Cyprian to Fidus

Cyprian, To Fidus, on the Baptism of Infants (c. 253)

Cyprian of Carthage (c. 200–258)

Small, warm, and kept out of the deep end.

Catch rate: 135 / 255
Base research: 125
Stat total: 232

Base stats

Every stat is a checkable fact about the actual book, not a designer's mood. Bars are drawn against the highest value any book reaches.

Stamina60

Contend58

Defend60

Popularity54

Total232

Why these numbers

The game's own explanation, as a reader sees it in the backpack.

Stamina 60

STAMINA — Moderate. It is one letter.

Contend 58

CONTEND — Moderate. It carries the weight of a council.

Defend 60

DEFEND — Solid. Nobody on the council agreed with the other side.

Popularity 54

POPULARITY — Low. It is a letter and it is rarely read.

Cited for this book

Cyprian was bishop of Carthage. About 253 a bishop named Fidus wrote asking whether a newborn should wait until the eighth day, as circumcision had. Cyprian and sixty-five other bishops met and answered no: the grace of God is not to be refused to anyone born of man. It is one of the earliest surviving decisions on the question of infant baptism.

Moves learned

By levelling up. A book that develops keeps what it knew and learns the rest on its new schedule.

Lv	Move	Type	Cat.	Pwr	Acc	PP
1	Random Verse	Bible	Argument	10	100%	30
1	Not To Be Refused To Any One Born of Man	Ethics	Argument	68	100%	15
9	God Does Not Accept the Age	History	Argument	60	100%	20
17	The Still Recent Hands of God	Ethics	Argument	56	100%	25
30	Chapter…	Bible	Scripture	—	—	12

The quotes behind its moves

How to read these. In Scholar’s Dream, books argue with each other. Each thing a book can do in a debate is a move, and most moves carry a real quotation — the words the book puts on the table when it uses that move.

Strong against lists the opposing books and arguments a move was written to answer. Used against one of them, it hits much harder than usual: ×2 means twice the normal force, ×4 four times. It is the game’s way of saying: this is the sentence that answers that argument. Open an entry to read why.

“For in this course which you thought was to be taken, no one agreed; but we all rather judge that the mercy and grace of God is not to be refused to any one born of man.”
Cyprian, To Fidus, on the Baptism of Infants (Epistle 58 in ANF numbering, 64 in the Oxford edition), section 2 (ANF 5, public domain), as hosted by New Advent.public domain

Not To Be Refused To Any One Born of Man

EthicsArgument · power 68 · 100% accurate

In the gameThe answer of a council of sixty-six African bishops about 253 to a bishop named Fidus. Fidus had said a baby should wait until the eighth day, as circumcision did. The council said no one agreed with him.

Strong against

×2.5Augustine on Infant Baptisma book · why?

Augustine copies out long parts of Cyprian’s letter to Fidus in this book and uses it to show what the church has always held.

“For God, as He does not accept the person, so does not accept the age; since He shows Himself Father to all with well-weighed equality for the attainment of heavenly grace.”
Cyprian, To Fidus, on the Baptism of Infants (Epistle 58 in ANF numbering, 64 in the Oxford edition), section 3 (ANF 5, public domain), as hosted by New Advent.public domain

God Does Not Accept the Age

HistoryArgument · power 60 · 100% accurate

In the gameThe council’s reason. God does not favour persons, and so he does not favour an age. He is a Father to everyone, and with an even hand when it comes to grace.

Strong against

×2.5Augustine on Infant Baptisma book · why?

Augustine copies out long parts of Cyprian’s letter to Fidus in this book and uses it to show what the church has always held.

“For although the infant is still fresh from its birth, yet it is not such that any one should shudder at kissing it in giving grace and in making peace; since in the kiss of an infant every one of us ought for his very religion’s sake, to consider the still recent hands of God themselves, which in some sort we are kissing, in the man lately formed and freshly born”
Cyprian, To Fidus, on the Baptism of Infants (Epistle 58 in ANF numbering, 64 in the Oxford edition), section 4 (ANF 5, public domain), as hosted by New Advent.public domain

The Still Recent Hands of God

EthicsArgument · power 56 · 100% accurate

In the gameFidus said a newborn was not fit to be kissed. Cyprian’s reply is one of the most tender things in the early letters. The baby is something God has just made.

Strong against

×2Augustine on Infant Baptisma book · why?

Augustine copies out long parts of Cyprian’s letter to Fidus in this book and uses it to show what the church has always held.