Church History (Book 4 – Book 5)

Church History

continued

Chapter 18

The Works of Justin Which Have Come Down to Us.

2 Justin left us a great many writings. They show an educated mind that was earnest about divine things, and they are full of every kind of benefit. I will refer lovers of learning to them, and as I go I will note those that have come to my knowledge. One is a discourse addressed to Antoninus, called the Pious, and to his sons and the Roman senate, in defense of our teachings. Another contains a second defense of our faith. He made it to Antoninus Verus, the successor and namesake of the emperor just mentioned, whose times we are now describing. 5 Another work is addressed to the Greeks. In it he writes at length on very many of the questions debated between us and the Greek philosophers, and he explains the nature of demons. There is no need to set those matters out here. Another writing of his against the Greeks has also come down to us, which he titled Refutation. Besides these there is another, On the Sovereignty of God, which he proves not only from our Scriptures but also from Greek books. Next there is a work titled Psaltes, and another school-style work On the Soul. In it he puts forward various questions on the problem under discussion and sets out the opinions of the Greek philosophers. He promises to argue against them and to state his own view in another work.^[129]

7 He also composed a dialogue against the Jews. He held it in the city of Ephesus with Trypho, the most distinguished Hebrew of that time. In it he shows how divine grace urged him toward the word of faith. He also tells how eagerly he had first applied himself to the study of philosophy and how passionately he had searched for the truth. In the same work he reports that the Jews plotted against the teaching of Christ. He says this to Trypho: “Not only did you not repent of the evil you did, but you chose men at that time and sent them out from Jerusalem to the whole earth, saying that a godless sect of Christians had appeared. You repeated the very things that all who do not know us say against us. So you are the cause of wrongdoing not only for yourselves but for all other people as well.”

9 He also says that prophetic gifts still shone in the Church up to his own time. He mentions the Revelation of John, saying plainly that it was the apostle’s. He also cites certain prophetic sayings, and he charges Trypho with the claim that the Jews had cut them out of the Scripture. Many other works of his are still in circulation among many of the brothers. The ancients too thought the man’s writings so worthy of attention that Irenaeus quoted his words. In the fourth book of Against Heresies he writes: “Justin rightly says in his work against Marcion that he would not have believed the Lord himself if he had proclaimed another God besides the Creator.” And in the fifth book of the same work he says: “Justin rightly said that before the Lord’s coming Satan never dared to blaspheme God, since he did not yet know his own condemnation.”

10 I have felt bound to say these things to encourage lovers of learning to study his writings diligently. So much for Justin.

Chapter 19

The Rulers of the Churches of Rome and Alexandria During the Reign of Verus.

In the eighth year of this reign, Soter succeeded Anicetus as bishop of the church of Rome. Anicetus had served eleven years in all. In the church of Alexandria, Celadion had led for fourteen years, and Agrippinus succeeded him.^[130]

Chapter 20

The Rulers of the Church of Antioch.

At that time in the church of Antioch, Theophilus was well known as the sixth bishop after the apostles. Cornelius, who followed Hero, had been the fourth there. After him Eros took over the office as the fifth in order.

Chapter 21

The Ecclesiastical Writers that Flourished in Those Days.

In those days Hegesippus, whom we know from earlier, was at the height of his work in the Church. So were Dionysius, bishop of Corinth, and Pinytus, another bishop, of Crete. After them came Philip, Apolinarius, Melito, Musanus and Modestus, and above them all Irenaeus. Through their writings the sound and orthodox faith of the apostolic tradition has come down to us.

Chapter 22

Hegesippus and the Events Which He Mentions.

2 In the five Memoirs that have come down to us, Hegesippus left a very full record of his own convictions. In them he shows that he met a great many bishops on a journey as far as Rome, and that he received the same teaching from all of them. After some remarks about Clement’s letter to the Corinthians, he adds the following, which is worth hearing: “And the church of the Corinthians remained in the right doctrine until Primus was bishop in Corinth. I mixed with them on my voyage to Rome, and I spent a good many days with the Corinthians, during which we were refreshed together in the right doctrine. 4 “When I came to Rome, I drew up a succession list down to Anicetus, whose deacon was Eleutherus. Anicetus was succeeded by Soter, and after him came Eleutherus. In every succession, and in every city, things stand just as the Law, the Prophets and the Lord proclaim.” The same writer also describes the beginnings of the heresies of his time, in these words: “After James the Just had borne witness by martyrdom, as the Lord also had for the same message, Symeon, son of Clopas, the uncle of the Lord, was appointed bishop. All put him forward as the second, since he was a cousin of the Lord. For this reason they called the Church a virgin, for it had not yet been corrupted by empty teachings.

6 “But Thebuthis, because he had not been made bishop, began to corrupt it. He came from the seven sects (he himself belonged to the people). From these sects came Simon, from whom the Simonians; Cleobius, from whom the Cleobians; Dositheus, from whom the Dositheans; Gorthaeus, from whom the Goratheni; and Masbotheus, from whom the Masbotheans. From these came the Menandrianists, Marcionists, Carpocratians, Valentinians and Basilidians. Each of them in his own way and apart from the others brought in his own opinion. From these came false Christs, false prophets and false apostles, who split the unity of the Church with corrupting words against God and against his Christ.” 8 The same writer also records the heresies that arose long before among the Jews. He says: “Now there were different opinions among the circumcision, among the sons of Israel, held by those who were against the tribe of Judah and the Christ. These were: Essenes, Galileans, Hemerobaptists, Masbotheans, Samaritans, Sadducees, Pharisees.” He writes many other things as well, some of which we have already mentioned, having set the accounts in their proper times. He quotes some things from the Gospel according to the Hebrews and from the Syriac Gospel, and in particular some from the Hebrew language. This shows that he himself had come to believe from among the Hebrews. He also mentions other things as drawn from unwritten Jewish tradition.^[131]

9 Not only Hegesippus but also Irenaeus and the whole company of the ancients called the Proverbs of Solomon “all-virtuous Wisdom.” Hegesippus also discusses the so-called apocryphal books. He records that in his own time some of them had been fabricated by certain heretics. But now we must move on to another subject.

Chapter 23

Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, and the Epistles Which He Wrote.

2 First we must say of Dionysius that he had been entrusted with the bishop’s seat of the church at Corinth. He shared his God-inspired labor generously, not only with those under his care but also with people abroad. He made himself most useful to everyone in the general letters he drafted to the churches. One of these is to the Lacedaemonians, giving instruction in orthodox belief and urging peace and unity. Another is to the Athenians, stirring them up to faith and to the life required by the gospel. He rebukes them for neglecting that life, as though they had almost fallen away from the word since the time when their leader Publius was martyred in the persecutions of those days.^[132] 4 He also mentions Quadratus, who was appointed their bishop after the martyr Publius. He testifies that through Quadratus’s zeal they were gathered together again and their faith was rekindled. Dionysius further shows that Dionysius the Areopagite, who was won over to the faith by the apostle Paul as recorded in the Acts, was the first to be entrusted with the bishop’s office in the church at Athens. Another letter of his, to the Nicomedians, is also in circulation. In it he opposes the heresy of Marcion and takes his stand on the rule of truth. [Acts 17:34]

6 He also wrote to the church at Gortyna and the other churches in Crete. He commends their bishop Philip, because the church under him is attested for its many acts of courage, and he warns them to guard against the perversions of the heretics. He also wrote to the church at Amastris and the churches in Pontus. He mentions that Bacchylides and Elpistus urged him to write, and he adds explanations of divine Scriptures, hinting at the name of their bishop, Palmas. He gives them much counsel about marriage and chastity. He also orders them to welcome those who turn back from any kind of fall, whether moral failure or heretical error.^[133] 8 Another letter is included with these, addressed to the church at Cnossus. In it he urges Pinytus, the bishop of that church, not to lay on the brothers the heavy burden of compulsory chastity, but to take account of the weakness of the many. Pinytus wrote back. He admires and welcomes Dionysius, but in turn urges him at some point to give stronger food. He asks that Dionysius feed his people from then on with more mature writings, so that they would not stay forever on milky teachings and grow old without noticing, still living under a childish training. In this letter Pinytus’ sound faith and his concern for the benefit of those under his care are shown as in an exact portrait, as are his skill with words and his understanding of divine things.^[134] [Hebrews 5:12-14]

10 There is also a letter of Dionysius to the Romans, addressed to Soter, who was bishop at that time. The best thing is to quote from it the words in which he approves the custom of the Romans, kept up until the persecution of our own day. He writes as follows: “From the beginning it has been your custom to do good to all the brothers in various ways, and to send help to many churches in every city. In some places you relieve the poverty of the needy, and to brothers in the mines you give support. By the supplies you have sent from the beginning, you Romans keep up the ancestral custom of the Romans. Your blessed bishop Soter has not only kept this custom but has increased it. He adds to the generous supply sent to the saints, and he encourages the brothers who come to Rome with blessed words, as a loving father does his children.”

12 In the same letter he also mentions the letter of Clement to the Corinthians. He shows that it had been read in church from ancient custom, from the beginning. He says: “Today we have kept the holy Lord’s day, and on it we read your letter. We will always have it to read, and so be admonished by it, just as by the earlier letter written to us through Clement.” The same Dionysius also says this about his own letters, which had been tampered with: “When brothers asked me to write letters, I wrote them. And the apostles of the devil have stuffed these letters with weeds, taking some things out and putting other things in. A woe is laid on them. So it is no wonder that some have also set about tampering with the Lord’s Scriptures, since they have plotted against writings that are not of that kind.”^[135]

13 Another letter of Dionysius is also in circulation besides these. It was written to Chrysophora, a most faithful sister. He wrote what was fitting for her and gave her too the spiritual nourishment suited to her. That is all about Dionysius.^[136]

Chapter 24

Theophilus Bishop of Antioch.

