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Pseud-Irenæus.
[a.d. 177.] This
letter should have been made a preface to the works of Irenæus, or
at least an appendix. It is worthy of his great name; “the
finest thing of the kind in all antiquity,” says Lardner.
Critics of no mean name have credited it to Irenæus; but, as this
cannot be proved, I have accordingly marked it as a
pseudonym. The same writer condenses the arguments of
others, on which he decides to adhere to the later chronology of
Eusebius, assigning its date to the seventeenth year of Marcus
Aurelius.3823
| 3823 Vol. iv.
p. 125, this series. Compare Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers, part
ii. vol. i. pp. 499, etc., 510, etc. |
Naturally humane and comparatively gentle in other respects he was; but
Stoicism, as well as heathenism, showed what it could exact of such a
character in maintenance of the popular and imperial
superstitions. Terrible is the summary of Lightfoot concerning the barbarities of this
darling of the “philosophers:” “It is a plain
fact, that Christian blood flowed more freely under M. Aurelius than at
any time previously during the half century since the Bithynian
martyrdoms under Trajan, or was yet to flow at any time during the
decades which would elapse before the Severian persecution. These
persecutions extend throughout his reign: they were fierce and
deliberate; aggravated, at least in some cases, by cruel
tortures. They had the emperor’s direct personal
sanction. They break out in all parts of the empire,—in
Rome, in Asia Minor, in Gaul, in Africa, possibly also in
Byzantium.”
Bishop Lightfoot accounts for the fact, that, in spite
of this sanguinary character of the period, little complaint is heard
from the suffering Church, by a simple statement which is honourable to
Aurelius as a Roman and an emperor. He was such a contrast to the
Neros and Caligulas, that the wretched Romans loved him as a father; to
reproach him was, therefore, poor policy for Christians. They
would have been answered, practically: “If so good a
sovereign finds it necessary to punish you, the fault is your own; you
have only to be as we are, and he will treat you as well as he does
us.”
Of this awful outbreak in Lyons and Vienne, says
Lightfoot:3824
| 3824 Ap.
Fathers, part ii. vol. i. p. 499. |
“The persecution was wholesale, so that it was not safe for any
Christian to appear out of doors. No difference of age or sex was
made. The prisoners were put to the most cruel tortures.
All the elements of power combined to crush the
brethren.”
To forbear threatenings, to revile not again, to conquer
through patient suffering, to persevere, “looking unto
Jesus,” and to be silent, like Him, before their murderers, was
therefore the world-wide conduct of the saints. This golden
letter shows what they were called to endure, and how they glorified
Christ by their deaths, from the utmost Orient to the extreme limits of
the West.
The Letter of the Churches of Vienna
and Lugdunum to the Churches of Asia and Phrygia.3825
| 3825 This
letter has come down to us in fragments quoted by Eusebius. We
have used the translation of Lord Hailes as the basis of ours.
[Compare Vol. i. p. 309, this series, and note the adhesion of the
primitive Gallican Church to the East,—to the land of Polycarp
and Pothinus. Concerning Pothinus, see Routh, Rel. Sac.,
i. p. 328, and the correction by Lightfoot, Ap. F., part ii.
vol. i. p. 430, etc. The Gallican Church may yet arise from the
dust, and restore the primitive primacy of Lyons. God grant
it!] |
It began thus:—“The
servants of Christ who sojourn in Vienna and Lugdunum of Gaul to the
brethren throughout Asia and Phrygia, who have the same faith and hope
of redemption as ourselves, peace, grace, and glory from God the
Father, and from Christ Jesus our Lord.”
