Confirmation Letter Of Intent - St Ambrose: Fill & Download for Free

Why only secular historians? Is this an assumption of bias? But that’s a bias! It can be fairly said that all ancient historians had biases of some kind, not just Christian ones. Heck—all modern historians are biased too, but modern ones, at least, are generally more aware of it and make the effort to correct for it. They do that by giving equal treatment to all material. Excluding non-secular historians would sacrifice some of the most important avenues to the past we have, and it would do so on purely ideological, not historical, grounds.That’s how you get crap history fit only for a Bill Maher video.The short answer to your question is yes. There are multiple textual sources, including Christian and non-Christian ones, as well as archeological finds, providing solid evidence that persecution of Christians in the Roman empire was real.**Do not, under any circumstances, quote to me “THE MYTH OF PERSECUTION” by Candida Moss as an authoritative history contradicting this statement! Her book is not a work of history, it is a polemic against modern fundamentalism because it’s her opinion they have a martyr complex. Her sole historical claim is that early persecution wasn’t constant, which is not even a new idea.It’s true the pre-Constantinian period was not an era of continuous, sustained, imperially-coordinated martyrdom. Persecution was sporadic and primarily regional, often led by local mobs, or local authorities, or local governors—albeit with Rome’s approval. From A.D. 30 to A.D. 311, (a period in which 54 emperors ruled the Empire), only about a dozen took the trouble to harass Christians. Furthermore, not until Decius (249–251) did any of them deliberately attempt an Empire-wide persecution.All true, and now that we’ve downplayed it all, it should be said that regional persecution is still persecution for those in that region, and honestly, any persecution by your neighbors or your own government has to be traumatic. Let’s not forget this is a discussion of real human suffering, loss and pain.Keep it in perspective, that I agree with, but to say that Christian persecution is a mere historical fantasy flies directly in the face of all the many historical references to it.So. What evidences are there?Roman LawThe bibliography of the juridical basis of the persecutions of the Christians in the Roman Empire after AD 200 is vast. As one example, Ulpian, a Roman jurist, collected the imperial criminal laws relating to the punishment of Christians into the seventh book of his “De Officio Proconsulis.” [1]However, before 200, the first reference to ‘Christians’ in Roman Law is almost certainly in Pliny’s correspondence with Trajan of AD 112.Pliny questions Trajan about the law: “Is the name (Christian) itself to be punished, even without offenses, or only the offenses perpetrated in connection with the name?” (By this Pliny meant the accusations of immorality against Christians —cannibalism (the eucharist) and incest (brother and sister in Christ).)It is probably safe to assume from Trajan’s response that his secretaries searched the files and could find nothing in the law (of 112 AD) to directly answer Pliny’s question:Trajan’s response is moderate, “they are not to be sought out,” but he affirms that, yes, “if they are denounced and proved guilty (of being Christian), they are to be punished”. [2]Trajan confirmed: the name alone was sufficient.Pliny and Trajan probably had no intention of establishing legal precedent, but they did. This rescript became a guide for any proconsul thereafter.Pliny the YoungerThere are no court records, nor any record of the names of those that died under Pliny’s ministrations, but we know they did because Pliny says so. The absence of legal records is not proof persecution didn’t occur.It may seem surprising that Pliny handled interrogation, prosecution, sentencing and execution all by himself, but this is consistent with legal methods of the time. Even when a case against a Christian was brought to court for trial, more often than not, the outcome was wholly subject to a local governor's personal opinion.Before the late 2nd century AD, even those trials actually in the criminal courts seem to have been little governed by the niceties of law. Trials were held before a body of non-professional judges; decisions were made by a majority vote, without deliberation. Trials began with long presentations made by highly adversarial advocates from each side with little opportunity for pre-trial discovery, compulsion of witnesses to tell the truth, or rules of evidence.Christians were accused and prosecuted through a process termed cognitio extra ordinem—outside the order set by ordinary criminal law: the leges iudiciorum publicorum. This cognitio system allowed for the prosecution of a wider breadth of ‘new and unusual’ crimes outside of what was normally considered criminal such as being Christian.Trials and punishments both varied greatly. The court produced no explanation of its verdict, and no appeal was possible, though pardon could be granted by a political act of the assemblies or the emperor. (Roman criminal law had a deeper and more complicated relationship to politics than did civil law.)One martyr story tells of a trial in an amphitheater with a magistrate who was there because he was on vacation, but that is no argument against authenticity, since it is entirely possible within the legal culture of the time.