Of Theophilus, whom we have already named as bishop of the church of Antioch, three elementary books addressed to Autolycus survive. There is also another work, titled Against the Heresy of Hermogenes, in which he uses testimonies from the Revelation of John. Some other instructional books of his survive as well. In those days the heretics were doing just as much harm as ever, like weeds ruining the pure seed of apostolic teaching. The shepherds of the churches everywhere drove them off like wild beasts from Christ’s sheep and kept them out. Sometimes they did this by warnings and exhortations to the brothers. At other times they stripped for the fight and met the heretics more openly, with unwritten inquiries and refutations face to face. They also corrected their opinions in written treatises with very precise arguments. Theophilus fought against them along with the others. This is clear from a work he labored over, and not weakly, against Marcion, which has survived to the present along with the other works we have mentioned. Maximinus, the seventh bishop after the apostles, succeeded him in the church of Antioch.^[137]

Chapter 25

Philip and Modestus.

Philip, whom we know from the words of Dionysius to have been bishop of the church at Gortyna, also wrote a very careful work against Marcion. So did Irenaeus, and so did Modestus. Modestus, more clearly than the others, exposed the man’s error for everyone to see. There were many others too, whose writings are still kept by a great number of the brethren.^[138]

Chapter 26

Melito and the Circumstances Which He Records.

2 In the same period Melito, bishop of the church in Sardis, and Apolinarius of Hierapolis were both famous and in their prime. Each of them separately addressed a defense of the faith to the Roman emperor who was reigning at that time. The following works of theirs have come to my knowledge. Of Melito: two books On the Passover; On the Conduct of Life and the Prophets; On the Church; On the Lord’s Day; On the Nature of Man; On Creation; On the Obedience of Faith to the Senses; and besides these, On Soul and Body or Mind; On Baptism; On Truth; On the Creation and Birth of Christ; his discourse On Prophecy; On Hospitality; The Key; the works On the Devil and On the Apocalypse of John; On God Incarnate (or “God in a body”); and last of all, the little book addressed to Antoninus. 5 In the books On the Passover he indicates the time when he wrote, beginning like this: “When Servilius Paulus was proconsul of Asia, at the time when Sagaris was martyred, there was a great dispute in Laodicea about the Passover, which fell at that time in those days; and these things were written.” Clement of Alexandria mentions this work in his own discourse On the Passover, which he says he composed because of Melito’s writing. In his book to the emperor, Melito reports that the following was happening to us in his reign: “The race of the godly is now being persecuted, something that never happened before, and is being hounded throughout Asia by new decrees. For shameless informers, greedy for other people’s property, take advantage of the edicts and openly rob, plundering innocent people night and day.”

6 And after some other remarks he says: “If this is done at your command, let it be counted well done. For a just king would never plan anything unjust, and we gladly accept the honor of such a death. But we make you this one request: that you yourself first examine the men who stir up this quarrel, and judge fairly whether they deserve death and punishment, or safety and peace. But if this plan and this strange new decree, which would not be right even against barbarian enemies, does not come from you, then we beg you all the more not to leave us exposed to this kind of mob plundering.” 7 Then he continues: “Our philosophy first flourished among the barbarians. But when it blossomed among your own nations during the great reign of your ancestor Augustus, it became above all a good and favorable gift to your empire. For from that time the power of Rome grew great and splendid. You have become its longed-for successor, and will remain so together with your son, if you protect the philosophy that grew up with the empire and began with Augustus, which your ancestors also honored alongside the other religions.”

10 “And here is the greatest proof that our teaching flourished together with an empire that began well, for the good of it: nothing bad has happened since the reign of Augustus began. On the contrary, everything has been splendid and glorious, according to everyone’s prayers. Only Nero and Domitian, persuaded by certain malicious men, wanted to bring our teaching into disrepute. From them the false slander against such people has flowed down through an unreasoning habit. But your pious fathers corrected their ignorance, often rebuking in writing many who dared to make new moves against us. Among them your grandfather Hadrian is shown to have written to many others, and also to Fundanus, the proconsul, who governed Asia. And your father, when you were administering everything together with him, wrote to the cities not to make any new moves against us. Among these he wrote to the Larissaeans, to the Thessalonians, to the Athenians, and to all the Greeks.”^[139]

13 “As for you, we are convinced that you hold the same view about these matters as they did, and a far kinder and more philosophical one. So we are persuaded that you will do everything we ask of you.” These words are found in the work mentioned. But in the Extracts that Melito composed, he begins right at the preface with a list of the Old Testament writings that are agreed upon, and it is necessary to set it down here. He writes as follows: “Melito to his brother Onesimus, greetings. You have often asked me, out of your zeal for the word, to make extracts for you from the Law and the Prophets concerning the Savior and our whole faith. You also wanted to learn the exact facts about the ancient books: how many they are and in what order they stand. I have worked hard to do this, since I know your earnestness about the faith and your love of learning in the word. Above all else, out of longing for God, you rank these things first, as you strive for eternal salvation.^[140]

14 “So I went up to the East, and came to the place where these things were proclaimed and done. There I learned the books of the Old Testament accurately, and I have listed them and sent them to you. Their names are these: five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy); Jesus Nave (Joshua); Judges; Ruth; four books of Kingdoms; two of Chronicles; the Psalms of David; the Proverbs of Solomon, also called Wisdom; Ecclesiastes; Song of Songs; Job. Of the prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah; the Twelve in a single book; Daniel; Ezekiel; Ezra. From these I made the extracts, dividing them into six books.” This is what Melito says.^[141]

Chapter 27

Apolinarius, Bishop of the Church of Hierapolis.

Many works of Apolinarius have been preserved by many people. The ones that have reached us are these: the discourse addressed to the emperor mentioned above; five books Against the Greeks; two books On Truth; two books Against the Jews; and the works he wrote afterward against the Phrygian heresy. That heresy had been introduced as a novelty not long before, and was then just beginning to sprout, since Montanus and his false prophetesses were still making the first moves in their departure from the truth.

Chapter 28

Musanus and His Writings.

There is also a very persuasive discourse by Musanus, whom we listed among the earlier writers. He wrote it to some brothers who had turned aside to the heresy of the so-called Encratites. That heresy was just then beginning to sprout, and it brought into life a strange and destructive false teaching. The story is that Tatian became the founder of this departure from the faith.

Chapter 29

The Heresy of Tatian.

2 Tatian is the man whose words about the admirable Justin we quoted a little earlier, when we noted that he was the martyr’s pupil. Irenaeus makes this clear in the first book of his work Against Heresies, where he writes about Tatian and his heresy together: “From Saturninus and Marcion came those called Encratites, who preached against marriage. They set aside God’s original creation, and quietly find fault with the one who made male and female for the generation of human beings. They also introduced abstinence from what they call ‘animate’ creatures, showing ingratitude to God who made all things. And they argue against the salvation of the first-formed man. 3 “This last point has only recently been invented among them. A certain Tatian was the first to bring in this blasphemy. He had been a hearer of Justin, and as long as he was with him he showed nothing of the kind. But after Justin’s martyrdom he left the church. Lifted up with the conceit of being a teacher, and puffed up as though he were better than everyone else, he set up his own distinctive kind of school. Like the followers of Valentinus, he made up myths about certain invisible aeons. Like Marcion and Saturninus, he declared marriage to be corruption and fornication. And as for the salvation of Adam, he came up with his own argument against it.”

6 That is what Irenaeus wrote at that time. A little later a man named Severus strengthened the heresy mentioned above, and so those who came out of it received the name Severians, taken from him. They use the Law, the Prophets and the Gospels, but they interpret the meaning of the sacred Scriptures in their own way. They blaspheme Paul the apostle and reject his letters, and they do not even accept the Acts of the Apostles. Their earlier leader Tatian, however, put together a kind of joining and gathering of the Gospels, I do not know how, and called it “The Gospel through Four” (Diatessaron). This is still in circulation among some people today. They say he also dared to rework some of the apostle’s wording, as if correcting the style of his phrasing. 7 Tatian left a very large number of writings. The one best known and most often mentioned is his famous Address to the Greeks. In it he recalls the earliest times and shows that Moses and the Hebrew prophets were older than all the famous men of the Greeks. This appears to be the finest and most useful of all his works. So much, then, for these men.

Chapter 30

Bardesanes the Syrian and His Extant Works.

1 In the same reign, as heresies were multiplying, Bardesanes appeared in Mesopotamia. He was a very capable man and a most skillful debater in the Syriac language. He composed dialogues against the followers of Marcion and against certain others who led various schools of thought, and he put them into writing in his own language, along with a great many other works. His disciples, of whom he had very many since he was a forceful speaker, translated these writings from Syriac into Greek. 3 Among these is his very able dialogue On Fate, addressed to Antoninus, and other works which, they say, he wrote because of the persecution at that time. He had earlier belonged to the school of Valentinus. But he condemned it and refuted most of its mythical inventions. He thought he had changed over to a sounder understanding, yet he did not entirely wash off the filth of the old heresy. In this period Soter, bishop of the church of Rome, also died.

Book 5

Greeting

HE 5. Gr. Soter, bishop of the church of Rome, died after leading it for eight years. Eleutherus, the twelfth from the apostles, succeeded him. This was the seventeenth year of the emperor Antoninus Verus. In some parts of the world the persecution against us flared up more fiercely then, through attacks by the city mobs. From what happened in just one nation we can judge that tens of thousands of martyrs distinguished themselves throughout the world. These events have been handed down in writing to later generations, and they are truly worthy of undying remembrance. 3 The fullest and most complete account of these events is in my Collection of Martyrdoms, which contains a narrative that teaches as well as records history. Here I will select and set down only what belongs to the present work. Other writers of history would certainly record victories in war, trophies won over enemies, the exploits of generals and the courage of soldiers. These men were stained with blood and countless killings, fought for the sake of children, country and other possessions.