After some further preliminary remarks the letter
proceeds:—“The greatness of the tribulation in this region,
and the exceeding anger of the heathen nations against the
saints, and the sufferings which the blessed Witnesses3826
| 3826 We have
translated μάρτυρες
“witnesses” and μαρτυρία
“testimony” throughout. | endured, neither are we competent to
describe accurately, nor indeed is it possible to detail them in
writing. For with all his strength did the adversary assail us,
even then giving a foretaste of his activity among us which is to be
without restraint; and he had recourse to every means, accustoming his
own subjects and exercising them beforehand against the servants of
God, so that not only were we excluded from houses,3827
baths, and the forum, but a
universal prohibition was laid against any one of us appearing in any
place whatsoever. But the grace of God acted as our general
against him. It rescued the weak; it arrayed against him men like
firm pillars, who could through patience bear up against the whole
force of the assaults of the wicked one. These came to close
quarters with him, enduring every form of reproach and torture; and,
making light of grievous trials, they hastened on to Christ, showing in
reality that the ‘sufferings of the present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in
us.’3828
| 3828 Rom. viii. 18. [On quotations from
Scripture, etc., see Westcott, Canon, p. 378, ed.
1855.] | And
first they nobly endured the evils which were heaped on them by the
populace,—namely, hootings and blows, draggings, plunderings,
stonings, and confinements,3829
| 3829 By
“confinements” in this passage evidently is meant that the
populace prevented them from resorting to public places, and thus shut
them up in their own houses. | and
everything that an infuriated mob is wont to perpetrate against those
whom they deem bitter enemies. And at length, being brought to
the forum by the tribune of the soldiers, and the magistrates that had
charge of the city, they were examined in presence of the whole
multitude; and having confessed, they were shut up in prison until
the arrival of the governor.
“After this, when they were brought before
the governor, and when he displayed a spirit of savage hostility to us,
Vettius Epagathus, one of the brethren, interposed. For he was a
man who had contained the full measure of love towards God and his
neighbours. His mode of life had been so strict, that though he
was a young man, he deserved to be described in the words used in
regard to the elderly Zacharias: ‘He had walked therefore
in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord
blameless.’3830
He was
also eager to serve his neighbour in any way, he was very zealous for
God, and he was fervent in spirit. Such being the character of
the man, he could not bear that judgment should be thus unreasonably
passed against us, but was moved with indignation, and requested that
he himself should be heard in defence of his brethren, undertaking to
prove that there is nothing ungodly or impious amongst us. On
this, those who were round the judgment-seat cried out against him, for
he was a man of distinction; and the governor, not for a moment
listening to the just request thus made to him, merely asked him if he
himself were a Christian. And on his confessing in the clearest
voice that he was, he also was taken up into the number of the
Witnesses, receiving the appellation of the Advocate of the
Christians,3831
and having
himself the Advocate, the Spirit,3832
more
abundantly than Zacharias; which he showed in the fulness3833
| 3833 The writer
refers to St. John’s Gospel (xv. 13): “Greater love hath no man
than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” | of his love, in that he had of his
own good-will offered to lay down his own life in defence of the
brethren. For he was and is a genuine disciple of Christ,
‘following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.’3834
“After this the rest began to be
distinguished,3835
| 3835 This expression
seems to refer to what took place in athletic combats. The
athletes were tested before fighting, and those in every way qualified
were permitted to fight, while the others were rejected. This
testing, Valesius supposes, was called διάκρισις. | for the
proto-martyrs were decided and ready, and accomplished the confession
of their testimony with all alacrity. But there appeared also
those who were unprepared and unpractised, and who were still feeble,
and unable to bear the tension of a great contest. Of these about
ten in number proved abortions; causing great grief and immeasurable
sorrow amongst us, and damping the ardour of the rest who had not yet
been apprehended. For these, although they suffered every kind of
cruelty, remained nevertheless in the company of the Witnesses, and did
not forsake them. But then the whole of us were greatly alarmed
on account of our uncertainty as to confession, not because we feared
the tortures inflicted, but because we looked to the end, and dreaded
lest any one should fall away. Those who were worthy, however,
were daily apprehended, filling up the number of the others: so
that out of the two churches all the excellent, and those to whom the
churches owed most of all their establishment and prosperity, were
collected together in prison. Some heathen household slaves
belonging to our people were also apprehended, since the governor had
given orders publicly that all of us should be sought out. These,
through the instigation of Satan, and through fear of the tortures
