Showing posts with label early church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label early church. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

More than "Mere Learned Labour"

Did you know that the Bible used to contain an Epistle to the Laodiceans? Take a look at Colossians 4:16. "After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea." So.. why doesn't it appear in our canon of scripture? Well, it used to.

Up until the 15th century the epistle appeared in a number of manuscripts (hand written documents) including the oldest known copy, which is in Latin, as part of the Fulda MS created for Victor of Capua in 546. And therein lies the problem. Most scholars are of the opinion that unless we can find an older copy written in the original Greek, there is reason to doubt it's authenticity. You can read an annotated version of the epistle here.

This has been one of many standards used to authenticate manuscripts over the centuries. It is one of the reasons many epistles were not included in scripture. The main reason the epistle appeared in so many early Bibles, including all 18 German Bibles that preceded Martin Luther's, was because of the reference to it in Colossians, even though it failed one of the standards.

But in the early 15th century another longer epistle was discovered that also claimed to be from the Apostle Paul. It is a highly questionable version, only popular with New Age style cult groups and a few Kabbalah types but it was enough to add to the controversy over the other epistle. (If you care to you can read it here.) So in 1443, after the Council in Florence, the See of Rome issued, for the first time, a categorical opinion of the canon of scripture, listing 27 New Testament books, including 14 Pauline epistles ending with the book of Hebrews. The Epistle to the Laodiceans had been left out, and has been ever since.

This is the reason why the search for early Christian manuscripts continues even today. Every piece of evidence adds to our knowledge of the scriptures and aids in the process of clarifying the meaning of some of the more cryptic passages of scripture. I'd like to tell you the story of the discovery of one such document. It would turn out to be one of the most important finds in the history of how we got our Bible.

Constantin Tischendorf, a Bible scholar of the mid 19th century, was offended by scholars who denied the inspiration of the Bible. He was adamant in his belief that "the history of the early Church, as well as that of the sacred text, contains abundant arguments in reply to those who deny the credibility of the Gospel witness."

And so he began what would become his life's work, the search for old manuscripts so he could produce an edition of the Bible as close to the original text as possible. Operating on a shoestring budget, he set out in early 1844 and searched throughout Egypt, Sinai, Palestine, and the Middle East. Many in his circle failed to understand what drove the young man to undertake such a quest. He once wrote, "To some, all this may seem mere learned labor: but permit me to add that the science touches on life in two important respects; to mention only two--to clear up in this way the history of the sacred text, and to recover if possible the genuine apostolic text which is the foundation of our faith--these cannot be matters of small importance. The whole of Christendom is, in fact, deeply interested in these results."

That May found Constantin at the monastery of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai. While there he saw a large basket filled with tattered parchments, which, it appeared were being used as fire starters, or at least being burned as rubbish. Constantin poked through the basket and was astounded by what he found there - 129 pages of the Old Testament in Greek! This would prove to be the oldest Biblical manuscript he had ever discovered -- dating from the 4th century!

Now it should be mentioned that many scholars find it hard to believe that a monastery preserving over 3,000 manuscripts, many for over a thousand years, would be so careless as to burn such important documents, and so called into question Tischendorf's account. However, it should also be noted that this same monastery allowed over 1100 other manuscripts to lie buried for 200 years under a collapsed building. Not a great testimony to the monks' concern or care of the treasures entrusted to them!

However the actual discovery was made, Constantin was allowed to keep 43 of the leaves which he took with him for others to examine. When he returned in 1853 it would seem that his previous visit had caused the monks to re-examine their manuscript protocols - they were no longer as forthcoming. He returned again in 1859 to much the same reception, but on the last day of his visit, a sympathetic steward showed him a rather bulky volume which contained not only the rest of the 129 leaves from his original visit, but a complete New Testament, including the Epistle of Barnabas and a part of what is called "the Pastor of Hermas."

This time Constantin managed to conceal the excitement that filled his heart and asked, in on off-handed manner, for permission to examine the manuscript in his sleeping quarters. There he spent much of the night copying out the Epistle of Barnabas. It was the only complete copy ever discovered. A few days later he managed to convince the monks to let him take the volume to Cairo where he and his associates managed to copy an astounding 110,000 lines of text in just a few days.

