Part 22
_About the year 160._--Gratianus quotes the words of the Lord: “When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another;” and says then: “Here Jesus Christ teaches that Christians shall not repel weapon with weapon, but must flee before weapons.” _P. J. Twisck, Chron., 2d Book, for the year 160, p. 43, col. 1, 2, from Seb. Fra. in den Krieg des Fredes, fol. 63._
From this explanation of Gratianus appears, how salutarily and rightly he believed and taught with regard to the words of Jesus Christ relative to the forsaking of revenge; from which we may infer his correct views concerning other matters of Holy Scripture and the Christian faith; but since, either through default of the ancient writers, or for some other reason, nothing else has come down to us from him, we shall be content with what we have mentioned, and take our leave of him.[89]
[89] A. D. 175, Ireneus taught that the bread of the Supper was of the fruit of the earth, and he also calls the Supper not an offering but a thanksgiving. _Lib 4, contra Valent._ See in the _Geslacht-register der Roomscher Successie; second edition, 1649, page 114_.
_About the year 200._--About this time flourished Clemens Alexandrinus, who, though writing largely on baptism, nowhere mentions infant baptism, but employs throughout such language as sufficiently implies, that he knew nothing of infant baptism, but confined himself solely to the ordinance of Christ and the practice of his apostles, which is baptism that is accompanied with faith and repentance.
In _Pædagog., lib. 1., chap. 6_, he writes thus: “This is also done with us, whose example the Lord Christ has become. Being baptized, we become enlightened; being enlightened, we are made children; having been made children, we are brought to perfection; having been brought to perfection, we are made immortal.” A little after that he says: “Thus also, when we are baptized, we obtain a free, unobstructed, and clear eye of the Holy Ghost, as an avengement of blindness; having trodden underfoot the sins which hitherto obscured the divine Spirit.” Also: “That which was grievously bound by ignorance, is unbound by knowledge, and these bands are loosed through the faith of man and the grace of God, the manifold sins being forgiven through reasonable[90] baptism as a perfect remedy; thus we are washed from all sins, and are henceforth evil no more; this is the grace of enlightenment, that the manner of life is no longer the same that it was before we were baptized.” Further: “Teaching or instruction precedes faith, but faith conjointly with baptism is led and directed through the Holy Ghost.” And: “Even so we who repent of our former sins separate ourselves from them and are being cleansed through baptism, let us run to the eternal light, as children to their father.” See further, concerning these citations, _Jac. Mehrn., Bapt. Hist., 2d Part, pages 213, 214_. Also, _H. Montan. Nietighz van den Kinder-doop, pages 26, 27_.
[90] The words, “reasonable baptism,” indicate that he speaks of such a baptism as belongs to reasonable or intelligent persons.
What is there in this testimony of Clemens Alexandrinus, that can apply to infant baptism? yea, on the contrary, what is there that does not militate against it? He certainly says expressly: “These bands (namely, of sin) are loosed through the faith of man, and the grace of God, the manifold sins being forgiven through reasonable baptism.” This certainly is a clear and obvious joining together of faith and baptism, as things which, through the providence of God, belong together, for the remission of sins. When he further says: “Teaching, or instruction, precedes faith, but faith conjointly with baptism is led and directed through the Holy Ghost,” there is expressed, without controversy, the same thing that we have said just now; since here not only faith is joined together with baptism, but also instruction, which precedes faith, and the Holy Ghost, who follows and confirms faith.
It is true, he says soon after this, that those who are baptized are children, or, at least, ought to be. But what kind of children? Not children in understanding, not infants in the cradle, but, as he further says, Children in wickedness, but perfect in the understanding. Children, who, as children of God, have put off the old man, and the garment of wickedness, and have put on the incorruptibility of Christ, in order that, being regenerated, they may become a new and holy people, and keep unspotted the new man. See the treatise cited above.
If at that time it was at all customary in Alexandria to baptize infants, would it not have been appropriate here for him, to speak of irrational infants, or at least to mention with a word or two, that they, too, were entitled to baptism, although, on account of their youth, they could not understand the object of it? Truly, according to our opinion he could not well have omitted mentioning it; but, inasmuch as he does not refer to it with a single word, it is good proof, that at that time this abuse was not known there, or, at least, not regarded.