which they saw the saints enduring, urged on also by the soldiers,
falsely accused us of Thyestean banquets and Œdipodean
connections, and other crimes which it is lawful for us neither to
mention nor think of; and, indeed, we shrink from believing that any
such crimes have ever taken place among men. When the rumour of
these accusations was spread abroad, all raged against us like wild
beasts; so that if any formerly were temperate in their conduct to us
on account of relationship, they then became exceedingly indignant and
exasperated against us. And thus was fulfilled that which was
spoken by our Lord: ‘The time shall come when every one who
slayeth you shall think that he offereth service to
God.’3836
“Then at last the holy Witnesses suffered
tortures beyond all description, Satan striving eagerly that some of
the evil reports might be acknowledged by them.3837
| 3837 The words
here admit of two meanings: that something blasphemous might be
uttered by them—such as speaking against Christ and swearing by
Cæsar: or that some accusation against the Christians might
be uttered by them—confirming, for instance, the reports of
infanticide and incest prevalent against the Christians. The
latter in this passage seems unquestionably to be the meaning. | But in an exceeding degree
did the whole wrath of mob, general, and soldiers fall on Sanctus, a
deacon from Vienna, and on Maturus, a newly-enlightened but noble
combatant, and on Attalus, a native of Pergamus, who had always been
the Pillar3838
and
foundation of the church there, and on Blandina, through whom Christ
showed that the things that to men appear mean and deformed and
contemptible, are with God deemed worthy of great glory, on account of
love to Him,—a love which is not a mere boastful appearance, but
shows itself in the power which it exercises over the life. For
while we were all afraid, and especially her mistress in the flesh, who
was herself one of the combatants among the Witnesses, that she would
not be able to make a bold confession on account of the weakness of her
body, Blandina was filled with such power, that those who tortured her
one after the other in every way from morning till evening were wearied
and tired, confessing that they had been baffled, for they had no other
torture they could apply to her; and they were astonished that she remained in life,
when her whole body was torn and opened up, and they gave their
testimony3839
| 3839 Heinichen
construes differently. He makes the “torturers astonished
that Blandina gave her testimony that one kind of torture was
sufficient to deprive her of life.” Perhaps the right
construction is to make ὅτι
mean “because” or “for:” “They were
astonished as Blandina bearing her testimony, for one kind of torture
was sufficient to have killed her.” | that one
only of the modes of torture employed was sufficient to have deprived
her of life, not to speak of so many excruciating inflictions.
But the blessed woman, like a noble athlete, recovered her strength in
the midst of the confession; and her declaration, ‘I am a
Christian, and there is no evil done amongst us,’ brought her
refreshment, and rest, and insensibility to all the sufferings
inflicted on her.
“Sanctus also nobly endured all the
excessive and superhuman3840
| 3840 The words
ὑπερβεβλημένως
καὶ ὑπὲρ
πάντα
ἄνθρωπον naturally go
with ὑπομένων, and
therefore intimate that Sanctus’ endurance was greater than
human; but we doubt if this is intended by the writer. | tortures
which man could possibly devise against him; for the wicked hoped, on
account of the continuance and greatness of the tortures, to hear him
confess some of the unlawful practices. But he opposed them with
such firmness that he did not tell them even his own name, nor that of
his nation or city, nor if he were slave or free; but in answer to all
these questions, he said in Latin, ‘I am a
Christian.’ This was the confession he made repeatedly,
instead of giving his name, his city, his race, and indeed in reply to
every question that was put to him; and other language the heathens
heard not from him. Hence arose in the minds of the governor and
the torturers a determined resolution to subdue him; so that, when
every other means failed, they at last fixed red-hot plates of brass to
the most delicate parts of his body. And these indeed were
burned, but he himself remained inflexible and unyielding, firm in his
confession, being bedewed and strengthened by the heavenly fountain of
the water of life which issues from the belly of Christ.3841
But his body bore witness to
what had happened: for it was all wounds and weals, shrunk and
torn up, and had lost externally the human shape. In him Christ
suffering wrought great wonders, destroying the adversary, and showing
for an example to the rest that there is nothing fearful where there is
the Father’s love, and nothing painful where there is
Christ’s glory. For the wicked after some days again
tortured the Witness, thinking that, since his body was swollen and
inflamed, if they were to apply the same tortures they would gain the
victory over him, especially since the parts of his body could not bear
to be touched by the hand, or that he would die in consequence of the
tortures, and thus inspire the rest with fear. Yet not only did
no such occurrence take place in regard to him, but even, contrary to
every expectation of man, his body unbent itself and became erect in
the midst of the subsequent tortures, and resumed its former appearance
and the use of its limbs, so that the second torture turned out through
the grace of Christ a cure, not an affliction.
