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| The Pious Old Man Rejoices that He Read Plato and the Scriptures, and Tells Him of the Rhetorician Victorinus Having Been Converted to the Faith Through the Reading of the Sacred Books.
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Chapter II.—The Pious Old Man
Rejoices that He Read Plato and the Scriptures, and Tells Him of
the Rhetorician Victorinus Having Been Converted to the Faith
Through the Reading of the Sacred Books.
3. To Simplicianus then I went,—the father
of Ambrose608
| 608 Simplicianus succeeded Ambrose, 397 A.D. He has already been referred to, in the
extract from De Civ. Dei, in note 1, p. 113, above as “the
old saint Simplicianus, afterwards Bishop of Milan.” In
Ep. p. 37, Augustin addresses him as “his father, most worthy
of being cherished with respect and sincere affection.” When
Simplicianus is spoken of above as “the father of Ambrose in
receiving Thy grace,” reference is doubtless made to his having
been instrumental in his conversion—he having “begotten” him
“through the gospel” (1 Cor. iv. 15). Ambrose, when writing to him
(Ep. 65), concludes, “Vale, et nos parentis affectu
dilige, ut facis.” | (at that
time a bishop) in receiving Thy grace, and whom he truly loved as a
father. To him I narrated the windings of my error. But when I
mentioned to him that I had read certain books of the Platonists,
which Victorinus, sometime Professor of Rhetoric at Rome (who died
a Christian, as I had been told), had translated into Latin, he
congratulated me that I had not fallen upon the writings of other
philosophers, which were full of fallacies and deceit, “after the
rudiments of the world,”609
whereas they,610
in many ways, led to the belief in
God and His word.611
| 611 In like manner Augustin, in his De Civ. Dei
(viii. 5), says: “No philosophers come nearer to us than the
Platonists;” and elsewhere, in the same book, he speaks, in
exalted terms, of their superiority to other philosophers. When he
speaks of the Platonists, he means the Neo-Platonists, from whom he
conceived that he could best derive a knowledge of Plato, who had,
by pursuing the Socratic method in concealing his opinions,
rendered it difficult “to discover clearly what he himself
thought on various matters, any more than it is to discover what
were the real opinions of Socrates” (ibid. sec 4). Whether
Plato himself had or not knowledge of the revelation contained in
the Old Testament Scriptures, as Augustin supposed (De Civ.
Dei, viii. 11, 12), it is clear that the later Platonists were
considerably affected by Judaic ideas, even as the philosophizing
Jews were indebted to Platonism. This view has been embodied in the
proverb frequently found in the Fathers, Latin as well as Greek,
Ἤ Πλάτων φιλονίζει ἤ Φίλων
πλατωνίζει. Archer Butler, in the fourth of his Lectures
on Ancient Philosophy, treats of the vitality of Plato’s
teaching and the causes of its influence, and shows how in certain
points there is a harmony between his ideas and the precepts of the
gospel. On the difficulty of unravelling the subtleties of the
Platonic philosophy, see Burton’s Bampton Lectures (lect.
3). | Then, to
exhort me to the humility of Christ,612
| 612 See iv. sec. 19, above. | hidden from the wise, and revealed
to little ones,613
he spoke of
Victorinus himself,614
| 614 “Victorinus, by birth an African, taught rhetoric
at Rome under Constantius, and in extreme old age, giving himself
up to the faith of Christ, wrote some books against Arius,
dialectically [and so] very obscure, which are not understood but
by the learned, and a commentary on the Apostle” [Paul] (Jerome,
De Viris Ill. c. 101). It is of the same, probably, that
Gennadius speaks (De Viris Ill. c. 60), “that he commented
in a Christian and pious strain, but inasmuch as he was a man taken
up with secular literature, and not trained in the Divine
Scriptures by any teacher, he produced what was comparatively of
little weight.” Comp. Jerome, Præf. in Comm. in Gal., and
see Tillemont, 1. c. p. 179, sq. Some of his works are
extant.—E. B. P. | whom, whilst he was at Rome, he had
known very intimately; and of him he related that about which I
will not be silent. For it contains great praise of Thy grace,
which ought to be confessed unto Thee, how that most learned old
man, highly skilled in all the liberal sciences, who had read,
criticised, and explained so many works of the philosophers; the
teacher of so many noble senators; who also, as a mark of his
excellent discharge of his duties, had (which men of this world
esteem a great honour) both merited and obtained a statue in the
Roman Forum, he,—even to that age a worshipper of idols, and a
participator in the sacrilegious rites to which almost all the
nobility of Rome were wedded, and had inspired the people with the
love of
“The dog Anubis, and a medley crew
Of monster gods [who] ’gainst Neptune stand in
arms,
’Gainst Venus and Minerva, steel-clad
Mars,”615
| 615 Æneid, viii. 736–8. The Kennedys. |
whom Rome once conquered, now worshipped, all which old
Victorinus had with thundering eloquence defended so many
years,—he now blushed not to be the child of Thy Christ, and an
infant at Thy fountain, submitting his neck to the yoke of
humility, and subduing his forehead to the reproach of the
Cross.
