Biblical Limericks: I Love Cheeses

Perpetua’s story should please us;
before her death she dreamt of Jesus,
who, with a welcome word
greeted her with a curd;
Heaven is for those who love Cheeses.

All right… So it isn’t exactly a biblical limerick.  St. Perpetua was a third century Christian martyr.  You can read her story here.  The part about the cheese is in chapter four. 

Biblical Limericks: Martyr Quota

Heaven won’t be short one iota
so we’ll have to delay the coda;
those who were slain will wait
to receive their full fate
till the world fills its martyr quota.

Revelation 6: 9 - 11

Biblical Limericks: Help! Help! I’m Being Repressed!

What we need is a fair arbiter,
someone honest, and wise, and smarter,
who can divide the real
servant burning with zeal
from the jerk who’s playing at martyr.

Psalm 69: 9

The Line Between Suffering Servant and Jerk with Delusions of Martyrdom

It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;

the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me. (Psalm 69: 9)

Though I may wrestle against the Psalms, and push back against them, Psalm 69 is one of my favorite.  I like it because it is realistic in its description of human emotions, and because the psalmist is brutally honest about himself.

It’s described as a “Psalm of David” but that preposition “of” may mean – “about” or “for” rather than “by” David.  In fact, based on the last couple of verses (which talk about the rebuilding of the cities of Judah), there is good reason to believe that Psalm 69 was written much later than King David.  Some have suggested that this particular psalm was composed by the prophet Jeremiah.  Indeed, there is much about the psalm that would lend itself to this interpretation.  I like this idea, but am not bound to it. [i]   Whether it was David (I think unlikely) or Jeremiah (I like to think it might have been) or some other unknown psalmist (very possible) – it’s still a powerful work of writing.

The psalmist (whoever he might have been) feels overwhelmed by a “sea of troubles.”[ii]  The psalmist is abused by many enemies, scorn and shame and insults are heaped upon him, and false accusations leveled against him.  The psalmist is desperate for God to hear, and to rescue him, else he will die.  He will be swallowed up by the swirling vortex of floodwaters, and dragged down to the bottomless abyss of death.

And all of this, the Psalmist says, is because I have tried to do God’s work.  His enemies hate him without reason – without good reason, anyway.  He is alienated from his own family.  He has no friends to call upon.  He is all alone because he has tried to do the good work he was called to. “It is zeal for your house that has consumed me…”  (Psalm 69: 9a NRSV) 

I wonder where the line between being zealous for God’s good work and being an obnoxious religious fanatic is to be drawn.  There are a lot of people claiming to be persecuted and martyred and abused because of their zeal, when maybe they should just admit that they’re being snubbed and despised because they’re jerks.  It’s easy to play the martyr card, to cry “woe is me,” and think people hate me just because I’m doing God’s work.  A good cause is not enough.  A righteous cause is not enough. Objection to your holy work does not make you a noble martyr. 

The line between the suffering servant and the jerk with delusions of martyrdom might be found in verses 5 and 6:

O God, you know my folly;

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,

O Lord God of hosts;

do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,

O God of Israel. (Psalm 69: 5 – 6 NRSV)

The Psalmist (King David, the prophet Jeremiah, or other) admits that while the charges that his enemies have leveled against him are baseless, he is not without his own mistakes, and errors, and even sins.  He knows that he has screwed up. He concedes that he’s had lapses in judgment.  And he fears that others will lose faith in God because of him.   He is concerned that those who would hope in God will lose hope because of his failures.  Forget the surrounding enemies with their malicious gossip and slander and accusations; the psalmist worries that his own conduct will cause others to be disgraced.

This is, in my mind, the dividing line between the person burning with a zealous desire to do God’s work and the obnoxious jerk playing the martyr’s card – the willingness to say, ‘here are my faults.  I have screwed up, and others might suffer because of it.’ 

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[i] Of course, it is possible to suggest that David wrote the psalm, and that a later author / editor added the last couple of verses.

[ii] Cribbing from Hamlet’s “To be or not to be…” soliloquy.  

An Apology - with Apologies to Justin Martyr

Click here if you'd like to download this song.