4 But our account of the way of life of our community will inscribe on everlasting monuments something different. It will record the most peaceful wars, fought for the sake of peace of soul itself. It will record those who in these wars showed courage more for truth than for country, and more for godliness than for their dearest ones. It will proclaim for eternal remembrance the endurance of the athletes of godliness and their long-suffering courage, the trophies won over demons, the victories over invisible opponents, and the crowns given for all these things.

Chapter 1

The Number of Those Who Fought for Religion in Gaul Under Verus and the Nature of Their Conflicts.

3 The country where the contest took place was Gaul. Its most notable and outstanding cities are Lugdunum (Lyons) and Vienna (Vienne). The Rhone River flows through both of them, running in a broad stream around the whole region. The most distinguished churches there sent a written account about the martyrs to the churches in Asia and Phrygia, telling what had happened among them in the following way. I will give their own words: “The servants of Christ living as foreigners in Vienne and Lyons in Gaul, to the brothers in Asia and Phrygia who have the same faith and hope of redemption as we do: peace, grace and glory from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord.” 5 After this and some other introductory remarks, they begin their account like this: “We are not able to describe accurately the greatness of the affliction here, the great rage of the pagans against the saints, or all that the blessed martyrs endured. Nor could it be fully put in writing. The adversary attacked with all his strength. He was already giving a preview of his coming, which will be unrestrained. He went through every means to accustom his own people and train them in advance against the servants of God. As a result we were not only shut out of houses, baths and the marketplace, but it was forbidden for any of us to be seen at all in any place whatever.”

7 But the grace of God took command against him. It rescued the weak, and it set against him firm pillars, able by their endurance to draw the whole force of the Evil One onto themselves. These went straight into battle against him, putting up with every kind of abuse and punishment. They counted great sufferings as small and hurried on toward Christ. They showed in truth that “the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” First they bravely endured what the whole crowd heaped on them together: shouting, blows, dragging through the streets, plundering, stoning, confinement, and everything that a savage mob likes to do to those it treats as enemies and foes. [Romans 8:18] 9 Then they were led into the marketplace by the tribune and the city authorities. They were questioned before the whole crowd, confessed their faith, and were shut up in prison until the governor arrived. Afterward they were brought before the governor, and he treated us with complete cruelty. Then Vettius Epagathus, one of the brothers, stepped forward. He was filled to the full with love toward God and his neighbor. His manner of life was so exact that, though young, he was counted equal to the testimony given of the elder Zacharias. For he had walked blamelessly in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord. He never grew tired of serving his neighbor in any way, he had great zeal for God, and he was fervent in spirit. Being such a man, he could not bear the senseless judgment being passed on us. He was extremely indignant and demanded that he too be heard in defense of the brothers, to show that there is nothing godless or impious among us. [Luke 1:6; Romans 12:11]

10 Those around the judgment seat shouted him down, for he was a man of note. The governor would not accept his entirely just request. He asked only whether Vettius himself was a Christian. Vettius confessed in a ringing voice, and he too was taken up into the company of the martyrs. He was called “the advocate of the Christians,” but he had the Advocate within himself, the Spirit, more fully than Zacharias. He showed this by the fullness of his love, being glad to lay down even his own life to defend the brothers. For he was, and is, a genuine disciple of Christ, following the Lamb wherever he goes.^[142] [Revelation 14:4] 11 From this point the rest were sorted out. The first martyrs were plainly ready, and they completed their confession of witness with complete eagerness. But others also appeared who were unprepared and untrained, still weak, and unable to bear the strain of so great a contest. About ten of these miscarried, as it were. They caused us great grief and immeasurable sorrow, and they dampened the eagerness of the others who had not yet been arrested. Yet these others, though they suffered every kind of hardship, still stayed with the martyrs and did not abandon them.^[143]

14 Then we were all greatly shaken, because it was uncertain who would confess. We were not afraid of the punishments being inflicted. We were looking to the outcome and fearing that someone might fall away. Yet every day those who were worthy were arrested, filling up the number of the fallen. So all the earnest believers were gathered from the two churches, the very ones through whom the life of the church here was chiefly sustained. Some of our servants who were pagans were also arrested, since the governor had ordered that all of us be openly hunted down. By Satan’s snare, in fear of the tortures they saw the saints suffering, and urged on by the soldiers, they falsely accused us of “Thyestean feasts” and “Oedipean unions,” and of things that it is not right for us even to speak or think of, and that we cannot even believe ever happened among human beings.^[144]

17 Once these stories were spread about, everyone turned on us like wild beasts. Even those who had earlier held back out of friendship now became very angry and ground their teeth against us. What our Lord had said was fulfilled: “The time will come when everyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God.” From then on, holy martyrs, you endured sufferings beyond all description. Satan was eager to have some blasphemy spoken through you as well. The rage of the crowd, the governor and the soldiers fell with extreme force on Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne; on Maturus, a new convert but a noble fighter; on Attalus, a native of Pergamum, who had always been a pillar and support of the church here; and on Blandina. Through her Christ showed that what people think cheap, ugly and contemptible is counted worthy of great glory with God, because of love for him, a love shown in power and not boasting in outward appearance. [John 16:2]

18 All of us were afraid. Her earthly mistress, who was herself one of the martyrs in the contest, was in agony that Blandina, because of her bodily weakness, would not be able even to make a bold confession. But Blandina was filled with such power that the men who tortured her in turn, in every way, from morning until evening, grew exhausted and gave up. They themselves admitted they were beaten, for they had nothing more to do to her. They were amazed that she was still breathing, since her whole body was torn and gaping. They testified that any one kind of torture was enough to take her life, let alone so many and such severe ones. 20 But the blessed woman, like a noble athlete, grew young again in her confession. Saying, “I am a Christian, and nothing wicked is done among us,” brought her renewal, rest and freedom from feeling what was happening to her. Sanctus too bore bravely, beyond measure and beyond any other man, all the cruelties that men could inflict. The lawless men hoped that the length and severity of the tortures would make him say something improper. But he stood against them with such firmness that he would not even tell his own name, or his nation, or the city he came from, or whether he was slave or free. To every question he answered in Latin, “I am a Christian.” This he confessed in place of a name, a city, a race, and everything else, one thing after another. The pagans heard no other word from him.

23 So the governor and the torturers became fiercely determined to break him. When they had nothing left to do to him, they finally fastened red-hot bronze plates to the most tender parts of his body. These parts were burned, but he stayed unbending and unyielding, firm in his confession. He was refreshed and strengthened by the heavenly spring of the water of life that flows from the body of Christ. His poor body was a witness to what had happened: it was all one wound and bruise, shrunken and twisted, and it had lost any outward human shape. In that body Christ, suffering, accomplished great things for his glory. He brought the adversary to nothing, and as a pattern for the others he showed that nothing is frightening where the Father’s love is, and nothing painful where Christ’s glory is. [John 7:38] 24 Some days later the lawless men tortured the martyr again. They supposed that his body was swollen and inflamed, so that he could not even bear to be touched by a hand. They thought that if they applied the same instruments, they would overcome him, or that if he died under the tortures he would frighten the others. Not only did nothing of the kind happen, but, against all human expectation, his poor body rose up and was straightened in the later torments. It regained its former appearance and the use of its limbs. So by the grace of Christ the second round of torture became for him not punishment but healing.

26 There was also a woman named Biblis, one of those who had denied the faith. The devil thought he had already swallowed her. He wanted to condemn her further through blasphemy, so he had her brought to punishment, forcing her, as one already easily broken and unmanly, to say godless things about us. But under the torture she came to her senses and woke as if from a deep sleep. The temporary punishment reminded her of the eternal punishment in Gehenna. She answered the blasphemers directly: “How could such people eat children, when they are not even allowed to eat the blood of irrational animals?” From then on she confessed herself a Christian and was added to the lot of the martyrs.^[145] 27 But when Christ had made the tyrants’ tortures useless through the endurance of these blessed ones, the devil devised other schemes. He shut them up in the dark and most miserable part of the prison. He stretched their feet in the stocks, spreading them to the fifth hole. He added all the other cruelties that angry attendants, filled with the devil, are accustomed to inflict on prisoners. As a result most of them were suffocated in prison, all those, that is, whom the Lord willed to depart in this way, to show his glory.^[146]

29 Some had been tortured so bitterly that they seemed unable to live even with every kind of care. Yet they remained in prison, left without any human attention, but strengthened by the Lord and made strong in body and soul, and they urged on and comforted the rest. But the young ones, who had only just been arrested and whose bodies had not been worn down beforehand, could not bear the weight of the confinement, and died inside. The blessed Pothinus had been entrusted with the service of the bishop’s office in Lyons. He was over ninety years old and very weak in body. He could scarcely breathe because of his bodily weakness, but he was revived by eagerness of spirit, because of his pressing desire for martyrdom. He too was dragged to the judgment seat. His body was broken down by both age and sickness, but his life was kept in him so that Christ might triumph through it. [2 Corinthians 2:14]

31 He was brought to the judgment seat by the soldiers, with the city authorities and the whole crowd escorting him. They shouted at him in every way, as if he himself were Christ, and he gave the good witness. The governor asked him who the God of the Christians was, and he said, “If you are worthy, you will know.” After that he was dragged along without mercy and suffered blows of every kind. Those close by abused him in every way with hands and feet, with no respect for his age. Those farther off hurled at him whatever each one had in hand. All of them thought it a great fault and impiety if anyone fell short in outrage against him, for they believed that this was how they would avenge their own gods. He was thrown into prison scarcely breathing, and two days later he died. 33 Then a great providence of God took place, and the immeasurable mercy of Jesus was shown. Such a thing happens only rarely among the brotherhood, yet it did not fall short of the skill of Christ. Those who had denied him at the first arrest were shut up too and shared the sufferings. Their denial did them no good at this time. Those who confessed what they were were imprisoned as Christians, with no other charge brought against them. But the deniers were held from then on as murderers and defiled persons, and were punished twice as heavily as the rest.