4. O Lord, Lord, who hast bowed the heavens
and come down, touched the mountains and they did smoke,616
by what
means didst Thou convey Thyself into that bosom? He used to read,
as Simplicianus said, the Holy Scripture, most studiously sought
after and searched into all the Christian writings, and said to
Simplicianus,—not openly, but secretly, and as a
friend,—“Know thou that I am a Christian.” To which he
replied, “I will not believe it, nor will I rank you among the
Christians unless I see you in the Church of Christ.” Whereupon
he replied derisively, “Is it then the walls that make
Christians?” And this he often said, that he already was a
Christian; and Simplidanus making the same answer, the conceit of
the “walls” was by the other as often renewed. For he was
fearful of offending his friends, proud demon-worshippers, from the
height of whose Babylonian dignity, as from cedars of Lebanon which
had not yet been broken by the Lord,617
he thought a storm of enmity would
descend upon him. But after that, from reading and inquiry, he had
derived strength, and feared lest he should be denied by Christ
before the holy angels if he now was afraid to confess Him before
men,618
and appeared
to himself guilty of a great fault in being ashamed of the
sacraments619
| 619 “The Fathers gave the name of sacrament,
or mystery, to everything which conveyed one signification
or property to unassisted reason, and another to faith. Hence
Cyprian speaks of the ‘sacraments’ of the Lord’s Prayer,
meaning the hidden meaning conveyed therein, which could only be
appreciated by a Christian. The Fathers sometimes speak of
confirmation as a sacrament, because the chrism signified the grace
of the Holy Ghost; and the imposition of hands was not merely a
bare sign, but the form by which it was conveyed. See Bingham, book
xii. c. 1, sec. 4. Yet at the same time they continually speak of
two great sacraments of the Christian Church” (Palmer’s
Origines Liturgicæ, vol. ii. c. 6, sec. 1, p. 201). | of the
humility of Thy word, and not being ashamed of the sacrilegious
rites of those proud demons, whose pride he had imitated and their
rites adopted, he became bold-faced against vanity, and shame-faced
toward the truth, and suddenly and unexpectedly said to
Simplicianus,—as he himself informed me,—“Let us go to the
church; I wish to be made a Christian.” But he, not containing
himself for joy, accompanied him. And having been admitted to the
first sacraments of instruction,620
| 620 That is, he became a catechumen. In addition
to the information on this subject, already given in the note to
book vi. sec. 2, above, the following references to it may prove
instructive. (1) Justin Martyr, describing the manner of receiving
converts into the Church in his day, says (Apol. i. 61):
“As many as are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say
is true and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are
instructed to pray, and to entreat God with fasting for the
remission of their sins that are past, we praying and fasting with
them. Then they are brought by us where there is water, and are
regenerated in the same manner in which we were ourselves
regenerated. And this washing is called illumination, because they
who learn these things are illuminated in their understandings.”
And again (ibid. 65): “We, after we have thus washed him
who has been convinced and has assented to our teaching, bring him
to the place where those who are called brethren are assembled, in
order that we may offer hearty prayers, in common for ourselves and
for the baptized [illuminated] person, and for all others in every
place.…Having ended the prayers, we salute one another with a
kiss. There is then brought to the president of the brethren bread,
and a cup of wine mixed with water; and he, taking them, gives
praise and glory to the Father of the universe, through the name of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost.…And when the president has given
thanks, and all the people have expressed their assent, those who
are called by us deacons give to each of those present, to partake
of, the bread and wine mixed with water over which the thanksgiving
was pronounced, and to those who are absent they carry away a
portion.” And once more (ibid. 66): “This food is called
among us Εὐχαριστία [the
Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the man who
believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been
washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto
regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined.” (2)
In Watts’ translation, we have the following note on this episode
in our text: “Here be divers particulars of the primitive
fashion, in this story of Victorinus. First, being converted, he
was to take some well-known Christian (who was to be his godfather)
to go with him to the bishop, who, upon notice of it, admitted him
a catechumenus, and gave him those six points of
catechistical doctrine mentioned Heb. vi, 1, 2. When the time of
baptism drew near, the young Christian came to give in his heathen
name, which was presently registered, submitting himself to
examination. On the eve, was he, in a set form, first, to renounce
the devil, and to pronounce, I confess to Thee, O Christ, repeating
the Creed with it, in the form here recorded. The time for giving
in their names must be within the two first weeks in Lent; and the
solemn day to renounce upon was Maundy Thursday. So bids the
Council of Laodicea (Can. 45 and 46).” The renunciation
adverted to by Watts in the above passage may be traced to an early
period in the writings of the Fathers. It is mentioned by
Tertullian, Ambrose, and Jerome, and “in the fourth century,”
says Palmer (Origines Liturgicæ, c. 5, sec. 2, where the
authorities will be found), “the renunciation was made with great
solemnity. Cyril of Jerusalem, speaking to those who had been
recently baptized, said, ‘First, you have entered into the