[3]Acts of the MartyrsIn addition to Roman Law we have the Acts of the Martyrs, or Acta Martyrum. They include all the varied accounts (acta, gesta, passiones, martyria, and legenda) of the arrest, interrogation, condemnation, execution, and burial of the martyrs of the first centuries.Some are authentic accounts of martyrdom and some are not.They are divided into categories.Acta, or Court Proceedings.In a Roman criminal court, the questions asked by the judge and the responses of the defendants, along with the official verdict, were taken down in shorthand by professional notaries (notarii, exceptores, or censuales). These notes were then transcribed into regular writing and deposited in the archives (instrumentum provinciae). There they could be consulted years, and even decades, later. This is attested by Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 5.18.9; 7.11.6), St.Augustine (Contra Cresconium 3.70), St. Jerome (Adv. Rufinum 2.3), and Lydus (De magistratibus populi Romani 3.29).Some examples:The earliest of the authentic Christian martyr Acta are those of Justin Martyr and his six companions, executed at Rome c.164 AD by order of Junius Rusticus, prefect of the city.The Acta Martyrum Scillitanorum report the trial and condemnation of 12 Christians from Scilli on July 17, 180, by the proconsul Saturninus at Carthage.The Proconsular Acts of Cyprian, one of the most important and moving documents of the early Church, contains a transcript of his first trial in 257; another of his second the following year; and a description by an eyewitness of his execution on Sept. 14, 258.The Acts of Fructuosus preserve the protocol of the trial of the bishop and his two deacons, Augurius and Eulogius, along with a description of their deaths by fire (Jan. 21, 259).Other authentic Acts from the time of Diocletian are those of Maximilianus, who was executed at Theveste in Numidia in 295 for refusing to enter military service, and of the centurion Marcellus, beheaded at Tangier in Mauretania in 298 for throwing away his military belt.Passiones and Martyria.Accounts of eyewitnesses, or well-informed contemporaries of the martyrs, are called passiones in Latin and in Greek martyria. They were written by Christians and are of a more personal and literary character than the acta, and are authentic in their core accounts..The earliest of these accounts is the Martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna. Another report of this type is the encyclical letter preserved by Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 5.1.1–2.7), and sent by Irenaeus after the persecution of the Christians at Lyons in 177 (discussed more below).Another example of an authentic account is the Passion of Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions . [4]The Acts of Phileas, Bishop of Thmuis, condemned by Culcianus, Prefect of Egypt, at Alexandria early in the fourth century also belongs in this category.Interpolated Accounts.The third class of martyrs' Acts is much larger and consists of accounts drawn from written documents that have been more or less extensively edited at a later date to suit the purpose of the author. An example of this type of development may be seen in the seven different redactions of the Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs.Since the mid–19th century, numerous attempts have been made, using both internal and external criteria, to sift the facts from the fiction in these Acts, but the conclusions reached are often uncertain.Among the pieces in this class are the Passiones of Maximus, Crispina, Irenaeus, Pollio, Euplus, Philip, Quirinus, Julius; and of Agape and Chionia; and that of Saturninus, Dativus and their companions, Claudius, Asterius and their companions; and of the Persian martyrs Simeon, Pherbuta, Sadoth, and Bademus. Many of the narratives in the Menology of Symeon Metaphrastes also belong in this category. Many have historical details but are still uncertain in their historicity.Among those that should most probably be dismissed as undependable are:Historical and Imaginative Romances. These are late works based on neither written documents nor definite oral traditions. Instead, a few facts are set down in an elaborate, imaginary framework. Usually what is historical in these compositions is the saint's name, the date of his feast, the existence of his shrine, and not much more.Hagiographical Forgeries. These accounts about the death of martyrs were written for neither the edification nor the amusement of readers, but to deceive them. The Acts of Paul and Thecla are the earliest examples of this type, and were composed out of excessive devotion to St.Paul by a priest of Asia who was later defrocked for his pains (Tertullian, De baptismo 17).Early Sporadic Persecution under Nero, Domitian and TrajanThe First Persecution: Nero, 54 AD–68 ADIn the summer of AD 64, Rome suffered a terrible fire that burned for days consuming almost three quarters of the city. There is archaeological evidence of the fire.[5]The people accused the Emperor Nero of the devastation, claiming he set the fire for his own amusement. There is no evidence to support—or disprove this claim—however, since Rome was a rumor mill and Nero was not well-liked (he had murdered his way to the throne), it is reasonable to accept Tacitus’ explanation that Nero determined it was necessary for him to deflect accusation and placate the people by blaming the Christians.Tacitus writes around 115/116 AD referring to Nero's actions around the time of the Great fire in Rome in 64 AD.Accordingly first those were arrested who confessed they were Christians; next, on their information, a vast multitude were convicted, not so much on the charge of burning the city, as of "hating the human race.”In their very deaths they were made the subjects of sport: for they were covered with the hides of wild beasts, and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when the day waned, burned to serve for the evening lights." (Tacitus, The Annals, Book XV, section 44).It should be pointed out that these three methods of execution—by beasts, crucifixion, and burning—were the regular methods used by Rome for criminals.It is established in Christian tradition that Peter was crucified in this persecution and that Paul was beheaded shortly thereafter. The first letter of Clement (written in the 90s AD), mentions a persecution of Christian “pillars” and of Christian wives, and the names of Peter and Paul.The historian Justo Gonzalez writes:“Of all these traditions, the most trustworthy is the one that affirms that Peter was in Rome, and that he suffered martyrdom in that city during the Neronian persecution. On these points, several writers of the first and second centuries agree. We are also told that he was crucified—according to one version, upside-down—and this seems to agree with the otherwise obscure words in John 21:18–19.”Lactantius, Latin father of the Church, in his apologetic On the death of the Persecutors (De Mortibus Persecutorum), compiled instances of Roman tyranny against Christians, included Nero’s persecution, and mentioned Peter and Paul. But Lactantius gave a theological explanation for the Neronic persecution that held those Christians responsible for their own suffering rather than blaming Nero as Tacitus had.This explains why, though Lactantius later tells how a fire in AD 303 at Nicomedia (the eastern Roman capital before Constantinople), occasioned false accusations of responsibility and persecution by emperors Galerius and Diocletian, Lactantius did not draw a parallel to Nero: he did not hold the Christians at Nicomedia responsible for what happened to them so there was no parallel to draw.The Second Persecution: Domitian, AD 81 to 96According to some historians, both Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian’s reign (AD89-AD96) but this has lately come under dispute with those who doubt the validity of Eusebius the primary source.The non-Christian evidence for persecution comes primarily from Suetonius and Cassius Dio and it is uncertain. They both mention Domitian’s expulsion of ‘dangerous teachers’ from Rome, which might include Christians, but if it did, they were exiled along with others who weren’t. Dio also speaks of the tax Domitian imposed on Jews/Christians, and of the “deaths of many nobles” this caused, also mentioned by Eusebius.Seutonius and Dio both speak of Flavius putting to death his own cousin, Flavius Clemens, who was consul, and Dio adds the exiling of Clemens’ wife Domatilla, because they were said to observe “Jewish customs.” It is traditionally believed Flavius and Domatilla were Christians.Since Christianity was originally perceived as a Jewish sect by the Romans, and since it is clear from their own literature that Christians still thought of themselves as Jews at this time, it is not surprising if there is some confusion in the sources as to whether what was being investigated was Judaism or Christianity. Yet, it is true that all the text says is “Jewish customs.”It cannot be said that any of this provides a clear picture of Domitian’s attitude toward Christians.No contemporary narrative of a persecution under Domitian is still in existence, but it is possible that we do have those documents called forth by it: Revelation, I Clement, and possibly I Peter, and Hebrews.Many scholars are now dating the writing of Revelation to Domitian’s reign (AD 89–96), and if—and it is a big if—if this is correct, it is highly probable there was persecution under Domitian.As one example, Domitian had gold and silver statues of himself erected on the Capitol among those of the state gods, and disrespect to his statue was punished as sacrilege. The language of the thirteenth chapter of Revelation seems to reflect this:“The second beast (the governor) was permitted to give breath to the image of the first beast (Domitian), so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship it to be killed.”There are scattered accounts of persecution under Domitian in other Christian writers, such as Tertullian, but the fullest account is only in Eusebius.The Third Persecution, Under Trajan, A.D. 108Trajan’s policy towards Christians was no different from his policies toward other sects. He was relatively temperate but became the first emperor to persecute Christians as fully distinct from the Jews.He did not pursue persecution on the scale of some other emperors, however, he did execute some Christian leaders including Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch,[6] and Simeon, Bishop of Jerusalem. [7]The Church of Antioch was fully organized almost from its beginning, and is therefore, one of the few original churches which preserved, complete, the catalogue of its bishops which includes Ignatius. Ignatius was taken prisoner during a persecution of the Antioch church; he was put in chains and escorted, along with others, by a unit of soldiers, to Troas, for transport to Rome. During the trip he wrote seven letters to 6 churches and one friend.[8](Ignatius lived so early in Christianity’s history that reliable information about him is sparse. Also, his history has been clouded by subsequent tradition. Other writings have been attributed to him, but the seven letters are seen as genuine and are taken as evidence of his persecution and death.)Among the pagan temples in Antioch that were taken and dedicated to Christian use, one was the celebrated Temple of Fortune (Tychæion) where Christians of Antioch enshrined the body of Ignatius as a martyr.According to Eusebius, Simeon of Jerusalem was selected as James' successor after the conquest of Jerusalem which took place immediately after the martyrdom of James which puts the account in agreement with that of Flavius Josephus and with Hegesippus, an early chronicler of the Christian church.The earliest of the Passiones and Martyria is the Martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna, composed by Marcion and sent in the name of the Church of Smyrna to the Christian community at Philomelium in Greater Phrygia. This passio describes the arrest, trial, and heroic death of the aged bishop in the arena at Smyrna, most likely on Feb. 22, 156. It forms one of the earliest Christian accounts of martyrdom outside of