35 The first group were lightened by the joy of martyrdom, the hope of what was promised, love for Christ, and the Spirit of the Father. But the deniers were sorely punished by their conscience, so that as they passed by, their faces stood out from all the others. The confessors walked forward cheerful, with glory and much grace mingled in their faces. Even their chains hung on them as a fine adornment, like a bride dressed in golden, richly worked clothing. They gave off the sweet fragrance of Christ at the same time, so that some thought they had been anointed with worldly perfume. The deniers were downcast, humble, ugly to look at and full of every kind of shame. On top of that the pagans reproached them as cowardly and unmanly. They bore the charges of murderers, and they had lost the all-honored, glorious and life-giving name. When the others saw this, they were strengthened. Those who were arrested confessed without wavering, and gave no thought to the devil’s reasoning.^[147] [2 Corinthians 2:15]

37 After adding some remarks in between, the writers continue: After this, the martyrdoms of their departure were divided into every kind. They wove one crown out of different colors and all sorts of flowers and offered it to the Father. It was right that the noble athletes, who had endured a many-sided contest and won a great victory, should receive the great crown of immortality. So Maturus, Sanctus, Blandina and Attalus were led out to the wild beasts in the public arena, to be a spectacle for the common entertainment of the pagans. The day for fights with wild beasts was given over expressly because of our people. [1 Corinthians 9:25] 38 Maturus and Sanctus again went through every kind of torment in the amphitheater. It was as if they had suffered nothing before. Or rather, they had already beaten their opponent in many rounds and were now fighting for the crown itself. Again they endured the whippings that were customary there, as they ran between the lines of guards. They endured the dragging and mauling by the beasts. They endured everything the maddened crowd shouted for and urged on, each from a different part of the stands. Last of all came the iron chair, on which their bodies were roasted and the smell of it filled them.

41 Even then their persecutors did not stop. They raged still more, wanting to defeat their endurance. Yet from Sanctus they heard nothing except the words of confession he had been used to saying from the beginning. After a long and great struggle, in which their spirit held out for a long time, these two were finally sacrificed. All through that day they had been a spectacle to the world, in place of the whole variety of the gladiator contests. Blandina was hung on a stake and set out as food for the beasts that were let in. Because she could be seen hanging in the shape of a cross, and because of her earnest prayer, she put great eagerness into those who were fighting. In their struggle they looked on their sister with their outward eyes and saw in her the one who was crucified for them. So he persuaded those who believe in him that everyone who suffers for the glory of Christ has fellowship forever with the living God.

43 None of the beasts touched her at that time. She was taken down from the stake and brought back to the prison, kept for another contest. She would win through more trials and make the sentence on the crooked serpent final. And she, small, weak and easily despised, but clothed with Christ, the great athlete, would encourage her brothers. She would force back the adversary through many rounds, and through the struggle win the crown of incorruptibility. Attalus also was loudly demanded by the crowd, for he was well known. He came in ready for the fight because of his good conscience. He had been truly trained in the Christian way of life, and had always been a witness of the truth among us. 45 He was led around the amphitheater, with a placard carried before him on which was written in Latin, “This is Attalus the Christian.” The crowd was greatly worked up against him. But the governor learned that he was a Roman citizen. He ordered Attalus to be taken back with the others who were in prison. He had written to Caesar about them and was waiting for his decision. That time in between was neither idle nor fruitless for them. Through their endurance the measureless mercy of Christ was made plain. The dead were made alive through the living. The martyrs showed favor to those who were not martyrs. And the virgin mother had great joy in receiving back alive those whom she had miscarried as dead.

47 Through the martyrs most of those who had denied the faith were conceived again in the womb, brought back to life, and rekindled. They learned to confess. Now alive and strengthened, they came to the judgment seat, so that the governor could question them again. God, who does not want the death of the sinner but is kind toward repentance, made it sweet for them. Caesar had written that those who confessed should be executed, but that any who denied should be released. The festival held there was just beginning, and it draws a great crowd from all the nations. So the governor brought the blessed ones up to the judgment seat, making a theater of them and parading them before the crowds. For this reason he questioned them again. Those who seemed to have Roman citizenship he beheaded, and the rest he sent to the beasts. [Ezekiel 33:11] 49 Christ was greatly glorified in those who had denied him before but now confessed, against the expectation of the heathen. They were questioned separately, as people who were supposedly about to be released. But when they confessed, they were added to the company of the martyrs. Those who remained outside were people who had never had a trace of faith, no sense of the wedding garment, and no thought of the fear of God. By their way of life they blasphemed the Way. These were the sons of destruction. All the rest were added to the church. While these were being questioned, a man named Alexander stood near the judgment seat. He was a Phrygian by birth and a physician by profession, and he had spent many years in Gaul. Almost everyone knew him for his love toward God and his boldness in speaking, for he was not without a share of the apostolic gift. By signs he urged them on to confession. To those standing around the judgment seat he looked like a woman in labor.^[148] [Matthew 22:11; John 17:12; Acts 19:9]

51 The crowds were angry that those who had earlier denied the faith were now confessing it again, and they shouted against Alexander as though he were the cause. The governor had him stand forward and asked who he was. When Alexander said he was a Christian, the governor became furious and condemned him to the wild beasts. The next day he came into the arena together with Attalus, for the governor, to please the crowd, had handed Attalus over to the beasts again. In the amphitheater they went through every instrument of torture devised for punishment. They endured a very great struggle, and in the end they too were sacrificed. Alexander neither groaned nor made any sound at all, but spoke with God in his heart. 53 When Attalus was set on the iron chair and was being burned, and the smell of his roasting body rose up, he said to the crowd in Latin, “Look, this is eating human beings, and it is what you are doing. We do not eat human beings, nor do we do anything else evil.” When he was asked what name God has, he answered, “God does not have a name as a man has.” After all this, on the last day of the gladiatorial contests, Blandina was brought in again, together with a boy named Ponticus, about fifteen years old. Every day these two had been brought in to watch the punishment of the others, and they had been forced to swear by the crowd’s idols. Because they stood firm and treated the idols with contempt, the crowd turned savage against them, so that they had no pity for the boy’s youth and no respect for the woman.

55 They exposed them to every terror and took them around the whole circle of tortures, again and again forcing them to swear, but they could not make them do it. Ponticus was urged on by his sister, so that even the pagans could see that she was encouraging and strengthening him. He bravely endured every torture and gave up his spirit. The blessed Blandina came last of all. Like a noble mother who has encouraged her children and sent them ahead victorious to the King, she went back over all their struggles herself and hurried after them. She was glad and rejoicing at her departure, as though she had been invited to a wedding banquet rather than thrown to the beasts. 57 After the whips, after the beasts, after the hot griddle, she was finally put in a net and thrown to a bull. The animal tossed her about many times, but she no longer felt what was happening to her, because of her hope, her firm hold on what she had believed, and her fellowship with Christ. She too was sacrificed. The pagans themselves admitted that never among them had a woman suffered so many and such terrible things. But even this did not satisfy their madness and their cruelty toward the saints. Savage and barbarous tribes, stirred up by a savage beast, were hard to calm, and their insolence found a new and different start in dealing with the bodies.

59 That they had been defeated did not shame them, for they had no human reasoning. It rather fed their anger like that of a wild beast. The governor and the people alike showed the same unjust hatred toward us, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Let the lawless man still act lawlessly, and let the righteous man still be made righteous.” Those who had suffocated in the prison they threw to the dogs, and they guarded them carefully night and day so that none of us could bury anyone. Then they put out the remains left by the beasts and by the fire, torn in places and charred in others, along with the heads of the rest and their severed trunks. These too they kept unburied under careful military guard for many days. [Revelation 22:11] 61 Some raged at the bodies and ground their teeth, looking to take some further revenge on them. Others laughed and jeered, praising their own idols and crediting them with the punishment of the Christians. Those who were more reasonable, and seemed to feel some sympathy, reproached the Christians sharply, saying, “Where is their God? What good has their religion done them, which they chose in preference to their own lives?” So the reactions on their side were mixed. On our side there was deep grief, because we could not bury the bodies in the earth. Night gave us no help for this, money did not persuade them, and pleading did not move them. They kept watch in every way, as if they would gain something great if the bodies did not receive burial.

63 After other things they go on to say: “The bodies of the martyrs had been put on public display and exposed to the smoke and the weather for six days. Afterward the lawless men burned them, reduced them to ashes, and swept them into the Rhone, which flows close by, so that no trace of them might still be seen on the earth. They did this as though they could defeat God and take away the new birth from these people. They did it, as they said, ‘so that they may have no hope of resurrection. Trusting in that hope, they bring in a strange new religion among us, despise terrors, and go to their death ready and even joyful. Now let us see whether they will rise again, and whether their God can help them and rescue them from our hands.’”

Chapter 2

The Martyrs, Beloved of God, Kindly Ministered Unto Those Who Fell in the Persecution.