The voice is reading from Justin Martyr's First Apology.
I used one sound from the Freesound Project this time:

Marcato Drums

Ante-Nicene Fathers – The Martyrdom of Ignatius - Ignatius vs. Bertrand Russell

(via Unreasonable Faith) 

I’ve been thinking about this quote from the philosopher Bertrand Russell for a couple of days now, contrasting it in my mind with the apparent eagerness of Ignatius of Antioch to become a martyr for his faith.  I’m not sure which of these two attitudes I would more closely align myself.

On the one hand, I greatly respect Russell’s honesty and humility.  What if I’m wrong?    There’s no delusion of grandeur in that attitude, no arrogance. But on the other hand is Ignatius’ certainty – a certainty which has inspired him to live and to die in the manner of his lord.  He is not ashamed. He is not afraid. 

“All the ends of the world, and all the kingdoms of this earth, shall profit me nothing.  It is better for me to die for the sake of Jesus Christ, than to reign over all the ends of the earth.  ‘For what is a man profited, if he gain the whole world, but lose his own soul?’  I long after the Lord, the Son of the true God and Father, even Jesus Christ.   Him I seek, who died for us and rose again.  Pardon me, brethren; do not hinder me in attaining to life; for Jesus is the life of believers.  … Suffer me to obtain pure light: when I have gone thither I shall indeed be a man of God.  Permit me to be an imitator of the passion of Christ my God.”[i]

The Martyrdom of Ignatius claims to have been written by eyewitness to his death in the Roman coliseum – though some have challenged this claim.   One argument in this challenge is that no Christian writer before the 7^th century quotes from or makes reference to the text. 

The Roman Emperor Trajan (98 – 117 CE) had recently won a series of victories over the Scyhthians and the Dacians and “…thinking that the religious body of the Christians were yet wanting to complete the subjugation of all things to himself, and [thereupon] threatening them with persecution unless they should agree to worship demons, as did all other nations, thus compelled all who were living godly lives either to sacrifice [to idols] or to die.” [ii]

Ignatius, unwilling to sacrifice to demons and altogether willing to sacrifice himself as a martyr was taken by ship and overland to Rome where he was brought to the coliseum and devoured by wild beasts before a crowd of spectators.  His bones – “only the harder portions of his holy remains were left,” [iii]  were gathered up and taken back to Antioch.

I admire Ignatius – but his eagerness (not just a willingness) to die is surprising, and maybe a little discomforting. Even Jesus, whom Ignatius wanted to imitate, was reluctant to face his own death.  I also admire Russell’s self-critical “I might be wrong…” approach because I know that I have an incomplete understanding of many things.  I can relate to his uneasiness with committing himself absolutely (in death) to a potential error.

There’s probably a balance somewhere between these two – neither a zealous eagerness to die as a martyr, nor a doubting uncertainty, unwilling to commit to a belief.   

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[i] The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans Chap. VI

[ii] The Martyrdom of Ignatius Chap. II

[iii] Chap. VI

Ignatius Sails to Rome

This is a song for the martyred Ignatius.




"I write to all the Churches, and impress on them all, that I shall willingly die for God, unless ye hinder me.  I beseech of you not to show an unreasonable goodwill towards me.  Suffer me to become food for the wild beasts, through whose instrumentality it will be granted me to attain to God.  I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the true bread of God. "

-The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans Chapter IV

If  you like the music,you may download it here.

Ante-Nicene Fathers – Ignatius to the Trallians and the Romans - Heretics and Martyrs

So I’ve been carting these Ante-Nicene Fathers (the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325) 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.  I’ve decided that I will read all 10 volumes.

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians

En route to his death in the Coliseum in Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters to various Christian communities and individuals.  He wrote to the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Magnesia, Tralles, Rome, and Philadelphia – as well as his friend, Polycarp (the bishop of Smyrna).

Ignatius’ letter to the Christians in Tralles begins with a exhortation that they should honor and obey their bishop, the presbyters and the deacons.    This is a common theme in Ignatius’ letters.  Of the seven ‘authentic’ letters from Ignatius’ pen, six include this admonishment.  