The manuscript never did make it back to the monastery at Sinai. The monks, in good faith, agreed to let the codex (denotes a book of parchment pages as opposed to a scroll) be taken to Russia to be replicated. They even forwarded a few additional pages that were discovered at a later date, never suspecting that Tischendorf would renege on his promise to return it and instead present it to the Tsar as a gift. When the monastery asked for it back, the Russians delayed and were evasive until the monks finally agreed to sell them the ancient text.

When Russia fell to the Communists in 1917 they had little interest in Biblical manuscripts. They realized though that others would pay good money for what had become known as the Codex Sinaiticus, so they sold it to the British Museum for £100,000.

Constantin Tischendorf, whose discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus, and other old manuscripts invaluable for checking the accuracy of current translations was born in Langenfeld, in what is now Germany, on January 18th, 1815 - 193 years ago this week.


Resources:
1. Codex Sinaiticus, British Library Website, Gallery of Asian and African Manuscripts
2. Christian History Institute. Glimpses # 55 "Treasure in a Trash Pile."
3. "Codex Sinaiticus." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex_Sinaiticus
4. Various Internet articles.

Other Events This Week in Church History:

January 14, 1892: Lutheran pastor and political activist Martin Niemoller, who was imprisoned by Hitler for his leadership role in the Confessing Church, is born.

January 15, 1697: Massachusetts citizens observe a day of fasting and repentance for the Salem witch trials of 1692, in which 19 suspected witches were hanged and more than 150 imprisoned. The day was declared "That so all of God's people may offer up fervent supplications unto him, that all iniquity may be put away, which hath stirred God's holy jealousy against this land; that he would show us what we know not, and help us, wherein we have done amiss, to do so no more."

January 16, 1604: Puritan John Rainolds suggests " . . . that there might bee a newe translation of the Bible, as consonant as can be to the original Hebrew and Greek." England's King James I granted his approval the following day, leading to the 1611 publication of the Authorized (King James) version of the Bible.


January 17, 356 (traditional date): Antony of Egypt, regarded as the founder of Christian monasticism, dies at age 105. Committed to a life of solitude and absolute poverty, he took two companions with him into the desert when he knew his death was near. They were ordered to bury him without a marker so that his body would never become an object of reverence.

January 19, 1563: The Heidelberg Catechism, soon accepted by nearly all European Reformed churches, is first published in Germany. This catechism, consisting of 129 questions and their answers, also formed the basis for many other catechisms including the Westminister Larger catechism.

January 20, 1918: Following the Bolshevik Revolution, all church property in Russia is confiscated and all religious instruction in schools abolished.

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Tuesday, October 23, 2007

On Picking a Pope...

With the announcement of the death of Pope John Paul II in April of 2005, the process began to select the 264th successor to St. Peter (in accordance with Catholic tradition).

On Monday, April 18th 2005, after the official 9 days of prayer and mourning,
115 cardinals, from 52 countries and five continents, began the process of deliberation. Later that evening the Cardinals cast their first vote. This single ballot did not result in an election, and therefore the ballots were burned in a small stove at 8:04 p.m. Monday evening (2:04 EST) along with chemicals to colour the smoke black.

On Tuesday morning two additional votes were taken; neither resulted in an election, so once again black smoke rose from the chimney of the Conclave in the Sistine Chapel. Finally, about 4 pm, the fourth ballot of the Conclave, elected Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and Prefect during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to the highest office in the Roman Catholic Church. Since the smoke from the chapel at first burned grey, but never truly black, there was some confusion in the Square below. However, the ever more profuse, and ever more clearly white, smoke was confirmed about 6:04 by the ringing of the great bells of St. Peter's Basilica. At 6:43 p.m. (12:43 p.m. EST) on Tuesday, April 19th 2005, the Proto-Deacon of the College of Cardinals, Jorge Arturo Cardinal Medina Estévez, came onto the Loggia of St. Peter's Basilica and announced:

"Dear brothers and sisters. I announce to you a great joy. We have a Pope. The Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lord, Lord Joseph, Cardinal of Holy Roman Church, Ratzinger, who has taken the name Benedict XVI."

