Fragments of
the Epistle of Phileas to the People of Thmuis.1313
| 1313
In Eusebius, Hist. Eccles., viii. 10. |
————————————
I.
Having before them all these examples and signs
and illustrious tokens which are given us in the divine and holy
Scriptures, the blessed martyrs who lived with us did not hesitate,
but, directing the eye of their soul in sincerity to that God who is
over all, and embracing with willing mind the death which their piety
cost them, they adhered steadfastly to their vocation. For they
learned that our Lord Jesus Christ endured man’s estate on our
behalf, that He might destroy all sin, and furnish us with the
provision needful for our entrance into eternal life. “For
He thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made Himself
of no reputation, taking upon Him the form of a servant: and
being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself unto death, even
the death of the cross.”1314
For which reason also these
Christ-bearing
1315
| 1315
χριστοφόροι.
So Ignatius of Antioch was called θεοφόρος,
God-bearer. [Vol. i. pp. 45, 49, this series.] |
martyrs sought
zealously the greater
gifts, and
endured, some of them, every
kind of
pain and all the varied contrivances of
torture not merely once, but
once and again; and though the
guards showed their fury against them
not only by threatenings in word, but also by
deeds of violence, they
did not swerve from their resolution, because
perfect love casteth
out fear.
1316
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