In Ignatius’ mind there could be no church without proper leadership. “Apart from these [bishops, presbyters and deacons] there is no elect Church, no congregation of holy ones, no assembly of the saints.” [i]

Perhaps his insistence on proper honor and obedience to the church leaders grew from his concern over the heresies and heterodoxies that were – even at that early point in Christianity – infiltrating the churches.   He warns the Trallians to be wary of “vain talkers” and “deceivers” who were “bearing about the name of Christ in deceit and corrupting the word of the gospel while they intermix the poison of their deceit with their persuasive talk, as if they mingle aconite with sweet wine, so that he who drink, being deceived in his taste by the very great sweetness of the draught, may incautiously meet with his death.” [ii]

Though he says that he is unaware of any of these teachers in Tralles [iii] he writes to give them warning and so that they may be able to protect themselves from the snares that are being laid for them.  

It’s difficult to say what particular heresy Ignatius was addressing – or if he was referring to any specific deviation from “orthodoxy.”  His description of these “Christ betrayers” [iv] sounds like the Docetists who believed that Jesus’ humanity wasn’t genuine, that he only appeared (from the Greek dokeo –“to seem”) to be human.

“For they alienate Christ from the Father, and the law from Christ.  They also calumniate His being born of the Virgin; they are ashamed of His cross; they deny His passion; and they do not believe His resurrection.  They introduce God as a Being unknown; they suppose Christ to be unbegotten; and as to the Spirit, they do not admit that He exists.  Some of them say that the Son is a mere man, and that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are but the same person, and that the creation is the work of God, not by Christ, but by some other strange power.” [v]

As a tonic to this idea that Jesus’ body, suffering and death were only illusions, Ignatius insists upon the reality of Jesus’ life and recalls many of the physical and historical details of Christ’s life in words that sound similar to the Apostle’s Creed.

“He truly assumed a body… and lived on earth without sin… He did in reality both eat and drink.  He was crucified and died under Pontius Pilate.  He really, and not merely in appearance, was crucified, and died…” [vi]

And for Ignatius, who was on his way to die in Rome, this was vital.  If Jesus had only suffered and died in appearance; if was only an illusion, then Ignatius’ faith and his life (and his impending death) were all in vain and he was “guilty of falsehood against the cross of the Lord.”

“I do not place my hopes in one who died for me in appearance but in reality.” [vii]

Ignatius also has some harsh terms for those he considers heretics – and he calls some of them out by name.  He writes of “those wicked offshoots” of the devil, “Simon ... Menander, and Basilides, and all his wicked mob of followers,” as well as the “impure Nicolaitans” (presumably that same group referred to in Revelation 2, but it’s hard to be sure) and of the “children of the evil one, Theodutus and Cleobulus, who produce death-dealing fruit…”  They are “an accursed brood” and “enemies of the cross” and “those who killed the Lord of glory.” [viii] 

Do these phrases connect Ignatius with the sectarian Apostle John and his animosity towards “the Jews,” describing them as “children of [their] father, the devil” [ix] It seems plausible…

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans

Ignatius’ most famous words are found in this particular epistle. 

“I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the true bread of God.” [x]

We don’t, in contemporary American Christianity, think about martyrdom very often.  It’s something that happened a long time ago, or in far away places or maybe we think of it with some disdain as something connected with suicide bombers and other religious fanatics and terrorists.

But Ignatius was determined to be a martyr for God.  In fact, he was so determined to ‘go out in a blaze of glory,’ as it were, that he begged the Christians in Rome NOT to pray for his release.  “For if ye are silent concerning me, I shall become God’s; but if ye show your love to my flesh, I shall again have to run my race. Pray, then, do not seek to confer any greater favor upon me than that I be sacrificed to God, while the altar is still prepared.” [xi]

Granted, at the time that Ignatius was writing these letters, he already stood condemned to death and was on his way to Rome where he would face the lions in the coliseum, his eagerness to die is both slightly unsettling and somewhat admirable.  I don’t know if I’m horrified by or envious of Ignatius and his martyrdom.

A few years ago I wrote a short little poem:

If Only

If only I could, like the ancient martyrs
(by flame, and spear, and club)
make my life a declaration to God
with one bold step into the lion’s mouth
or by one swift stroke of the sword
instead of the tedious thousands
of slow painful deaths
as I gradually die to myself.

