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From
persecution to persecution
Inspiring Men of the Early Church:
In
these articles, this lecture, we are going to have a look at a martyr, a
miracle-worker and one of the greatest preachers that ever walked the
earth. They will also provide insights
into the Church of subsequent centuries, as these men had their active life in
the second, third and fourth century respectively.
-A
martyr: Polycarp (2nd century)
-A
miracle worker: Gregory (3rd century)
-A
church leader and public speaker: John Chrystostom (4th century)
Some
lives speak so loud that ordinary folk want nothing of their doctrines and
convictions. The results do not satisfy
and the actions speak louder than the words. Other men continue to inspire by
their walk, achievements and example, though they may have left the scene of
world history hundreds of years ago. We
are about to meet three of them.
Polycarp (69-155)
The
first person I would like us to consider is St. Polycarp, saint because he was,
not because some bishop of Rome declared him one. He may be considered a link between the age of the apostles and
that of the earliest church fathers. It is a bit difficult really, as he was
part of both ages. During his Christian
life, which probably started with baptism as infant from Christian parents, he
was both a contemporary of the apostle John the Theologian and of apostolic
fathers like St. Ignatius: the one we learned about in our lecture on the Word
of God in the Early Church.
Through Polycarp a delightful
story about John the apostle has been preserved.
Both Irenaeus of Lyons and a
church historian, Eusebius of Ceasarea, tell us that Polycarp passed on the
following incident. Once the apostle John entered a bathhouse to
take one for obvious reasons; but, learning that Cerinthus, a well known
heretic, was inside, he jumped from the place and rushed out of the door, for
he could not bear to remain under the same roof with the heretic. And he advised those that were with him to
do the same, saying, “Let us flee, lest the bathhouse collapses for Cerinthus,
the enemy of the truth, is within.”
Eusebius also tells us that Polycarp was a
disciple of the apostles and a man of eminence in what was known as Asia in
those days, mostly present day Turkey. He also points out that it was the
apostles that entrusted Polycarp with the episcopate of the church in
Smyrna. If not in person than certainly
“by those who had seen and heard the Lord”. He was bishop in the sense of leader
and overseer. This becomes clear in his
letter to the congregation in Philippi, Greece. He starts of with “Polukarpos kai hoi sun
autooi presbuteroi tej ekklesia tou theou tej paroikousej Philippous”. This will be Greek to you, which it is, but simply means that
Polycarp writes together with the other elders to the church of God in
residence at Philippi.
As bishop or overseer of the church he was also in contact with
ministers elsewhere. At some stage he
went to Rome to discuss a question concerning the exact day Easter should be
celebrated. Irenaeus knew him as a boy and praised his holiness, gravity and
majesty of countenance. In his third book Against Heresies, writes: “But
Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and acquainted with many
that had seen Christ, but was also appointed by apostles in Asia bishop of the
church of Smyrna. We too saw him in our early youth; for he lived a long time,
and died,
when a very old man, a glorious and most illustrious martyr’s death,
having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, which
the Church also hands down, and which alone are true. To these things all the
Asiatic churches testify, as do also those who, down to the present time, have
succeeded Polycarp, who was a much more trustworthy and certain witness of truth
than Valentinus and Marcion and
the rest of the heretics. He also was in Rome in the time of Anicetus
and caused many to turn away from the above-mentioned heretics to the Church of
God, proclaiming that he had received from the apostles this one and only
system of truth which has been transmitted by the Church.”
In short, Polycarp was a man who stood for truth and was not going to
back down after serving Christ for eighty years. He was acquainted with other with a similar
attitude. Polycarp welcomed Ignatius, the man of many letters, on his way to
martyrdom in Rome. The man from Smyrna
was to end his life in similar fashion.
After a local persecution broke out, he received premonition in a dream
or vision. Three days before his arrest, while he was praying, he saw in a vision at
night the pillow under his head suddenly seized by fire and consumed. Unnecessary to say, this woke him up. To
those that were present he immediately interpreted the vision almost foretelling
that which was about to happen, and declaring plainly to those that were with
him that it would be necessary for him for Christ’s sake to die by fire. It
wouldn’t exactly work out like this, as it would be a sword that succeeded
where the flamed had failed. Quite a
story it was, many years after the events even the pagans in those regions
continued to talk about it.
It was very much the will of
the people that had instigated the persecution. Crowds around the arena had
cried “Away with atheists, fetch Polycarp”; just like the Ephesians voiced
their protest against Paul and the doctrine that threatened lucrative commerce
and pagan livelihood. On his arrest,
the bishop ordered a meal for his captors, while he prayed for an hour or so.
The authorities tried to talk him out of being obstinate. “For what harm is there in saying, Lord Caesar, and sacrificing and
saving your, life?” He at first did not
answer; but when they persisted, he said, “I am not going to do what you advise
me.” And when they failed to persuade him, they uttered dreadful
words, and thrust him down with violence.
Polycarp could not be threatened or begged to denial.
In
the stadium the governor asked him to swear by the divinity of the emperor and
to say: “Away with the atheists!” Groaned, looked up to heaven “Away with the
atheists!” He complied as far as he
could. But this was not enough. Then
Polycarp spoke the words that would become nearly as famous as Martin Luther’s
words before the emperor in Worms. “For
86 years I have been his servant and he has never done met wrong; how can I
blaspheme the very king who saved me? …I am a Christian; if you wish to study
the Christian doctrine, choose a day and listen.”
Very
interesting from a democratic perspective is that the governor told Polycarp to
convince the masses and put his defence to the crowds. The bishop did not comply, but insisted that
the proper defence was to be directed to the man in office. The crowd called
for lions, but the government had stopped the games, so this wasn’t an option.
The alternative was burning Polycarp alive, which was met with the proper
enthusiasm of those days. They were
kind enough not to nail him, but just to bind him to the stake.
Eusebius
describes what happened next: “When he had offered up his Amen and had
finished his prayer, the firemen lighted the fire and as a great flame blazed
out, we, to whom it was given to see, saw a wonder, and we were preserved that
we might relate what happened to the others. For the fire presented the
appearance of a vault, like the sail of a vessel filled by the wind, and made a
wall about the body of the martyr, and it was in the midst not like flesh
burning, but like gold and silver refined in a furnace. For we perceived such a
fragrant odour, as of the fumes of frankincense or of some other precious
spices. So at length the lawless men, when they saw that the body could not be
consumed by the fire, commanded an executioner to approach and pierce him with
the sword. And when he had done this there came forth a quantity of blood so
that it extinguished the fire; and the whole crowd marvelled that there should
be such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect, of whom this man
also was one, the most wonderful teacher in our times, apostolic and prophetic,
who was bishop of the catholic Church in Smyrna.”
The life of St. Polycarp leaves us with an example of grace and steadfastness in truth, even when the whole world around him disagreed, and the powers that be shook their heads why he didn’t take the easy way out. Polycarp didn’t serve a theory or system, but a living Lord and apostolic truth. He was faithful until the end.