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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Ante-Nicene Fathers – Polycarp – Stand Fast in the Example of the Lord




So I’ve been carting these volumes around for a few years and I’ve never, until now, read through them.  I’ve consulted them and checked in them for information, but I’ve never really read and studied them.  I’m changing that now. 

The third and forth writings in volume one of the ten volume set go together – Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians and The Martyrdom of Polycarp. 

The 2nd century Bishop of Smyrna, Polycarp (whose name does not refer to many fishes) is a rather famous and revered figure within Christianity.  He’s one of the few figures recognized as a saint by Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants.  Some believe it probable that he actually knew the Apostle John.

The only surviving text from Polycarp’s pen is his letter to the Philippians, written at their request – though, he demurs, nothing he could write would compare to the letter they have already received from the apostle Paul which, if they would carefully study,  they would find to be the means of building them up in the faith “which is the mother of us all.”[i]

The letter is filled with exhortations to holy living and demonstrates a remarkable knowledge of those books that would shortly become the New Testament.  Polycarp’s Epistle to the Philippians may be the one of the few texts among the Apostolic Fathers to reference or allude to the canonical epistle Jude. 

In stark contrast to the Christianity seen in much of contemporary America, Polycarp salutes the recipients of his letter as those “who were bound in chains, the fitting ornaments of the saints, and which are indeed the diadems of the true elect of Go and our Lord.”[ii]  When did we (Christians) begin to expect that because we’re believers in and followers of God everything in our lives should be sunshiny and wonderful?  Polycarp praises the readers of his letter for the way they have imitated their savior by enduring suffering and persecution.   And these aren’t just pious words from good bishop Polycarp, he would, himself, die a martyrs death.

In a very personal section of the letter, Polycarp expresses his sorrow for Valens and his wife.  Valens had been a leader among the congregation but had stumbled in his faith.  “I am greatly grieved for Valens, who was once a presbyter among you, because he so little understands the place that was given him.[iii]  Apparently Valens had let his covetousness corrupt his leadership.  Polycarp prays that God will grant him “true repentance” and also encourages the church  “to be moderate in regard to this matter, and ‘do not count such as enemies,’ but call them back as suffering and straying members, that ye may save your whole body.  For by so acting ye shall edify yourselves.”

They weren’t to cut him out and cut him off with hostility.  They weren’t to “shoot their own wounded.”  This is a remarkable kind of love for the community.

Stand fast, therefore, in these things, and follow the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in the faith, loving the brotherhood, and being attached to one another, joined together in the truth, exhibiting the meekness of the Lord in your intercourse with one another and despising no one.[iv]

The author of the Epistle Concerning the Martyrdom of Polycarp is unknown to us; it is addressed simply from “the Church of God which sojourns at Smyrna” (where Polycarp had been the bishop) to “the Church of God sojourning in Philomelium” (modern day Akşehir).

The letter claims to be an eyewitness account of the arrest, trial and execution of Polycarp - though some have challenged its authenticity.  While some might be interested in the extraordinary and perhaps supernatural circumstances of his martyrdom, what I find interesting is the way the story of his death is structured to parallel the passion of Jesus.

When he heard that he was being summoned before the proconsul as an “atheist”[v] Polycarp wasn’t alarmed.  He was quite ready to remain in the city and to face the consequences.  But others convinced him that he should flee from the city.  So allowed himself to be taken into hiding in a house in the surrounding countryside where he spent his time praying for the churches throughout the world.  While he was praying there he had a vision of his imminent death. 

Polycarp’s hideout was revealed to his pursuers by a servant who was tortured – he was betrayed.  His pursuers came with horsemen and a variety of weapons to arrest the aged bishop.  And like the company that came to arrest Jesus in the garden, they were armed “as if going out against a robber.”[vi]  But instead of resisting them, Polycarp asked that a meal be prepared for them and he prayed, at length, for his captors.

They forced him back to the city (at one point throwing him from the moving chariot and dislocating his leg[vii]) where he was taken into the stadium  and brought face to face with the proconsul who repeatedly encouraged and commanded  him to “Swear by the fortune of Caesar; repeat and say ‘Away with the Atheists’.” [viii]  The proconsul promised to release the old man if he would only reproach Christ.

Polycarp’s response is famous throughout Christendom:

Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?

This infuriated the proconsul and the gathered crowd, and Polycarp was condemned to death.  A pyre was built up beneath him to burn him at the stake.  When his executioners came to nail him in place to prevent him from escaping the flames he said to them, “Leave me as I am; for He that giveth me strength to endure the fire, will also enable me, without your securing me by nails, to remain without moving in the pile.”[ix] So instead of nailing him in place, they simply bound him with ropes.

And there, bound by ropes to his funeral pyre, in the face of those who condemned him and a jeering crowd, Polycarp prayed his final prayer.

O Lord God Almighty, the Father of thy beloved and blessed son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of Thee, the God of angels and powers, and of every creature and of the whole race of the righteous who live before thee, I give Thee thanks that Thou hast counted me worthy of this day and this hour, that I should have a part in the number of Thy martyrs, the cup of thy Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and body, through the Holy Ghost.  Among whom may I be accepted this day before Thee as a fat and acceptable sacrifice, according as Thou, the ever-faithful God, has fore-ordained, has revealed beforehand to me, and now hast fulfilled.  Wherefore also I praise Thee for all things, I bless Thee, I glorify Jesus Christ, Thy beloved Son, with whom, to Thee, and the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and to all coming ages. Amen.[x]

And after he had said his final amen, the executioners lit the funeral pyre.  The flames roared up around him, but instead of burning him, they arched up and around him, leaving him golden brown like bread in a bakery and those around could smell a “sweet odor, as if frankincense or some such precious spices had been smoking there.”[xi]

When the proconsul saw that the flames weren’t killing him, he ordered that he executioners should stab Polycarp with a dagger.  And so they pierced him in the side – whereupon a copious amount of blood poured forth and extinguished the flames.

This, then, is the account of the blessed Polycarp, who, being the twelfth that was martyred in Smyrna…yet occupies a place of his own in the memory of all men, insomuch that he is everywhere spoken of by the heathen themselves.  He was not merely an illustrious teacher, but also a pre-eminent martyr, whose martyrdom all desire to imitate, as having been altogether consistent with the Gospel of Christ.”[xii]

Here is one who "faithful unto death", one who received the"crown of life."[xiii]







[i] Epistle to the Philippians Chap. III
[ii] Chap. I
[iii] Chap. XI
[iv] Chap. X
[v] a common charge leveled against early Christians since they denied the gods of the Romans.
[vi] Martyrdom of Polycarp Chap. VII
[vii] Chap. VIII
[viii] Chap. IX
[ix] Chap. XIII
[x] Chap. XIV
[xi] Chap. XV
[xii] Chap. XIX
[xiii] Revelation 2:10 – addressed to the Church at Smyrna

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