11 - Book IV, Part 1

BOOK FOUR. PART ONE. CHAPTERS ONE THROUGH THIRTEEN. BOOK FOUR. CHAPTER ONE. THE BISHOPS OF ROME AND OF ALEXANDRIA DURING THE REIGN OF TRAJAN. About the twelfth year of the reign of Trajan, the above-mentioned bishop of the parish of Alexandria died, and Primus, the fourth in succession from the apostles, was chosen to the office. At that time also Alexander, the fifth in the line of succession from Peter and Paul, received the episcopate at Rome, after Everestus had held the office eight years. CHAPTER TWO. THE CALAMITIES OF THE JEWS DURING TRAJAN'S REIGN. The teaching and the church of our Saviour flourished greatly and made progress from day to day, but the calamities of the Jews increased, and they underwent a constant succession of evils. In the eighteenth year of Trajan's reign there was another disturbance of the Jews, through which a great multitude of them perished. For in Alexandria and in the rest of Egypt, and also in Cyrene, as if incited by some terrible and factious spirit, they rushed into seditious measures against their fellow inhabitants, the Greeks. The insurrection increased greatly, and in the following year, while Lupus was governor of all Egypt, it developed into a of no mean magnitude. In the first attack it happened that they were victorious over the Greeks, who fled to Alexandria and imprisoned and slew the Jews that were in the city. But the Jews of Cyrene, although deprived of their aid, continued to plunder the land of Egypt and to devastate its districts, under the leadership of Lucius. Against them the emperor sent Marcius Turbo, with a foot and naval force and also with a force of cavalry. He carried on the war against them for a long time and fought many battles, and slew many thousands of Jews, not only those of Cyrene, but also of those who dwelt in Egypt and had come to the assistance of their king Lucius. But the emperor, fearing that the Jews in Mesopotamia would also make an attack upon the inhabitants of that country, commanded Lucius Quintus to clear the province of them, and he, having marched against them, slew a great multitude of those that dwelt there, and in consequence of his success he was made governor of Judea by the emperor. These events are recorded also in these very words by the Greek historians that have written accounts of those times. Chapter 3 The Apologists That Wrote in Defense of the Faith During the Reign of Adrian. After Trajan had reigned for nineteen and a half years, Aelius Adrian became his successor in the empire. To him Quadratus addressed a discourse containing an apology for our religion, because certain wicked men had attempted to trouble the Christians. The work is still in the hands of a great many of the brethren, as also in our own, and furnishes clear proofs of the man's understanding and of his apostolic orthodoxy. He himself reveals the early date at which he lived in the following words, but the works of our Savior were always present, for they were genuine. Those that were healed, and those that were raised from the dead, who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but were also always present, and not merely while the Savior was on earth, but also after his death, they were alive for quite a while, so that some of them lived even to our day. Such then was Quadratus. Aristides also, a believer earnestly devoted to our religion, left, like Quadratus, an apology for the faith addressed to Adrian. His work, too, has been preserved even to the present day by a great many persons. Chapter 4. The Bishops of Rome and of Alexandria Under the Same Emperor In the third year of the same reign, Alexander, Bishop of Rome, died after holding office ten years. His successor was Sistus. About the same time, Primus, Bishop of Alexandria, died in the twelfth year of his episcopate, and was succeeded by Justus. Chapter 5. The Bishops of Jerusalem from the Age of Our Savior to the Period Under Consideration The chronology of the Bishops of Jerusalem I have nowhere found preserved in writing, for tradition says that they were all short-lived. But I have learned this much from writings, that until the siege of the Jews, which took place under Adrian, there were fifteen bishops in succession there, all of whom are said to have been of Hebrew descent, and to have received the knowledge of Christ in purity, so that they were approved by those who were able to judge of such matters, and were deemed worthy of the episcopate. For their whole church consisted then of believing Hebrews who continued from the days of the apostles until the siege which took place at this time, in which siege the Jews, having again rebelled against the Romans, were conquered after severe battles. But since the bishops of the circumcision ceased at this time, it is proper to give here a list of their names from the beginning. The first then was James, the so-called brother of the Lord, the second Simeon, the third Justus, the fourth Zacchaeus, the fifth Tobias, the sixth Benjamin, the seventh John, the eighth Matthias, the