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Introduction
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INTRODUCTION • OVATIAN'S WORK In Praise ofPun'ty (De bono pudi- ~ . citiae) is revealed in its opening chapter as a pastoral ! letter, but one written from a distance, since, as in The " \' Spectacles and Jewish Foods, the bishop-author is absent from his flock. His theme is purity (or chastity),l whose safeguard is what we today call "modesty." The work shows close imitation of three treatises of Tertullian-Purity (De pudicitia), The Dress of Women (De cultu feminarum), The Veiling of Virgins (De virginibus velandis)-as well as The Dress of Virgins (De habitu virginum) of Cyprian.2 Novatian exhorts his followers to cultivate this virtue because they are temples of the Lord, members of Christ, and the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit (ch. 2). To place the virtue of purity in greater relief, the author describes the sad effects of impurity (ch. 3). There are three degrees of purity: virginity, continence, and faithfulness to the marriage bond; this virtue is, however, God's gift (ch. 4). The precept to observe conjugal purity is ancient, because it "originated with man himself' (ch. 5), but it was restored to its pristine splendor by Christ (ch. 6). Virginity and continence transcend every law and render one superior to the angels (ch. 7). Joseph in Egypt (ch. 8) and Susanna (ch. 9) are shining examples of purity in Holy Scripture; chapter 10 describes their struggles and final recompense. The greatest victory for a Christian is to conquer his own unruly passions (ch. 11). The concluding chapters (12-14) deal with the dangers to purity and the means one must take to preserve it. In all the manuscripts but one the work is anonymous. MS lat. 1658 (Z) of the Paris Bibliotheque Nationale shows the following at 1 See W. Le Saint, ACW 28.189. 2 Quasten, Patro!ogy 2.226. 159 160 NOVATIAN the end of the treatise: "Caecilii Cypriani de pudicitia explicit,,,3 thus reflecting an erroneous attribution that originated at a late date (14th-15th century). Nothing in fact points to Cyprian's authorship, and neither the deacon Pontius in his life of Cyprian4 not St. Augustine in several sermons on Cyprian5 mentions the work.6 Attribution to the true author, Novatian, dates from ca. 1900 and is based on the internal evidence alone. Not only does Novatian's style appear here in its best features-antithetic force, varied diction, and rhythm7-but the opening reveals, as we have seen, the same relation between author and addressees that is found in two other works of Novatian. The date of composition falls within the period 253-260, for the reasons already given for The Spectacles and Jewish Foods. 8 Passages of the De bono pudicitiae were used in the Tractatus Origenis of Gregory of Elvira (died after 392),9 and somewhat earlier by Bishop Zeno of Verona. 10 The first printing is that of Richard Paffroet, Deventer (Holland), 1477, whose text, with some minor corrections, was taken over by Erasnlus, Bale 1520. 11 The text used for the present translation is that edited by W. Hartel (Vienna 1871), but full use has been made of the recent critical study of G. F. Diercks and of his just-published edition, eCL 4 (see Select Bibliography), where for the first time the work is joined to the other writings of Novatian. 3 See the critical apparatus of Hartel and Diercks. 4 Vita Cypriani 7 (CSEL 3.3.xcvii f.; trans. MUller-Deferrari, Fe 15.3-24). 5 Sermones 309-13 (PL 38) and those published by G. Morin in Miscellanea Agostiniana 1 (Rome 1930) listed ibid. p. 844 (Nos. 121-26). The fact that Augustine does not refer to any such work as the De bono pudicitiae in Serm. Guelf. 26.2 (Morin, OPe cit. 528-31; PL Supp!. 2.610) is especially indicative. 6 Casamassa, Novaziano (Dispense universitarie; Rome 1949) 223. 7 For a brief survey of the question of the authorship of the De bono pudicitiae, see B. Melin, Studia in Corpus Cypr. (Uppsala 1946) 6-9; 208-9. 8 For Vogt's earlier dating, see Diercks, CCL 4.xiii. 9 V. Bulhart, Gregorii lliberritani episcopi quae supersunt (CCL 69) 406, Index scriptorum, S.V. Ps.-Cypr., De bono pudicitiae. All are noted below. See above, Trinity ch.5 n.1. 10 In his sermon De pudicitia (ed. B. LOfstedt, CCL 22). 11 G. F. Diercks, "Some Critical Notes on Novatian's De Bono Pudicitiae ...," VigiliaeChristianae 25 (1971) 122. SELECT...