Paper on "A New Eusebius"

Persecution and martyrdom are not something new to Christianity. In fact, from the very beginning, even before the Christians were first named Christian, persecution had been part and parcel of being a Christian. However, information related to persecutions of the church obtainable from the Bible is limited. Whatever happened during the time of the early church is not clear and external sources have to be consulted to gain a clearer picture of the situation.

The book focused mainly on different kind of persecutions faced by the church during that apostolic to the sub-apostolic period, be it from the Romans, the Greek, and even the Jews. The persecutions had provided a condition for the early Christians to test out their character as well as to live up their faith, up to the point of martyrdom. Without the persecutions, the church would not have spread and would remain in Jerusalem, and thus would have failed the Great Commission. Perhaps it can be said, that it was the Lord’s plan to allow the persecutions to happen, in order to mould the character of the early Christians and to push the church out to the world.

From the perspective of the modern day Christians who live in a relatively peaceful condition, the knowledge of the sufferings of the early Christians helps us to appreciate that the Christianity that we embraced today is achieved by the sacrifice of many, not only in time or monetary terms, but even their lives. This knowledge will correct the wrong perception that to be a Christian is to be the son of King and therefore should be freed from all sufferings and enjoy only blessings. On the other hand, going through the story of the martyrs, it encourages those who are going through their tribulations, that the God who gave strength to those heroes of faith to pull through, will also grant them strength and power to overcome their trials and sufferings.

Out of the many figures that were described in the reading, four specific persons were chosen and will be discussed further in this paper.

Polycarp was exceptionally notable for many reasons.

It was mentioned in the text “For he waited that he might be betrayed, just as was the Lord, that we too may become imitators of Him”. It seemed that he foreknew that he will be betrayed, and he was looking forward to that to happen. In my opinion, he could have avoided the capture, but he chose to obey the vision that God has given him. Obviously he knew that the crown and glory waiting for him was greater than the mortal death he was going to face.

Even at the time of his arrest, he served the captors as if they were his guests. Knowing that he was going to die soon, he prayed for all as his final supplication to the Lord. His concerns for the others were greater than his own life.

His defense was one ought to be remembered by all Christians “Eighty-six years have I served Him, and He has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?” Indeed, when we are being confronted to the point of death, how many would have the courage of Polycarp?

From the life and death of Polycarp, we can see the picture of a person who desired to follow Christ and offered his life to God just as Christ did. The difference is Christ died so that we may live, Polycarp died so that we may be encouraged to follow him, as he had followed Christ.

Apart from Polycarp, another person who stood out from the text is Justin, who is known as Justin the Martyr. The way that he died was not as dramatic as the other martyrs, but prior to his death, he had done outstanding written works. He had proactively written two apologies, from which part of them were also used by Eusebius in this book, to defend the Christian faith. He did not allow those false accusations about Christianity be made without a fight, and he ventured to write to the Caesar to clear the name for the faith that he believed in. Although he did not succeed in persuading the Caesar, at least he brought attention to the Romans that perhaps their understandings of the Christians were wrong.

Another point to note from Justin is that without his works on the two apologies, we would not have understood some of the events, or doctrines that were practiced during that time in history. It is therefore essential to note, that literary works and records are very important in the history of Christian churches. Imagine if there were hundreds of heroes of faith, but no one was alive to tell, and no written records were passed down. All the heroes would have died in vain, not to themselves, but to those who have heard nothing about them.

Euelpistus, a companion of Justin, who was also a slave of the Caesar, confessed to be a Christian: “I also am a Christian, freed by Christ, and share by the grace of Christ in the same hope.” It takes a lot of courage and bravery for a person who is still under bondage, physically, to confess his belief so proudly and confidently in the face of his ruler. It is amazing that he did not merely confess that he was a Christian, but he stressed that he was freed by Christ, in contrast with his earthly status.

No one would truly understand what freedom really meant better than a slave. Probably due to the fact that slave trading was common in the era, and due to the liberating message contained in the Gospel, therefore it was not difficult for the slaves to embrace Christianity. It was probable that the early church congregations consist of a considerable number of slaves. No wonder why Paul included instructions for those of servant status in many of his letters.

Last but not least, among the martyrs of Lyons and Vienne, there was an amazing martyr named: Blandina. Being a woman, it did not prevent her from joining in the sufferings and the glory of the rest of the martyrs.

Blandina, even though appeared to be weak, was able to endure the team of torturers, until all of them were exhausted. The torturers even testified that each of their torture instruments was capable to kill, but the amazing thing was that Blandina not only endured one, but all forms of torture available. Who or what gave her the strength to pull through and even have to strength to confess “I am a Christian, and with us no evil finds a place”? It was not human strength, but her love for Christ, a love which showed itself in power and did not boast itself in appearance, that was the love enabled her.

To hold fast to the faith is not merely for the benefit of oneself. No doubt, if any persevered to the end will be given a crown of glory, but the process and the perseverance can be a great encouragement to the spectator, as in the case of Blandina and Ponticus who greatly benefitted from the example set by Blandina.

There are many other great stories of the martyrdom of the early Christians in the text, but one may want to discuss: Were all the deaths necessary? When Jesus sent out the disciples, he instructed them to be ‘wise as serpents and harmless as dove’. When Ptolemy was convicted to be punished, should Lucius keep quiet and has his own life spared? Should Polycarp run away while he could and perhaps in turn will help to serve God’s ministry for a few more years? If every Christian volunteered to be killed, who will remain to pass down the message to the others? Is it God’s will for them to gain martyrdom as a crown, while neglecting the ministry possibilities in the world should they survived? It is inevitable to come to a probable conclusion that the early Christians actually looked forward to martyrdom.

Finally, although all the persecutions were very painful part of the early church histories, we have to keep in mind, that without persecutions perhaps the church would not be able to spread to the rest of the Mediterranean area, and subsequently to the world.