ninth Philip, the tenth Seneca, the eleventh Justus, the twelfth Levi, the thirteenth Ephras, the fourteenth Joseph, and finally the fifteenth Judas. These are the bishops of Jerusalem that lived between the age of the apostles and the time referred to, all of them belonging to the circumcision. In the twelfth year of the reign of Adrian, Zistus, having completed the tenth year of his episcopate, was succeeded by Telesphorus, the seventh in succession from the apostles. In the meantime, after the lapse of a year and some months, Eumenes, the sixth in order, succeeded to the leadership of the Alexandrian church, his predecessor having held office eleven years. Chapter Six, The Last Siege of the Jews Under Adrian. As the rebellion of the Jews at this time grew much more serious, Rufus, governor of Judea, after an auxiliary force had been sent him by the emperor, using their madness as a pretext, proceeded against them without mercy, and destroyed indiscriminately thousands of men and women and children, and in accordance with the laws of war, reduced their country to a state of complete subjection. The leader of the Jews at this time was a man by the name of Bar Kochiba, which signifies a star, who possessed the character of a robber and a murderer, but nevertheless, relying upon his name, boasted to them, as if they were slaves, that he possessed wonderful powers, and he pretended that he was a star that had come down to them out of heaven to bring them light in the midst of their misfortunes. The war raged most fiercely in the eighteenth year of Adrian, at the city of Bithara, which was a very secure fortress situated not far from Jerusalem. When the siege had lasted a long time, and the rebels had been driven to the last extremity by hunger and thirst, and the instigator of the rebellion had suffered his just punishment, the whole nation was prohibited from this time on by a decree, and by the commands of Adrian, from ever going up to the country about Jerusalem. For the emperor gave orders that they should not even see from a distance the land of their fathers. Such is the account of Aristo of Pella. And thus, when the city had been emptied of the Jewish nation and had suffered the total destruction of its ancient inhabitants, it was colonized by a different race, and the Roman city which subsequently arose changed its name and was called in honor of the emperor Elias Adrian. And as the church there was now composed of Gentiles, the first one to assume the government of it after the bishops of the circumcision was Marcus. As the churches throughout the world were now shining like the most brilliant stars, and faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ was flourishing among the whole human race, the demon who hates everything that is good and is always hostile to the truth, and most bitterly opposed to the salvation of man, turned all his arts against the church. In the beginning he armed himself against it with external persecutions. But now, being shut off from the use of such means, he devised all sorts of plans, and employed other methods in his conflict with the church, using base and deceitful men as instruments for the destruction. Instigated by him, imposters and deceivers, assuming the name of our religion, brought to the depth of ruin such of the believers as they could win over, and at the same time, by means of the deeds which they practiced, turned away from the path which leads to the word of salvation those who were ignorant of the faith. Accordingly there proceeded from that Menander, whom we have already mentioned as the successor of Simon, a certain serpent-like power, double-tongued and two-headed, which produced the leaders of two different heresies, Saturninus, an Antiochian by birth, and Bacillides, an Alexandrian. The former of these established schools of godless heresy in Syria, the latter in Alexandria. Irenaeus states that the false teaching of Saturninus agreed in most respects with that of Menander, but that Bacillides, under the pretext of unspeakable mysteries, invented monstrous fables, and carried the fictions of his impious heresy quite beyond bounds. But as there were at that time a great many members of the church who were fighting for the truth and defending apostolic and ecclesiastical doctrine with uncommon eloquence, so there were some also that furnished posterity through their writings with means of defense against the heresies to which we have referred. Of these there has come down to us a most powerful refutation of Bacillides by Agrippa Castor, one of the most renowned writers of that day, which shows the terrible imposture of the man. While exposing his mysteries, he says that Bacillides wrote twenty-four books upon the gospel, and that he invented prophets for himself named Barcabbas and Barcoff, and others that had no existence, and that he gave them barbarous names in order to amaze those who marvel at such things, that he taught also that the eating of meat offered to idols and the unguarded renunciation of the faith