23

Alius Ianuarius a Vico Caesaris dixit: Si non obtemperat error ueritati, multo magis ueritas non consentit errori. et ideo nos ecclesiae adsistimus, in qua praesidemus, ut baptismum eius ipsi soli uindicantes eos quos ecclesia non baptizauit baptizemus.

Another Ianuarius of Vicus Caesaris said: “If error does not obey truth, much more does truth not consent to error. And therefore we stand by the church in which we preside, so that, claiming her baptism for her alone, we may baptize those whom the church has not baptized.”

§24

Alius Secundinus a Carpos dixit: Haeretici christiani sunt an non? si christiani sunt, cur in; ecclesia Dei non sunt? si christiani non sunt, fiant. aut quo pertinet sermo Domini dicentis: qui non est mecum aduersum me est, et qui non mecum colligit spargit? unde constat super filios alienos et suboles antichristi Spiritum sanctum per manus inpositionem non tantummodo non posse descendere, cum manifestum sit haereticos baptisma non habere.³

Another Secundinus of Carpi said: “Are heretics Christians or not? If they are Christians, why are they not in the church of God? If they are not Christians, let them become so. Or to what does the speech of the Lord refer when He says: ‘He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters’? Wherefore it is certain that upon the children of strangers and the offspring of antichrist the Holy Spirit not only cannot descend through the imposition of hands, since it is manifest that heretics do not have baptism.”

§25

Victorious a Thabraca dixit: Si licet haereticis baptizare et remissam peccatorum dare, quid illos infamamus et haereticos illos appellamus?

Victorious of Thabraca said: “If it is lawful for heretics to baptize and to give remission of sins, why do we defame them and call them heretics?”

§26

Alius Felix ab Vthina dixit: Nemini dubium est, sanctissimi consacerdotes, non in tantum posse humanam praesumptionem, quantum Domini nostri Christi adorandam et uenerabilem maiestatem. memores ergo periculi hoc quoque non tantum obseruare debemus, uerum etiam ab omnibus nobis confirmare, ut omnes haeretici qui ad sinum matris ecclesiae adcurrunt baptizentur, ut mens haeretica quae diuturna tabe polluta est sanctificatione lauacri purgata in melius reformetur.

Another Felix of Uthina said: “No one doubts, most holy fellow priests, that human presumption cannot do as much as the adorable and venerable majesty of our Lord Christ. Mindful therefore of the danger, we ought not only to observe this also, but even to confirm it by all of us, that all heretics who run to the bosom of mother church should be baptized, so that the heretical mind which has been polluted by long-standing decay, purified by the sanctification of washing, may be reformed for the better.”

§27

Quietus a Buruc dixit: Qui fide uiuimus obsequi his quae instruendis nobis ante praedicta sunt credula obseruatione debemus. nam scriptum est aput Salomonem: qui baptizatur a mortuo⁴ quid proficit lauatione eius? quod utique de his qui ab haereticis intinguuntur et de tinguentibus loquitur. si enim qui aput illos baptizantur per remissionem peccatorum uitam aeternam consequuntur, cur ad ecclesiam ueniunt? si uero a mortuo salutis nihil accipitur, ac propterea cognito errore pristino ad ueritatem cum paenitentia reuertuntur, uno uitali baptismate quod in catholica ecclesia est et sanctificari debere manifestum.

Quietus of Buruc said: “We who live by faith ought to obey with faithful observation those things which have been foretold for our instruction. For it is written in Solomon: ‘He who is baptized by a dead person, what does he profit by his washing?’ Which indeed speaks of those who are dipped by heretics, and of those who dip. For if those who are baptized among them obtain eternal life through the remission of sins, why do they come to the church? But if nothing of salvation is received from a dead person, and therefore, having recognized their former error, they return with repentance to the truth, it is manifest that they ought to be sanctified with the one life-giving baptism which is in the catholic church.”

§28

Castus a Sicca dixit: Qui contempta ueritate praesumit consuetudinem sequi aut circa fratres inuidus est et malignus quibus ueritas reuelatur aut circa Deum ingratus cuius inspiratione ecclesia eius instruitur.

Castus of Sicca said: “He who, having despised the truth, presumes to follow custom, is either envious and malignant toward the brethren to whom the truth is revealed, or ungrateful toward God, by whose inspiration His church is instructed.”

Syntax notes4 items

21Viderint
"viderint" is the third-person plural future perfect indicative or perfect subjunctive of "video", used here as an idiomatic expression of concession or dismissal in the third-person imperative: "let them see to it themselves" or "it is their own look-out". The subject is "aut praesumptores aut fautores haereticorum".
22absque his qui de ecclesia fideles supplantati ad haeresis tenebras transierant, sed eos per manus inpositionem restituendos
This is an exceptive construction following the accusative and infinitive clauses ("censeo ... baptizandos esse ... recipi"). After the relative clause "qui ... transierant" introduced by "absque" (except), the conjunction "sed" introduces another accusative and gerundive clause "eos ... restituendos [esse]" which depends on the main verb "censeo" ("I decree ... that these must be restored").
24unde constat super filios alienos ... Spiritum sanctum ... non tantummodo non posse descendere, cum manifestum sit haereticos baptisma non habere
An accusative and infinitive clause ("Spiritum sanctum ... non posse descendere") serves as the subject of the impersonal verb "constat" (it is established), into which a clause with the conjunction "cum" (since/although) is inserted ("cum manifestum sit ..."). The phrase "non tantummodo non posse" emphasizes the impossibility, meaning "not only is it impossible... [but also established as such] since...".
27qui baptizatur a mortuo
A quotation from the Old Testament Apocrypha (Sirach 34:30, or 34:25 in Greek). While the original context refers to one who washes after touching a corpse ("a dead body"), it is here metaphorically reinterpreted by the Cyprianic party, where "a mortuo" (by a dead person) refers to a spiritually dead heretic (or their baptism).

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-22) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-22)

2026-09-22 AI review — source 1

urn:cts:latinLit:stoa0104a.stoa013.humanitext-lat1:19-28