19. Cypr. ep. 39.2.3 (CCL 3B, 188).
20. Cypr. ep. 31.3 (CCL 3B, 153–54). The emphasis is mine, to focus attention on the way the writers equated the act of testifying with the veracity itself of the truth witnessed, and the achievement itself with action. The entire passage is significant for this way of dialectical thinking that stresses the volition of the deeds:
quid enim gloriosius quidue felicius ulli hominum poterit ex diuina dignatione contingere quam inter ipsos carnifices interritum confiteri dominum deum, quam inter saeuientis saecularis potestatis uaria et exquisita tormenta etiam extorto et excruciato et excarnificato corpore Christum dei filium etsi recedente, sed tamen libero spiritu confiteri, quam relicto mundo caelum petisse, quam desertis hominibus inter angelos stare, quam inpedimentis omnibus saecularibus ruptis in conspectu dei iam se liberum sistere, quam caeleste regnum sine ulla cunctatione retinere, quam collegam passionis cum Christo in Christi nomine factum fuisse, quam iudicis sui diuina dignatione iudicem factum fuisse, quam inmaculatam conscientiam de confessione nominis reportasse, quam humanis et sacrilegis legibus contra fidem non oboedisse, quam ueritatem uoce publica contestatum fuisse, quam ipsam quae ab omnibus metuatur moriendo mortem subegisse, quam per ipsam mortem inmortalitatem consecutum fuisse, quam omnibus saeuitiae instrumentis excarnificatum et extortum ipsis tormentis tormenta superasse, quam omnibus dilaniati corporis doloribus robore animi reluctatum fuisse, quam sanguinem suum profluentem non horruisse, quam supplicia sua post fidem amare coepisse, quam detrimentum uitae suae putare uixisse?
21. Lact. inst. 5.22.17 (SC 204, 252).
22. Cypr. Fort. 11 (CCL 3, 206): “quam magna documenta fidei praebuerunt.” Cyprian continues, “In [the Maccabees’] suffering” they bore “witness to themselves as the sons of God,” Cypr. Fort. 11 (CCL 3, 206). The message extends to all Christians who “should continue through the same evidences of punishment, through the same testimonies of sufferings,” finally receiving the “robes washed white in the blood of the lamb” (Apoc. 7: 14), Cypr. Fort. 11 (CCL 3, 210–11): “per eadam documenta poenarum, per eadem passionum martyria pergamus.” Suffering itself was proof because the evidence was manifest publicly; this proved the quality of the witness whose bravery emanated from truth. “I don’t think,” the martyr Justin told the prefect Rusticus, “I am fully convinced.” M. Just. Recension A 5.3 (ACM, 46).
23. See Tert. orat. 4.2 (CCL 1, 259), in which Tertullian stressed that Christ did not do his own will, but the will of his Father (cf. John 6: 38), and Christians are summoned to this model, that “we, too, may teach, work, and suffer even unto death.” Mark 14: 36 reads, “Father, all things are possible with you; take this cup away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will be done.” The passage is key to describing the choice of martyrdom. Origen argued that Christ asked that this “cup” be removed because he preferred an even more difficult death; see mart. 29 (GCS 1, 25). See also Matt. 20: 20–30, where Christ asks if others can share his cup, and Luke 11: 44, where this cup is identified as the cup of the prophets of the Psalms; note also frequent echoes of Ps. 27: 1–3 (The Lord is my light and my salvation).
24. Tert. scorp. 10.9 (CCL 2, 1088).
25. See M. Apollon. 32 (ACM, 98).
26. Min Fel. Oct. 37.6 (CSEL 2, 52). We moderns are quite aware that willingness to die for a cause does not guarantee its truth or validity. Some pagans shared this conviction as well. Marcus Aurelius and Lucian of Samosata certainly thought Christians died for nothing. That the Christians’ contempt for death could be viewed by pagans as folly is witnessed by Min. Fel. Oct. 8 (CSEL 6, 12). But one like Justin Martyr retorted wryly, “No one died for Socrates”; this proved the vacuousness of paganism, Just. 2 apol. 10 (PG 6, 461).
27. Tertullian was aware that resurrection was a consolation for the fear of death, explaining Paul’s treatment of the resurrection in 2 Cor. 4: 11–16: “He treats of this subject in order to offer consolation against the fear of death and of this mournful dissolution,” adv. Marc. 5.12.1 (CCL 1, 700).