This process of election of the pope by a select group of cardinals has been around in its current form (more or less) for about 1000 years. Before that things were a lot less organized, and the disputes about who was and wasn't pope were numerous and often violent. Let me tell you about one such case.

When Bishop Liberius of Rome died in September of 366, there was no prescribed system for selecting a new pope, in fact they weren't even called popes at that time. Liberius had grown in popularity largely because of his stand resisting the heresy known as Arianism
, a theology that denied the divinity of Christ. He was even exiled for a time when Rome came under the control of Felix II (regarded as an anti-pope ) who was sympathetic to the Arian cause.

However, Liberius had many supporters, commoner and senator alike, who agitated for his return, and eventually
Emperor Constantinius restored Liberius to his position after he agreed to be lenient with the Arians. This caused Bishop Hilary of Poiters to declare "A curse on you, Liberius." Shortly after that, Liberius died!

Though there was no formal process for selecting a new Bishop of Rome, there was a election of sorts. All the citizens of Rome, laity and clergy, were able to make their voice heard, and by a large majority, Rome chose Damasus, a sixty-year-old deacon, to be their next bishop. He was consecrated by three other bishops, including the Bishop of Ostia, as was declared the official ordainer of the Bishop of Rome by Bishop St. Mark thirty years earlier. So by all accounts Damasus was the properly chosen successor to Liberius.

There was a problem however; remember Felix II, sympathetic supporter of the Arian Heresy? Well, Damasus was one of his bishops, and some followers of Liberius were u
nhappy to see a man who once worked for Felix sitting in Liberius' chair, so to speak. They chose their own bishop, a fellow by the name of Ursinus and had an old Bishop from Tibur consecrate him as the new Bishop of Rome.

Well, Damasus, and those who endorsed him, appealed to Juventius, then Prefect of Rome (chief city official), to deal with what they viewed as an usurper. The Prefect ordered Ursinus to leave Rome, which he did; but his followers did not give up that easily. They took up arms and proceeded to try and force Damasus to give up the bishop's pallium
(emblem of authority). Damasus gathered a number of his own men, armed them and launched a counter-attack on his rival's forces, who had taken refuge in the Liberian Basilica (a Roman church later renamed St. Mary Major). A three-day battle followed. The supporters of Damasus eventually assaulted the building by climbing onto the roof, where they tore aside the heavy roof tiles, and having made an opening, then dropped the heavy tiles onto the men trapped below.

When the smoke cleared, (pun intended) Damasus had won the day, but wi
th a heavy price - one hundred and thirty seven followers of Ursinus lay dead on the floor of the church. And yet, the battle was not over; in the days that followed Damasus would hire a number of gladiators to be his bodyguards due to repeated attacks in the streets.

When violence proved unsuccessful, his opponents attempted to overthrow him by making accusations of serious sin. What they were is not entirely clear, but eventually the emperor felt compelled to intervene and cleared Damasus of the charges. But the arguments and opposition continued. A full 11 years later, in 378, and again 3 years after that in 381, councils held in Rome and Aquileia both declared that Damasus was the true bishop.

The irony is, Damasus was never a true supporter of Felix II. He worked for him, but did not share his views regarding the Arian Heresy, as was borne out when the trouble eventually did simmer down and he was able to finally get around to the duties of being Bishop of Rome. He proved himself an enemy of the Arian heresy, putting a number of Arian bishops out of the church. He also issued twenty-four anathemas (curses) against false teachings about the Trinity and Jesus Christ.

Despite the violence associated with his election, Damasus was to become highly regarded by other Christian leaders of his day. A large part of the reason for this is Damasus proved to be a great promoter of martyrs. He restored many of their tombs, rebuilt their churches, and wrote poems about saints who had died because of their testimony for Christ.