2 Such things also happened to the churches of Christ under the emperor already mentioned. From these we can reasonably guess what was done in the other provinces. It is worth adding other words from the same letter, in which the gentleness and kindness of these martyrs are recorded in these very terms. They became such zealous imitators of Christ, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped.” They were in such glory, and had borne witness not once or twice but many times. They had been taken back from the wild beasts and bore burns, bruises and wounds all over them. Yet they did not proclaim themselves martyrs, nor did they allow us to call them by that name. If any of us ever addressed them as martyrs, whether in a letter or in conversation, they sharply rebuked him. [Philippians 2:6] 3 For they gladly gave up the title of martyr to Christ, the faithful and true witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the author of the life of God. They reminded us of the martyrs who had already departed, and said, “Those are martyrs already, whom Christ thought worthy to be taken up in their confession, having sealed their testimony by their departure. But we are only modest and lowly confessors.” With tears they begged the brothers to pray earnestly that they might be brought to completion. [Revelation 1:5; Revelation 3:14; Acts 3:15]

5 They showed the power of martyrdom in their actions. They spoke with great boldness before all the nations, and they made their noble character plain through endurance, fearlessness and courage. But they declined to be called martyrs by their brothers, because they were filled with the fear of God. After a short interval the letter says again: They humbled themselves under the mighty hand, by which they are now greatly exalted. At that time they defended everyone but accused no one. They set everyone free but bound no one. They prayed for those who treated them cruelly, as Stephen did, the perfect martyr: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” If he prayed for those who were stoning him, how much more for the brothers! [1 Peter 5:6; Acts 7:60] 7 And again, after other matters, they say: This was their greatest battle against the Beast, because of the genuineness of their love: that the Beast, choked, might vomit up alive those whom he had thought he had swallowed. For they took no pride in themselves over the fallen. Instead, what they had in abundance they gave to those who lacked it, having a mother’s tenderness and pouring out many tears for them before the Father. They asked for life, and he gave it to them, and they shared it with their neighbors. Having won the victory over all, they went to God. They had always loved peace and always urged peace on others, and they went to God in peace. They left no grief for their mother and no strife or war for their brothers, but joy, peace, harmony and love.

8 Let this be added, for its usefulness, about the affection of those blessed ones toward the brothers who had fallen. It stands against the inhuman and merciless attitude of those who afterward dealt ruthlessly with the members of Christ.

Chapter 3

The Vision Which Appeared in a Dream to the Witness Attalus.

2 The same letter of the martyrs I have mentioned contains another account worth remembering. No one could object to my passing it on to those who will read it. It goes like this. One of them, a man named Alcibiades, lived a very strict life. He had formerly taken nothing at all except bread and water, and he tried to go on living that way in prison. But it was revealed to Attalus, after his first contest in the amphitheater, that Alcibiades was not acting rightly in refusing the creatures of God and leaving an example that might cause others to stumble. 4 Alcibiades was convinced, and from then on he ate everything freely and gave thanks to God. For these martyrs were not without God’s gracious oversight, and the Holy Spirit was their counselor. So much for that matter. At that time Montanus, Alcibiades and Theodotus, with their followers in Phrygia, were just beginning to spread among many people the belief that they were prophets. Many other miraculous works of God’s gift were still being done in various churches, and this led many to believe that these men also were prophesying. When a disagreement arose about them, the brethren in Gaul again set out their own judgment on these matters, a careful and thoroughly orthodox one. They also published several letters from the martyrs who had been put to death among them. The martyrs had written these letters while still in chains, to the brethren in Asia and Phrygia, and also to Eleutherus, who was then bishop of Rome. They were acting as envoys for the peace of the churches.

Chapter 4

Irenaeus Commended by the Witnesses in a Letter.

2 The same martyrs also recommended Irenaeus, who was then a presbyter of the church at Lyons, to the bishop of Rome mentioned above. They gave the man a very strong testimony, as the following words show: “Father Eleutherus, we pray that you may rejoice in God in all things, and always. We have urged our brother and partner Irenaeus to carry this letter to you, and we ask you to hold him in high regard, since he is zealous for the covenant of Christ. For if we thought that a position could win righteousness for anyone, we would have recommended him first of all as a presbyter of the church, which is what he is.” 3 Why should I list the roll of martyrs given in that letter: those who died by beheading, those thrown to the wild beasts as food, those who fell asleep in prison, and the number of confessors still living at that time? Anyone who wishes can easily learn all this in full by taking up the writing itself. As I said, I have included it in my Collection of Martyrdoms. That is what happened under Antoninus.^[149]

Chapter 5

God Sent Rain from Heaven for Marcus Aurelius Caesar in Answer to the Prayers of Our People.

2 The story goes that Marcus Aurelius Caesar, his brother, was drawn up for battle against the Germans and Sarmatians when his army, suffering from thirst, fell into helpless distress. The soldiers of the legion called Melitene, a legion that has stood firm in the faith from that time to this, were standing in line facing the enemy. They knelt on the ground, as is our custom in prayer, and turned to pleading with God. This sight seemed strange to the enemy. But the story says that something even stranger followed at once. A thunderbolt drove the enemy into flight and destruction, while rain poured down on the army of those who had called on God and revived it, though the whole army had been on the point of dying of thirst. 4 This story is told both by writers far removed from our teaching, who took an interest in writing about those times, and by our own writers. The outside historians, since they are strangers to the faith, record the marvel, but they do not admit that it came about through the prayers of our people. Our own writers, as friends of the truth, hand down what happened in a simple and honest way. One of them is Apolinarius. He says that from that time the legion whose prayer had worked the marvel received from the emperor a name suited to the event. In the Roman language it was called the “Thunderbolt” legion.^[150]

6 Tertullian is a reliable witness to these things. He addressed his Apology for the Faith to the Roman Senate, a work we have mentioned before, and there he confirms the story with greater and clearer proof. He writes that letters of the wise emperor Marcus are still in circulation. In them Marcus himself testifies that in Germany his army was about to perish for lack of water, and was saved by the prayers of the Christians. Tertullian says that this emperor also threatened death to those who tried to bring charges against us. 8 The same writer adds these words: “What kind of laws are these, which only the ungodly, the unjust and the cruel follow against us? Vespasian did not keep them, though he had conquered the Jews. Trajan partly set them aside by forbidding that Christians be hunted out. Neither Hadrian, though he poked into every curiosity, nor the one called Pius gave them his approval.” Let each person take these things as he wishes. We will move on to what follows. Pothinus died at the full age of ninety years, together with those who were martyred in Gaul. Irenaeus then took over the oversight of the church at Lyons, which Pothinus had led. We have learned that in his youth Irenaeus was a hearer of Polycarp.^[151]

9 In the third book of his work against the heresies, Irenaeus set out the succession of the bishops of Rome. He brought the list down to Eleutherus, whose times we are now examining, as though he were writing in Eleutherus’s own day. He writes as follows:

Chapter 6

Catalogue of the Bishops of Rome.

2 “When the blessed apostles had founded and built up the church, they handed over the work of the bishop’s office to Linus. Paul mentions this Linus in his letters to Timothy. Anencletus followed him. After him, in the third place from the apostles, Clement received the bishop’s office. He had seen the blessed apostles and had met with them, and he still had the apostles’ preaching ringing in his ears and their tradition before his eyes. He was not alone in this, for many were still left who had been taught by the apostles. [2 Timothy 4:21] 4 “In the time of this Clement, no small dissension arose among the brothers in Corinth. The church in Rome then wrote a most effective letter to the Corinthians, urging them to make peace, renewing their faith, and renewing the tradition which it had recently received from the apostles.” A little later he says: “Evarestus succeeded this Clement, and Alexander succeeded Evarestus. Then Xystus was appointed, the sixth from the apostles. After him came Telesphorus, who also was gloriously martyred; then Hyginus, then Pius, and after him Anicetus. Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, Eleutherus holds the inheritance of the bishop’s office.

5 “By this same order and this same teaching, the tradition from the apostles in the church and the preaching of the truth have come down to us.”

Chapter 7

Even Down to Those Times Miracles Were Performed by the Faithful.

2 Irenaeus wrote these things in agreement with the accounts we have already gone through. They come from the work in five books that he titled *Refutation and Overthrow of the Falsely Named Knowledge*. In the second book of the same work he points out that, down to his own time, examples of divine and miraculous power remained in some churches. He says: “But they fall so far short of raising a dead person, as the Lord raised the dead and the apostles did through prayer, that this has often happened in the brotherhood. When there was need, the whole church in that place asked with fasting and much pleading, and the spirit of the dead person returned, and the man was granted to the prayers of the saints.” 3 Again, after some other remarks, he says: “But if they claim that the Lord also did such things only in appearance, we will take them back to the writings of the prophets. From these we will show that everything was foretold about him in this way and happened firmly as foretold, and that he alone is the Son of God. For this reason his true disciples, having received grace from him, carry out these works in his name for the benefit of other people, each as he has received the gift from him.

5 “Some drive out demons surely and truly, so that those who have been cleansed from the evil spirits often believe and are in the church. Others have foreknowledge of things to come, visions, and prophetic words. Others heal the sick by laying on their hands and make them well. Already, as we said, even the dead have been raised, and they stayed with us for many years. And what more can I say? It is impossible to give the number of the gifts which the church throughout the whole world has received from God in the name of Jesus Christ, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate, and which she uses every day for the benefit of the nations. She does not deceive anyone, and she makes no money from it. For as she has received freely from God, she also serves freely.” [Matthew 10:8] 6 In another place the same author writes: “We also hear that many brothers in the church have certain gifts. They speak in all kinds of languages through the Spirit, bring the hidden things of people into the open for their good, and explain the mysteries of God.” This shows that various gifts remained among the worthy up to the times I have mentioned.

Chapter 8

The Statements of Irenaeus in Regard to the Divine Scriptures.