vestibule of the baptistry, and, standing towards the west, you
have heard, and been commanded, and stretch forth your hands, and
renounce Satan as if he were present.’ This rite of turning to
the west at the renunciation of Satan is also spoken of by Jerome,
Gregory, Nazianzen, and Ambrose; and it was sometimes performed
with exsufflations and other external signs of enmity to Satan, and
rejection of him and his works. To the present day these customs
remain in the patriarchate of Constantinople, where the candidates
for baptism turn to the west to renounce Satan, stretching forth
their hands and using an exsufflation as a sign of enmity against
him. And the Monophysites of Antioch and Jerusalem, Alexandria and
Armenia, also retain the custom of renouncing Satan with faces
turned to the west.” | he not long after gave in his name,
that he might be regenerated by baptism,—Rome marvelling, and the
Church rejoicing. The proud saw, and were enraged; they gnashed
with their teeth, and melted away!621
But the Lord God was the hope of
Thy servant, and He regarded not vanities and lying madness.622
5. Finally, when the hour arrived for him to
make profession of his faith (which at Rome they who are about to
approach Thy grace are wont to deliver623
| 623 Literally, “give back,” reddere. | from an elevated place, in view of
the faithful people, in a set form of words learnt by heart),624
| 624 Anciently, as Palmer has noted in the introduction
to his Origines Liturgicæ, the liturgies of the various
churches were learnt by heart. They probably began to be committed
to writing about Augustin’s day. The reference, however, in this
place, is to the Apostles’ Creed, which, Dr. Pusey in a note
remarks, was delivered orally to the catechumens to commit it to
memory, and by them delivered back, i.e. publicly repeated
before they were baptized. “The symbol [creed] bearing hallowed
testimony, which ye have together received, and are this day
severally to give back [reddidistis], are the words in which
the faith of our mother the Church is solidly constructed on a
stable foundation, which is Christ the Lord. ‘For other
foundation can no man lay,’ etc. Ye have received them, and given
back [reddidistis] what ye ought to retain in heart and
mind, what ye should repeat in your beds, think on in the streets,
and forget not in your meals, and while sleeping in body, in heart
watch therein. For this is the faith, and the rule of salvation,
that ‘We believe in God, the Father Almighty,’” etc. (Aug.
Serm. 215, in Redditione Symboli). “On the Sabbath
day [Saturday], when we shall keep a vigil through the mercy of
God, ye will give back [reddituri] not the [Lord’s]
Prayer, but the Creed” (Serm. 58, sec. ult.). “What ye
have briefly heard, ye ought not only to believe, but to commit to
memory in so many words, and utter with your mouth” (Serm.
214, in Tradit. Symb. 3, sec. 2). “Nor, in order to retain
the very words of the Creed, ought ye any wise to write it, but
to learn it thoroughly by hearing, nor, when ye have learnt it,
ought ye to write it, but always to keep and refresh it in your
memories.—‘This is my covenant, which I will make with them
after those days,’ saith the Lord; ‘I will place my law in
their minds, and in their hearts will I write it.’ To convey
this, the Creed is learnt by hearing, and not written on
tables or any other substance, but on the heart” (Serm.
212, sec. 2). See the Roman Liturgy (Assem, Cod. Liturg. t.
i. p. 11 sq., 16), and the Gothic and Gallican (pp. 30
sq., 38 sq., 40 sq., etc.). “The renunciation
of Satan,” to quote once more from Palmer’s Origines (c.
5, sec. 3), “was always followed by a profession of faith in
Christ, as it is now in the English ritual.…The promise of
obedience and faith in Christ was made by the catechumens and
sponsors, with their faces turned towards the east, as we learn
from Cyril of Jerusalem and many other writers. Tertullian speaks
of the profession of faith made at baptism, in the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit, and in the Church. Cyprian mentions the interrogation,
‘Dost thou believe in eternal life, and remission of sins through
the Holy Church?’ Eusebius and many other Fathers also speak of
the profession of faith made at this time; and it is especially
noted in the Apostolical Constitutions, which were written in the
East at the end of the third or beginning of the fourth century.
The profession of faith in the Eastern churches has generally been
made by the sponsor, or the person to be baptized, not in the form
of answers to questions, but by repeating the Creed after the
priest. In the Western churches, the immemorial custom has been,
for the priest to interrogate the candidate for baptism, or his
sponsor, on the principal articles of the Christian faith.” | the
presbyters, he said, offered Victorinus to make his profession more
privately, as the custom was to do to those who were likely,
through bashfulness, to be afraid; but he chose rather to profess
his salvation in the presence of the holy assembly. For it was not
salvation that he taught in rhetoric, and yet he had publicly
professed that. How much less, therefore, ought he, when
pronouncing Thy word, to dread Thy meek flock, who, in the delivery
of his own words, had not feared the mad multitudes! So, then, when
he ascended to make his profession, all, as they recognised him,
whispered his name one to the other, with a voice of
congratulation. And who was there amongst them that did not know
him? And there ran a low murmur through the mouths of all the
rejoicing multitude, “Victorinus! Victorinus!” Sudden was the
burst of exultation at the sight of him; and suddenly were they
hushed, that they might hear him. He pronounced the true faith with
an excellent boldness, and all desired to take him to their very
heart—yea, by their love and joy they took him thither; such were
the hands with which they took him.
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