Chapter XXI: Part I

FROM THE DATE OF THE GREAT FIRE OF ROME IN THE REIGN OF NERO TO
THE DEATH OF MARCUS ANTONINUS

A.D. 64-A.D. 180

INTRODUCTORY

There is really no doubt but that in the period of which we are writing in this Third Book, roughly stretching over some hundred and sixteen years, with very short intervals of comparative stillness, the Christian sect constantly lived under the veiled shadow of persecution; the penalties exacted for the confession of the Name were very severe--the confessors were ever exposed to confiscation of their goods, to harsh imprisonment, to torture, and to death.

This state of things, which existed in the Church in Rome and in all the communities of Christians, is disclosed to us not merely or even principally in the Acts of Martyrs, which for this very early period are comparatively few in number, and, with a few notable exceptions, of questionable authority, but largely from the fragments of contemporary Christian writings of undoubted authenticity which have come down to us.[92]

These fragments, for several of these writings are but fragments, represent a somewhat considerable literature, and they may be looked upon as descriptive of much of the life led by Christians during these hundred and sixteen years,[93] the period when the religion of Jesus was gradually but rapidly taking root in the world of Rome. With one notable exception the writings to which we refer issued from the heart of the New Sect.

We shall give a chain of some of the more striking passages from the fragments of the works in question, the passages which especially bear upon the ceaseless persecution which the Christians had to endure during that period we are dwelling upon in this section--which ended with the death of Marcus and the accession of his son Commodus in A.D. 180.

The quotations will be divided into two groups: the first from writings of apostles and apostolic men; that is, of men who had seen and conversed with the apostles themselves. The dates of this first group of witnesses range from the days of Nero to the days of Trajan, roughly from A.D. 64 to A.D. 107-10. The second group will include writings dating from the days of Trajan to the accession of Commodus, A.D. 180: the approximate dates of each writing and a very brief account of the several authors will be given.

It will be seen that the allusions to a state of persecution grow more numerous, more detailed and emphatic after A.D. 134-5, the date of the close of the last terrible Jewish war in the latter years of the Emperor Hadrian, when the line of separation between the Jew and the Christian became definitely marked, and the position and attitude of the Christians was no longer merely contemptuously viewed, but was misliked and even feared by the State authorities, who then (after A.D. 135) for the first time clearly saw what a great and powerful society had grown up in the heart of the Empire.

* * * * *

What a weighty group of words are those we are about to quote! They were written by men who lived in the heart of that little Society who with a love stronger than death loved Jesus of Nazareth as their friend and their God. They are words which are embedded in their letters--their devotional works--their histories--their pleading treatises and apologies for the faith, the faith which they esteemed of greater price than life.

Intensely real, they tell us of the life they and theirs were leading: reading them we seem to breathe the air they breathed; the simple unvarnished story tells us what daily, hourly perils were theirs,--what awful trials, what unspeakable dangers ever surrounded them; they show how hard it was to be a Christian in those early days in the first hundred years which followed the “passing” of S. John.

Nothing we can say now--write now--can give us a picture, a living picture, of the life of these first generations of believers in the Name, as do these words gathered from the fragments of contemporary writings which have come down to us across the long ages of storm and stress and change.

In the first group we will briefly examine the following:--The Epistle to the Hebrews, _circa_ A.D. 65-6; the First Epistle of S. Peter, _circa_ A.D. 65-7; the Apocalypse of S. John (the Revelation), _circa_ A.D. 90; the _1st Epistle_ of S. Clement of Rome, _circa_ A.D. 95. To this little selection we would add The _Seven Epistles_ of S. Ignatius, A.D. 107-10, now generally received as undoubtedly genuine.

I

FIRST GROUP OF QUOTATIONS

EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS, _CIRCA_ A.D. 65-6

The first three of the above-mentioned writings possess a peculiar authority; they have been from very early times recognized as forming part of the Canon of New Testament Scriptures: of these three the Epistle to the Hebrews is generally believed to have been composed about A.D. 65-6. The congregations addressed in it had evidently been exposed to grave afflictions, and are told that a more awful trial awaits them in no distant future. For this bitter persecution they must prepare themselves.

A number of examples of noble and heroic resistances to trial and temptation are cited (Heb. xi. 32-40, xii. 1-4); the writer of the Epistle evidently expected that similar experiences will be the lot of the congregation he was addressing.

FIRST EPISTLE OF S. PETER, _CIRCA_ A.D. 65-7

The second writing, which will be examined at rather greater length, is of the utmost importance as a witness to the view of the perpetual persecution to which after A.D. 64 the sect was exposed. The First Epistle of S. Peter[94] was put out _circa_ 65-7. It was written manifestly in a time of persecution; the keynote of the Epistle is consolation and encouragement for the distant congregations addressed. The persecution was evidently raging in Rome, whence the letter was written, but it was rapidly spreading also in the provinces of the Empire. The language used shows it was no isolated capricious onslaught, but a systematic and legalized attack on the religion of Jesus. To quote a few passages:

“Now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness by reason of manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being more precious than of gold which perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ” (i. 6, 7).

“If ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye; and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled.... It is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing” (iii. 14-17).

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you” (iv. 12).

“If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you.... If any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf” (iv. 14-16).

“Whom resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” (v. 9).