Jacob Mehrning says (_Baptism. Hist. concerning the second century, page 213_): “Of Clemens Alexandrinus we read that at Alexandria he presided over the school in which the catechumens, that is those who received instruction preparatory to baptism, were taught the principles of the Christian faith.” _Vicecomes, lib. 2, cap. 7._
From this _Pædag., Clementis Alexandrini, lib. 1, cap. 6_, Vicecomes would prove that there was given to those who were baptized, milk and honey to eat, and milk mixed with wine, to drink; likewise, that after baptism, preaching took place and peace was imparted to those baptized.
As regards the statement, that there was given to the baptized, as a sign of God’s blessing, milk and honey to eat, and milk mixed with wine, to drink, we leave it to its own merits, it being a matter of small importance, which, if done without superstition, could either be observed or omitted. But the preceding statement, that Clemens Alexandrinus presided over the school in which the catechumens were taught the principles of the Christian faith, certainly implies that the candidates for baptism were first instructed in the school, in the principles of the Christian faith, before they were baptized; and also, the final remark, that after baptism preaching took place, and peace was imparted to the baptized, certainly also indicates that those who were baptized were not infants, for then they could not have understood the preaching, much less would they have been qualified to receive with attention and according to the requirements of Holy Scripture the peace which was imparted to them.
NOTE.--Baudartius writes of Clemens Alexandrinus, that he proclaimed the true religion with his mouth as well as with his pen, saying among other things: “A pious and honorable man is well content with little.” _Apophth., edit. 1640, lib. 2, page 49._
FURTHER REMARKS CONCERNING BAPTISM IN THIS CENTURY.
From the writings of Walafridus Strabonus we may clearly infer what manner of baptism was practiced at this time, in the first as well as in the second century, and also long afterwards, namely, that no infants, but adult, reasonable, and believing persons were baptized, and this, according to the example of Christ and his holy apostles. _Jac. Mehrn., Bapt. Hist., p. 524, D. I. Vicecomes, lib. I, cap. 4._ Walafridus Strabo (_in lib. de Rebus Eccles., cap. 26_) writes: “We must know that originally believers were very simply baptized in streams and springs; for our Lord Jesus Christ himself, in order to sanctify such washing for us, was baptized of John in Jordan; even we read elsewhere: ‘John was baptizing in Enon near to Salim, because there was much water there.’”
_Page 525_, from _D. Vicecomes, lib. 1, cap. 30_; also, _cap. 26_, Strabo speaks thus concerning baptism: “We must know that in those first times baptism was administered only to those who, in body as well as in soul, were washed clean and white, so that they could both know and understand, what benefit there was to be obtained in baptism, what was to be confessed and believed, and, finally, what was necessary to be observed by the regenerated in Christ.
He then relates of Augustine, that he was instructed in the faith before he was baptized (of which we shall speak in the proper place); but that subsequently, for the sake of improvement, as it is called, the church, that is, the Roman church, practiced infant baptism, with a view of freeing infants by this means from the punishment of God for original sin. Then the followers of the true faith (thus he wrongly calls the Romanists), in order that the children might not be lost, if they should die without the means of regeneration, that is, baptism, resolved that they should be baptized for the remission of sins. Hence originated, he writes, the custom of having godfathers and godmothers, who stand for the child at (literally, lift the child from) baptism, and answer for them all that they themselves, on account of the weakness of their infancy, are not able to confess.” Thus for Strabo.
N. B.--Concerning these words, D. Vicecomes writes thus: “Since Walafridus Strabo removes the custom of infant baptism from the primitive church, he also recognizes no older origin of the godfather’s than which dates from a period subsequent to the times of Augustine.” _Bapt. Hist., pp. 525, 526._
Thus, in the first two centuries, and long afterwards, infant baptism was not known by the Romanists even, according to the above mentioned testimony of W. Strabo. Shortening this, we shall conclude with a statement contained in the _H. Doophistorie_, at the end of the second century, _page 211, cap. 7, de Ratione Gubernationis Ecclesiæ_: “Since also the administration of the Sacraments belongs to the government of the church, we see from the history of the time, that the bishops and teachers did not deem it burdensome to baptize, not bells and altars, but men whom they had instructed in the principal articles of the Christian religion; and to them they also administered the holy Supper.” We shall now proceed to the martyrs, who, during this time suffered for this same faith.