You may be wondering why have I chosen to write about Damasus? There were plenty of popes who ascended to the papal see by unusual and violent means. Why choose him?

Well, one of the most fascinating things for me about Christian history is the story of how we got our Bible. And Damasus plays an important role in that process. Damasus was the first pope to issue an official list of the books which should be included in the Bible. He also persuaded his friend and secretary, Jerome, to make a new Latin translation of the Bible, using this list. Jerome did so, and his translation would become known as the Vulgate, the Bible of the Middle Ages. It was the Bible that priests, teachers, bishops, monks, and other scholars would use for much of the next one thousand years.

The three day battle, that would end with a victorious Damasus, without which the Vulgate might never have come into being, was won on October 26, 366 - one thou
sand, six hundred forty one years ago this week.

Photo: Page 2 of the Lindisfarne Gospels, Letter from Jerome to Pope Damasus I dedicating the translation of the Vulgate.

Resources:

1. Thomas J. Shahan. "Pope St. Damasus I", The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume IV. Published 1908. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
2. "Damasus I Saint." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 23 Oct. 2007 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9028639>.
3. "Ursinus." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 23 Oct. 2007 <http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9074497>.
4. Various Internet articles.

Other events that happened this week in church history:


October 22, 1844: Somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 followers of Baptist lay preacher William Miller gathered in makeshift temples and on hillsides to "meet the bridegroom' on the "The Day of Atonement"—the day Jesus would return. Jesus didn't, and though Miller retained his faith in Christ's imminent return until his death, he blamed human mistakes in Bible chronologies for "The Great Disappointment." Several groups arose from Miller's following, including the Seventh-Day Adventists.

October 24, 1648: The Peace of Westphalia, after being delayed by Richelieu for 13 years, is finally signed and ends central Europe's Thirty Years War. The documents extended equal political rights to Catholics and Protestants (including religious minorities), and marked the first use of the term "secularization" in regard to church property that was to be distributed among the warring parties.

October 25, 1890:
Emma Whittemore, New York socialite and her husband Sydney, millionaire businessman, open the first 'Door of Hope' home for young women in New York City. The Whittemores encountered the emptiness of their lives on a visit to a street mission run by an ex-convict. they came away "with a holy determination, born of God himself, to henceforth live for his glory and praise. Within four years the home help 325 girls, by Emma's death in 1931 there were 97 homes in seven countries.

October 27, 1978: After 13 years work by over one hundred scholars from the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the complete New International Version (NIV) of the Bible is published for the first time.

October 28, 312: According to tradition, on this date the 32-year-old Roman emperor Constantine defeated Maxentius at Milvian Bridge. Before the battle, Constantine had seen the symbol of Jesus, chi-rho, in a vision, accompanied with the words "By this sign conquer." He considered this a sign and emblazoned the symbol on his shield and banners before the battle. Regarded as Rome's first Christian emperor he honured Christian bishops and meddled in church affairs the rest of his life. He received his baptism on his deathbed in 337.

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Friday, May 11, 2007

Something's Been Eating at Caesar

Week 18: April 29- May 4

Sometimes it's hard to decide which event in a week to write about. Other times the subject justs jumps out at you and says, "Here I am! Write about me!" This week it's the latter, and it's a double-header.

Galerius was born about AD 250 in a little village near Florentiana in Upper Moesia. His father was a simple peasant and his mother came from beyond the Danube. At first it appears he worked as a herdsman, a man of violent character, fond of pleasure and politically insignificant; but then he joined the army and proved to be an efficient soldier, then a loyal officer devoted to Emperor Diocletian.

In 293 Diocletian divided the empire into a tetrarchy, that is he created four lesser empires and assigned his best and most trusted confidants to serve a junior Caesars. Galerius, together with Constantius Chlorus, was chosen from the senior military leaders. He took the name Gaius Valerius Maximianus and was entrusted with rule of the powerful Balkan provinces, Pannonia, Moesia and Thraciae and the Diocese of Asiana in Asia Minor (Turkey).