in times of persecution were matters of indifference, and that he enjoined upon his followers, like Pythagoras, a silence of five years. Other similar things the above-mentioned writer has recorded concerning Bacillides, and has ably exposed the error of his heresy. Irenaeus also writes that Carpocrates was a contemporary of these men, and that he was the father of another heresy, called the heresy of the Gnostics, who did not wish to transmit any longer the magic arts of Simon, as that one had done in secret, but openly. For they boasted, as of something great, of love potions that were carefully prepared by them, and of certain demons that sent them dreams and lent them their protection, and of other similar agencies. And in accordance with these things they taught that it was necessary for those who wished to enter fully into their mysteries, or rather into their abominations, to practice all the worst kinds of wickedness, on the ground that they could escape the cosmic powers, as they called them, in no other way than by discharging their obligations to them all by infamous conduct. Thus it came to pass that the malignant demon, making use of these ministers, on the one hand enslaved those that were so pitiably led astray by them to their own destruction, while on the other hand he furnished to the unbelieving heathen abundant opportunities for slandering the divine word, inasmuch as the reputation of these men brought infamy upon the race of Christians. In this way, therefore, it came to pass that there was spread abroad in regard to us among the unbelievers of that age the infamous and most absurd suspicion that we practiced unlawful commerce with mothers and sisters and enjoyed impious feasts. He did not, however, long succeed in these artifices, as the truth established itself and in time shone with great brilliancy. For the machinations of its enemies were refuted by its power and speedily vanished. One new heresy arose after another, and the former ones always passed away, and now at one time, now at another, now in one way, now in other ways, were lost in ideas of various kinds and various forms. But the splendor of the Catholic and only true Church, which is always the same, grew in magnitude and power, and reflected its piety and simplicity and freedom and the modesty and purity of its inspired life and philosophy to every nation both of Greeks and of barbarians. At the same time the slanderous accusations which had been brought against the whole Church also vanished, and there remained our teaching alone, which has prevailed over all, and which is acknowledged to be superior to all in dignity and temperance. And in divine and philosophical doctrines, so that none of them now ventures to affix a base calumny upon our faith or any such slander as our ancient enemies formerly delighted to utter. Nevertheless, in those times the truth again called forth many champions who fought in its defense against the godless heresies, refuting them not only with oral but also with written arguments. Chapter 8 Ecclesiastical Writers. Among these, Hegesippus was well known. We have already quoted his words a number of times, relating events which happened in the time of the apostles according to his account. He records in five books the true tradition of apostolic doctrine in a most simple style, and he indicates the time in which he flourished when he writes as follows concerning those that first set up idols. To whom they erected cenotaphs and temples, as is done to the present day. Among whom is also Antinous, a slave of the emperor Adrian, in whose honor are celebrated also the Antinoyan games, which are instituted in our day. For he, i.e. Adrian, also founded a city named after Antinous and appointed prophets. At the same time also, Justin, a genuine lover of the true philosophy, was still continuing to busy himself with Greek literature. He indicates this time in the Apology which he addressed to Antonine, where he writes as follows. We do not think it out of place to mention here Antinous also, who lived in our day, and whom all were driven by fear to worship as a god, although they knew who he was and whence he came. The same writer, speaking of the Jewish war which took place at that time, adds the following. For in the late Jewish war, Barkocheba, the leader of the Jewish rebellion, commanded that Christians alone should be visited with terrible punishments unless they would deny and blaspheme Jesus Christ. And in the same work, he shows that his conversion from Greek philosophy to Christianity was not without reason, but that it was the result of deliberation on his part. His words are as follows. For I myself, while I was delighted with the doctrines of Plato, and heard the Christians slandered, and saw that they were afraid neither of death nor of anything else ordinarily looked upon as terrible, concluded that it was impossible that they could be living in wickedness and pleasure. For what pleasure-loving or intemperate man, or what man that counts it good to feast on