the New Testament. [9] [10] [11]Trajan was succeeded by Hadrian (AD 117 to 138). About this same time, Alexander, bishop of Rome, with his two deacons, were martyred, as were Quirinus and Hernes, with their families, and Zenon, a Roman nobleman, but it is doubtful that Hadrian had anything directly to do with their deaths.Under Hadrian, Christians enjoyed a relative amount of toleration. Hadrian died A.D. 138, and was succeeded by Antoninus Pius, one of the most amiable monarchs that ever reigned. He stopped the persecutions.The Fourth Persecution, Under Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, A.D. 162The number and severity of persecutions in various locations of the empire increased during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, AD 161-180. The extent to which Marcus Aurelius himself directed, encouraged, or was aware of these persecutions is unclear and much debated by historians.Officially, Marcus took the moderate position of his predecessors, but it seems his philosophical mentors convinced him that Christianity was a dangerous revolutionary force preaching gross immoralities. So, under Marcus, anti-Christian literature was allowed to flourish for the first time, (i.e. Celsus’ The True Doctrine), and Marcus also allowed anti-Christian informers to proceed more easily than in the past. The result was fierce persecutions that broke out in various regions of the empire.One of the Passiones is the encyclical letter preserved by Eusebius (Ecclesiastical History 5.1.1–2.7) describing the persecution of the Christians at Lyons in 177. Among the numerous victims was Bishop Pothinus "over ninety years of age"; Blandina, a slave girl; Sanctus, a deacon of Vienne; and Ponticus, a boy of 15.This famous letter was surely composed by Irenaeus of Lyons, disciple of Polycarp and successor of Pothinus[12]because in the letter, Irenaeus asserts his own authority as bishop of Lyons saying that Pothinus had been his predecessor in the position, and the first holder of that office. There had been no others. (Ockham’s Razor leads to Irenaeus as its author.)In Irenaeus' account, Pothinus was born around the year 87, and died at the age of ninety, in about 177 AD, as a martyr, along with Alexander, Attalus, Espagathus, Maturus, and Sanctius.They had all been seized by a mob and taken to the local magistrate, where they were jailed and tortured. Pothinus is believed to have died from the abuse he suffered in prison, while the others were killed by wild beasts in the local amphitheater.The Acts of Saints Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice is a description of the trial and deaths of these three at Pergamum, under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus (a.d. 161–169) … or during the persecution of Decius (250–251). There’s a problem with the timing which is not uncommon with Eusebius.A similar chronological problem is connected with the death of Pionius at Smyrna. His passio was taken by an unskilled editor from three sources: a memorial left by Pionius himself (or one of his companions), and two official interrogations. Still, it is thought to be authentic and largely historical.The Fifth Persecution, Commencing with Severus, (AD 193–211)Severus was a soldier, first and last. His generosity to his soldiers was one of his trademarks. During the first part of his reign, Severus was not unfriendly toward Christians. Some members of his household, in fact, professed the faith, and he entrusted the rearing of his son, Caracalla, to a Christian nurse.However, in AD 202 Severus is said to have issued an edict that forbade further conversions to Judaism and Christianity. The change in attitude is attributed to a trip Severus took through Palestine and the surrounding area.However, the authenticity of the edict and its mention in the Historia Augusta is questioned. The author of this work was anti-Christian and could have attributed this edict to Septimus as justification for his own attitudes.Tertullian’s “Apologeticus” of AD 197 was written in defense of persecuted Christians and is addressed to Roman governors. It says nice things about Severus. It does not mention any edict by Severus. That could simply be evidence of chronology rather than being a valid argument from silence against the edict’s existence. Tertullian is said to have written his apology in 197 and Severus didn’t issue the supposed edict until 5 years later.There is evidence persecution occurred in the time frame following 202, especially in North Africa and Egypt, which could be coincidence but also could be evidence of the edict. For example, Clement of Alexandria, who was in charge of the catechetical school there, left Alexandria abruptly; this is attributed to the persecutions resulting from the edict.The death of Perpetua and her companions is believed to have taken place in AD 203. The “Passion of Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions” is one of the oldest and most notable early Christian texts. It gives an account of the imprisonment and death in the amphitheater at Carthage on March 7, 203, of Saturus Saturninus, Revocatus, and two young women, a slave Felicitas and her mistress, Vibia Perpetua, 22 years of age, "well born, liberally educated, honorably married, having father and mother and two brothers, one like herself a catechumen, and an infant son at her breast." [13]According to the Historia, the imperial edict was aimed at converts, of which Perpetua clearly was one, since she is described as a catechumen—a Christian convert still under instruction before being baptized.The longest portion of the passio (ch. 3–10) was written by Perpetua herself, and another section, by Saturus, (ch. 11–13) while they were waiting execution. The two documents were given an introduction and conclusion describing the deaths of the saints by a contemporary of considerable literary talent, possibly Tertullian.Persecutions