“Among those who had denied was a woman of the
name of Biblias. The devil, thinking that he had already
swallowed her, and wishing to damn her still more by making her accuse
falsely, brought her forth to punishment, and employed force to
constrain her, already feeble and spiritless, to utter accusations of
atheism against us. But she, in the midst of the tortures, came
again to a sound state of mind, and awoke as it were out of a deep
sleep; for the temporary suffering reminded her of the eternal
punishment in Gehenna, and she contradicted the accusers of Christians,
saying, ‘How can children be eaten by those who do not think it
lawful to partake of the blood of even brute beasts?’ And
after this she confessed herself a Christian, and was added to the
number of Witnesses.
“But when the tyrannical tortures were
rendered by Christ of no avail through the patience of the blessed, the
devil devised other contrivances—confinement in the darkest and
most noisome cells of the prison, the stretching of the feet on the
stocks,3842
| 3842 The holes were
placed in a line, so that the further the hole in which one leg was put
from the hole in which the other leg was put, the more nearly would the
two legs form a straight line, and the greater would be the pain. | even up to
the fifth hole, and the other indignities which attendants stirred up
by wrath and full of the devil are wont to inflict on the
imprisoned. The consequence was, that very many were suffocated
in prison, as many at least as the Lord, showing His glory, wished to
depart in this way. For there were others who were tortured so
bitterly, that it seemed impossible for them to survive even though
they were to obtain every kind of attention; and yet they remained
alive in prison, destitute indeed of care from man, but strengthened by
the Lord, and invigorated both in body and soul, and they animated and
consoled the rest. But the new converts who had been recently
apprehended, and whose bodies had not previously been tortured, could
not indure the confinement, but died in the prison.
“Now the blessed Pothinus, who had been entrusted
with the service of the bishopric in Lugdunum, was also dragged before
the judgment-seat. He was now upwards of ninety years of age, and
exceedingly weak in body. Though he breathed with difficulty on
account of the feebleness of the body, yet he was strengthened
by the eagerness of his spirit, on
account of his earnest desire to bear his testimony. His body,
indeed, was already dissolved through old age and disease, yet the life
was preserved in him, that Christ might triumph through him. When
he was brought by the soldiers to the judgment-seat, under a convoy of
the magistrates of the city, and amid exclamations of every kind from
the whole population, as if he himself were the Christ, he gave the
good testimony. Being asked by the governor who was the God of
the Christians, he said, ‘If thou art worthy, thou shalt
know.’ Thereupon he was unmercifully dragged about, and
endured many blows; for those who were near maltreated him in every way
with their hands and feet, showing no respect for his age, while those
at a distance hurled against him each one whatever came to hand, all of
them believing that they would sin greatly and act impiously if they in
any respect fell short in their insulting treatment of him. For
they thought that in this way they would avenge their gods. And
Pothinus, breathing with difficulty, was cast into prison, and two days
after he expired.