28. Some scholars have argued that the stance favorable to martyrdom is directed especially against Gnostics. The larger point is that the doctrines “proved” by the acts of martyrdom itself are precisely those rejected by heretics, pagans, and Jews. See W. H. C. Frend, “The Gnostic Sects and the Roman Empire,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 5 (1954): 25–37; Hans von Campenhausen, Die Idee des Martyriums in der alten Kirche (Gôttingen: Vanderhoeck and Ruprecht, 1936), 94–95; B. A. G. M. Dehandschutter, “Le martyre de Polycarpe et le développement de la conception du martyre aux deuxième siècle,” Studia Fatristica 17 (1982): 659–68, and his Martyrium Polycarpi: een literair-kritische Studie, B.E.T.L. 52 (Leuven: Universitaire Pers Leuven, 1979); and Elaine Pagels, “Gnostic and Orthodox View of Christ’s Passion: Paradigms for the Christian’s Response to Persecution?” in The Rediscovery of Gnosticism (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1980), 1: 262–88. Tertullian’s Scorpiace was written against the Gnostics, “opponents of martyrdom [who] bubble up” in time of persecution (see 1.5 [CCL 2, 1069]). Note that educated pagans and Jews also rejected notions of the Incarnation and suffering of the divinity in Christ.
29. Tert. apol. 50.13 (CCL 1, 171).
30. Lact. inst. 5.22.18–19 (SC 204, 254).
31. For example, Ignatius of Antioch fought to establish the authority of the bishop; Cyprian addressed the challenge confessors posed; Irenaeus, Lactantius, and Tertullian combated heresies that threatened to fragment the Christian community.
32. See several articles by Michele Pellegrino in his collected works, Richerche Patristiche (Turin: Bottega D’Erasmo, 1982): “Semen est sanguis Christianorum (Tertulliano,” Apologeticum, 50, 13), 451–524; “Le sense ecclésial du martyr,” 427–51; “Eu-charistia e martirio in san Cipriano,” 527–40. Also, Peter Brown, The Body and Society (New York: Columbia University Press, 1988), 190–209.
33. Individuals were more likely to see in the present the beginning of the final consummation. See Irwin R. Goodenough, The Theology of Justin Martyr (Jena: Frommannashe Buchhandlung [Walter Biedermann], 1923) notes inconsistencies in Justin’s views of when the Second Coming was to arrive, 280–83. Others are more decisive, identifying present troubles with the beginning of the end; see Tert. scorp. 1.10 (CCL 2, 1070); apol. 32.1 (CCL 1, 143). Tertullian mentions the Antichrist in anim. 50.5 (CCL 2, 856); resurr. 25.1 (CCL 2, 953); fug. 12.9 (CCL 2, 1153). Equations of the present with the end are Iren. haer. 5.30.1–4 (SC 153.370–86); Cypr. ep. 58.2.1–2 (CCL 3C, 321–22); Demetr. 3–5 (CCL 3A, 36–37). While Origen conceded that Matt. 24: 3–44 could apply to his times, he does not stress this theme; cf. B. Daley, Hope, 47–60. In contrast, anonymous redactors of martyrs’ passions seldom addressed the issue directly. Only three of the so-called “authentic” Acta make such equations, though again the use of apocalyptic passages and imagery is strong in all the passions: M. Lyon. 1.5 (ACM, 62); M. Pion. 4.14 (ACM, 140); M. Perp. 3 (ACM, 106). See L. Atzberger, Eschatologie, 163–71.
34. Especially important are John 16: 2–4 (to kill Christians will be a religious duty); and John 15: 18–27 (“I have chosen you out of the world and therefore the world hates you”); Matt. 24: 2–44 (“The end is still to come,” “You know not what time the Son of Man will come”); Matt. 10: 22 and Luke 21: 12 (“You will be hated for my Name’s sake”); Luke 19: 41–44 (destruction of the temple); Luke 21: 5–36 (general catastrophe: “They will set upon you and persecute you”; “. . . you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony.”)
35. Cf. Tert. spect. 8.9 (CCL 1, 235).
36. Tert. spect. 26.4 (CCL 1, 249); see also Tert. anim. 16.7 (CCL 2, 803).
37. Tert. orat. 12.1 (CCL 1, 264).
38. This obstinate sense of identity is illustrated by Perpetua: just as a pitcher can be nothing but a pitcher, so she could be nothing but a Christian; see M. Perp. 3.3.1–2 (ACM, 108).