REVELATION OF S. JOHN, _CIRCA_ A.D. 90

The Apocalypse of S. John is now generally dated _circa_ A.D. 90; the _keynote_ of this strange and in many parts beautiful writing--so unlike, save in certain sections, the other acknowledged books of the New Testament Canon--is _the suffering of the Church_: just a quarter of a century had elapsed since Nero and his advisers resolved upon the persecution of the congregations of the believers in Jesus.

No one can read this striking “Revelation” of S. John, with its wonderful visions, its exhortations, its words of warning, its messages of encouragement and comfort, without being keenly sensible that the Church therein portrayed had been exposed--was then exposed to a bitter, relentless persecution; that the sufferers were witnesses to the Name; and that their sufferings were not owing to any deeds of wrong or treason to the State, but purely _because of the Name which they confessed_. They had been condemned simply because they were Christians.

It is true that comparatively little is said directly about these persecutions. Other subjects clearly are far more important to the writer; but a number of incidental allusions to the sufferings endured in the course of persecution occur--allusions which cannot be mistaken.

We will quote a few of these. Many of them imply that the Church was exposed to a long continued harrying to the death:

“I saw under the altar the souls of those that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled” (vi. 9-11).

“These are they that came out of great tribulation ... therefore are they before the throne of God” (vii. 14-17).

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death” (xii. 11).

“They have shed the blood of saints and prophets” (xvi. 6).

“And I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God ... and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” (xx. 4).

The victims of these persecutions, we are markedly told, are witnesses to the “Name” or the “Faith”: so in the letter to the Church in Pergamos we read:

“Thou holdest fast My name, and hast not denied My Faith” (ii. 13).

“And I saw the woman[95] drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (xvii. 6).

The persecution had been of long standing:

“I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast My name ... even in those days wherein Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was slain among you” (ii. 13).

And the persecution is to continue:

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer ... be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (ii. 10).

Specially interesting from an historical point of view in this connexion of the testimony of the “Apocalypse” of S. John with the sleepless persecution to which the sect was subjected, is Professor Ramsay’s exegesis of the words, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (the beast) whose names are not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb” (xiii. 8), and “as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (xiii. 15).

“It is here implied that the persecutor is worshipped as a God by all people[96] except the Christians, and that the martyrs are slain because they do not worship ‘the beast’--_i.e._ the Roman Emperor. Hence their refusal to worship ‘the beast’ and their witness to their own God, are united in one act; and this implies that the worship of ‘the beast’ (the Emperor) formed a test, the refusal of which was equivalent to a confession and witness....

“The importance attached during this persecution to the worship of the Emperor, and the hatred of this special form of idolatry as the special enemy, have dictated the phrase addressed to the Church of Pergamos, ‘Thou dwellest where the throne of Satan, _i.e._ the temple of Rome and Augustus, is’” (ii. 13).

The peculiar partiality of the Emperor Domitian for this especial form of idolatry, in which he personally was adored as a god, has been already alluded to.

S. CLEMENT OF ROME, FIRST EPISTLE, _CIRCA_ A.D. 95-6

About the year of grace 95-6, Clement, bishop of Rome, wrote his letter to the Christian congregation of Corinth--generally known as his _1st Epistle_. From the days of Irenæus downwards this letter has ever been considered a work of the highest importance, and its genuineness as a writing of Clement of Rome has never been disputed. Its importance consists in its record of the traditional interpretation of the apostolic teaching which was held in the great congregation of the metropolis from the first days. The immediate reasons of the Bishop of Rome writing to the Church of Corinth were the disastrous internal dissensions which were harassing the Corinthian congregation, disputes which not only marred its influence at home, but were productive of grave scandal abroad, and which, unless checked, would seriously affect the work of the Church in cities far distant from Corinth.

It was a gentle loving letter of remonstrance; but its value to the Church at large in all times consists in its being an authoritative declaration of the doctrine taught in the great Church in Rome in the closing years of the first century, somewhat more than a quarter of a century after the deaths of SS. Peter and Paul.

Clement in his Epistle to the Church of Corinth had no intention of writing a history of his Church. The object of his writing was a very different one. There are, however, a few notices scattered here and there in the course of his long letter, which bear upon the subject now under discussion, _i.e._, the continuous nature of the persecution under which the Christian folk lived from the year 64 onward.

Clement begins by explaining the reason of his delay in taking up the questions which vexed the Corinthian congregation. “By reason of the sudden and repeated calamities which are befalling us, we consider, brethren, we have been somewhat tardy in giving heed to the matters of dispute that have arisen among you, dearly beloved” (_1 Ep._ 1).

The next allusion is a very striking one. “But to pass from the examples of ancient days” (Clement had been quoting from the Old Testament), “let us come to those champions who lived very near to our time. Let us set before us the examples which belong to our generation ... the greatest and most righteous pillars of the Church were persecuted and contended even unto death. There was Peter who ... endured not one nor two but many labours, and then having borne his testimony went to his appointed place of glory.... Paul by his example pointed out the prize of patient endurance ... he departed from the world, and went unto the holy place.... Unto these men of holy lives was gathered a vast multitude, who through many indignities and tortures ... set a brave example among ourselves.

“These things, dearly beloved, we write not only as admonishing you, but also as putting ourselves in remembrance; for we are in the same lists, and the same contest awaiteth us” (_1 Ep._ 5-7).