human flesh, could welcome death that he might be deprived of his enjoyments, and would not rather strive to continue permanently his present life, and to escape the notice of the rulers, instead of giving himself up to be put to death? The same writer, moreover, relates that Adrian, having received from Serenius Granianus, a most distinguished governor, a letter in behalf of the Christians, in which he stated that it was not just to slay the Christians without a regular accusation and trial, merely for the sake of gratifying the outcries of the populace, sent a rescript to Menucius Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, commanding him to condemn no one without an indictment and a well-grounded accusation. And he gives a copy of the Epistle, preserving the original Latin in which it was written, and prefacing it with the following words. Although from the Epistle of the greatest and illustrious emperor Adrian, your father, we have good ground to demand that you order judgment to be given as we have desired, yet we have asked this not because it was ordered by Adrian, but rather because we know that what we ask is just, and we have subjoined the copy of Adrian's Epistle that you may know that we are speaking the truth in this matter also, and this is the copy. After these words, the author referred to gives the rescript in Latin, which we have translated into Greek as accurately as we could. It reads as follows. CHAPTER IX. THE EPISTLE OF ADRIAN, DECREEING THAT WE SHOULD NOT BE PUNISHED WITHOUT A TRIAL To Menucius Fundanus, I have received an epistle written to me by Serenius Granianus, a most illustrious man, whom you have succeeded. It does not seem right to me that the matter should be passed by without examination, lest the men be harassed and opportunity be given to the informers for practicing villainy. If, therefore, the inhabitants of the province can clearly sustain this petition against the Christians so as to give answer in a court of law, let them pursue this course alone, but let them not have resort to men's petitions and outcries, for it is far more proper, if anyone wishes to make an accusation, that you should examine into it. If anyone, therefore, accuses them and shows that they are doing anything contrary to the laws, do you pass judgment according to the heinousness of the crime. But by Hercules, if anyone bring an accusation through mere calumny, decide in regard to his criminality, and see to it that you inflict punishment. Such are the contents of Adrian's rescript. CHAPTER X. THE BISHOPS OF ROME AND OF ALEXANDRIA DURING THE REIGN OF ANTONINUS ADRIAN, HAVING DIED AFTER A REIGN OF TWENTY-ONE YEARS, WAS SUCCEEDED IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ROMANS BY ANTONINUS, CALLED THE PAIUS. IN THE FIRST YEAR OF HIS REIGN TELESPHORUS DIED IN THE ELEVENTH YEAR OF HIS EPISCOPATE, AND HIGINUS BECAME BISHOP OF ROME. IRENEAS RECORDS THAT TELESPHORUS' DEATH WAS MADE GLORIOUS BY MARTYRDOM, AND IN THE SAME CONNECTION HE STATES THAT IN THE TIME OF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED ROMAN BISHOP HIGINUS, VALENTINUS, THE FOUNDER OF A SECT OF HIS OWN, AND SIRDON, THE AUTHOR OF MARCIAN'S ERROR, WERE BOTH WELL KNOWN AT ROME. HE WRITES AS FOLLOWS. CHAPTER XI. THE HERESIARCHS OF THAT AGE. FOR VALENTINUS CAME TO ROME UNDER HIGINUS, FLOURISHED UNDER PAIUS, AND REMAINED UNTIL ANICETUS. SIRDON ALSO, MARCIAN'S PREDECESSOR, ENTERED THE CHURCH IN THE TIME OF HIGINUS, THE NINTH BISHOP, AND MADE CONFESSION, AND CONTINUED IN THIS WAY, NOW TEACHING IN SECRET, NOW MAKING CONFESSION AGAIN, AND NOW DENOUNCED FOR CORRUPT DOCTRINE AND WITHDRAWING FROM THE ASSEMBLY OF THE BRETHREN. These words are found in the third book of the work Against Heresies. And again in the first book he speaks as follows concerning Sirdon. A certain Sirdon, who had taken his system from the followers of Simon, and had come to Rome under Higinus, the ninth in the Episcopal succession from the Apostles, taught that the God proclaimed by the Law and Prophets was not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the former was known, but the latter unknown, and the former was just, but the latter good. Marcian of Pontus succeeded Sirdon and developed his doctrine, uttering shameless blasphemies. The same Irenaeus unfolds with the greatest vigor the unfathomable abyss of Valentinus' errors in regard to matter, and reveals his wickedness secret and hidden like a serpent lurking in its nest. And in addition to these men he says that there was also another that lived in that age, Marcus by name, who was remarkably skilled in magic arts. And he describes also their unholy initiations and their abominable mysteries in the following words. For some of them prepare a nuptial couch and perform a mystic rite with certain forms of expression addressed to those who are being initiated. And they say that it is a spiritual marriage which is celebrated by them, after the likenesses of the marriages above. But others lead them to water, and while they baptize them they repeat the following