Blackwell Reference Online

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Barnabas, companion of Paul, is revered as apostle of Cyprus. Acts 11–13 records that Barnabas, a Cypriot Jew, arrived with Paul and converted the proconsul Sergius Paulus. Discovery in 488 of the apostle's tomb, his relics and an ancient copy of Matthew's Gospel led Emperor Zeno (474–91) to support the Cypriot church's claim to independence from antioch , capital of the diocese of Oriens. Canon 8 of the Council of Ephesus (431) had supported Cyprus, but Antioch had continued to press its claims. Zeno's decree granted Anthemios, metropolitan of Cyprus, who had presented him with the Matthew manuscript, a sceptre and the right to sign documents in cinnabar and to wear a purple mandyas on ceremonial occasions, privileges enjoyed by the archbishop of Cyprus to this day. Justinian I confirmed Cyprus's autocephaly. Major ecclesiastical sites dating from the fourth century onwards confirm the importance of the church in that period. Spyridon of Trimethous took part in the first ecumenical council together with his fellow bishops from Salamis and Paphos, and Cypriot bishops were present at all subsequent ecumenical synods. epiphanios of salamis , a biblical scholar of Jewish origin and metropolitan of Cyprus 367–403, fought all heresy, especially the teachings of origen . His Panarion , a handbook of heresies, influenced john of damascus . From the mid-seventh century Arab sea-raids ... log in or subscribe to read full text