Clement’s words here, which occur in the middle of his argument, indisputably imply that after the martyr-death of the two great Christian teachers Peter and Paul, a continuous persecution harried the congregation (he is speaking especially of Rome) all through his own generation. “A vast multitude of the elect,” he tells us, in their turn suffered martyrdom, and were joined to the eminent leaders who had gone before them. When Domitian perished we know there was a temporary lull in the storm of persecution. Dion relates how the Emperor Nerva dismissed those who were awaiting their trial on the charge of sacrilege. It was no doubt in this very brief period of comparative quiet that Clement had leisure to attend to the troubled affairs at the Church of Corinth, and to write the important letter just quoted from.

But the Roman bishop was aware that “the lull” was quite a temporary one, and was due only to the reaction which set in after the murder of Domitian during the short reign of the Emperor Nerva; for he goes on to speak (in chap. vi.) of his condition and of the condition of his co-religionists at Rome: “We are in the same lists (with those who have been slain), and the same contest awaits us.”

IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, BISHOP AND MARTYR, _CIRCA_ A.D. 107-10

Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who suffered martyrdom in the days of Trajan, _circa_ A.D. 107-10,--some twelve or fifteen years after Clement of Rome wrote his memorable letter to the Church of Corinth,--is the next witness we propose to call in support of the contention advanced in the preceding pages, namely, that the persecution began by Nero in the year 64 was never really allowed again to slumber, but that with more or less vehemence it continued to harass the Christian sect all through the reigns of the Emperors of the Flavian dynasty and onward.

The Letters of Ignatius were written, it is true, a few years after the extinction of the Flavian House. But the martyr-bishop of Antioch was born about the year of grace 40, and he therefore was about twenty-four years old when the persecution of Nero began; and all through the reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian without doubt he occupied a high position, probably in the Christian congregation at Antioch; he therefore may well be cited as a responsible witness of the relations which existed between the Christians and the government of the Empire during the last thirty-five years of the first century.

In the course of his journey from Syria to Rome, where he was condemned to be exposed to the wild beasts in the magnificent Flavian amphitheatre (the Colosseum), Ignatius wrote seven letters which have been preserved to us; six of these were addressed to special Churches, and one to Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna.

Round these letters a long controversial war has raged respecting their authenticity. In our own day and time, thanks to the almost lifelong labours of the eminent scholar-bishop of Durham (Dr. Lightfoot), the controversy has virtually been closed. Serious European scholars, with rare exceptions, now accept the seven Epistles (the middle recension,[97] as Lightfoot calls it) of the Ignatian correspondence, as absolutely genuine.

Ramsay well and briefly sums up the purport of the allusions to the conditions under which the Christian sect had been and still was living during the long period of Ignatius’ own personal experience, which included the whole duration of the sovereignty of the Flavian family, _i.e._ during the reign of the Emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. These allusions all occur in the martyr’s four letters written in the course of his journey to Rome, during his halt at Smyrna, _i.e._ in the Epistles to the Churches of Ephesus, Tralles, Magnesia and Rome.

He says, “These abound in delicate phrases, the most explicit of which may be quoted--The life of a Christian is a life of suffering; the climax of his life, and the crowning honour of which he gradually hopes to make himself worthy, is martyrdom; but Ignatius is far from confident that he is worthy of it (_Tralles_, 4). Suffering and persecution are the education of the Christian, and through them he becomes a true disciple (_Eph._ iii. _Magn._ viii. 9). The teacher, then, is the person or Church which has gone through most suffering, and thus shown true discipleship, and Ignatius distinguished Ephesus and Rome as his teachers. Ignatius is still in danger, not having as yet completely proved his steadfastness, whereas Ephesus has been proved and is firmly fixed, the implication being that it has been specially distinguished by the number of its martyrs; and, moreover, Ephesus has been the highway of martyrs, the chief city of the province where many, even from other parts, appeared before the proconsul for trial, and was, at the same time, the port whence they were sent to Rome. We read in the Letter to Ephesus the somewhat curious expression, ‘Ye are a high road of them which are on their way to die unto God’ (_Eph._ xii.).”

“A detailed comparison is made in the Letter to the Magnesians, viii. 9, between the prophets and the Christians of the age. The prophets were persecuted, and the Christians endure persecution patiently in order to become true disciples.... Such is the principle of the Christian life; that suffering is the best training.... The impression which had been produced by persecution on the feelings of the Christians towards the Empire is very strongly marked in the Letters of Ignatius. Outside of the Apocalypse, the irreconcilable opposition between the State and Christianity is nowhere more strongly expressed than in them, and there runs throughout both groups of writings the same identification of the State with the world. The same magnificent audacity towards the State, the same refusal to accept what seemed to men to be the plain facts of the situation, the same perfect assurance of victory, characterize both.”[98]

With the exception, however, of passages in the _Epistle to the Romans_, Ignatius’ letters contain no _direct_ reference to persecution; they are exclusively devoted to the affairs and prospects of the Churches to which he was writing, but the whole spirit of the little collection indicates that persecution and suffering were the common lot of the Christian sect in the days of the Flavian Emperors and their immediate successors.

