Cyprian of Carthage, Treatises Treatise 1

When the Lord warns us, saying, "You are the salt of the earth" (Matt 5:13), and commands us to be simple in innocence yet prudent in that very simplicity, what else should we do, beloved brothers, but take thought for ourselves and watch with anxious hearts so that we may both understand and guard against the crafty enemy’s hidden plots? Lest we who have put on Christ, the wisdom of God the Father, appear less than wise in protecting our salvation. For persecution alone is not the only danger, nor only those open attacks that rage against God’s servants to overthrow and cast them down. Caution is easier when fear is manifest, and the mind readies itself for battle when the adversary shows himself. The enemy is far more to be feared and avoided when he creeps in secretly, deceiving by a false appearance of peace and slipping in by hidden approaches — hence he has received the name of serpent. This is his constant cunning, this the blind and concealed deceit with which he entraps mankind. From the world’s beginning he deceived, flattering with lying words and leading artless souls astray by their unguarded credulity. He even attempted to tempt the Lord Himself, approaching stealthily as if to creep in again and deceive; yet he was recognized and repulsed, and so cast down because he was detected. From this an example has been given us: we must flee the way of the old man and walk in the footsteps of the living Christ, lest, being off guard, we fall once more into the snare of death, but, foreseeing the danger, we may lay hold of immortality. And how can we lay hold of immortality unless we keep the commandments of Christ, by which death is assaulted and conquered, Christ Himself warning and saying, "If you wish to enter life, keep the commandments"? And again, "If you do what I command you, I no longer call you servants, but friends" (John 15:14). These, finally, He calls strong and stable, founded upon a rock with a massive structure, solidified by an immovable and unshaken firmness against every tempest and whirlwind of this world. "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them," He says, "I will compare to a wise man who built his house upon the rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and beat against that house, and it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock" (Matt 7:24–25). We must therefore cling to His words, learning and doing whatever He taught and commanded. But how can anyone believe he is in Christ if he does not do what Christ commanded? Or whence will he reach the reward of faith who refuses to keep the faith of the commandment? He must waver and wander, seized by a spirit of error and blown about like dust driven by the wind; nor will he make progress toward salvation who does not hold fast the truth of the way that saves. Yet, beloved brothers, we must beware not only of open and manifest dangers, but also of those that deceive by the subtle craft of cunning deceit. What could be more cunning or subtle than this: that the enemy, detected and cast down by the advent of Christ, after light has come to the Gentiles and the saving light has shone for mankind’s salvation — that the deaf might receive hearing of spiritual grace, the blind open their eyes to God, the weak recover by eternal health, the lame run to the Church, the mute pray with clear voices and prayers — seeing idols abandoned and his own seats and temples deserted by the multitude of believers, he has devised a new fraud to deceive the unwary under the very title of the Christian name? He has invented heresies and schisms by which to subvert the faith, corrupt the truth, and divide unity. Those whom he cannot hold in the blindness of the old way, he entraps and deceives by the error of a new way. He snatches men from the very Church; and while they think they have drawn near to the light and escaped the world’s darkness, he pours fresh darkness upon them, unknown to them, so that, not standing with the Gospel of Christ and its observance and law, they call themselves Christians, and walking in darkness believe they possess the light — the adversary flattering and deceiving, who, according to the Apostle’s word, transforms himself into an angel of light, and his ministers into ministers of righteousness, calling night day, destruction salvation, despair by the pretext of hope, perfidy by the pretext of faith, antichrist by the name of Christ; so that, while they speak what is plausible, they may frustrate the truth by subtlety. This happens, beloved brothers, when we do not return to the origin of truth, nor seek the head, nor preserve the doctrine of the heavenly Master.