Galerius' tenure as junior Caesar had its ups and downs (he suffered an embarrass
ing defeat at the hands of the Persians but managed to exact his revenge a few years later) but over all his power and influence grew. So much in fact, that most historians ascribe the four edicts against the Christians published after 303 by Diocletian, who was himself a strong believer in the heathen superstitions.

Much points toward Galerius in this respect. His mother Romula was said to have been a fanatical paganist. Having grown up under the influence of such religious zealotry, it is well possible that Galerius's feelings should have been very hostile toward other religions.

The Christians had been gaining converts at ever increasing rates, both among the soldiers and the civil officials. Magnificent churches were being erected in the large cities, and the time seemed not far distant when the new religion would become more popular than the old. Christianity therefore, had to go; believers needed to be rooted out, the Holy Scriptures must be abolished, the churches destroyed, and the cemeteries confiscated.

The edicts, ever increasing in severity, were enforced much more strictly in the East where Galerius was in command than in the West. It was in the East that the decisive struggle between paganism and Christianity was fought out. When Diocletian voluntarily abandoned the imperial throne at Nicomedia in May, 305, he named Galerius his successor. The latter thenceforth passed most of his time in Illyricum.

Galerius himself is believed to have issued an edict in 304 requiring everyone in the empire to sacrifice to the gods of the empire on pain of death or forced labor; hundreds of Christians executed. When Diocletian abdicated, Galerius became senior emperor in 305. He didn't let up, in fact his persecution became even more widespread. However, Christianity simply would not go away. Eventually even Galerius began to suspect it would be impossible to snuff out the illegal religion.

Then in the year 311 he became ill. A Christian writer named Lactantius said that Galerius' flesh began to rot away and was eaten by maggots while he writhed in agony. Some members of Galerius' household claimed the emperor connected his illness with the persecution of the Christians. He seems to have seen his illness as a judgment from the Christian God. Whether or not this is true we will likely never know for sure. At any rate, he issued an edict which mentioned only Christians.

The edict began by justifying his previous edits. "Amongst our other measures for the advantage of the Empire, we have hitherto endeavored to bring all things into conformity with the ancient laws and public order of the Romans. We have been especially anxious that even the Christians, who have abandoned the religion of their ancestors, should return to reason."

Noting that some of the Christians had betrayed their faith out of fear while others endured torture, Galerius for some inexplicable reason also declared, "we, with our wonted clemency, have judged it wise to extend a pardon even to these men and permit them once more to become Christians and reestablish their places of meeting..."

In a final attempt to hedge his chances Galerius added, "...it should be the duty of the Christians, in view of our clemency [mercy], to pray to their god for our welfare, for that of the Empire, and for their own, so that the Empire may remain intact in all its parts, and that they themselves may live safely in their habitations."

Galerius wanted the Christian's to intercede on his behalf. Reminds me of Pharoah aand Moses (Exodus 8:28) Did he hope for a miracle? If so, he was disappointed. He died a week after issuing the edict.

His successor, Emperor Maximinus, tried to counteract the edict but did not succeed to any great extent in his short rule. The Great Persecution of Christians had ended.

Now... why do I call this a double-header? Because both the fourth and final edit ordering the persecution of the Christians in 304, and the issuing of the edit that ended the persecution in 311 went out from Galerius on April 30 exactly seven years apart; 1,703 and 1696 years ago this week.



Other events that happened this week.

April 29, 1429 - Joan of Arc, who had experienced mystical visions and voices since childhood, enters the besieged French city of Orleans to lead a victory over the English. The next day, the English retreated, but, because it was a Sunday, Joan refused to allow any pursuit. On a sortie the next year, The English captured Joan and put her on trial for heresy.

May 1, 1873 - Missionary-explorer David Livingstone dies. Responsible for "opening up" central Africa and for popularizing missions to that continent, Livingstone himself only made one convert—who later backslid. Still, he is widely considered one of Christianity's missionary heroes.

May 2, 373 - Church father Athanasius, "the father of Orthodoxy," dies. He attended the Council of Nicea, and after becoming bishop of Alexandria, he fought Arianism and won. He was also the first to list the New Testament canonical books as we know them today.