“Upon this a grand dispensation3843
| 3843 The
dispensation is, that those who denied were not set free, but confined
with the others; and that this harsh treatment and sad state of mind
confirmed the resolution of those not yet apprehended to confess
Christ. Various other explanations have been given, but this
seems the most reasonable. | of God’s providence took
place, and the immeasurable mercy of Jesus was made
manifest,—such an occurrence as but rarely happens among the
brotherhood, yet one that does not fall short of the art of
Christ. For those who in the first apprehension had denied, were
imprisoned along with the others, and shared their hardships.
Their denial, in fact, turned out at this time to be of no advantage to
them. For while those who confessed what they really were, were
imprisoned simply as Christians, no other accusation being brought
against them, those who denied were detained as murderers and
profligates. They, moreover, were doubly punished. For the
confessors were lightened by the joy of their testimony and their hope
in the promises, and by their love to Christ, and by the Father’s
Spirit. But the deniers were tormented greatly by their own
consciences, so that when they were led forth their countenances could
be distinguished among all the rest. For the confessors went
forth joyous, with a mingling of glory and abundant grace in their
looks, so that their chains lay like becoming ornaments around them, as
around a bride adorned with golden fringes wrought with divers
colours.3844
And
they breathed at the same time the fragrance of Christ,3845
so that some even thought that they
were anointed with this world’s perfume. But the deniers
were downcast, humbled, sad-looking, and weighed down with every kind
of disgrace. They were, moreover, reproached even by the heathens
with being base and cowardly, and charged with the crime of murder;
they had lost the altogether honourable, glorious, and life-giving
appellation.3846
When
the rest saw this, they were strengthened, and those who were
apprehended confessed unhesitatingly, not allowing the reasoning of the
devil to have even a place in their thoughts.”
Eusebius omits something, saying that after a little the
letter proceeded as follows:—
“After these things, then, their testimonies
took every shape through the different ways in which they
departed.3847
| 3847 We have
adopted here an emendation of Routh’s. The literal version
of the common text is: “The testimonies of their departure
were divided into every form.” | For,
plaiting a crown from different colours and flowers of every kind, they
presented it to the Father. It was right therefore that the noble
athletes, after having endured divers contests and gained grand
victories, should receive the great crown of incorruption.
“Maturus, therefore, and Sanctus, and
Blandina, and Attalus were publicly3848
exposed to the wild beasts—that common spectacle of heathen
barbarity; for a day was expressly assigned to fights with wild beasts
on account of our people. And Maturus and Sanctus again endured
every form of torture in the amphitheatre, as if they had had no
suffering at all before. Or rather, like athletes who had
overthrown their adversary several times,3849
| 3849 The words
“several times” are represented in Greek by διὰ
πλειόνων
κλήρων, lit. “through
several lots.” When there were several athletes to contend,
the pairs were determined by lot. After the first contest the
victors were again formed into pairs by lot, until finally there should
be but one pair left. See the process at the Olympic games
described in Lucian Hermotimus, c. xl. p. 782. | and were now contending for the crown
itself, again they endured the lashes3850
| 3850 The bestiarii,
before fighting with wild beasts, had to run the gauntlet. | which were usual there; and they were
dragged about by the wild beasts, and suffered every indignity which
the maddened populace demanded in cries and exhortations proceeding
from various parts of the amphitheatre. And last of all they were
placed in the iron chair, on which their bodies were roasted, and they
themselves were filled with the fumes of their own flesh. But the
heathens did not stop even here, but became still more frantic in their
desire to overcome the endurance of the Christians. But not even
thus did they hear anything else from Sanctus than the utterance of the
confession which he had been accustomed to make from the
beginning. These, then, after life had lasted a long time
throughout the great contest, were at last sacrificed,3851
| 3851 Rufinus
translates jugulati sunt. Probably, “killed with the
sword.” The term may have been a technical one, being
applied to the gladiators or bestiarii, whose death may have been
looked on as a sacrifice to a god or a dead-hero. | after they alone had
formed a spectacle to the world,
throughout that day, instead of all the diversity which usually takes
place in gladiatorial shows.
