What should the Church do when believers fail publicly under pressure? In this introduction to Cyprian’s On the Lapsed, we step into the aftermath of the Decian persecution, when many Christians had stood firm as confessors and martyrs, while others had sacrificed, burned incense, obtained certificates of compliance, or collapsed at the first threat. Cyprian writes into a wounded Church, refusing both cheap restoration and hopeless rigorism. He grieves for the fallen as members of the body, but he will not pretend their denial of Christ was a small matter. This introduction frames On the Lapsed as one of the early Church’s most important pastoral works on courage, compromise, repentance, discipline, and mercy—the Church learning how to heal without lying about the wound.

Today’s Readings:

Introductio ...