(2008)

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[i] The Epistle of Ignatius to the Trallians Chap. III

[ii] Chap. VI

[iii] Chap. VIII

[iv] Chap. VI

[v] Chap. VI

[vi] Chap. IX

[vii] Chap. X

[viii] Chap. XI

[ix] John 8:44

[x] The Epistle of Ignatius to the Romans Chap. IV

[xi] Chap. II

Ante-Nicene Fathers – Ignatius to the Ephesians and the Magnesians – Be United in Love and Wary of False Teachers

So I’ve been carting these Ante-Nicene Fathers (the Writings of the Fathers down to A.D. 325) 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.  I’ve decided that I will read all 10 volumes.

The fourth section of volume one (of the ten volume set) contains the Epistles and an account of the Martyrdom of Ignatius – Ignatius of Antioch, that is… let’s not get confused with that later Ignatius of Loyola.  Ignatius of Antioch (who also called himself Theophorus - “God-Bearer” or “Carried by God”) was the third bishop of Antioch and, like Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, may have been a student of the Apostle John.  One tradition about Ignatius says that he was one of the children that Jesus picked up in Mark 9:35-37 (which might explain the nickname) but it is more likely that Ignatius was born around 35 CE – some years after Jesus’ crucifixion.  He was arrested for being a Christian and taken to Rome where he faced death by lions in the coliseum in 108 CE.

En route to Rome, Ignatius wrote a series of letters to various Christian communities and individuals.  He wrote to the churches at Ephesus, Smyrna, Magnesia , Tralles (modern day Aydin), Rome, and Philadelphia – as well as his friend, Polycarp (the bishop of Smyrna).

Later several spurious letters were added to this collection of seven “authentic” letters.  These included letters to the Virgin Mary, the Apostle John, Mary of Casobalae, Hero (a deacon in the church in Antioch), and the churches at Philippi, Antioch among others.

The authentic letters have come down to us in a variety of ways.  There are versions of these letters in both Latin and in Greek.  Additionally, there are shorter and longer versions of these letters in both languages.  It’s not clear whether the shorter versions are the originals and were later elaborated, or the longer texts were later summarized. And then to further complicate the issue, in the 1830’s a Syriac version of three of these letters was discovered in Egypt – but was different than the both the shorter and longer versions of the letters.[i]

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians

To the Christians in Ephesus, whom he called “followers of the love of God towards man”[ii] and thanked them for sending their bishop, Onesimus (who may have been the runaway slave of Paul’s letter) to meet him in Smyrna as he travelled to his martyrdom in Rome.  He refused to “issue orders” to them “as if I were some great person,” but instead wrote to them as “fellow servants,” encouraging them to “run together” in unity.

This Christian unity is a common theme of Ignatius’ epistles.  The Christian communities were facing persecution and animosity from all sides and they needed to hold together.  They may have been poor; they may have been weak, but if they could maintain the bonds of love and unity, then the Christian church would be strong.  Ignatius encouraged his readers to continue to meet together frequently for prayer and common worship and for communion – which he described as “the medicine of immortality, and the antidote which prevents us from dying.” [iii]   I imagine these words had an urgency for Ignatius, writing, as he was, on his way to his own death.

He also addressed the problem of some “worthless persons” who professed to be Christians but practiced things unworthy of God and held “opinions contrary to the doctrine of Christ.” [iv]  Ignatius didn’t describe with any detail the teaching or practice of these “worthless persons” but instead drew a contrast between them as the “spirit of deceit” and the Holy Spirit.  He described the false teachers as one who “preaches himself, and speaks his own things, for he seeks to pleas himself. He glorifies himself, for he is full of arrogance.  He is lying, fraudulent, soothing, flattering, treacherous, rhapsodical, trifling, inharmonious, verbose, sordid, and timorous.”  [v]

By contrast, the Holy Spirit “does not speak His own things, but those of Christ, and that not from himself, but from the Lord; even as the Lord also announced to us the things that He received from the Father.” [vi]

The Christians of Ephesus – a city known for its interest in magic and the occult - would have found Ignatius’ description of the effects of Jesus’ life and death.  “Hence worldly wisdom became folly; conjuration was seen to be mere trifling, and magic became utterly ridiculous.” [vii]

