Readings in Social Ethics: Cyprian of Carthage, On Works and Alms.

Perseverance a work of divine providence: “But, moreover, what is that providence, and how great the clemency, that by a plan of salvation it is provided for us, that more abundant care should be taken for preserving man after he is already redeemed! (1).”The order or law of life for the believer: “For when the Lord at His advent had cured those wounds which Adam had borne, and had healed the old poisons of the serpent, He gave a law to the sound man and bade him sin no more, lest a worse thing should befall the sinner (1).”Do works of themselves purge the stains of sin? How do mitted by the regenerate relate to baptism? “And because in baptism remission of sins is granted once for all, constant and ceaseless labour, following the likeness of baptism, once again bestows the mercy of God (2).”What does Cyprian promise will happen to the wealth of the giver? (9-12)Do the poor have a lesser responsibility to give than the rich?A summary of the blessedness of charity: “An illustrious and divine thing, dearest brethren, is the saving labour of charity; a fort of believers, a wholesome guard of our security, a protection of hope, a safeguard of faith, a remedy for sin, a thing placed in the power of the doer, a thing both great and easy, a crown of peace without the risk of persecution; the true and greatest gift of God, needful for the weak, glorious for the strong, assisted by which the Christian plishes spiritual grace, deserves well of Christ the Judge, accounts God his debtor (26).”Is there occasion given here in Cyprian’s work for a doctrinal deviation in the form of works righteousness or a prosperity gospel? Might these not be deviations but rather what Cyprian intended? Why or why not?