39. See Antonio Quacquarelli, “La letteratura di preparazione al mar
tirio e la convergenza iconologica nel III secolo,” Parola e spirito: studi in onore di Settimio Cipriani, ed. Cesare Casale Marcheselli (Brescia: Paideia Editrice, 1982), 1:789–807; Colin Eisler, “The Athlete of Virtue: The Iconography of Asceticism,” in Essays in Honor of Erwin Panofsky, ed. Millard Meiss (New York: New York University Press, 1961), 1:82–97; Adolf Harnack, Militia Christi, trans. David McInnes Gracie (1905; rep. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1973).
40. See Cypr. ep. 71.2.3 (CCL 3C, 519), ep. 59.20.1 (CCL 3A, 193), and ep. 69.1.2 (CCL 3A, 244), where this sharp opposition is with heretics.
41. See Cypr. Demetr. 20 (CCL 3A, 47).
42. Ign. Magn. 5.2 (SC 10, 98–99); see also Iren haer. 5.8.1 (SC 153, 92 and 94).
43. Tert. scorp. 8.8 (CCL 2, 1083–84); Cypr. patient. 10 (CCL 3A, 123–24); Cypr. ep. 58.5 (CCL 3C, 325).
44. Tert. scorp. 8.8 (CCL 2, 1083–84).
45. Cypr. Fort. 6 (CCL 3, 327).
46. M. Fruct. 4.1 (ACM, 180).
47. Lact. instit. 5.22.11–13 (SC 204, 252). Lactantius quotes Seneca instead of the usual “The Lord chastens the sons whom he receives” (see Heb. 12: 6).
48. See Cypr. ep. 6.1.1–6.2.1 (CCL 3B, 29–34).
49. Cypr. mortal. 24 (CCL 3, 30), an echo of John 15: 20: “because I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
50. See John 15: 18–20; John 16: 2–4; John 16: 20; John 16: 33; Matt. 24: 2–31.
51. Cypr. Fort. 11 (CCL 3, 202).
52. Tert. mart. 3.5 (CCL A, 6); see also Min. Fel. Oct. 36.9 (CSEL 2, 51–52).
53. Lact. instit. 5.22.17 (SC 204, 254).
54. Or. mart. 14 (GCS 1, 14).
55. M. Pion. 4.14 (ACM, 140); Iren. haer. 5.28.4 (SC 153, 360); Just. dial. 49 (PG 6, 584); Tert. fug. 1.4 (CCL 2, 2136).
56. Pion. 15–16 (ACM, 140); Cypr. ep. 11.4 (CCL 3B, 61).
57. See John T. Robinson, “The ‘Parable’ of the Sheep and the Goats,” New Testament Studies 2 (1956): 225–37.
58. Tert. fug. 1.4 (CCL 2, 2136).
59. Tert. fug. 5.2 (CCL 2, 1141).
60. Tert. spect. 1.1.5 (CCL 1, 227).
61. Tert. apol. 46.14 (CCL 1, 162).
62. Ign. Rom. 3.1 (SC 10, 128).
63. Min. Fel. Oct. 37.1 (CSEL 2, 52).
64. Tert. apol. 30.5 (CCL 1, 141).
65. The significance of the Holy Spirit is often neglected in discussions of martyrdom, but it is key especially to understanding how Christians conceptualized motivation and their mimetic relationship with God. See William C. Weinrich, Spirit and Martyrdom (Washington, D.C.: University Press of America, 1981).
66. Ign. Magn. 5.2 (SC 10, 98).
67. Cypr. ep. 58.6.6 (CCL 3C, 328):
Quam uero grauis causa sit hominis christiani seruum pati nolle, cum passus sit prior dominus, et pro peccatis nostris nos pati nolle, cum peccatum suum proprium non habens passus sit ille pro nobis! Filios dei passus est ut nos filios dei faceret, et filius hominis pati non uult ut esse dei filius perseueret!
See also ep. 76.4.1 (CCL 3C, 612):
Hoc est enim quod praecipue deo placeat, hoc est in quo maioribus meritis ad promerendam uoluntatem dei opera nostra proueniant, hoc est quod solum domino de beneficiis eius grandibus et salutaribus fidei ac deuotionis nostrae obsequia retribuant praedicante in psalmis et contestante spiritu sancto, quid retribuam, inquit, domino de omnibus quae mihi tribuit?. Calicem salutaris accipiam, et nomen domini inuocabo. Pretiosa in conspectu domini mors iustorum eius.
