The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire · ¶669
1491] (return) [ Gibbon has been accused of injustice to the character of Cyprian, as exalting the “censures and authority of the church above the observance of the moral duties.” Felicissimus had been condemned by a synod of bishops, (non tantum mea, sed plurimorum coepiscorum, sententia condemnatum,) on the charge not only of schism, but of embezzlement of public money, the debauching of virgins, and frequent acts of adultery. His violent menaces had extorted his readmission into the church, against which Cyprian protests with much vehemence: ne pecuniæ commissæ sibi fraudator, ne stuprator virginum, ne matrimoniorum multorum depopulator et corruptor, ultra adhuc sponsam Christi incorruptam præsentiæ suæ dedecore, et impudica atque incesta contagione, violaret. See Chelsum’s Remarks, p.. If these charges against Felicissimus were true, they were something more than “irregularities,” A…Read in context ›
Edward Gibbon · Project Gutenberg #731 (Milman edition) — public domain
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