known in lesser detail continued through 212 AD. However, not everyone agrees that Severus himself was responsible.The Sixth Persecution Under Maximinus, A.D. 235The successor to the Severan dynasty was Maximinus Thrax (AD 235-238). It is debated whether Maximus himself authorized the persecutions that occurred during his reign, or whether they were the decisions of local governors. Several well-known Christian senators and leaders, many of them members of the former Emperor’s court, were executed, while others such as Hippolytus were sent into exile. It is hard to see that anyone beside the emperor would have beed able to authorize that.Evidence for persecution under Maximinus is found in Eusebius and the papal calendar. There is also a brief description in a letter written by Firmilion to Cyprian circa 257 AD.Eusebius references Origen’s Exhortation to Martyrdom to date the martyrdoms of Ambrose and Protectitus to the reign of Maximinus. There are, as is often the case, scant details, however, leaving this in question. [14]Except for this brief—possible—bout of persecution under Maximinus (235–238), Christians were free from persecution for some 50 years.Later Imperial Persecutions Under Decius, Valerian, Diocletian, Galerius and MaximinusThe Seventh Persecution Under Decius, (249–251) — Leader of the First Empire-wide PersecutionEmperor Trajan DeciusDecius was from a village near the Danube at the northern frontier of the Empire, and was familiar with the problem of invading barbarians. As emperor, he became concerned that traditional polytheism was weakening, and that this was in turn weakening the empire. He thought a resurrection of devotion to the deities of Rome’s glorious past would help restore Roman strength.[15]Therefore, in the year 249 AD the emperor Trajan Decius issued an edict requiring all the inhabitants of the empire to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Once completed, that person would receive a Certificate of Sacrifice (libellus) from the local Sacrificial Commission and so be cleared of suspicion of undermining the religious unity of the Empire.There are multiple examples of these certificates still in existence.[16]With this decree, he also inaugurated the first empire wide persecution of Christians.Persecution had previously been local/regional, but under Decius and thereafter, persecutions were largely instigated by emperors and took place on an imperial scale.This is a turning point in the history of Christian persecution.As a result, it has become common to differentiate pre-Decian persecution from the later centrally organized persecutions of Decius, Valerian, Diocletian, Galerius and Maximinus. [17]Cyprian speaks of the thousands of applications for re-admittance to the church that were received after lapsing under Decius. Many of these still exist.Defections, though numerous, were counterbalanced by the many who suffered death, exile, confiscation, or torture in all parts of the empire. The Decian persecution was the severest trial to which the Church up to that time had been subjected and the loss suffered by the Church as a result of apostasy was as damaging as the losses by martyrdom. [18]Decian’s edict claimed many of the most prominent figures in the Christian community, among them the church-leaders (bishops) of several major cities: Origen, the famous theologian, suffered from lengthy torture before dying; similar fates befell Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, and Babylas, bishop of Antioch. In Antioch there is a martyrium, or memorial shrine of Babylas.Fabianus, the bishop of Rome, was one of the first and most notable casualties of the persecution, allegedly being executed on January 20th, 250. Then Cornelius the Pope was killed in 253.Pope Cornelius and St. CyprianCyprianus, bishop of Carthage, escaped death only by going into hiding. The Roman presbyter Moyses died after a confinement of 11 months.Some evidence from Spain and Gaul implies the edict was enforced there as well, but there is no certain knowledge of martyrs there, or in Sicily, which does preserve the names of two victims.The rich details of Cyprian in Letter 22 supplies the names of 17 victims in North Africa.Castus and Amelius died undergoing torture.There are no figures for how many Christians were killed or otherwise punished in the year and a half that elapsed between Decius' Edict and his death, but there is no doubt the persecution occurred.The Eighth Persecution, Under Valerian, A.D. 257In the 50 year period from 235 to 285 CE there were at least 20 emperors with the majority dying either in battle or by assassination. Most historians point to the year 180 CE as marking the demise of the Roman Peace, whose loss by the time of Valerian is being deeply felt.When Valerian took the throne, barbarians were constantly ravaging the borders, and on the east the Persians were doing real damage. Still worse was the terrible plague which had begun in the reign of Decius and raged for about fifteen years. Worst of all, was the fact the Empire had been ruled by a series of less-than capable emperors. Manichaeans were threatening Roman religion from the East as was Christianity at home.These calamities aroused the religious fears of the emperor. Valerian blamed the Christians for Rome’s problems: their refusal to worship the gods of Rome meant Rome was not receiving its usual blessings and protections from the gods.[19]So in August 257, Valerian intensified Decius’ policies by ordering clergy to sacrifice to the gods of the state. A year later clergy became liable to capital punishment. Pope Sixtus II and St. Lawrence were subsequently burned to death in Rome, and Cyprian was executed at Carthage.The Death of St. Lawrence the DeaconIn addition, the property of Christian laity, especially that of senators and equites (a class immediately below senators) was confiscated, and Christian tenants of imperial estates were condemned to the mines.