May 3, 1675 - A Massachusetts law goes into effect requiring church doors to be locked during services. Officials enacted the law because too many people were leaving before sermons were over.

May 4, 1873 - Father Damien enters the Leper Colony on Molokai Island, Hawaii to minister to the population there. Ignored by everyone, the residents of the colony lived what Damien described as "the most retched existence imaginable." For the next twelve years he devoted himself to reforming conditions on the island and bringing the souls of the residents to salvation. His mission ended when he contracted the disease himself. He died four years later. His unselfish devotion inspired many others around the world who continue his work to this day.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Spreading the Word

There is a real temptation during the week of February 14th to write about St. Valentine and how he performed secret marriages among the troops. It is a temptation I have no problem resisting. Instead I’d like to tell you about the creation of an alphabet.

Usually, things like alphabets and written languages evolve over time. Early peoples in a region start by using glyphs to record important events and the like, then over time these are simplified even further to create symbols that represent sounds and a phonetic alphabet is born. (This is an over-simplified explanation, but you get the idea.)

On occasion however, things happen very differently. Around the year 860, Rastislav, one of the Moravian princes, asked the Byzantine emperor to send someone to teach his people about Jesus Christ. Patriarch Photius assigned two brothers,
Cyril and Methodius, to the task.

It was a good choice. Cyril (his adopted monk name, original was Constantine) was born in Thessalonica around 826 to an officer in the Legion of Thessalonica and his Slavic wife. When his father died he moved to Constantinople, where he entered the Imperial University at the age of fourteen. Cyril was ordained priest and eventually became a professor at the university. After a mission to the Arabs, he joined his brother, Methodius, who had retired to a monastery on Mount Olympus, in Bythnia. By the time the Moravian quest was made Cyril was fluent in Latin, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and Slavic.

In Moravia, Cyril faced a challenge when it came to teaching the Slavs to read the scriptures; there was no written version of the Slavic language at the time. As a solution Cyril invented the
Glagolithic alphabet, enabling him and his brother to translate both Biblical and liturgical texts into the vernacular. Their writings taught salvation through faith in Christ to the people in a voice they could understand. Christianity spread quickly among the Slavic peoples as a consequence.

It should be noted that the edicts requiring the Bible to be read in Latin only came from Rome. As Patriarch in Constantinople Photius did not agree with a great deal that Rome had to say. He granted Cyril permission to create the local translation.

Eventually, the Magyar invasions of the early 10th century and German opposition will reverse the evangelical progress the brothers made, but not their writings or the alphabet. Disciples transplanted Christianity to Bulgaria and carried the translations (and the alphabet) south. When Vladimir of Russia converted to Christianity a century later, he adopted the Orthodox faith. The brothers' translations and writings made their way to his court where they influenced the Russian church for many centuries. Cyril’s Glagolithic alphabet was improved upon by his disciples and became the Cyrillic script (named after their mentor), which is the alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages—Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Montenegrin, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian—and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. The original Glagolithic alphabet is known as
Church Slavonic and is still used in many Orthodox Church documents. An example, a page from the the Kiev psalter, is pictured at right.

German bishops of the Roman Catholic church had criticized the brothers and argued that the slavs should use Roman style worship. Cyril and Methodius travelled West to defend their practices. Pope Hadrian II accepted their work with enthusiasm but this did not please the Germans. In the end the Germans got their way.

Cyril’s approach to spreading the gospel message continues to this day. Many of the world’s many languages did not have a written script until the likes of the Wycliffe Bible Translators came along and created one so the people could read the scriptures in their own vernacular. To date Wycliffe alone has translated the Bible into 611 languages and estimates that there are still 2644 languages to go, representing more than 380 million that still cannot read the Bible in their own tongue.

Cyril created a textual language for millions of people when he set out to share the gospel with the people of Moravia. His example inspired many others who in turn have made the scriptures available to the entire world. Quite a legacy for one man and his brother.

Cyril died in Rome and was buried in the Basilica of St. Clement. It was February 14, 869 — 1138 years ago this week.