68. Or. mart. 19 (GCS 1, 18).
69. J. W. van Henten, ed., Die Entstehung der jüdischen Martyrologie (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1989). Dying for the name is mentioned also in M. Carp. 5 (ACM, 35); M. Lyon. 35 (ACM, 73); M. Mar. et lac. 4.10 (ACM, 199); M. Mar. et lac. 7.6 (ACM, 204); M. Iren. 5.4 (ACM, 298 and 300).
70. Cyprian’s devotio echoed pagan military tradition: the Christian was Christ’s soldier who fought to the death for the honor of Christ’s name, whom Christ would reward for his valor. Cypr. ep. 58.4.2 (CCL 3C, 325): “spectat militem suum Christus ubicumque pugnantem et persecutionis causa pro nominis sui honore morienti pracmium reddit quod daturum se in resurrectione promisit.” For the devotio and sacramentum in Cyprian, see also eps. 10.2; 15.1; 28.1–2; 54.1; 58.4; 60.2; 76.4; 76.6; 77.2.
71. In M. Perp. 10.5 (ADM, 130), the martyr Pudens dips his ring in his blood and gives it to a soldier, who requests Pudens to “remember me, and remember the faith.”
72. Tert. mart. 3.1 (CCL 1, 5): “Vocati sumus ad militiam Dei uiui iam tunc, cum in sacramenti uerba respondimus.” For the sacramentum, see J. de Ghellinck, S.J., Pour l’histoire du mot “sacramentum” (Louvain: Spicilegium Sacrum Lovaniense, 1924); F. Rütten, Victorverehrung im christlichen Altertum (Studien zur Geschichte und Kultur des Altertums 20, 1936); W. Weismann, Kirche und Schauspiele: die Schauspiele im Urteil der lateinischen Kirchenväter unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Augustin (1972), 62ff, esp. 111–18. Ignatius of Antioch’s oath echoes that of the gladiator, “Come fire, cross, battling with wild beast, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of my whole body, cruel tortures of the devil—only let me get to Jesus Christ.” Ign. Rom. 3.3 (SC 10, 128); cf. Smyrn. 4.2. (SC 10, 158).
73. See Tert. fug. 12.2–3; Or. mart. 12 (GCS 1, 11–12). In Cyprian, sin is also debt; see domin. orat. 22–23 (CCL 3A, 103–5), where good works are offered as sacrifices to God; eleem. 26 (CCL 3A, 72), where good works indebt God. The centrality of Christ, the first martyr (see M. Lyon. 2.3 [ACM, 82]) and scapegoat (Just. Dial 13 [PG 6, 501 and 504]), to the martyr who must imitate him is addressed thoroughly by Pellegrino in further articles from Richerche Patristiche: “Cristo negli atti dei martiri e nella letteratura sul martirio,” 191–213; “L’imitation du Christ dans les actes des martyrs,” 38–54; and “Cristo e il martire nel pensiero di Origene,” 541–67.
74. Cypr. Fort. 6 (CCL 3, 195).
75. This is not because the sacrifice of Christ was wanting but because Christians were bound to imitate Christ; see M. Polyc. 17.3 (ACM, 17); M. Lyon. 2.2 (ACM, 83); M. Mar. et lac. 4.1 (ACM, 198); M. Mont. et Luc. 11.6 (ACM, 224); M. Mont. et Luc. 14.9 (ACM, 228); M. Eupl. Recensio Latina 1.5 (ACM, 314); M. Mar. et lac. 4.1 (ACM, 198). Christians must share his sufferings; see M. Perp. 18.9 (ACM, 126); M. Polyc. 6.2 (ACM, 6); M. Carp. 41 (ACM, 26).
76. Or. mart. 30 (GCS 1, 26–27; see Hb 5:1; 7:21; 8:3; 10:12). Martyrs not only expiated their own sins, but might indeed “redeem” others “by [their] precious blood.” Or. mart. 50 (GCS 1, 46–47).