The letter to the Roman Church is, however, quite different in its contents from the other six. It is entirely taken up with one single topic--the coming martyrdom of the writer. For the Christian, indeed, in earnest, “martyrdom is the new birth, the true life, the pure light, the complete discipleship; the martyr’s crown is better than all the kingdoms of the earth; only then, when the martyr sets to the world, will he rise to God. Crowned by martyrdom, his life becomes an utterance of God.”

This fervid, passionate--if somewhat exaggerated--picture of martyrdom would convey little meaning to the Roman congregations had not such scenes as that depicted by Ignatius been of common occurrence in Rome. Its reception, however, shows how well it was understood by those to whom the burning words of the martyr-bishop were addressed. His letters were most highly prized in very early days, but this special Epistle to the Roman Church from the beginning enjoyed a wider popularity than the others. Its details and teaching were absolutely unique. It appears to have been circulated apart from the other six, sometimes alone, sometimes attached to the story of the martyrdom for which Ignatius so longed.

Two or three references in this letter deserve to be noted as bearing especially on the question of the sleepless nature of the persecution endured by the sect.

_Epistle to Romans_, 3. Bishop Lightfoot well paraphrases this passage, thus:

“Do not,” writes Ignatius, urging the Roman Church not to take any step which might hinder his anticipated death in the arena, “depart from your true character; you have hitherto sped the martyrs forward to victory; do not now interpose and rob me of my crown.” Rome had hitherto been the chief arena of martyrdom; the Roman brethren had cheered on many a dying Christian hero in his glorious contest.

In the _Epistle to Romans_, 5, we come upon the following curious statement concerning the arena wild beasts to which he was condemned: “May I have joy of the beasts that have been prepared for me; and I pray that I may find them ready, nay, I will entice them that they may devour me quickly, not as they have done to some, refusing to touch them through fear; yea, though of themselves they should not be willing while I am ready, I myself will force them to it.”

This refusal of the wild beasts to touch their intended victims is by no means an uncommon incident in early martyrology. The capricious conduct of beasts suddenly released from confinement and darkness, and brought into the bright light of the amphitheatre, with the dense crowds of spectators all around shouting applause or execration, is quite natural. It is by no means necessary to impart the miraculous into all these stories, many of them absolutely authentic. Still that the Most High did at times close the mouths of the “wild” is quite credible. The strange, mysterious power often exercised by saintly men and women over furred and feathered untamed creatures is a well-known fact, and has been more than once the subject of discussion.[99] Such an allusion, however, to the occasional conduct of the wild creatures in the arena occurring in the midst of the writer’s arguments, plainly shows that the spectacle of terrible massacres of Christian folk in the arena, where they were exposed to wild beasts, was no uncommon feature in Roman life.

The grim catalogue of tortures which the heroic martyr enumerates in the same chapter of the Roman Epistle, completed the awful picture of the sufferings of brave Christian confessors, sufferings which the Roman citizens had no doubt for many past years often gazed at.

II

SECOND GROUP OF QUOTATIONS

LETTER OF PLINY TO TRAJAN, _CIRCA_ A.D. 112

In the second group of quotations from ancient authorities must be placed the very important notice of the persecution in the days of Trajan, contained in the well-known correspondence of Pliny and the Emperor. This has been already discussed at some length.

It will be sufficient[100] here briefly to refer to the treatment of Christians whom Pliny found in his province of Bithynia not only in the towns but in the country villages, and to the influence which these Christians evidently exercised on the life of the province.

These Christians, with the exception of those who claimed to be citizens of Rome--who were sent to the capital for trial--were after the third examination, if they still continued contumacious, condemned and put to death on the authority of the governor (“perseverantes duci (ad mortem) jussi”).

This is the only heathen authority[101] quoted here, but its extreme importance in this inquiry into the condition of Christians in the Roman Empire in the days of Trajan and earlier will justify its insertion.

LETTER TO DIOGNETUS, _CIRCA_ A.D. 117

The author of this very early Christian writing is unknown, and of the Diognetus to whom the letter is addressed we have no knowledge. But the short writing in question is interesting and even eloquent, and its date can be ascertained with fair certainty from expressions contained in the letter. Christianity, when the writing was put out, was _a new thing in the world_--this is several times noticed in the letter.[102]

The following notable references to persecution occur: “Christians love all men, and are persecuted by all; they are unknown and (yet) condemned; they are put to death ... they are in want of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour they are glorified; they are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled and bless; they are insulted and yet repay the insult with honour; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers; when punished they rejoice” (_Letter to Diognetus_, chap. v.).

“Do you not see them (the Christians) exposed to wild beasts, that they may be persuaded to deny the Lord, and yet not overcome? Do you not see that the more of them that are punished, the greater become the numbers of the rest” (_Letter to Diognetus_, chap. vii.).

“Then shalt thou both love and admire those that suffer punishment because they will not deny God.”

* * * * *

“Then shalt thou admire those who for righteousness’ sake endure the fire which is but for a moment, and shalt count them happy, when thou shalt know (the nature of) that fire” (_Letter to Diognetus_, chap. x.).

