Severus of Antioch on Ancient Church Customs: The Significance of Cyprian’s Letters as Quoted by Severus and Oriental Canonical Collections

This article deals with the significance of Syriac canonical literature, as well as Severus of Antioch’s witness, through the prism of their use of Cyprian of Carthage’s letters, for recovering the oldest layers of the Greek canonical collections. Drawing on relevant studies, including those of Schulthess, Nau, Vööbus, Selb, Kaufhold and Moss, I will show how the Syriac literature and Severus, alongside a canonical collection in Gǝʿǝz, translated from Greek, contribute to our knowledge of the circulation, growth, and reworking of the oldest Greek canonical literature. It seems that Cyprian was used in debates about the rebaptism of “heretics” which took place after the councils of Chalcedon. Severus’ position appears defensive in regard to the use of Cyprian’s letters by the rigorist anti-Chalcedonian sectors willing to impose rebaptism and reordination. His strategy was to accept citations of the rulings of Cyprian, but to underline that these rulings were tied to specific historical circumstances and should be modified when necessary.