77. Christ redeemed man once and for all, but his sacrificial death was repeated individually in the deaths of martyrs, much as the Eucharist continually replicated Christ’s offering within the Church; see Ign. Rom. 4.1.; Eph. 8.1. See Pellegrino, “Eucharistia,” 534–40. Martyrs were sacraments, so to speak, mediating between two worlds. As sacrifices themselves, some martyrs are scapegoats, dying for others; cf. M. Polyc. 14.1 (ACM, 12); Zachary, cf. M. Lyon. 10 (ACM, 64); Blandina, cf. M. Lyon. 41 (ACM, 75); Fructuosus died bearing in mind the “whole Church, East and West”; M. Fruct. 3.6 (ACM, 181); cf. M. Conon. 3.1 (ACM, 189).
78. Or. mart. 10 (GCS 1, 10).
79. M. Just. 5.7–8 (ACM, 52). I can do no better than Musurillo’s translation here.
80. M. Poly. 2.25 (ACM, 2, 4). See also Tert. coron. 14.4 (CCL 2, 1064); Tertullian advises, “to escape [God’s] severity or to invite his liberality one needs diligence in obeying as great as his severity menaces us or his generosity entices us.” patient. 11.4.2 (CCL 1, 302).
81. Cf. M. Mar. et lac. 8.7 (ACM, 207).
82. The martyrs’ obedient death honored—“augmented” and “magnified”—God, bearing witness to his grandeur (testimonium magnificientiae Dei), M. Mont. et Luc. 1 (ACM, 214). Origen urged: “Let us, then, glorify God, exalting Him by our own death, since the martyr will glorify God by his own death,” Or. mart. 50 (GCS 1, 47). Martyrs’ “exalted death[s]” “glorify God” because their sacrificial offerings were forms of worship; see Or. mart. 50 (GCS 1, 74); M. Lyon. 41
(ACM, 74). See Antonius Johannes Vermeulen, The Semantic Development of Gloria in Early-Christian Latin, Latinitas Christianorum Primaeva (Nijmegen: Dekker & van de Vegt, 1956). Martyrs died for the “sanctification” of God’s name, as in Hebraic tradition; cf. Cypr. ep. 58.2.2 (CCL 3C, 322): “si inproperatur uobis in nomine Christi, beati estis, quia maiestatis et uirtutis domini nomen in uobis requiescit, quod quidem secundum illos blasphematur, secundum nos autem honoratur.” (1 Pet. 4: 14): “If you are upbraided for the name of Christ, you will be blessed, because the name of the majesty and the power of God rests upon you. What indeed is blasphemed among them, is honored among us.” On this important letter, see Gennaro Lomiento, “Cipriano per la preparazione al martirio dei Tibaritani,” Annali Fac. di Magistero dell’Univ. di Bari III (1962): 6–39. See note 68 above for dying for the name. Deaths of the martyrs were sacrificial offerings that honored the Lord: “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints” (Ps. 116: 13, 15). See also Polycarp, who was a sacrifice to God’s glory: M. Polyc. 14.2–3 (ACM, 12 and 14); Pampilius preferred to immolate himself to the living God, not idols, “A iuuventute mea deo seruio et simulacris uanissimis numquam immolaui. immolo me autem ipsum deo uiuo et uero, qui habet potestatem uniuersae carnis.” M. Carp. Recensio Latina 4 (ACM, 30); Justin’s stand is almost that of one seeking martyrdom: M. Just. 2.3 (ACM, 54 and 56); when Felix the bishop is to be beheaded, he extends his neck as a sacrifice to God: “tibi ceruicem meam ad uictimam flecto, qui permanes in aeternum,” M. Felix. 30 (ACM, 270); Dasius chooses to be a sacrifice to God, not to Saturn: M. Das. 5.2 (ACM, 274); Euplus knocked on the door of the governor, announcing his readiness to die, “Christianus sum, et pro Christi nomine mori desidero,” M. Eupl. Recensio Latina 1 (ACM, 314); later he insisted he be a sacrifice, “Sacriflco modo Christo Deo me ipsum: quid ultra faciam, non habeo,” M. Eupl. Recensio Latina 6 (ACM, 316); Blandina is also offered in sacrifice, M. Lyon. 56 (ACM, 20). Conon was an offering to God and his glory, M. Conon. 6.7 (ACM, 192). Martyrs are consecrated to God, “illos Deo patri dicatos,” M. Mar. et lac. 6.4 (ACM, 200). Venues of execution were casually termed “the customary spot glorifying God,” M. Just. 6.1 (ACM, 52). Christians must always take care that God be glorified, Tertullian said. Here reciprocity takes a mystical turn: “We are asking that it be sanctified in us who are in Him,” Tert. orat. 3.4 (CCL 1, 259).
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