THE _SHEPHERD_ OF HERMAS, _CIRCA_ A.D. 140

Hermas, the author or compiler of the once famous _Shepherd_ (the Pastor) in a very ancient tradition was identified with the Hermas mentioned by S. Paul (Rom. xvi. 14). This identification was suggested by Origen in the middle of the third century. The Muratorian Canon gives as the approximate date of its composition _circa_ A.D. 140, and suggests another author. Modern scholarship, however, considers that the work in question passed through several redactions, the first belonging to a yet earlier date. If this, as is probable, be the case, then certainly considerable portions of the little volume of the “Shepherd” belong to the reign of Trajan, and possibly to the period of the episcopate of Clement of Rome.[103]

But whether we adopt for the composition of the writing the year 140, or thereabouts, or with Duchesne and Harnack the earlier date of portions of the writing (the last years of the first century), there is no doubt whatever that the work containing the “Visions,” “Commandments,” and “Parables” of Hermas (generally known as the _Shepherd_) was accepted by the Christians of the second century as a treatise of very high authority. It was publicly read in the congregations along with the canonical (to use a later term) Scriptures, without, however, being put on a level with these sacred writings.

Gradually though we find its authority diminishing, sterner spirits, like Tertullian, misliking its gentle and compassionate directions in the case of the reconciliation of sinners, theologians too, who in the first years were less positive, less precise in their dogmatical definitions, soon began to see how speculative and even wild were some of the statements and definitions of the Persons in the Godhead. Thus the work became less and less an important piece in the arsenal of Christian theology. S. Jerome, for instance, openly flouts it when he writes of the _Shepherd_ as “Liber ille apocryphus stultitiæ condemnandus.” Others, however, of the highest authority in the Church in the third and fourth centuries, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and Athanasius, seem to have ever held the _Shepherd_ in great veneration.

The high place it held in the early Church is shown by its appearing in that most ancient MS. of the Holy Scriptures the Codex Sinaiticus, where it is honoured by being placed at the end of the canonical writings.

But it is as an historical piece of evidence respecting the continued persecutions which vexed the early Church, without any period of cessation, that the work is quoted here. The _Shepherd_ is full of references to this state of things. Renan (_L’Église Chrétienne_) describes this book in his picturesque vivid imagery as “issuing from a bath of blood.” Lightfoot speaks of it as “haunted in large parts by this ghastly spectre of persecution.” The writer specially alludes to this harrying of the Christian sect in the past, and says that it was likely to continue in the future.

Hermas, in his unique and interesting work, says nothing about the Jewish foes of the Church, and his allusions to the pagans around him are very few. The work may be said to deal exclusively with the inner life of the Roman congregations. On the whole he pictures the life led by the followers of Jesus as fairly satisfactory and good, harassed though it was, but there were many things constantly appearing and reappearing in that life which needed amendment. He dwells with more or less detail on differences, quarrels, bitterness, which arose among themselves, and which too often disfigured and marred the beautiful Christian ideals.

But after all, in Hermas’ evidently faithful and accurate pictures of the Christian congregations in Rome, the point he dwells on with the greatest emphasis is their behaviour in those ever-recurring trials of their faith to which they were constantly exposed through the sleepless, restless ill-will of the Government. Whether the writing dates from _circa_ 140, when Hadrian was reigning, or in part from the last years of the first century in the days of Trajan, it is evident that the position of the Christian community was ever most precarious.

The rescripts of Trajan and Hadrian somewhat softened the stern measures, but before and even after these humane and statesmanlike regulations the position of the Christian was indeed a trying and painful one. For even after the issuing of the rescripts in question the sword ever hung over their heads, and the slender thread upon which it hung was often snapped.

Perpetually were the Christians haled before the magistrate. They had stern searching questions to answer; easily was the capital crime of professing the unlawful cult daily brought home to them. They were asked: Were they willing to renounce it, and in place of it adore the gods of the pagans? Would they throw a few grains of incense, as a token of their recantation, on the altars of Rome and Augustus? If they would do this very little thing, as it seemed, at once they were released; but if they refused, then death, in some form or other, was their speedy and inevitable doom.

Hermas tells us a good deal of what was happening in the Roman congregations in the matter of persecution for the Name’s sake. The harrying of Christians, when the author of the _Shepherd_ was writing, must have been continuous, for he sadly speaks of those who were frequently yielding to pressure. Apostasy in the Christian ranks was, alas! not an unknown scandal. Some, he tells us, simply renounced their faith; others, terrified, went further and publicly blasphemed the Name. Some were positively base enough to betray and denounce their brethren in the Faith.

But, on the other hand, Hermas tells us how the Church numbered many martyrs. All, he says, were not on a level even here, for some trembled at first and flinched, and only witnessed a good confession at the last, probably when about to cense the idol altar. There were some though, said our writer, whose heart never for an instant failed them.

Yet, on the whole, this stern though kindly censor of the Christian Church was not dissatisfied with the life generally led by the congregations of believers in Jesus; he seems to recognise to the full the sorely tempted lives--tempted not only by the imminent danger which the confession of the Name entailed--though he dwells mostly on this ever-present peril--but also by the smaller lures with which all human existence is inextricably bound up: business matters, society obligations, the old jealousy and envy which ever exist between the rich and the poor.

“Le livre d’Hermas,” observes Duchesne, “est un vaste examen de conscience de l’Église Romaine.” The writer spares none in his severe yet kindly criticism; the priests and deacons of the congregations are among the classes with whom he finds grave fault. In spite, however, of his earnest and touching remonstrances with those who, in hours of trial and persecution, in the many daily temptations of common life, had left their first love, Hermas acknowledges that in the Church of Rome the numbers of the just and upright are greater than the numbers of those who have fallen away. It is true that he sternly rebukes the unfaithful priests and deacons and other members of the hierarchy, but he recognizes here, too, men worthy of the highest commendation; he dwells on their love, their charity, their hospitality, and even assigns to these faithful ministers of religion a place among the glorious company of apostles.