words. Into the name of the Unknown Father of the Universe, into Truth, the Mother of all things, into the One that descended upon Jesus. Others repeat Hebrew names in order the better to confound those who are being initiated. But Hyginus, having died at the close of the fourth year of his episcopate, pious succeeded him in the government of the Church of Rome. In Alexandria Marcus was appointed pastor, after Eumenes had filled the office thirteen years in all. And Marcus having died and holding office ten years was succeeded by Saladion in the government of the Church of Alexandria. And in Rome Pius died in the fifteenth year of his episcopate, and Anicetus assumed the leadership of the Christians there. Hegesippus records that he himself was in Rome at this time, and that he remained there until the episcopate of Eleutherus. But Justin was especially prominent in those days. In the guise of a philosopher he preached the divine word, and contended for the faith in his writings. He wrote also a work against Marcion, in which he states that the latter was alive at the time he wrote. He speaks as follows, And there is a certain Marcion of Pontus, who is even now still teaching his followers to think that there is some other god greater than the Creator, and by the aid of the demons he has persuaded many of every race of men to utter blasphemy, and to deny that the maker of this universe is the Father of Christ, and to confess that some other greater than he was the Creator. And all who followed them are, as we have said, called Christians, just as the name of philosophy is given to philosophers, although they may have no doctrines in common. To this he adds, And we have also written a work against all the heresies that have existed, which we will give you if you wish to read it. But this same Justin contended most successfully against the Greeks, and addressed discourses containing an apology for our faith to the Emperor Antoninus, called Pius, and to the Roman Senate, for he lived at Rome. But who and whence he was he shows in his apology in the following words. Chapter Twelve THE APOLOGY OF JUSTIN ADDRESSED TO ANTONINUS To the Emperor Titus Aelius Adrian Antoninus Pius Caesar Augustus, and to Verisimus, his son, the philosopher, and to Lucius, the philosopher, own son of Caesar and adopted son of Pius, a lover of learning, and to the sacred Senate and to the whole Roman people, I, Justin, son of Priscus and grandson of Bacchius, of Flavia Neapolis in Palestine, Syria, present this address and petition in behalf of those men of every nation who are unjustly hated and persecuted, I myself being one of them. And the same Emperor, having learned also from other brethren in Asia of the injuries of all kinds which they were suffering from the inhabitants of the province, thought it proper to address the following ordinance to the Common Assembly of Asia. Chapter Thirteen THE EPISTLE OF ANTONINUS TO THE COMMON ASSEMBLY OF ASIA IN REGARD TO OUR DOCTRINE The Emperor Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus, Arminicus, Pontifex Maximus, for the Fifteenth Time Tribune, for the Third Time Consul, to the Common Assembly of Asia, greeting. I know that the gods also take care that such persons do not escape detection, for they would much rather punish those who will not worship them than you would. But you throw them into confusion, and while you accuse them of atheism you only confirm them in the opinion which they hold. It would indeed be more desirable for them, when accused, to appear to die for their god than to live. Wherefore also they come off victorious when they give up their lives rather than yield obedience to your commands. And in regard to the earthquakes which have been and are still taking place, it is not improper to admonish you who lose heart whenever they occur, and nevertheless are accustomed to compare your conduct with theirs. They indeed become the more confident in God, while you during the whole time neglect, in apparent ignorance, the other gods and the worship of the immortal, and oppress and persecute even unto death the Christians who worship him. But in regard to these persons, many of the governors of the provinces wrote also to our most divine father, to whom he wrote in reply that they should not trouble these people unless it should appear that they were attempting something affecting the Roman government. And to me also many have sent communications concerning these men, but I have replied to them in the same way that my father did. But if anyone still persists in bringing accusations against any of these people as such, the person who is accused shall be acquitted of the charge, even if it appear that he is one of them, but the accuser shall be punished. Published in Ephesus in the Common Assembly of Asia. To these things Melito, bishop of the church of Sardis, and a man well known at that time, is a witness, as is clear from his words in the apology which he addressed to the Emperor Verus in behalf of our doctrine. End of book four, part one.