[20]Cyprian was the first clerical martyr of Africa dying in AD 258, but we have his letters as evidence of events. In Cyprian’s letter to Lucian we learn of Lucian’s banishment and return to replace Cornelius as Bishop of Rome who had been martyred in the last persecution by Decius.Cyprian sees more persecution on the horizon, and his epistle #58 is a beautiful and moving exhortation to his flock to prepare for what’s coming. Cyprian’s letters are in line with Dionysius of Alexandria’s reports on Gallus’ measures against Christians. [21] (#57:1,2,5; #58:1,2,8,11). Dionysius also gives evidence of Valerian’s first edict, now lost, but found in the sections on Germanus and the trial of Cyprian.It is well known that Eusebius makes a chronological blunder in referencing these letters. He quotes two passages from Dionysius’ letter to Domitius and Didymus as if relating a narrative of the sufferings of Dionysus under Valerian, but when comparing passages from the epistle against Germanus, it appears these events may have happened under Decius and not Valerian.It’s also possible Eusebius did not intend to indicate the temporal sequence of the events themselves but only the order in which the letters were bound. [22] It’s also possible he just made a mistake.In midsummer of 258, a second edict was issued. It is summarized in Cyprian’s epistle #80. This letter is an itemized report to fellow-bishop Successus.Other documents attest to some of what Cyprian describes: the Acta Proconsularia Sancti Cypriani of Cyprian’s trial, the Passio of Bishop Fructuosus of Tarragona and two of his deacons, the Passio of Bishops Agapias and Secundinus, the deacon Jacobus, and the lector Marianus, all offer rich historical information.[23]According to a letter written by Dionysus during this time, "men and women, young and old, maidens and matrons, soldiers and civilians, of every age and race, some by scourging and fire, others by the sword, have conquered in the strife and won their crowns."The persecution under Valerian is thought to have been the bloodiest before the days of Diocletian. [24]In May of 260, Valerian was taken prisoner by the Persians, and his son Gallienus lifted the edicts against Christians.The Ninth Persecution Under Aurelian, A.D. 274Persecution under Aurelian is disputed.[25] The two major sources claiming such persecution are in Eusebius Historia Ecclesiae, and in Lactantius’ De Mortibus Persecutorum (On the death of the Persecutors, AD 318). [26]The principal sufferers were: Felix, bishop of Rome, and Agapetus, a young gentleman, who sold his estate, and gave the money to the poor, was seized as a Christian, tortured, and then beheaded at Praeneste, a city within a day's journey of Rome.St. Felix I, Pope of Rome, AD 274+The Tenth Persecution, Under Diocletian, A.D. 303 - 312. — The Great PersecutionDiocletian was the most remarkable imperial organizer since Augustus. He is most famous for his reconstruction of the Empire into a Tetrarchy where the Empire was divided between four men, two Augusti and, under them, two Caesars. Diocletian had hoped that dividing the power would ease the effects of transition when rulers changed. It didn’t work out that way.Diocletian enacted a huge tax increase to pay for the military—a system that became totalitarian in effect—and issued four edicts against the Christians. Eusebius and Lactantius, were contemporaries and eye-witnesses of the persecutions in Phoenicia and Egypt, and in Nicomedia itself.According to Eusebius (Hist. Ecc viii 2), the First Edict was issued in:…the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian in Dystrus (which the Romans call March), when the feast of the Saviour's passion was near at hand, and royal edicts were published everywhere, commanding that the churches Should be razed to the ground, the Scriptures destroyed by fire, those who held positions of honor degraded, and the household servants, if they persisted in the Christian profession, be deprived of their liberty.[27]Christians who refused to hand over the scriptures or who continued to hold services or worship were executed.The Second Edict ordered the arrests of Christian clergy. Edict three offered pardon on condition the Christian sacrificed to the gods of Rome.The Fourth Edict ordered all citizens to sacrifice to the Roman gods on pain of death. [28]The empire was thereby plunged by stages into a bloody decade of turmoil involving horrifying human pain and suffering.[29]We have the Passions of Felix of Thibiuca and of the congregation of Abitina which are quite straightforward.We have the earliest and most authentic versions of the deaths of Procopius, Romanus, Alpheus and Zacchaeus in Eusebius’ Martyrs of Palestine.The earliest document on the apostasies that took place dates from 306. It is the ‘Canonical letter’ of Peter the Bishop of Alexandria, and has 14 ‘canons’ that focus entirely on those who lapsed during the Great Persecution.The Canons of the Council of Ancyra, the Passion of Philip, Bishop of Thracian Heraclea, the Passion of Agape and her fellow martyrs from Thessalonica are authentic reports of these events.[30]Attempts at estimating the numbers involved are inevitably based on inadequate sources. One historian of the persecutions estimates between 5,500 and 6,500 people died.