The general impression which a careful study of Hermas’ portraiture of the Christian congregations in Rome leaves on the reader’s mind in those far-back days, roughly from the days of Nero to the times of Trajan and even Hadrian, is that that great and sorely tried Church was far from being composed entirely of saints, but that the righteous and God-fearing--the men and women who had washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, as true disciples of the Master, were after all decidedly in the majority.

Closely connected with his picture of the sins and errors of the Roman Christians--sins largely connected with the falling away of many in the dread hour of persecution--is his assurance that these sins are capable of pardon here, even if committed _after_ baptism. No sin, no falling away, in Hermas’ teaching is inexpiable; no truly penitent one is ever to be excluded from pardon and reconciliation. It was this generous and broad view of the goodness and the divine pity of God that was so misliked by the stern and pitiless teachers of the powerful school to which men like Tertullian belonged, a school which soon arose in the Church. Of the genuine written remains of the earliest period we have nothing comparable to the _Shepherd_ of Hermas, when we look for a picture of the inner life of the Church of Rome in that far-back time when the echoes of the voices of the disciples who had been with Jesus were still ringing in men’s ears.

As a dogmatic teacher the writer of the _Shepherd_ is of little or no value; Hermas emphatically was no theologian, but he was a close and evidently an accurate observer of men and things. Earnest and devout, while sadly deploring the weakness in the hour of trial of some, the failure of others in the ordinary course of things to keep on the narrow way leading to life--he rejoices with an unfeigned joy over the many noble men and women who, in all their sore danger and temptation, kept the Faith untarnished and undimmed.

Hermas of the _Shepherd_ is a witness, to whose voice none can refuse to listen, of the sore and sleepless persecution which, from the days of Nero, with rare and brief pauses ever harassed the Christian sect in Rome.[104]

Composed as this book evidently was directly under the veiled shadow of persecution--a state of things which colours well-nigh every page of the writing--it is difficult out of so many testimonies here to select any special passage telling of this perpetual harrying of the sect; a very few passages will be quoted where this restless state of persecution is painted with vivid colouring.

“Happy ye who endure the great tribulation that is coming on, and happy they who shall not deny their own life” (Hermas, _Vision_, ii. 2).

“The place to the right is for others who have pleased God, and have suffered for His Name’s sake” (Hermas, _Vision_, iii. 1).

“What have they borne? Listen: Scourges, prisons, great tribulations, crosses, wild beasts for God’s Name’s sake--to them is assigned the division of sanctification on the right hand--to every one who shall suffer for God’s Name” (Hermas, _Vision_, iii. 2).

“But who are the stones that were dragged from the depths and which were laid in the building, and fitted in with the rest of the stones before placed in the Tower? These are they who suffered for the Lord’s sake” (Hermas, _Vision_, iii. 5).

“They without hesitation repented, and practise all virtue and righteousness, and some of them even suffered, being willingly put to death,”--“Of all these, therefore, the dwelling shall be in the Tower.”

“All who were brought before the authorities and were examined, and did not deny, but suffered gladly, these are held in great honour with God” (Hermas, _Parables_, viii. 10).

“All who once suffered for the name of the Lord are honourable before God, and of all these the sins were remitted, because they suffer for the Name of the Son of God” (Hermas, _Parables_, viii. 20).

“And ye who suffer for His Name ought to glorify God, because He deemed you worthy to bear His Name, that all your sores might be healed” (Hermas, _Parables_, viii. 28).

JUSTIN MARTYR, _CIRCA_ A.D. 140-A.D. 160

The above dates roughly embrace the period of Justin’s literary activity. He was, however, born not later than _circa_ A.D. 114, probably several years before. We know little of his early history. He was a diligent student and a thinker, and his works are amongst the most important that have come down to us from the first sixty years of the second century. Three writings of his are extant of the genuineness of which there is no doubt. Two _Apologies_ and _The Dialogue with the Jew Trypho_. The first _Apology_ and the _Dialogue_ are works of considerable size. There are besides other writings which bear his name, but the authenticity of these is doubtful.

Originally a pagan, it seems that he became a Christian owing to the strong impression made upon him by the fearlessness which the disciples of the New Sect showed in the presence of death. He was also deeply persuaded of the grandeur and truth of the old Testament Scriptures. In the end, while the Emperor Marcus Antoninus was reigning, he received the Martyr’s crown he had for so many years passionately admired and coveted. This was about the year 165.

His three authentic writings contain numberless references to the persecutions endured by the followers of the Name, and countless allusions to the state of perpetual risk and danger in which his co-religionists lived and worked.

We will cite a very few of these, in which unmistakable details are given.

“If any one acknowledges that he is a Christian, you punish him on account of this confession” (Justin, _Apol._ i. 4).

The condemnation to death for the mere name of Christian is often dwelt upon by our writer (see such passages as are contained in 1 _Apol._ xi.).

“We may not lie or deceive our (official) interrogators; we willingly die confessing Christ” (Justin, _Apol._ i. 39).