The issue of Jesus’ divinity would be settled at the council of Nicaea some time later, but already Ignatius seems to understand Jesus of Nazareth to be one and the same (though separate from) as God Almighty.  “Our Physician is the only true God, the unbegotten and unapproachable, the Lord of all, the Father and Begetter of the only-begotten Son.  We have also as a Physician the Lord our God, Jesus the Christ, the only-begotten Son and Word, before time began, but who afterwards became also man, of Mary the Virgin.” [viii]

And this is one of several mentions of the “virgin Mary” in Ignatius’s epistles.  If, as tradition states, Ignatius was a student of John – whom Jesus entrusted to care for his mother after his death, then Ignatius may have known the mother of God.  But that may be a house of cards built on tradition and speculation.

The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians 

Ignatius’ epistle to the Magnesians is short (even in the “longer” version.)  He doesn’t seem to know the congregation except through his meeting with their bishop Damas, and some of the other church leaders who’ve come to visit him.[ix] 

He writes, first, to encourage them to honor their bishop, even if he is a young man.  He builds his advice from a selection of stories from the Hebrew Bible (Samuel, Jeremiah, Solomon, and Josiah), from the Christian New Testament (Timothy) and from the Apocryphal stories of Daniel. [x]

He also encourages them “not only to be called Christians, but to be so in reality. For it is not the being called so, but the being really so, that renders a man blessed.” [xi] And, as in his advice to the church in Ephesus, he encourages them to love in unity[xii] and to be wary of the teachers of false doctrines,[xiii]

The false doctrines of this epistle seem to be of a “Judaizing” type – and it is here that Ignatius has some pretty severe things to say about the Jews.  Ignatius argues that Judaism has passed away with the “old things” and has been replaced by the “new thing” – that is Christianity. 

“It is absurd to speak of Jesus Christ with the tongue, and to cherish in the mind a Judaism which has now come to an end.” [xiv] This could be described as “Replacement Theology” (or if you like big college type words: Supersessionism) which is the idea that God’s new covenant with Christians has replaced the old Mosaic covenant with the Jewish people.

If (and that’s a big if) Ignatius were indeed a student of John, he may have picked up this very sectarian approach from his teacher…but he seems to go further with it – going so far as to refer to the Jewish people as “Christ-killing Jews” [xv], a term that has been used throughout the centuries by Christian anti-Semites.

While I was vaguely aware of this kind of attitude among the early church fathers, reading it like this was a bit of a shock.  It’s surprising how quickly Christianity rejected its Jewish heritage – though still clinging to the Jewish scriptures and a Jewish Messiah. 

But the recrimination seems to have gone both ways (at least to some degree.) The euphemistic Birkat haMinim (“Blessing” on Heretics) recited in Jewish synagogues seems to be specifically addressed against Christians or Jews who have converted to Christianity. 

For apostates who have rejected Your Torah let there be no hope, and may the Nazarenes and heretics perish in an instant. Let all the enemies of Your people, the House of Israel, be speedily cut down; and may You swiftly uproot, shatter, destroy, subdue, and humiliate the kingdom of arrogance, speedily in our days! Blessed are You, O Lord, who shatters His enemies and humbles the arrogant.[xvi]

So much for “unity” I guess. 

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[i] Since I’m not competent to judge which might be the original, I’ll simply quote from the longer version and leave the decision to the experts.

[ii] The Epistles of Ignatius to the Ephesians (longer version) Chap. I

[iii] Chap. XX

[iv] Chap. VII

[v] Chap. IX

[vi] Chap. IX

[vii] Chap. XIX

[viii] Chap. VII

[ix] The Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians Chap. II

[x] Chap. III

[xi] Chap. IV

[xii] Chap. VI

[xiii] Chap. VIII

[xiv] Chap. X

[xv] Chap. XI

[xvi] Though, as with much in the study of ancient texts, these conclusions are not universally agreed upon…

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 2^nd 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]

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[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

The Ante-Nicene Fathers - 1st Clement - Your Sedition Continues

I have been packing these books with me for the last few years as I’ve moved from place to place.  I have ‘consulted’ them occasionally as I’ve prepared for sermons or bible studies.  I’ve double checked quotes and context of quotes from them as I’ve encountered them in other books I’ve read.  But, to date, I haven’t read these volumes.  And I’ve decided to change that.  I’ve made it my goal to read through the 10 volumes of the Ante-Nicene Fathers (that is, the writings of the Church Fathers before the council of Nicea.)