“Blandina3852
| 3852 Blandina
was a slave: hence the mode of punishment. On this matter
see Lipsius, De Cruce. [And my note, p. 784.] | was hung
up fastened to a stake, and exposed, as food to the wild beasts that
were let loose against her; and through her presenting the spectacle of
one suspended on something like a cross, and through her earnest
prayers, she inspired the combatants with great eagerness: for in
the combat they saw, by means of their sister, with their bodily eyes,
Him who was crucified for them, that He might persuade those who trust
in Him that every one that has suffered for the glory of Christ has
eternal communion with the living God. When none of the wild
beasts at that time touched her, she was taken down from the stake and
conveyed back to prison. She was thus reserved for another
contest, in order that, gaining the victory in many preparative
conflicts, she might make the condemnation of the Crooked
Serpent3853
unquestionable, and that she might encourage the brethren. For
though she was an insignificant, weak, and despised woman, yet she was
clothed with the great and invincible athlete Christ. On many
occasions she had overpowered the adversary, and in the course of the
contest had woven for herself the crown of incorruption.
“Attalus also was vehemently demanded by the mob;
for he was a man of mark. He entered the lists a ready combatant
on account of his good conscience, since he had been truly practised in
the Christian discipline, and had always been a Witness of the truth
among us. He was led round the amphitheatre, a tablet going
before him, on which was written in Latin, ‘This is Attalus the
Christian;’ and the people swelled with indignation against
him. But the governor, learning that he was a Roman, ordered him
to be taken back to prison and kept with the rest who were there, with
regard to whom he had written to the Cæsar, and was now awaiting
his determination.
“The intervening time did not prove barren
or unfruitful to the Witnesses, but through their patient endurance the
immeasurable love of Christ was made manifest. For through the
living the dead were made alive; and the Witnesses conferred favours on
those who were not Witnesses, and the Virgin Mother had much joy in
receiving back alive those whom she had given up as dead
abortions. For through the Witnesses the greater number of those
who had denied returned, as it were, into their mother’s womb,
and were conceived again and re-quickened; and they learned to
confess. And being now restored to life, and having their spirits
braced, they went up to the judgment-seat to be again questioned by the
governor, while that God who wishes not the death of the
sinner,3854
but
mercifully calls to repentance, put sweetness into their souls.
This new examination took place because the Cæsar had given orders
that the Witnesses should be punished, but that if any denied they
should be set free. And as now was commencing here the fair,
which is attendee by vast numbers of men assembling from all nations,
he brought the blessed up to the judgment-seat, exhibiting them as a
theatrical show and spectacle to the mobs. Wherefore also he
again questioned them, and whoever appeared to have had the rights of
Roman citizenship he beheaded, and the rest he sent to the wild
beasts.
“Now Christ was greatly glorified in those
who formerly denied; for, contrary to every expectation of the heathen,
they confessed. For these were examined separately, under the
belief that they were to be set free; but confessing, they were added
to the number of the Witnesses. But there were also some who
remained without; namely, those who had no trace of faith, and no
perception of the marriage garment,3855
nor
notion of the fear of God, but through their conduct caused evil
reports of our way of life, that is, sons of perdition. But all
the rest were added to the Church.
“Present at the examination of these was one
Alexander, a native of Phrygia, a physician by profession. He had
lived for many years in Gaul, and had become well known to all for his
love to God and his boldness in proclaiming the truth, for he was not
without a share of apostolic grace. He stood near the
judgment-seat, and, urging by signs those who had denied to confess, he
looked to those who stood round the judgment-seat like one in
travail. But the mobs, enraged that those who had formerly denied
should now confess, cried out against Alexander as if he were the cause
of this change. Then the governor summoned him before him, and
inquired of him who he was; and when Alexander said he was a Christian,
the governor burst into a passion, and condemned him to the wild
beasts. And on the next day he entered the amphitheatre along
with Attalus; for the governor, wishing to gratify the mob, again
exposed Attalus to the wild beasts. These two, after being
tortured in the amphitheatre with all the instruments devised for that
purpose, and having undergone an exceedingly severe contest, at last
were themselves sacrificed. Alexander uttered no groan or murmur of any kind, but conversed
in his heart with God; but Attalus, when he was placed on the iron
chair, and all the parts of his body were burning, and when the fumes
from his body were borne aloft, said to the multitude in Latin,
‘Lo! this which ye do is eating men. But as for us, we
neither eat men nor practise any other wickedness.’ And
being asked what name God has, he answered, ‘God has not a name
as men have.’