[31] Estimates put the population of the empire at about 40-55 million at the time of Diocletian and Christians at about ten percent of that. Considering that means there were 4–5 million Christians present in the empire under Diocletian, and the fact that these edicts were empire wide, and applied to all, 6000 dead is most likely too low to be genuinely likely. Even if 2 out of every 3 Christians lapsed—and there is no indication the numbers were that high—that still means a million people or more died. That’s hard to grasp, and would put Diocletian up into the rarified atmosphere of the top ten mass murderers of history with Stalin, Mao and Hitler.After a serious illness in 304, Diocletian abdicated the throne. Although called back for a brief period, he retired to farming in Salonae in Dalmatia (in modern-day Yugoslavia).Persecutions continued under Galerius, now promoted to Augustus, but falling seriously ill in 311, Galerius and his fellow emperors issued an edict canceling the persecution of Christians.The following year, Constantine emerged triumphant in the West after the battle at the Milvian Bridge. In 313 he and Licinius, soon to control the Eastern Empire, issued the Edict of Milan, which decreed legal toleration of Christianity.As far as the Romans were concerned, Christians were criminals of the worst kind: the kind who won’t repent. In the Roman view they were treasonous, and the Romans tried everything to stop them.Most of the martyr’s names that we have are of the leaders and the well-known, but the vast majority of those who died in Christianity’s first four centuries were ordinary people whose names we will never know. High and low, from the perspective of those that died, these people were guilty of nothing but having a different faith.For that they had their goods and property confiscated, and their rights abridged; they were maimed through beatings, having their hands and feet cut off, tongues cut out, and eyes gouged out. They were caged in cages as small as a modern dishwasher. They were cooked alive, dragged to death, crucified, burned alive, sewn into hides, and attacked by animals who ate them. They were starved, boiled, racked, crushed, ground in a stone mill, broken on a wheel, and thrown into the sea sewn into a sack of asps and scorpions.Christian persecution wasn’t continuous, and it wasn’t always empire wide, but it was real, and by modern standards, often quite vicious.Cursory Bibliography on MartyrdomSourcesEusebius, The Ecclesiastical History and the Martyrs of Palestine, tr. and ed. H.J. Lawlor and J.E.L. Oulton. (London: SPCK, 1927). [see also the Pelican paperback of the EH and the NPNF]Lactantius, De Mortibus Persecutorum, edited by J.L. Creed, Clarendon Press, 1984; digitized July 2, 2009H. Musurillo, ed. and trans., Acts of the Christian Martyrs (Oxford: OUP, 1972).StudiesT. D. Barnes, "Pre-Decian Acta Martyrum", JTS ns 19 (1968) 509-31.T.D. Barnes, (1968). Legislation against the Christians. Journal of Roman Studies, 58(1-2), 32-50. doi:10.2307/299693T. Baumeister, Die Anfänge der Theologie des Martyriums (Münster: 1980).Gary A. Bisbee, Pre-Decian Acts of Martyrs and Commentarii, Harvard Dissertations on Religion 22 (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1988).Daniel Boyarin, "Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism", JECS 6.4 (1998) 577-627.Glen W. Bowersock, Martyrdom and Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).Peter Brown, The Cult of the Saints: Its Rise and Function in Late Antiquity (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1981).Virginia Burrus, "Reading Agnes: The Rhetoric of Gender in Ambrose and Prudentius", JECS 3 (1995) 25-46.Arne Søby Christensen, Lactantius the Historian: An Analysis of the De Mortibus Persecutorum, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, 1980B. Dehardschutter, "The Martyrium Polycarpi: A Century of Research", ANRW II.27.1 (1993) 485-522.H. Delahaye, Les passions des martyres et les genres littéraires (Brussels: 1921).Robert Doran, "The Martyr: A Synoptic of the Mother and Her Seven Sons", in Ideal Figures in Ancient Judaism: Profiles and Paradigms, ed. J.J. Collins and G.W.E. Nickelsburg, Septuagint and Cognate Studies 12 (Chico: Scholars Press, 1980) 183-221.David Frankfurter, "The Cult of the Martyr in Egypt before Constantine", VC 48 (1994) 25-47.Robin Lane Fox, Pagans and Christians (NY:1987).J.W. van Henten, ed, Die Entstehung der jüdischen Martyrologie (Leiden: Brill, 1989).The Maccabean Martyrs as Saviours of the Jewish People: A Study of 2 and 4 Maccabees (Leiden: Brill, 1997).Saul Lieberman, "Palestine in the Third and Fourth Centuries", in idem, Texts and Studies (1948, rep. NY: Ktav, 1974) 112-177."Roman Legal Institutions in Early Rabbinics and in the Acta Martyrum", in Texts and Studies.Judith Lieu, Image and Reality: The Jew in the World of the Christians in the Second Century (Edinburgh: T and T Clark, 1996).Ramsay MacMullen, Christianizing the Roman Empire, Yale University Press, 1984Ekkehard Mühlenberg, "The Martyr's Death and Its Literary Presentation", SP 29 (1997).Louis Robert, Le martyre de Pionios, ed. G.W. Bowersock and C.P. Jones (Dumbarton Oaks:1994).Joyce Salisbury, Perpetua's Passion: The Death and Memory of a Young Roman Woman (NY: Routledge, 1997).B.D. Shaw, "The Passion of Perpetua", Past and Present 56 (1993) 3-45.G.E.M. de SteCroix, "Why Were the Christians Persecuted?", Past and Present 26 (1963) 6-38.Miriam S. Taylor, Anti-Judaism and Early Christian Identity: A Critique of the Scholarly Consensus. Studia Post-Biblica 46 (Leiden: Brill, 1995).Footnotes[1] Crime and Punishment in Ancient Rome[2] Pliny’s Letter to Trajan | Christian History Institute [3] Law and Empire in Late Antiquity[4] Passion of Saint Perpetua, Saint Felicitas, and their Companions - Wikipedia[5] The Great Fire of Rome | Clues and Evidence | Secrets of the Dead | PBS[6] Ignatius of Antioch - Wikipedia[7] Simeon of Jerusalem - Wikipedia[8] Library : The Seven Epistles Of St. Ignatius Of Antioch[9] Martyrdom of Polycarp - Wikipedia[10] The Didache: The Epistle of Barnabus, the Epistles and the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, the Fragments of Papias, the Epistle to Diogn (Ancient Christian Writers): Johannes Quasten, James A. Kleist: 9780809102471: Amazon.com: Books[11] Polycarp, Early Christian Bishop and Martyr[12] Saint Irenaeus | bishop of Lyon[13] Internet History Sourcebooks Project[14] Some Victims of the Persecution of Maximinus