“Although death is decreed against those who teach, or even confess the name of Christ, everywhere we confess it and teach it” (Justin, _Apol._ i. 45).

“They that believe that there is nothing after death ... they become our benefactors when they free us from the sufferings and trials of this life; ... they kill us, however, not with the view of benefiting us, but that we may be deprived of life and joy” (Justin, _Apol._ i. 57).

“The Gentiles who know God--the Creator of all things through Jesus the Crucified ... patiently await every torture and vengeance--even death--rather than worship idols” (Justin, _Dialogue with Trypho_, xxxv.).

“ ... Lest you be persecuted by the rulers who ... will not cease putting to death and persecuting those who confess the Name of Christ....” (Justin, _Dial._ xxxix.).

“ ... Because we refuse to sacrifice to those to whom in old times we used to sacrifice to, we suffer the severest penalties, and rejoice in death, believing that God will raise us up by His Christ, and will make us incorruptible--safe--immortal” (Justin, _Dial._ xlvi.).

“Now it is plain that no one is able to frighten us or subject us who have believed in Jesus, ... for it is manifest that though beheaded and crucified, and cast to wild beasts, and fire, and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession; but the more such things happen, the more do others, and in ever-increasing numbers too, become believers and worshippers of God through the Name of Jesus” (Justin, _Dial._ cx.).

“And you yourselves ... must acknowledge that we who have been called by God through the contemned and shameful mystery of the Cross ... endure all torments rather than deny Christ even by word” (Justin, _Dial._ cxxxi.).

“For having put some to death on account of the false charges brought against us, they also dragged to the torture our servants--children--weak women--and by awful torments drove them to admit that they were guilty of those very actions which they (the persecutors) openly perpetrate,--about which, however, we are little concerned, because none of these actions are really ours. We have the ineffable God as witness both of our thoughts and deeds” (Justin, II. _Apol._ xii.).

THE _OCTAVIUS_ OF MINUCIUS FELIX, _CIRCA_ A.D. 160

Jerome tells us that Minucius Felix was, before his conversion to Christianity, an advocate at Rome. The dialogue, which forms the substance of the writing--a work of some considerable length, is a supposed argument between a cultured pagan Cæcilius and the Christian Octavius--the writer Minucius Felix acting as arbiter between the disputants. The scene of the dialogue was the seashore of Ostia, it closes with the conversion of the pagan Cæcilius, who is convinced by the arguments brought forward by the Christian Octavius.[105]

The resemblances between Minucius Felix and the famous _Apology_ of Tertullian, which was written _circa_ A.D. 200, are most striking--and the question which of the two was the plagiarist has long been before critics. Later scholars, among whom Ebert, Salmon, Bishop Lightfoot, Renan, and Keim are conspicuous, have conclusively established the priority of Minucius. The year of grace 160, before the death of Antoninus Pius, a date based upon the internal evidence of the writing, is suggested by Lightfoot as the most probable period of the composition.

Dean Milman’s estimate of the literary excellence of the piece is as follows: “Perhaps no late work, either pagan or Christian, reminds us of the golden days of Latin prose so much as the _Octavius_ of Minucius Felix” (_Hist. of Christianity_, book iv. chap. iii.).

The following striking passages bearing on the subject of the ceaseless persecution to which the Christians were subjected in the middle years of the second century are taken from the thirty-seventh chapter of the _Dialogue_:

“How beautiful before God is the spectacle of a Christian entering into the lists with pain, when he is matched against threats and punishments and tortures; when, deriding the noise of death, he treads under foot the horror of the public executioner; when he raises up his liberty in opposition to kings and princes, and yields to God alone, whose he is; when, triumphant and a victor, he tramples upon the very man who has pronounced sentence against him! For he has conquered who has won that for which he fights.... But God’s soldier is neither forsaken in suffering, nor is he brought to an end by death. Thus the Christian may seem to be miserable, he cannot really be found to be so. You yourselves extol unfortunate men to the skies. Mucius Scævola, for instance, who, when he had failed in his attempts against the king, would have perished ... had he not sacrificed his right hand. And how many of our people have endured that not only their right hand but that their whole body should be burned--burned without a cry of pain--though they had it in their power to be freed!

... “Do I compare Christian men with Mucius or even with Regulus? Yet boys and young girls mock at crosses and tortures, wild beasts and all the terrors of punishment--with all the inspired patience of suffering” (Minucius Felix, cap. xxxvii.).

MELITO, BISHOP OF THE CHURCH IN SARDIS, _CIRCA_ A.D. 170

Very little is known of this Melito; he was evidently a somewhat voluminous writer, but only few fragments remain of the long list of his works which Eusebius has given (_H.E._ Book vi. 26). In one of these fragments of a discourse, addressed to the Emperor Marcus, the following passage occurs:

“What indeed never before happened, the race of the pious (the Christians) is now persecuted, driven about in Asia by new and strange decrees. For the shameless informers are those that covet the goods of others, and, making use of the edicts of the Emperors, openly commit robbery, night and day, plundering those (the Christians) who are guilty of no crime.... And if these things are carried out by your commands (_i.e._ of the Emperor Marcus), let them at least be done in a legal form.... We (Christians) indeed bear joyfully the guerdon of such a death--still, we only urge upon you this petition, that you yourself would first inquire into the persons of these plotters of mischief, and judge whether they themselves deserve death and punishment, or safety and immunity.... We entreat you not to forget us in the midst of this lawless plunder of the populace” (Melito of Sardis, Fragment quoted by Eusebius, _H.E._ iv. 26).