The first writing within volume one is The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians. 

Clement is listed as either the second or third bishop of Rome after Peter and his letter to the Corinthians is among the oldest Christian writings outside of the cannon of scripture.  Tradition since the third or forth century has identified him as the Clement mentioned in Philippians 4: 3.  Clement is said to have died a martyr’s death – having an anchor tied around his neck and thrown from a boat into the Black Sea.

His letter to the Corinthian congregation was sent in response to reports about the scandals and infighting occurring within the Christian community. Apparently the factions and divisions within the church addressed by Paul in his letter (1 Corinthians) had not diminished.  Several of the presbyters had been removed from office – without any charge of moral offense, but out of envy and spite. 

“Blessed are those presbyters who, having finished their course before now, have obtained a fruitful and perfect departure [from this world]; for they have no fear lest any one deprive them of the place now appointed them.  But we see that ye have removed some men of excellent behavior from the ministry, which they fulfilled blamelessly and with honor.” [i]

This has brought the Church (and not just the Christians in Corinth) into disrepute and danger.  Clement refers to “sudden and successive calamitous events”[ii] (probably the persecutions of Christians initiated by the Emperor Domitian) that the Church in Rome had recently endured.  And now these bad reports from Corinth were making things worse.

“It is disgraceful, beloved, yea, highly disgraceful, and unworthy of your Christian profession, that such a thing should be heard of as that the most steadfast and ancient Church of the Corinthians should, on account of one or two persons, engage in sedition against its presbyters.  And this rumor has reached not only us, but those also who are unconnected with us; so that, through your infatuation, the name of the Lord is blasphemed, while danger is brought upon yourselves.”[iii]

Clement, though writing in love, pulls no punches in his condemnation of this divisive “sedition” within the Corinthian church.

“Why are there strifes, and tumults, and divisions, and schisms, and wars among you?  Have we not one God and one Christ?  Is there not one Spirit of grace poured out upon us? And have we not one calling in Christ?  Why do we divide and tear to pieces the members of Christ, and raise up strife against our own body, and have reached such a height of madness as to forget that ‘we are members one of another?’  Remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, how He said, ‘ Woe to that man [by whom offences come]! It were better for him that he had never been born, than that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my elect.  Yea, it were better for him that a millstone should be hung about [his neck], and he should be sunk in the depths of the sea, thank that he should cast a stumbling-block before one of my little ones.  Your schism has subverted [the faith of] many, has discouraged many, has given rise to doubt in many, and has caused grief to us all.  And still your sedition continueth.[iv]

Clement encourages the members of the church at Corinth to repent, to live in love and humility and in mutual submission to each other.  How can there be a pride of place or schisms among those who love greatly and who submit to each other?  He calls upon them to be so filled with this kind of love and submission that they would say “If on my account sedition and disagreement and schisms have arisen, I will depart, I will go away whithersoever ye desire, and I will do whatever the majority commands; only let the flock of Christ live on terms of peace with the presbyters set over it.”[v]

Wow.  I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone – Christian or otherwise – who would voluntarily submit in this way. But what would the church be like if we who profess to be followers of the Christ could say in any argument, “I’ll leave if I’ve caused division, only let there be peace,”?  Could we so value the peace and health of the body of Christ as to voluntarily remove ourselves?  That would be something to see.

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[i] Chap. XLIV

[ii] Chap. I

[iii] Chap. XLVII

[iv] Chap. XLVI

[v] Chap. LIV

Tell Me

Tell Me

Tell me of those Christian martyrs
living and dying
in the shadow of violence
cast by the cross,
suffering with the Christ
as he suffered with them,
participating in his death
and sharing his glory.

Tell me of those
redeemed in his blood
and ordained in their own.
Tell me of those called to be
sacred vessels of his peace
even as they hung on imperial crosses.

Tell me how they praised
the God of heaven
and the Prince of peace
as they forgave their murderers,
and went to their deaths
as a procession into life.

Tell me of those Christian martyrs
so they will not be forgotten
in this imperial age
under the shadow of imperial violence
committed in the guise of righteousness.