Thrax[15] The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 12, The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337[16] Internet History Sourcebooks[17] The Decree of Decius and the Religion of Empire[18] CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Decius[19] Pagans and Christians[20] Amazon.com: The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 12: The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337 (9780521301992): Alan Bowman, Averil Cameron, Peter Garnsey: Books[21] http://www.metaphysicspirit.com/books/The%20Epistles%20of%20Cyprian.pdf[22] Evsebiana[23] Two Edicts of the Emperor Valerian[24] Amazon.com: The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 12: The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337 (9780521301992): Alan Bowman, Averil Cameron, Peter Garnsey: Books[25] Some Thoughts on the Emperor Aurelian as "Persecutor"[26] http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/0240-0320,_Lactantius,_De_Mortibus_Persecutorum_[Schaff],_EN.pdf[27] Internet History Sourcebooks Project[28] Aspects of the "Great" Persecution[29] Amazon.com: The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 12: The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337 (9780521301992): Alan Bowman, Averil Cameron, Peter Garnsey: Books[30] Amazon.com: The Cambridge Ancient History, Vol. 12: The Crisis of Empire, AD 193-337 (9780521301992): Alan Bowman, Averil Cameron, Peter Garnsey: Books[31] http:// W. H. C. Frend (1984). The Rise of Christianity. Fortress Press, Philadelphia. p. 319.

This passage from Ephesians outlines how we are to speak and behave so as to not grieve the Holy Spirit.{1} As it says in Hebrews {2} the Holy Spirit instills in us the covenant between God and ourselves once we are Baptized. By that we are strengthen{3} and directed to follow His lead in preparing for heaven and the Beatific Vision. All sin grieves Him because we remove ourselves from His guidance and protection. As Holy Spirit is want to impart in us the love and grace of our adorable Trinity Who beckons us to worship Him, we insist that “we know best” and falter and stumble until we realize that we can’t do it alone. Humbled/humiliated we kneel before our Sovereign and beg for forgiveness, and make restitution where needed.Grieving the Holy Spirit is a very unpleasant experience. One that needs to be avoided at all costs.* - - - - - - - - - - - - *{1} Putting away falsehood, speak the truth, each one to his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun set on your anger, and do not leave room for the devil. The thief must no longer steal, but rather labor, doing honest work with his [own] hands, so that he may have something to share with one in need. No foul language should come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for needed edification, that it may impart grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ.(Eph 4:25 – 32)In Jesus we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.(Eph 1:11 – 14)For our gospel did not come to you in word alone, but also in power and in the holy Spirit and with much conviction. You know what sort of people we were [among] you for your sake. And you became imitators of us and of the Lord, receiving the word in great affliction, with joy from the holy Spirit, so that you became a model for all the believers in Macedonia and in Achaia.(1 Thess 1:5 – 7)God did not call us to impurity but to holiness. Therefore, whoever disregards this, disregards not a human being but God, who also gives his holy Spirit to you.(1 Thess 4:7 – 8){2} The holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying: “This is the covenant I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord: ‘I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them upon their minds,’” He also says: “Their sins and their evildoing I will remember no more.”(Heb 10:15 – 17)* - - - - - - - - - - - - *The Holy Spirit, who is the bond of unity in Christ’s mystical body[1], is “grieved” by anything which might cause disunity among the faithful. The Holy Spirit dwells in the souls of believers from Baptism onwards, and his presence is reinforced when they receive Confirmation and the other sacraments. {3}As the Council of Florence teaches, in Confirmation “we are given the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, as happened to the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, enabling the Christian boldly to confess the name of Christ”[2]. St Ambrose, commenting on the effects of Confirmation, says that the soul receives from the Holy Spirit “the spiritual seal, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of holy fear. God the Father has sealed you, Christ the Lord has strengthened you, the mark of the Spirit has been impressed on your heart”[3]. Since Confirmation is one of the three sacraments which imprints a character on the soul, this seal remains forever.When the time came for Israel’s redemption from slavery in Egypt, the blood of the Passover lamb, which had been smeared on the doors of the Israelites’ houses, acted as the mark which identified those to be saved. In a parallel way, the seal of the Holy Spirit which is given at Baptism is the permanent sign engraved on the souls of those who are called to salvation by virtue of the Redemption worked by Christ.{4} “The Apostle is speaking here of the configuration by virtue of which an individual is deputed to future glory, and this takes place through grace. Now graceis attributed to the Holy Spirit inasmuch as it is from love that God freely imparts something to us, and this belongs to the meaning of grace. And it is the Holy Spirit that is love”[4].The Navarre Bible, The Letters of Saint Paul, (Four Courts Press 2003), Pages 400 – 401.[1] Be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. (Eph 4:32)[2] Pro Armeniis, Dz-Sch, 1319[3] De mysteriis, 7, 42[4] Summa theologiae, 3, 63, 3, ad 1