“After all these, on the last day of the
gladiatorial shows, Blandina was again brought in along with Ponticus,
a boy of about fifteen years of age. These two had been taken
daily to the amphitheatre to see the tortures which the rest endured,
and force was used to compel them to swear by the idols of the heathen;
but on account of their remaining stedfast, and setting all their
devices at nought, the multitude were furious against them, so as
neither to pity the tender years of the boy nor to respect the sex of
the woman. Accordingly they exposed them to every terror, and
inflicted on them every torture, repeatedly trying to compel them to
swear. But they failed in effecting this; for Ponticus,
encouraged by his sister,3856
| 3856 She may have
been his sister by birth, as some have supposed, but the term
“sister” would have been applied had she been connected by
no other tie than that of a common faith. | so plainly
indeed that even the heathens saw that it was she that encouraged and
confirmed him, after enduring nobly every kind of torture, gave up the
ghost; while the blessed Blandina, last of all, after having like a
noble mother encouraged her children, and sent them on before her
victorious to the King, trod the same path of conflict which her
children had trod, hastening on to them with joy and exultation at her
departure, not as one thrown to the wild beasts, but as one invited to
a marriage supper. And after she had been scourged and exposed to
the wild beasts, and roasted in the iron chair, she was at last
enclosed in a net and cast before a bull. And after having been
well tossed by the bull, though without having any feeling of what was
happening to her, through her hope and firm hold of what had been
entrusted to her and her converse with Christ, she also was sacrificed,
the heathens themselves acknowledging that never among them did woman
endure so many and such fearful tortures.
“Yet not even thus was their madness and
their savage hatred to the saints satiated. For wild and
barbarous tribes, when excited by the Wild Beast, with difficulty
ceased from their rage, and their insulting conduct found another and
peculiar subject in the bodies of the Witnesses. For they felt no
shame that they had been overcome, for they were not possessed of human
reason; but their defeat only the more inflamed their rage, and
governor and people, like a wild beast, showed a like unjust hatred of
us, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, ‘He that is unjust,
let him be unjust still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous
still.’3857
For
they threw to the dogs those who had been suffocated in prison,
carefully watching them day and night, lest any one should receive
burial from us. They then laid out the mangled remains left by
the wild beasts, and the scorched remains left by the fire, and the
heads of the rest along with their trunks, and in like manner for many
days watched them lying unburied with a military guard. There
were some who raged and gnashed their teeth at them, seeking to get
from them further vengeance. Others derided and insulted them, at
the same time magnifying their own idols, and ascribing to them the
punishment inflicted on the Christians. There were persons also
of a milder disposition, who to some extent seemed to sympathize; yet
they also frequently upbraided, saying, ‘Where now is their God,
and what good have they got from that religion which they chose in
preference to their life?’ Such was the diversity which
characterized the conduct of the heathens. But our state was one
of deep sorrow that we could not bury the bodies. For night aided
us not in this matter; money failed to persuade, and entreaty did not
shame them into compliance; but they kept up the watch in every way, as
if they were to gain some great advantage from the bodies of the
Christians not obtaining burial.
Something is omitted. The letter then goes
on:—
“The bodies of the Witnesses, after having
been maltreated in every way, and exposed in the open air for six days,
were burned, reduced to ashes, and swept by the wicked into the river
Rhone, which flows past, in order that not even a vestige of them might
be visible on earth. And these things they did, as if they had
been able to overcome God, and deprive them of their second
birth,3858
| 3858 παλιγγενεσία.
