The Berean Codex™Scripture Research Project
Research library · Reception history · Dependency analysis

Cyprian — Peter as visible starting-point of unity with equal apostolic partnership

A reusable research record with provenance and relationships kept separate from the presentation layer.

INTERPRETATION_HISTORY_RECORDHISTINT_MAT_16_CYPRIAN_UNITY

Evidence state: documented historical interpretation

Statement layerScholar argues
Historical attribution chain

c. 251 CE · Patristic · Primary Source Via Translation

Interpreter: Cyprian of Carthage

Work: Cyprian — On the Unity of the Church

Tradition / method: Latin patristic / early Western Christian interpretation

Historically documented reading

Cyprian uses Matthew 16 to make Peter the starting-point/sign of the Church’s unity while also saying that the other apostles were what Peter was and shared like honor and power.

Interpretive use: The textual transmission of On the Unity includes variant forms of the Petrine passage; v57 therefore uses Cyprian cautiously and does not flatten his unity language into later universal-jurisdiction claims.

Original context: History-of-interpretation evidence only. This record documents a reading and its context; it does not gain original-meaning authority from age or reputation.

Authority boundary: A primary source can establish what this interpreter wrote; it does not make the interpretation correct by age, fame, office, or tradition.
Interpretive Evidence Audit

Documented Reception Only · Curated Pass As Reception History

Inference depth: Direct · Original-meaning weight: No Automatic Original Meaning Weight

Publish as documented reception history only; evaluate the reading independently if used as a current interpretive claim.

Open complete evidence audit

Quality-gate boundary: This audit measures evidentiary support and inferential distance. It does not make the Codex infallible or convert scholar/tradition authority into evidence.
Interpretation Dependency Profile

Reception History Only

Premises mapped: 2 · Development threads: 1

Curated chronology: c. 251 CE · Earliest In Curated Corpus Only

This is a curated reception witness and not a claim that the interpretation originated here.

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Chronology boundary: “Earliest in the curated Codex corpus” is not a claim of historical origin. Missing earlier records cannot be treated as evidence that a premise did not exist.

Supporting evidence

Work Id: WORK_CYPRIAN_UNITY_CHURCH

Role: primary historical interpretation witness

What this does not establish

That this interpreter originated the reading.
That the reading is correct because it is early, famous, orthodox, Reformed, or influential.
That later doctrinal structures can be read back into Matthew 16 without separately supporting each dependency.
Release Introduced
v57
Passage Id
PASSAGE_MAT_16_13_20
Evidence Classification
documented historical interpretation
Status
CURATED_PUBLIC