Regem iniquorum correctorem esse oportere
The King as Corrector of the Wicked
Drawing on Saint Cyprian, the text affirms that a king must correct the wicked by restraining thefts, punishing adultery, and destroying the godless.
From this, Saint Cyprian says in the ninth step of Abusionis (chapter 9): 'It is right for a king to be the corrector of the wicked: he ought to restrain thefts, punish acts of adultery, destroy the godless from the earth, and not allow parricides and perjurers to live on.'
Discipline Covering the Church
An undisciplined people escape God's severity, just as discipline covers the whole Church like a seamless tunic woven from above by the Lord.
And likewise the same (chapter 11): 'The eleventh step of abuse is an undisciplined common people, who, while they do not submit to the training of discipline, do not escape God without the strictness of discipline.' For just as a tunic covers the whole body except the head, so discipline covers the whole Church — except Christ — because the Church is both protected and adorned under his discipline. But the tunic itself was woven from above through and through, because discipline is bestowed and perfected for the same Church by the Lord from heaven. For the tunic of the body of Christ is the discipline of the Church. But whoever is outside discipline is a stranger to the body of Christ.
Remaining in Christ's Calling
Believers are urged not to tear Christ's garment but to remain each in the state in which they were called before God.
So let's not tear it apart, but let's cast lots for it. Let's not loosen any of Christ's commandments, but let each one remain in the state in which he was called, before God.✦ »
Read the original Latin
Hinc sanctus Cyprianus in nono Abusionis gradu dicit (cap. 9): « Regem correctorem iniquorum esse oportet: debet furta cohibere, adulteria punire, impios de terra perdere, parricidas et perjurantes vivere non sinere. » Et item idem (cap. 11): « Undecimus gradus abusionis est plebs sine disciplina, quae dum disciplinae exercitationibus non servit, Deum absque disciplinae rigore non evadit. Sicut enim tunica totum corpus tegitur praeter caput, ita disciplina omnis Ecclesia, praeter Christum, quia Ecclesia et sub disciplina ejus protegitur et ornatur. Ipsa vero tunica contexta desuper fuerat per totum, quia eidem Ecclesiae disciplina a Domino de coelo tribuitur et integratur. Tunica enim corporis Christi disciplina Ecclesiae est. Qui autem extra disciplinam est, alienus a corpore Christi est.
Non scindamus igitur illam, sed sortiamur de illa. Non solvamus quidquam de mandatis Christi, sed unusquisque in quo vocatus est, in eo permaneat apud Deum. »
Scripture echoes
- ↩1Cor.7.20 — Each one should remain in the calling in which he was called.
On the Person and Ministry of the King (De regis persona et regio ministerio) companion
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