2 At the beginning of this work I promised to set out, at the proper time, the words of the ancient church elders and writers. In them they wrote down the traditions that had come to them about the Scriptures of the covenant. Irenaeus was one of these, so let me now give his words. First, here is what he says about the holy Gospels: “Matthew also produced a written Gospel among the Hebrews, in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching the gospel in Rome and laying the foundation of the church.” 5 “After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, also handed down to us in writing what Peter had preached. Luke, the follower of Paul, set down in a book the gospel that Paul preached. Then John, the disciple of the Lord, who also leaned back on his chest, himself published the gospel while he was living in Ephesus in Asia.” Irenaeus says this in the third book of the work I mentioned. In the fifth book he writes as follows about the Revelation of John and the reckoning of the name of the Antichrist: “Since these things are so, and this number is found in all the good and ancient copies, and those who saw John face to face bear witness to it, and reason itself teaches us that the number of the name of the beast is shown by the letters in it, according to the Greek way of reckoning...” [John 21:20]

7 A little further on he says about the same matter: “We do not take the risk of declaring the name of the Antichrist with confidence. If his name had to be proclaimed openly at the present time, it would have been stated by the one who saw the Revelation. For it was seen not long ago, but almost in our own generation, toward the end of Domitian’s reign.” That is what Irenaeus records about the Revelation. He also mentions the first letter of John and quotes very many testimonies from it, and likewise the first letter of Peter. He not only knows the writing called The Shepherd but accepts it, saying: “The Scripture said well, ‘First of all, believe that God is one, who created all things,’” and so on.^[152] 9 He also uses some statements from the Wisdom of Solomon, saying very nearly this: “The vision of God brings about incorruption, and incorruption makes us near to God.” He also mentions the memoirs of a certain apostolic elder, whose name he passes over in silence, and sets out that elder’s explanations of the divine Scriptures. He also mentions Justin the martyr and Ignatius, again using testimonies from what they wrote. He himself promised to answer Marcion, from Marcion’s own writings, in a separate work.

10 Now hear what Irenaeus writes, word for word, about the translation of the divinely inspired Scriptures by the Seventy: “God therefore became man, and the Lord himself saved us, giving the sign of the virgin. It is not as some say, who now dare to translate the Scripture: ‘Behold, the young woman will be with child and will bear a son.’ That is how Theodotion of Ephesus and Aquila of Pontus translated it, both of them Jewish converts. The Ebionites follow them and say that he was born of Joseph.”^[153] [Isaiah 7:14] 12 A little later he adds to this: “Before the Romans had established their rule, while the Macedonians still held Asia, Ptolemy son of Lagus wanted to adorn the library he had built in Alexandria with all the worthwhile writings of all peoples. So he asked the people of Jerusalem to let him have their Scriptures translated into the Greek language. They were still subject to the Macedonians at that time, so they sent Ptolemy seventy elders, the men among them most experienced in the Scriptures and in both languages, to do what he wanted.”

14 Ptolemy wanted to test them one by one. He was afraid they might agree among themselves to hide the truth of the Scriptures in their translation. So he separated them from each other and ordered all of them to write out the same translation. He did this for every one of the books. When they came together before Ptolemy and compared their translations, God was glorified and the Scriptures were recognized as truly inspired. All of them had given the same things in the same words and the same terms from beginning to end. So even the Gentiles who were present knew that the Scriptures had been translated by the inspiration of God.^[154] 15 It is nothing surprising that God did this. In the captivity of the people under Nebuchadnezzar the Scriptures were destroyed. After seventy years the Jews went back to their own land. Then, in the time of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, God inspired Ezra the priest, of the tribe of Levi, to set in order again all the words of the earlier prophets and to restore to the people the law given through Moses. So much for Irenaeus.

Chapter 9

The Bishops Under Commodus.

Antoninus reigned for nineteen years, and then Commodus took over the government. In Commodus’s first year Julian was entrusted with the oversight of the churches at Alexandria. Agrippinus had completed twelve years of service there.

Chapter 10

Pantaenus the Philosopher.

2 At that time the community of believers in Alexandria was led by a man of great reputation for learning, whose name was Pantaenus. A school for the sacred writings had been set up among them from ancient custom. It continues down to our own day, and we have learned that it was run by men who were strong in learning and in zeal for divine things. The report is that Pantaenus was among the most brilliant of these teachers in his time. He had come to the faith from a philosophical training in the school called Stoic. They say he showed such intense eagerness for the divine Word that he was appointed a herald of the gospel of Christ to the nations of the East, and set out as far as the land of the Indians. For there were still, yes, still at that time, many evangelists of the Word. They took care to bring a God-inspired zeal, in imitation of the apostles, to promote the growth and building up of the divine Word.^[155]

4 Pantaenus was one of these men, and he is said to have gone to the Indians. The story goes that he found there, before his arrival, the Gospel according to Matthew among some who already knew Christ. Bartholomew, one of the apostles, was said to have preached to them and left Matthew’s writing with them in Hebrew letters, and it was preserved until the time of Pantaenus. After many fine accomplishments, Pantaenus ended his life as head of the school at Alexandria. He explained the treasures of the divine teachings both by the spoken word and in writing.

Chapter 11

Clement of Alexandria.

3 In his time Clement became well known at Alexandria, where he trained in the divine Scriptures alongside Pantaenus. He had the same name as the Clement who long ago led the church of the Romans and was a student of the apostles. In the *Hypotyposes* that he wrote, Clement names Pantaenus as his teacher. I think he also hints at him in the first book of his *Stromata*. There he points out the more distinguished of the men he had met in the line of apostolic succession, and says: “This treatise is not a piece of writing crafted for show. It is notes stored up for my old age, a remedy against forgetfulness. It is simply an image and a rough sketch of those vivid and living words which I was counted worthy to hear, and of those blessed and truly remarkable men. 5 “One of these was in Greece, an Ionian. Another was in Magna Graecia, and one of them was from Coele-Syria. Another was from Egypt, and others were in the East. Of these, one was an Assyrian, and another was a Hebrew by origin in Palestine. I met the last one, who in ability was truly the first, and I found rest. I had tracked him down hidden away in Egypt. These men kept the true tradition of the blessed teaching, which came straight from the holy apostles Peter, James, John and Paul, a son receiving it from his father. (Few sons were like their fathers.) By God’s will they have come down even to us, to plant those ancestral and apostolic seeds.”

Chapter 12

The Bishops in Jerusalem.

In their time Narcissus was bishop of the church at Jerusalem. Many people still speak of him today. He was the fifteenth in succession since the siege of the Jews under Hadrian. We have already shown that from that time the church there was first made up of Gentiles, after those of the circumcision, and that Marcus was the first Gentile bishop to lead them. After him the lists of the succession there record Cassianus as bishop, then Publius, then Maximus, then Julian, then Gaius, then Symmachus, another Gaius, and again another Julian, then Capito, Valens and Dolichianus, and after all of them Narcissus, the thirtieth from the apostles in the order of succession.

Chapter 13

Rhodo and His Account of the Dissension of Marcion.

2 In the same period Rhodo, a native of Asia, wrote various books. As he himself tells us, he had been taught at Rome by Tatian, whom we have already come to know. Among his other writings, he drew up one against the heresy of Marcion. He relates that in his time this heresy split into differing opinions. He names those who caused the split and carefully refutes the falsehoods each of them devised. Hear what he himself writes: “This is why they have also become inconsistent among themselves, clinging to an unstable opinion. For Apelles, one of their herd, who prides himself on his way of life and his old age, says there is one first principle, but that the prophecies come from an opposing spirit. He was persuaded of this by the utterances of a possessed girl named Philumene. 4 “Others, like the seaman Marcion himself, introduce two first principles. Among these are Potitus and Basilicus. These men followed the wolf of Pontus. Like him, they could not work out how things are divided, so they took the easy way and simply declared two principles, with no proof. Others again among them ran aground into something worse and suppose not only two but three natures. The founder and leader of these is Syneros, as those who put forward his school say.”

5 The same writer says that he also held a discussion with Apelles. He puts it this way: “The old man Apelles, when he met with us, was shown to be wrong in many of the things he said badly. So he claimed that one should not examine doctrine at all, but that each person should stay with what he has believed. For he declared that those who have set their hope on the Crucified would be saved, provided they were found in good works. But the most obscure of all his teachings was, as we said before, the one about God. For he spoke of one first principle, just as our doctrine does.” 7 Then Rhodo sets out Apelles’ whole view and goes on: “I said to him, ‘Where does your proof come from? Or how can you say there is one first principle? Tell us.’ He said that the prophecies refute themselves, because they have said nothing true at all. They are inconsistent, false and self-contradictory. But how there is one first principle, he said he did not know. He was simply moved to believe it. Then I solemnly urged him to tell the truth, and he swore that he was speaking truly when he said he did not understand how there is one unbegotten God, but that he believed it. I laughed and condemned him, because he called himself a teacher and yet did not know how to establish what he taught.”

9 In the same work, which is addressed to Callistion, Rhodo again admits that he was taught at Rome by Tatian. He says that Tatian had worked on a book of Problems, in which he promised to bring out the obscure and hidden things in the divine Scriptures. Rhodo himself announces that he will set out, in a work of his own, the solutions to Tatian’s problems. A commentary of his on the Hexaemeron (the six days of creation) is also in circulation. This Apelles, for his part, wrote countless impieties against the law of Moses. In several works he blasphemed the divine words, and, as he thought, put no small effort into refuting and overthrowing them. So much for these men.

Chapter 14

The False Prophets of the Phrygians.

The enemy of God’s church hates what is good and loves what is evil. He leaves no way of plotting against people untried. So he once again set strange heresies growing up against the church. Some of these crawled like venomous reptiles over Asia and Phrygia. They boasted that Montanus was the Paraclete, and that the women who followed him, Priscilla and Maximilla, had become Montanus’s prophetesses.^[156]

Chapter 15

The Schism of Blastus at Rome.

Others flourished at Rome. Their leader was Florinus, who had been removed from the presbyterate of the church. Blastus was caught in a similar fall along with him. They drew many members of the church away and brought them over to their purpose. Each of the two, in his own way, tried to bring innovations concerning the truth.

Chapter 16

The Circumstances Related of Montanus and His False Prophets.