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Other events that took place this week - Feb. 11 - 17

February 11, 1858: - Bernadette Soubirous, a 14-year-old shepherd girl from Lourdes, France, experiences her first vision of the Virgin Mary. By July she had 18 similar visions.
Despite initial skepticism from the Roman Catholic Church, these claims were eventually declared worthy of belief after a canonical investigation. As a result the town became a major site for pilgrimages which attracts millions of Catholics each year. Saint Bernadette was canonized in 1933.

February 12, 1915: - Blind poetess and hymn writer Fanny Crosby dies at age 95. Throughout her long career she wrote more than 8,000 gospel songs and hymns, including "To God be the Glory", Tell Me the Story of Jesus", and "I am Thine Lord". Many of her hymns remain popular throughout the Christian world.


February 13, 1633: - Called to trial by the Inquisition, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrives in Rome ready to explain his belief that the earth revolves around the sun. He was compelled to recant the view, and was placed under house arrest until his death in 1642.

February 15, 1905: - Christian author Lew Wallace dies at the age of 77. Wallace is most famous for Ben Hur (1880) which was conceived on a train ride while arguing about Christ's divinity with famous agnostic Robert Ingersoll. It sold more than 300,000 copies in a decade, making him one of the best-selling religious authors of the 1800s.

February 16, 1497: - German scholar and reformer Philipp Melanchthon is born in Bretten, Baden. He and Luther were at various times both allies and enemies. Melanchthon defended Luther against Johann van Eck and Emperor Charles V; however, Luther thrashed him for his views on the Sacrament. Interestingly, on his death bed, Luther said his one regret was his battle with Melanchthon. His argument for justification by faith alone, known as the Augsburg Confession, is now the basic statement of Lutheran doctrine.

February 17, 1858: - Waldensians, ancient "Protestants" from the Italian Alps who survived through persecution for 800 years, are finally guaranteed civil and religious rights. They began with the teaching of a wealthy merchant named Pater Waldo in the late 1100s; thus they are considered "the oldest evangelical Church".

Thursday, January 25, 2007

The Cost of Discipleship

I’ve been reading a book called The Early Christians in Their Own Words edited by Eberhard Arnold. It’s a collection of letters, book excerpts, and other writings from the first three centuries of the church’s history. Included as well, are the words of their detractors; governors, prefects and prosecutors who, at best, could not understand the new religion, at worst, sought the total destruction of every believer.

It is books like this that fuel my passion for history. In it we find the personal thoughts, feelings, and meditations of people who lived and breathed nearly 2000 years ago. They, like myself, held to the beli
ef that Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Son of God. But while for me the decision to become a Christian sometimes seems like some kind of lifestyle choice, for them it was in a very real sense a decision to die.

We often lose contact with the fact that for the first generation of Christians being a believer was a death sentence. The prevailing opinion of the Romans was that these Christians were a threat to the stability of the empire. Patriotism in the emp
ire was expressed in the worship of Caesar, the worship other gods was allowed, after all, Rome was polytheistic, but the worship of the emperor took precedence over all others. The Christians however, refused to submit to the worship of any deity but their own. This, by Roman definition, was treason, punishable by death. What frustrated and amazed the Roman authorities was the Christian capacity to ignore torture, imprisonment, and execution. They actually reveled in their situation.

I’d like to tell you about one such person. His name was Vincent, from the Spanish region of Saragossa, the son of one Eutricius and his wife Enola. Raised in the
church the young man impresses the local bishop, Valerius, who eventually ordained him as a deacon. Despite his young age, Valerius entrusted him with religious instruction and with most of the diocesan preaching, for the bishop himself suffered from a speech impediment.

Though Christianity was technically illegal, the church was enjoying a period of being largely ignored by Rome, until the year 303. That year, the then co-emperors Diocletian and Maximian issued decrees designed to wipe out all Christian clergy. Early the next year, another decree extended the persecution to all Christians. Tens of thousands of Christians were slaughtered as a result of this renewed persecution. In Spain the anti-Christian campaign was entrusted to the Roman governor, Dacian. He proved an efficient and even sadistic executioner.