AN ACCOUNT OF THOSE WHO SUFFERED IN THE SECOND CENTURY.
SUMMARY OF THE MARTYRS OF THE SECOND CENTURY.
[The two Roman, or, properly speaking, Greek Emperors, Trajan and Marcus Aurelius raised the principal persecutions against the Christians, in this century. This is amply shown in the following account, as well as what persons suffered for the name of Christ in these persecutions.
In the persecutions through Trajan there were slain, after enduring much suffering, Simon Cleophas, who was a hundred and twenty years old, Rufus and Zosimus, the Ethiopian baptized by Philip, Ignatius, Onesimus, Dionysius Areopagita, Publius, Barsimeus, Barbelius and his sister Barba, Justus and Pastor, Phocas, Faustina, Jacobita, Felicitas with her seven sons, and Lucius.
Under Marcus Aurelius there suffered, Justinus, Polycarpus, and twelve of his beloved disciples, who had come from Philadelphia to Smyrna, and were slain there; Carpus, Papylus, Agathonica and many women, Germanicus, Vetius, Attalus, Alexander of Phrygia, Maturus, Sanctus Blandina and a youth, Photinus, ninety years old, Alcibiades, Epipodius, Alexander the Greek, Leoxides, Plutarchus, Sagaris, Thraseas. All these fought unto blood under the blood-stained banner of Jesus Christ; their deaths may be read at large in the following account.]
We shall begin the second century with the third general persecution which was raised against the followers of Jesus Christ, and shall forthwith proceed to give an account of the time, place, persons, and circumstances.
THE THIRD PERSECUTION OF THE CHRISTIANS, COMMENCED UNDER TRAJAN, A. D. 102.
With the beginning of the second century, A. D. 102, arose the third heathen persecution against the Christians, under Emperor Trajan, who attained to the reign of the Roman monarchy in the year 100.
Being instigated by Mamertinus, the governor of Rome, and Targuinus, the superintendent of the worship of the heathen deities, he persecuted the Christians in an awful manner, and put them to a wretched death.
He was called a good emperor, but very superstitious as regards the heathen worship; by reason of which he was the more easily induced to undertake this sorry work. It also was no small help to this end, that the heathen priests and idolaters paid great taxes, to extirpate by sufferings and death, as the enemies of God and of man, those who were opposed to their gods, especially the Christians.
Meanwhile we shall show what persons suffered under the bloody reign of Emperor Trajan, for the name of Jesus Christ.
SIMON CLEOPHAS, ONE OF THE SEVENTY DISCIPLES OF CHRIST, CRUCIFIED BY ATTICUS, UNDER TRAJAN, A. D. 109.
Simon Cleophas was the son of Cleophas and Mary, and a cousin of our Lord Jesus, because he was the son of the brother of Joseph, the supposed father of Christ. After the death of the apostle James he was chosen, by common consent, bishop of the church at Jerusalem; hence he must be distinguished from Simon surnamed Zelotes, who was one of the apostles, and was crucified in Persia. For, the latter was a son of Alpheus, but the former a son of Cleophas, not one of the twelve, but of the seventy disciples of Christ, as Eusebius admits, saying: “If any one should say that this Simon beheld Christ with his own eyes, and listened to his preaching with his own ears, he would not be beyond reason and truth in this opinion, not only on account of the long duration of his life, being a hundred and twenty years old, but much more by virtue of the testimony of the holy Gospel, in which mention is made of Mary, the wife of Cleophas, whose son he was, according to the testimony of Egesippus, who was the nearest historian to the times of the apostles.” _Hist. Eccles. Euseb. Pamphil., lib. 3, cap. 11._
This is the Simon, of whom it is stated that he was an eye-witness to the stoning of James, the holy apostle of the Lord. _Epiph. supra, in Sym. Alph._
He was accused by some wicked men before Atticus, the governor of Emperor Trajan, of being a Christian, yea a near relative of Christ, of the generation of David. On this account he was dreadfully beaten for many days with scourges and sharp rods, so that everyone who saw him, had to lament and wonder, the judge himself being astonished, that a man of such a great age, a hundred and twenty years old, was able so long to endure such intolerable torturing.