2 Against the so-called heresy of the Phrygians, the power that fights for the truth raised up Apolinarius of Hierapolis, whom my account has already mentioned, as a strong and unbeatable weapon. It raised up many other learned men of that time with him, and from them a great store of material for history has been left to us. One of them, at the start of his writing against these people, first points out that he had also gone after them with refutations that were not written down. He begins this way: 3 “For a very long time, more than long enough, dear Avircius Marcellus, you have been urging me to write a treatise against the heresy of those called after Miltiades. Until now I have held back somewhat. It was not that I lacked the ability to refute the lie and bear witness to the truth. I was afraid and cautious that I might seem to some to be adding to the word of the gospel of the new covenant, or laying further commands on it. No one who has chosen to live by the gospel itself can add anything to that word or take anything away. [Revelation 22:18-19]

4 “Recently I was in Ancyra in Galatia, and I found the church in Pontus buzzing with talk about this new thing. It is not prophecy, as they claim, but rather, as will be shown, false prophecy. So, as far as I could, with the Lord’s help, we spoke in the church over several days about these people and about each of the points they put forward. As a result the church rejoiced and was strengthened in the truth, those on the other side were driven back for the time being, and our opponents were distressed. 6 “The local presbyters then asked us to leave some written record of what had been said against those who oppose the word of truth. Our fellow presbyter Zoticus of Otrous was present. We did not do that then, but we promised that, if the Lord allowed, we would write it here and send it to them quickly.” After saying this and other things like it at the beginning of his work, Apolinarius goes on to tell the cause of the heresy in this way: “Their opposition, and their recent heresy that split them off from the church, arose from the following cause.

8 “There is said to be a village called Ardabau in Mysia, on the Phrygian side. There, they say, a recent convert named Montanus first did this. Gratus was then proconsul of Asia. Montanus had a boundless desire of soul for preeminence, and he gave the adversary an entrance into himself. He was carried away by a spirit, and suddenly, in a kind of possession and ecstasy, he fell into a frenzy. He began to babble and to utter strange sounds. He was supposedly prophesying, but in a way contrary to the custom of the church handed down by tradition and succession from the beginning. Some of those who heard his false utterances at that time were annoyed. They rebuked him as a man worked on by a demon, possessed, held by a spirit of error, and disturbing the crowds, and they tried to stop him speaking. They remembered the Lord’s distinction and warning to watch vigilantly for the coming of false prophets. But others thought they were hearing a holy spirit and a prophetic gift, and they were lifted up and not a little puffed up. They forgot the Lord’s distinction and called on the mind-damaging, flattering, people-deceiving spirit. They were charmed and led astray by it, so that it could no longer be held back into silence.^[157]

9 “By some craft, or rather by such a method of wicked craft, the devil plotted the ruin of those who disobeyed. They honored him more than he deserved. He secretly stirred up and inflamed their minds, which had already fallen asleep to the true faith. He went on to rouse two other women and filled them with the false spirit, so that they too spoke in a frenzy, at the wrong times and in strange ways, like the man mentioned before. The spirit called blessed those who rejoiced in him and were puffed up over him, and he swelled them with the greatness of his promises. Yet at times he condemned them outright, plausibly and in a way that seemed trustworthy, so as to look like a reprover. (Those of the Phrygians who were deceived were few.) But the arrogant spirit taught them to slander the whole church under heaven, because the spirit of false prophecy received neither honor nor entrance into it.

12 “The believers throughout Asia met often, in many places across Asia, to look into this matter. They examined the recent utterances, declared them profane, and rejected the heresy. In this way these people were driven out of the Church and shut out from fellowship.” Having recorded these things at the beginning, and having carried his refutation of their error through the whole work, the writer says this in his second book about the end of those just mentioned: “They called us killers of the prophets because we would not accept their wild-talking prophets. (These, they say, are the ones the Lord promised to send to his people.) So let them answer us before God: my good friends, is there a single one of these, from Montanus and the women onward, who began to speak and was persecuted by the Jews or put to death by lawless men? Not one. Was any of them arrested for the Name and crucified? Certainly not. Was any of the women ever flogged in the Jewish synagogues, or stoned? Never, nowhere. [Matthew 23:34]

14 Montanus and Maximilla are said to have died by a different kind of death. The story is that the spirit of mischief stirred up each of them to hang himself or herself. They did not die together, but each at the time that common report gives for each death. In this way they died and ended their lives, like Judas the traitor. In the same way, a widespread story says that Theodotus, that remarkable man who was the first, so to speak, to be steward of their so-called prophecy, was at one time lifted up and taken into heaven. He fell into a trance and entrusted himself to the spirit of deceit, and was thrown down like a quoit (a discus), and died miserably. 17 “So they say these things happened this way. But we do not think we know anything of the kind without having seen it, my friend. Perhaps they died this way, and perhaps not: Montanus, Theodotus, and the woman mentioned above.” Again in the same work he says that the holy bishops of that time tried to expose the spirit in Maximilla, but were stopped by others who were clearly working along with that spirit. He writes: “Let not the spirit that spoke through Maximilla, in the same work against Asterius Urbanus, say, ‘I am being driven like a wolf from the sheep. I am not a wolf. I am word and spirit and power.’ Instead let him show the power in the spirit plainly and prove it. Let him use the spirit to force a confession from those who were present then to test the speaking spirit and talk with it: Zoticus from the village of Comana and Julian from Apamea, men of proven character and bishops. The followers of Themiso shut their mouths, and would not let them expose the false spirit that led the people astray.”^[158]

19 In the same work, after saying other things in refutation of Maximilla’s false prophecies, he also indicates the time when he was writing. He mentions her predictions of wars and disorders, and exposes their falsehood like this: “And hasn’t this lie also become obvious by now? It is more than thirteen years to this very day since the woman died, and there has been no war, either local or worldwide. On the contrary, even for Christians there has been lasting peace, by God’s mercy.” These things are from the second book. 21 I will also add a few short passages from the third book. There he answers those who boasted that even more of their people had been martyred. He says: “So when they are refuted on everything that has been said and have no answer, they try to take refuge in their martyrs. They say they have many martyrs, and that this is reliable proof of the power of what they call the prophetic spirit among them. But this, it seems, is anything but true. For some other heresies also have a great many martyrs, and surely we will not agree with them for that reason, or admit that they have the truth. First of all, the Marcionites, as they are called, from the heresy of Marcion, say they have a great number of martyrs for Christ. Yet they do not truly confess Christ himself.” And after a few lines he continues:

22 For this reason, whenever people from the Church are called to martyrdom for the faith of the truth and happen to meet some of the so-called martyrs of the Phrygian heresy, they quarrel with them. They die without having fellowship with them, because they do not want to agree with the spirit that works through Montanus and the women. That this is true, and that it happened in our own time at Apamea on the Maeander, is plain from the case of those who were martyred with Gaius and Alexander of Eumeneia.^[159]

Chapter 17

Miltiades and His Works.

2 In this work he also mentions a writer, Miltiades, who wrote a discourse of his own against the heresy mentioned above. After quoting some of their words, he adds: “I found these things in a writing of theirs which attacks the writing of Miltiades, our brother. In that writing Miltiades shows that a prophet ought not to speak in ecstasy. I have made an abridgment of it.” A little further on, the writer lists those who prophesied under the new covenant, and among them he counts a certain Ammia and Quadratus. He says: “But the false prophet speaks in a frenzy, which is followed by lack of restraint and lack of fear. It begins with voluntary ignorance and ends in involuntary madness of soul, as was said before.”^[160] 4 “In this way they will not be able to show that any prophet, whether of the old covenant or the new, was inspired by the Spirit. They cannot point to Agabus, or Judas, or Silas, or the daughters of Philip, or Ammia in Philadelphia, or Quadratus. Nor will they boast of any others who have nothing to do with them.” And again, a little later, he says: “If the women around Montanus received the prophetic gift after Quadratus and Ammia in Philadelphia, as they claim, let them show which of their people succeeded the followers of Montanus and the women. For the apostle holds that the prophetic gift must be in the whole Church until the final coming. But they cannot show it, though this is now about the fourteenth year since the death of Maximilla.” [Acts 21:9; Acts 11:28; Acts 15:32]

5 So much for him. But the Miltiades he refers to has left other memorials of his own zeal for the divine oracles. He wrote discourses against the Greeks and against the Jews, answering each group separately in two books. He also composed a defense, addressed to the worldly rulers, on behalf of the philosophy he followed.^[161]

Chapter 18

The Manner in Which Apollonius Refuted the Phrygians, and the Persons Whom He Mentions.

2 Apollonius, another writer of the Church, also took up the refutation of the so-called Phrygian heresy. It was still flourishing in Phrygia at that time. He wrote a separate work against it, correcting their circulating prophecies word by word and showing them to be false. He also exposed what kind of life the founders of the heresy had lived. Hear his own words about Montanus: “But who this new teacher is, his works and his teaching show. This is the man who taught the dissolving of marriages. He made laws about fasting. He named Pepuza and Tymion, which are small towns of Phrygia, ‘Jerusalem,’ wanting to gather people there from everywhere. He appointed collectors of money. He cleverly arranged for the taking of gifts under the name of offerings. He supplied salaries to those who preach his message, so that the teaching of his message might grow strong through gluttony.”