The term refers here to the new state of affairs at the end of the
world. | in order,
as they said, that ‘they may not have hope in a resurrection,
trusting to which they introduce some strange and new mode of worship,
and despise dangers, and go readily and with joy to death. Now
let us see if they will rise again, and if their God can help them, and
rescue them out of our hands.’”
Eusebius here breaks off his series of continuous
extracts, but he makes a few more for special purposes. The first
is the account which the churches gave of the character of the
Witnesses:—
“Who also were to such an extent zealous
followers and imitators of
Christ, who, being in the shape of God, thought it not an object of
desire to be treated like God;3859
that though
they were in such glory, and had borne their testimony not once, nor
twice, but often, and had been again taken back to prison after
exposure to the wild beasts, and bore about with them the marks of the
burnings and bruises and wounds all over their bodies, yet did they
neither proclaim themselves Witnesses, nor indeed did they permit us to
address them by this name; but if any one of us on any occasion, either
by letter or in conversation, called them Witnesses, they rebuked him
sharply. For they willingly gave the title of Witness to Christ,
‘the faithful and true Witness,’3860
| 3860 Rev. i. 5
and iii. 14. | and first-born from the dead, and the
leader to the divine life. And they reminded us of those
Witnesses who had already departed, and said: ‘These indeed
are now Witnesses, whom Christ has vouchsafed to take up to Himself in
the very act of confession, thus putting His seal upon their testimony
through their departure. But we are mean and humble
confessors.’ And with tears they besought the brethren that
earnest prayers might be made for their being perfected. They in
reality did all that is implied in the term ‘testimony,’
acting with great boldness towards all the heathen; and their nobleness
they made manifest through their patience, and fearlessness, and
intrepidity. But the title of Witness, as implying some
superiority to their brethren,3861
| 3861 The Greek is
τὴν
πρὸς τοὺς
ἀδελφοὺς τῶν
μαρτύρων
προσηγορίαν,
generally translated, “offered to them by their
brethren.” | they refused,
being filled with the fear of God.”
After a little they say:—
“They humbled themselves3862
under the powerful hand by which they
are now highly exalted. Then they pleaded for all,3863
| 3863 The Greek is,
πᾶσι
μὲν
ἀπελογοῦντο. Rufinus translated, “Placabant omnes, neminem
accusabant.” Valesius thought that the words ought to be
translated, “They rendered an account of their faith to
all;” or, “They defended themselves before
all.” Heinichen has justified the translation in the text
by an appeal to a passage in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv.
15. | but accused none; they absolved all,
they bound none; and they prayed for those who inflicted the tortures,
even as Stephen the perfect Witness, ‘Lord, lay not this sin to
their charge.’3864
But if
he prayed for those who stoned him, how much more for the
brethren!”
After other things, again they say:—
“For they had this very great conflict with
him, the devil, on account of their genuine love, in order that
the Beast being choked, might vomit forth those whom he thought he had
already swallowed. For they assumed no airs of superiority over
the fallen, but with those things in which they themselves abounded
they aided the needy, displaying towards them the compassion of a
mother. And pouring out many tears for them to the Father, they
begged life;3865
and He gave
it to them, and they shared it with their neighbours. And
departing victorious over all to God, having always loved peace, and
having recommended peace to us, in peace they went to God, leaving no
sorrow to their Mother, nor division and dissension to their brethren,
but joy and peace, and concord and love.”
“The same writing of the fore-mentioned
martyrs,” says Eusebius, “contains a story worth
remembrance.
“For there was one of them of the name of
Alcibiades, who lived an exceedingly austere life, confining his diet
to bread and water, and partaking of nothing else whatsoever. He
tried to continue this mode of life in prison; but it was revealed to
Attalus after the first conflict which he underwent in the amphitheatre
that Alcibiades was not pursuing the right course in refusing to use
the creatures of God, and in leaving an example which might be a
stumbling-block to others. And Alcibiades was persuaded, and
partook freely of all kinds of food, and thanked God. For they
were not without the oversight of the grace of God, but the Holy Spirit
was their counsellor.”
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