Finally, as he remained steadfast in his confession, he became conformed in suffering unto his Lord, whom he confessed, and was sentenced by Atticus to be crucified; which death he suffered in the tenth year of Emperor Trajan, which corresponds with the year of Christ 109. Compare the _1st Book of A. Mellinus_, printed A. D. 1617, _fol. 24, col. 1, 2_, with _Hist. Mart. Joh. Gysii_, recently printed by _I. Braat, A. D. 1657, fol. 15, col. 1_.
RUFUS AND ZOSIMUS, TWO PIOUS CHRISTIANS, BEHEADED AT PHILIPPI IN MACEDONIA, FOR THE FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, A. D. 109.
Rufus and Zosimus were disciples of Christ and his apostles, and had also been instrumental in founding and building up the church of God among the Jews and the Gentiles.
Especially conspicuous is Rufus, from the greetings of the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome, in which he includes Rufus, not merely as a common member of the same, but as a distinguished, yea chosen person, for he says: “Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord, and his mother and mine.” Rom. 16:13.
This Rufus and the aforementioned Zosimus, both pious and upright Christians, together with many of their fellow-believers, were put to death for the faith, in the city of Philippi in Macedonia. Some write that both were beheaded in the days of of Emperor Trajan, A. D. 109. Compare what A. Mellinus adduces in _Het groot Christen Martelærs-bœk, fol. 19, col. 4_, from _Polycarpo ad Philippens_, with that which J. Gysius has noted in _Hist. Mart., fol. 15, col. 3_.
THE ETHIOPIAN OR EUNUCH OF QUEEN CANDACE, WHO WAS BAPTIZED BY PHILIP, PUT TO DEATH FOR THE NAME OF CHRIST, IN THE ISLAND OF CAPROBANO, A. D. 110.
Immediately after Rufus and Zosimus, A. Mellinus introduces the Ethiopian or eunuch of Queen Candace in Ethiopia, who was converted by Philip to the faith in Jesus Christ, and thereupon baptized, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles.
It is stated of him, from Jerome, that he preached the Gospel of our Lord in Arabia Felia, and also in a certain island of the Red Sea, called Caprobano (some call it Ceylon), where, it is supposed, he suffered death for the testimony of the truth. See above, _Mellin. ex Hieron. Catal. in Crescente, in 53, cap. Esai._
IGNATIUS, A DISCIPLE OF THE APOSTLE JOHN, DEVOURED BY WILD BEASTS IN A CIRCUS AT ROME, FOR THE TESTIMONY OF THE SON OF GOD, A. D. 111.
Ignatius, a disciple of the apostle John, and a successor of Peter and Evodius, was in the service of the church of Christ at Antioch in Syria. He was a very godfearing man, and faithful and diligent in his ministrations. He was surnamed Theophorus, that is, _The Bearer of God_, apparently because he often bore the name of God and his Savior in his mouth, and led a godly life. He was wont to say frequently: “The life of man is a continual death, unless it be that Christ liveth in us.” Likewise: “The crucified Christ is my only and entire love.” And: “He that allows himself to be called after any other than Christ, is not God.” And again: “As the world hates the Christians, so God loves them.” _A. Mellin., fol. 15, col. 1_, from _Ignat. in Epist. ad Rom. et alibe_.
Having learned that the Emperor Trajan, after the victories which he had achieved against the Dacians, Armenians, Assyrians, and other eastern nations, gave thanks at Antioch unto the gods, and offered great sacrifices unto them, as though these victories had proceeded from them. Ignatius, as we are informed by Nicephorus, reproved the Emperor for it, and this openly in the temple.
The Emperor, exceedingly enraged on this account, caused Ignatius to be apprehended, yet, for fear of an uproar, because Ignatius was held in great respect in Antioch, he did not have him punished there, but committed him into the hands of ten soldiers, and sent him bound to Rome, there to have him punished.