5 So much about Montanus. A little further on he writes this about his prophetesses: “We show, then, that these very first prophetesses left their husbands from the moment they were filled with the Spirit. How then do they lie when they call Prisca a virgin?” Then he adds: “Does Scripture seem to you to forbid a prophet to take gifts and money? So when I see the prophetess has taken gold and silver and costly clothing, how can I not reject her?” Again, a little further on, he says this about one of their confessors: “Then there is Themison, who was dressed in a trustworthy-looking greed. He did not bear the mark of his confession. Instead he laid aside his chains for a large sum of money. He should have been humbled by this, but he dared to boast as a martyr. In imitation of the apostle he composed a letter addressed to the whole Church. In it he instructed people whose faith was better than his own, joined the fight for words of empty sound, and blasphemed against the Lord, the apostles and the holy Church.”^[162]

7 Eusebius goes on, writing of others whom they honor as martyrs: “I will not speak of many. Let the prophetess herself tell us about Alexander, who calls himself a martyr. She feasts with him, and many people bow down to him. We need not tell of his robberies and the other crimes for which he was punished, because the archive holds the record of them. So who forgives whose sins? Does the prophet forgive the martyr’s robberies, or the martyr forgive the prophet’s greed? The Lord said, ‘Do not acquire gold or silver or two tunics.’ These people have done the complete opposite and have sinned by owning the very things that were forbidden. For we will show that those they call prophets and martyrs take in money, coin by coin, not only from the rich but also from the poor, from orphans, and from widows.^[163] [Matthew 10:9-10] 9 “If they are confident, let them stand their ground and settle this with us. Then, if they are proved wrong, they may at least stop sinning from now on. For the fruits of a prophet must be tested, because a tree is known by its fruit. But so that anyone who wishes may know about Alexander: he was tried by Aemilius Frontinus, the proconsul at Ephesus. It was not because of the Name but because of the robberies he had dared to commit, and he was already a transgressor. Later he lied by claiming the name of the Lord, and he was released, having deceived the believers there. His own church community, where he came from, would not take him in, because he was a robber. Those who want to learn about him can consult the public archive of Asia. [Matthew 7:16-20; Matthew 12:33]

11 “Yet the prophet lived with this man for many years and does not know him! By exposing him, we also expose the true nature of the prophet. We could show the same thing in many other cases, and if they are bold enough, let them submit to the test.” Again, in another part of his work, Apollonius says this about the prophets they boast of: “If they deny that their prophets have received gifts, let them agree to this: if it is proved that they did receive them, they are not prophets. We will bring ten thousand proofs of it. But all the fruits of a prophet must be tested. Tell me, does a prophet dye himself? Does a prophet paint his eyelids? Does a prophet love finery? Does a prophet play board games and dice? Does a prophet lend at interest? Let them say whether these things are permitted or not. I will show that they have happened among them.”^[164]

13 In the same work, Apollonius also records that it was the fortieth year since Montanus had begun his pretended prophecy, counting to the time he was writing. He says again that Zoticus, whom the earlier writer also mentioned, came forward at Pepuza while Maximilla was pretending to prophesy. Zoticus tried to test and refute the spirit working in her, but those who sided with her stopped him. Apollonius also mentions a certain Thraseas, one of the martyrs of that time.^[165] 14 He also says, as something handed down by tradition, that the Savior commanded his apostles not to leave Jerusalem for twelve years. He uses testimonies from John’s Revelation, too, and he reports that John himself raised a dead man at Ephesus by divine power. He adds other things by which he fully and thoroughly set right the error of the heresy I have described. That is what Apollonius says.

Chapter 19

Serapion on the Heresy of the Phrygians.

2 Serapion mentions the writings of Apolinarius against this heresy. Report has it that Serapion became bishop of the church of Antioch after Maximinus, in the period I am describing. He refers to Apolinarius in a private letter to Caricus and Pontius, in which he himself also refutes this same heresy. He adds these words: “So that you may also see that the working of this false order, which calls itself the New Prophecy, is detested by the whole brotherhood throughout the world, I have sent you the writings of Claudius Apolinarius, the most blessed man who was bishop of Hierapolis in Asia.” 4 In this letter of Serapion there are also signed notes from various bishops. One signs this way: “I, Aurelius Cyrenius, martyr, pray that you are well.” Another signs like this: “I, Aelius Publius Julius, bishop from Debeltum, a colony of Thrace. As God lives in the heavens, the blessed Sotas at Anchialus wished to drive out the demon of Priscilla, and the hypocrites would not let him.” In the same letter there are also signatures, in their own handwriting, of many other bishops who agreed with these. That is how matters stood with these people.^[166]

---

Notes

[129] “Psaltes” means “the Psalmist” or “the Singer.” The work has not survived.

[130] “This reign” is that of Marcus Aurelius (Antoninus Verus), named earlier in Book 4. His eighth year is about 167/168.

[131] “Hemerobaptists” means “daily baptizers.” The Greek names “the Gospel according to the Hebrews” and “the Syriac” as separate items.

[132] “General letters” translates the Greek word often rendered “catholic.” Here it means letters addressed to churches generally, not the New Testament “Catholic Epistles.”

[133] The Greek verb hyposēmainōn means “indicating” or “hinting at,” so Dionysius points to Palmas as bishop rather than simply naming him.

[134] “Milky” teaching and “stronger food” echo the contrast between milk and solid food in 1 Corinthians 3:2 and Hebrews 5:12-14.

[135] “Lord’s day” is Greek kyriake (hemera), the usual early Christian term for Sunday. “Weeds” (zizania) is the word used in the parable of the weeds in Matthew 13. The Greek says the devil’s apostles plotted against writings “not of such a kind.”

[136] “Spiritual” translates Greek logikos, “rational” or “spiritual.” The same adjective appears in 1 Peter 2:2, “spiritual milk.”

[137] “Unwritten inquiries” (agraphois zetesesin) means spoken, face-to-face debate, as opposed to the written treatises mentioned next.

[138] The older translation has “parish” for paroikia; it means a local church community (the root of “parish”), not a parish in the modern sense.

[139] Hadrian was Marcus Aurelius’s adoptive grandfather: he adopted Antoninus Pius, who then adopted Marcus. “Your father” means Antoninus Pius, and the Greek says Marcus was “managing all things for him.”

[140] The “work mentioned” is Melito’s apology to the emperor, which Eusebius has been quoting. The emperor is most likely Marcus Aurelius, since “your father” is Antoninus Pius.

[141] “Jesus Nave” is the Greek form of Joshua son of Nun. “Four books of Kingdoms” are 1–2 Samuel and 1–2 Kings. Esther is not in the list, and “Ezra” probably includes Nehemiah.

[142] “Advocate” translates the Greek “paraklētos,” the same word used of the Holy Spirit in John 14–16. “Following the Lamb wherever he goes” echoes Revelation 14:4.

[143] “Miscarried” translates the Greek verb “exetrōsan” (from “ektitrōskō,” to miscarry), a figure for those whose faith failed before it was fully formed.

[144] “Thyestean feasts” refers to the myth of Thyestes, who was tricked into eating his own children. “Oedipean unions” refers to Oedipus, who married his mother. These were slanders of cannibalism and incest commonly brought against Christians.

[145] “Gehenna” is the word the Greek uses (“geenna”) for the place of eternal punishment, often rendered “hell.”

[146] The “fifth hole” refers to the stocks (Greek “xylon”), which had a row of holes. The prisoner’s feet were stretched apart to the fifth hole.

[147] “The all-honored, glorious and life-giving name” is the name “Christian.” The “murderers” are not the false charge of cannibalism. Those who denied were held as common criminals, “murderers and defiled” (see 5.1.33), instead of being treated as Christians.

[148] “The Way” is an early name for the Christian faith, as in Acts 9:2 and 19:9. “Wedding garment” recalls Jesus’ parable in Matthew 22. The Greek says they blasphemed the Way “through their manner of life.”

[149] Eusebius’s “Collection of Martyrdoms” is a work of his own that has not survived.

[150] The Greek word is “keraunobolon,” meaning “thunderbolt-hurling.” The legion is traditionally known as the “Thundering Legion” (Latin “fulminata”).

[151] “The one called Pius” is the emperor Antoninus Pius; in Greek his title is Eusebes, “devout.” The quotation is from Tertullian, as the preceding section shows.

[152] The Shepherd is the Shepherd of Hermas, an early Christian writing. The quotation is from Mandate 1.1, which continues “who created and completed all things.” Eusebius breaks off after “created all things” with “and so on.”

[153] The passage is Isaiah 7:14. The Greek of the Seventy uses a word meaning “virgin,” while Theodotion and Aquila used a word meaning “young woman.” The Ebionites were a Jewish-Christian group who denied the virgin birth.

[154] The account that the translators worked separately and produced identical texts is Irenaeus’s report, which Eusebius is quoting. Eusebius does not vouch for it here.

[155] “India” here may not mean what we call India today. Ancient writers used the name loosely for lands in the far East, or sometimes for regions near southern Arabia or Ethiopia. The Greek participle (στειλάμενος) means he “set out” or “journeyed” to the land of the Indians.

[156] “Paraclete” is the title Jesus gives the Holy Spirit in John’s Gospel (usually rendered Comforter, Helper or Advocate).

[157] “The Lord’s distinction and warning” probably refers to his warnings about false prophets, as in Matthew 7:15 and 24:11. “Strange sounds” translates a Greek verb meaning to utter foreign or unfamiliar speech.

[158] The phrase “the work against Asterius Urbanus” is obscure in the Greek. Asterius Urbanus is otherwise unknown, and the text may be corrupt.

[159] “They are perfected” (τελειοῦνται) is an early Christian way of saying they died as martyrs.

[160] The Greek spells the name Kodratos, which is the Greek form of the name Quadratus.

[161] “Philosophy” here means the Christian faith, which early Christian writers often called “our philosophy.”

[162] In the Greek the verb after “to instruct” is damaged, and the sense “to join the fight for” is supplied from the context. The older translation reads it as “contending for.” Apollonius speaks ironically of Themison’s “trustworthy” greed.

[163] “The archive” translates the Greek opisthodomos, the rear chamber of a temple, used to store treasure and records. The Lord’s saying is close to Matthew 10:9-10.

[164] Greek βάπτεται means “dyes himself” and names no object, though hair is implied. δανείζει means simply “lends”, and interest is probably implied. ὑπόστασις means “substance” or “real nature”, here the real character of the prophet.

[165] “The earlier writer” is the anonymous author Eusebius quoted earlier in this book.

[166] “Martyr” (Greek “martys”) can also mean “witness.” Here it probably describes someone who had suffered for the faith, but this is uncertain. Priscilla is the same prophetess called Prisca in 5.18.3.