Morte e imortalidade segundo São Cipriano de Cartago

: uma leitura atualizante do Tratado De Mortalitate

Abstract

The fear of death has always been cause for reflection. It became even more so inthe Christian context since faith in Christ has given new meaning to bodily death. TheChristians of the early Church are understood to have been unafraid of death, because itwas no longer an experience ahead of them, but behind them, through baptism. For thebaptised, it is only life that lies ahead of them.To establish this thesis, we will look at the work of St. Cyprian of Carthage, De Mortalitate. We will develop our reflection in three points: firstly, we will explore thecontext that inspired Cyprian to produce this work and elaborate on the theme of ‘death.’Secondly, we will reflect on the Bishop of Carthage’s response to the crisis of personaland social morality. Thirdly, we will reflect on the topicality of the ‘death’ theology ofSt. Cyprian, in the response that the church has been giving to the “plague” of the 21stcentury, caused by Covid19.

Date of Award	11 May 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Isidro Lamelas (Supervisor)