In the meantime his sentence of death was made known to him--in what manner and where he was to die; namely, that he should be torn to pieces by wild beasts at Rome.
On his way thither, he wrote several consolatory epistles to his friends, the faithful in Christ Jesus; and also to different churches, as, to those of Smyrna, Ephesus, Philadelphia, Trallis, Magnesia, Tarsus, Philippi, and especially to the church of Christ at Rome; which letter he sent before his arrival there.
It appears that the thought of being torn to pieces by the teeth of wild beasts was constantly on his mind during the journey; yet not as a matter of dread, but of earnest desire. This he mentions in his letter to the church at Rome, writing thus: “Journeying from Syria to Rome, by water and by land, by day and by night, I fight with wild beasts, bound between ten leopards, who, the more I stroke, and show myself friendly to them, the more cruel and malignant they become. However, through the cruelties and torments which they daily inflict upon me, I am more and more exercised and instructed; nevertheless, I am not justified thereby. O that I were already with the beasts, which are ready to devour me! I hope that, ere long, I shall find them such as I wish them to be, that is, cruel enough to destroy me speedily. But if they will not fall upon and tear me, I shall kindly allure them, so that they will not spare me, as they, have already spared several Christians, but will quickly tear me in pieces, and devour me. Forgive me for speaking thus; I know what I need. Now only I begin to be a disciple of Christ. I regard neither things visible nor invisible, at which the world is amazed. It is sufficient for me if I but become a partaker of Christ. Let the devil and evil men afflict me with all manner of pain and torment, with fire, with cross, with fighting against wild beasts, with scattering of the members and bones of my body; all this I esteem very little, if I but enjoy Christ. Only pray for me, that inward and outward strength be given me, not only to speak or write this, but also to perform and endure it, so that I may not only be called a Christian, but also be found one in truth.” _Ignat. in Epist. ad Rom._ Having arrived at Rome, he was delivered by the soldiers to the governor, together with the letters of the Emperor, which contained his sentence of death. He was kept in prison for several days, until a certain feast-day of the Romans, when the Governor, according to the order of the Emperor, had him brought forth into the amphitheatre. First of all they sought by many torments, to induce him to blaspheme the name of Christ, and offer sacrifice to the gods. But when Ignatius did not weaken in his faith, but was only, the longer, the more strengthened in refusing to offer heathen sacrifices, he was forthwith condemned by the Roman Senate, immediately to be cast before the lions.
As Ignatius was led away from the presence of the Senate, to the innermost enclosure, or pit of the lions, he frequently repeated the name of Jesus in the conversation which he, while on the way, carried on with the believers, as well as in his secret prayers to God. Being asked why he did so, he replied thus: “My dear Jesus, my Savior, is so deeply written in my heart, that I feel confident, that if my heart were to be cut open and chopped to pieces, the name of Jesus would be found written on every piece.” With this the pious man indicated that not only his mouth, but the innermost parts of his heart were filled with the love of Jesus: for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Thus, also Paul, being filled with the love of Jesus Christ, has used, in his letters, as much as two hundred times (as has been counted) the words, “Our Lord Jesus Christ.” The name “Jesus” he employs as much as five hundred times.
When the whole multitude of the people were assembled, to witness the death of Ignatius (for the report had spread throughout the whole city, that a bishop had been brought from Syria, who, according to the sentence of the Emperor, was to fight against the wild beasts), Ignatius was brought forth and placed in the middle of the amphitheatre. Thereupon Ignatius, with a bold heart, thus addressed the people which stood around: “O, ye Romans, all you who have come to witness with your own eyes this combat; know ye, that this punishment has not been laid upon me on account of any misdeed or crime; for such I have in no wise committed; but that I may come to God, for whom I long, and whom to enjoy is my insatiable desire. For, I am the grain of God. I am ground by the teeth of the beasts, that I may be found a pure bread of Christ, who is to me the bread of life.” These words spake Ignatius, when he stood in the middle of the amphitheatre, and when he heard the lions roar; which the brethren of the church who also stood among the people heard and testified to.