ATHENAGORAS, _CIRCA_ A.D. 177

It is singular how little information has come down to us concerning this Athenian philosopher who had become a Christian. It is believed he wrote much, but the very names of his works have perished. The only fragments of Athenagoras that remain are his _Apology_, or _Embassy_, as he styles it, addressed to the Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his son Commodus, and a treatise on _The Resurrection_.

Philip of Side[106] gives one interesting detail respecting this little known early writer. He tells us he was converted to Christianity by the Scriptures, which he was studying with the view of controverting them.

The following passage is from the _Apology_ or _Embassy_ of Athenagoras.

He is addressing the Emperors Marcus and Commodus, and then writes: “Why is the mere name (of Christian) hateful to you? Names (surely) are not deserving of hatred. It is the wrongful act that calls for penalty and punishment. But, for us who are called Christians you have had no care, though we commit no wrong.... You allow us to be harassed--plundered--persecuted--the people warring with us for our name alone.... We suffer unjustly contrary to the law.... We beseech you to have some care for us, that we may cease at length to be slaughtered at the instigation of false accusers.... When we have surrendered our goods, they still plot against our very bodies and souls--levelling against us many charges of crimes of which we are guiltless even in thought” (chap. i.).

“ ... If indeed any one can convict us of a crime either small or great, we do not plead to be let off punishment; we are then prepared to suffer the sharpest and most merciless chastisement, but if the accusation is merely concerned with our _Name_ ... then, O illustrious sovereigns, it is your part to free us by law from their evil treatment.... What therefore is granted as the common right of all, we too claim for ourselves, that we shall not be hated and punished merely because we are called Christians” (Athenagoras, chap. ii.).

The above quotations from Athenagoras show very clearly on what apparently superficial grounds the Christians were bitterly persecuted and harassed in every conceivable fashion--solely because they were Christians. The _nomen ipsum_, the bare “name,” was a sufficient ground of condemnation in the reign of the great and good Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

THEOPHILUS OF ANTIOCH, _CIRCA_ A.D. 180

Theophilus, according to Eusebius, _H.E._ iv. 20-24, was sixth Bishop of the Syrian Antioch in succession (so Eusebius). He became bishop in the year 168, when Marcus was reigning. Nothing is known of his life save that he was born a pagan. He was the author of several works--including _Commentaries_ on the Gospels and on the Book of Proverbs, and of a writing against Marcion, etc. But none of these have come down to us. All we possess are the three books containing “the Elements of the Faith,” addressed to his friend Autolycus. The quoted passage is from the third of these books. His arguments in many respects are similar to those advanced by Justin Martyr.

“They persecute, and do daily persecute, those who worship Him (the only God).... Of those (_i.e._ of the Christians) who are zealous in the pursuit of virtue, and practise a holy life, some they stone, some they put to death, and up to the present time they subject them to cruel torture.”

TERTULLIAN, _CIRCA_ A.D. 195-211

To complete the chain of testimony supplied by contemporary writers to the perpetual state of unrest, an unrest ever passing into active persecution, which was the lot of the Christian sect from A.D. 64, the date of the first formal harrying of Nero, to A.D. 180, the date of the death of the Emperor Marcus, the period here under consideration--the important witness of Tertullian is added. The years of his literary activity stretch roughly from A.D. 195-211. But although the dates of his works range from some fifteen to twenty years after the death of Marcus, it is certain that his general view of the condition of Christians would include at least the latter years of the period we are specially dwelling on.

His treatises, which especially relate to Christian and church life and to ecclesiastical discipline, are coloured with references to this condition of persecution under which the Christian sect evidently lived. The very numerous references in question are introduced casually as though the dangerous conditions were a matter of course, were inescapable, and entered into the ordinary life of the sect.

We cite a very few of these as specimen instances of Tertullian’s conception of the life so environed with deadly perils.

The whole of the short and interesting address to “Blessed Martyrs designate” in this connection should be read here.

“We are daily beset by foes, we are daily betrayed, we are oftentimes surprised in our meetings and congregations” (Tertullian, _Apol._ 7).

“Without ceasing for our Emperors we offer prayer ... we ask for whatever, as man or Cæsar, an Emperor could wish.... With our hands thus stretched out and up to God, rend us with your iron claws, hang us up on crosses, wrap us in flames, take our heads from us with the sword, let loose the wild beasts on us; the very attitude of a Christian praying is one of preparation for its punishment. Let this, good rulers, be your work, wring from us the soul beseeching God on the Emperor’s behalf. Upon the truth of God, and devotion to His Name, put the brand of crime” (Tertullian, _Apol._ 30).

“Christians alone are forbidden to say anything in their defence to help the judge to a righteous decision; all that is cared about is getting what the public hatred demands--the confession of the Name” (Tertullian, _Apol._ 2).

Constantly Tertullian refers to the great offence in the Christians simply lying in “the Name.” “Your sentences, however, are only to this effect, viz.: that one has confessed himself to be a Christian,” occurs frequently (Tertullian, _Ad Nationes_, 8).