Dacian decided to inspire fear in the Spanish church by first arresting Valeriu
s and Vincent. They were imprisoned for quite some time without sufficient food and water thinking the deprivation would break them, but when they finally appeared before Dacian’s tribunal they were still so strong in body and spirit, that the governor punished his guards for failing in their duties. As was their custom, the Bishop remained silent, allowing his young deacon to speak for him. Vincent made it clear that they had been sustained by the Holy Spirit and there was nothing Dacian could do that would cause them to abandon their faith.

Dacian’s anger was levelled squarely on the young man; in fact, so focussed was his anger at Vincent, he dismissed the bishop with the relatively minor sentence of exile. Vincent however, received a brutal scourging and was then stretched on the rack, in the presence of many witnesses, because Dacian wanted it to be an example for others. But neither torture nor blandishments nor threats could undermine the strength and courage of the deacon’s faith. Dacian offered to set Vincent free i
f he would burn a copy of his precious scriptures. The deacon responded by condemning Dacian to hell if he failed to respect the Word of God. Infuriated, Dacian ordered that Vincent be flayed alive; with much of his flesh exposed and raw, he was then roasted upon a gridiron.

Of all the tortures regularly faced by the early Christians, this is the one that shakes me to the core. There is account, after account, after account of people being scourged to within an inch of their lives and then placed upon one or another iron construct suspended over hot coals and heated high enough to sear flesh – human slabs of meat literally tossed into the frying pan. And in virtually every account the victims, strengthene
d by the Holy Spirit, refuse to yield, in many cases continuing to praise and worship God even in the midst of pain that we can’t even begin to imagine.

Vincent is no exception. According to early accounts he not only refused to abandon his faith, it is said he taunted his torturers for their inability to do get the job done. Vincent was removed from the torture chamber and thrown into a dungeon the floor of which was littered with broken pottery shards. Vincent continued to praise God and his Lord Jesus. Some reported the cell glowed as the spirit of God filled the room.


Eventually, Dacian allowed friends and supporters of Vincent to move him to a proper bed and tend to his wounds. He wanted the deacon to recover enough tha
t he would be able to face another round of torture. But God in his mercy took Vincent to be with Himself during this time, but not before he had led his jailer to faith by his courage and testimony. Surrounded by friends the valient young deacon gave up his spirit with the praise of God on his lips.

It is hard for us in this day and age to fully appreciate what it meant to “come to Christ” at this time in history. For the first three centuries of the church’s history people knew even before they became Christians that to do so would likely mean a death sentence at the hands of the state. Martyrdom was not a remote possibility, it was a very great likelihood; it was part of the what it meant to believe in Jesus C
hrist as Lord and Saviour. I’ve thought about this a great deal and it puts the paltry sacrifices we make into perspective. The cost of our faith is small.

Vincent’s story is well known throughout churches in Europe, not so much in North America. He is depicted at right in a 15th century altar-piece from Lisbon (click for larger image). Every year, on the date regarded as the anniversary of his death, special services are held in remembrance of the example he set for us all. According to that tradition, Vincent of Saragossa gave his life in the service of the Kingdom of God on January 22, 304 – 1,703 years ago this week.


Other events that took place this week: Jan.21-27

January 21, 1525: In a secret, illegal meeting of six men in Zurich, Conrad Grebel (Ulrich Zwingli's former protege) re-baptizes George Blaurock, a former monk. This was done in defiance of the law that required all citizens, including new-born babies, to be baptized into the Reformed Church. Grebel and his associates were of the belief that the state could not legislate religious adherence, and that baptism required a conscious decision babies were not capable of making. This meeting is considered by many to be the birth of the Anabaptist movement.

January 23, 1893: Episcopal minister Phillips Brooks
dies. As bishop of Massachusetts, a fervent abolitionist, frequent substitute evangelist for D.L. Moody, and the author of "O Little Town of Bethlehem," he was considered by many to be one of America's the most important preachers.

January 24, 1573: John Donne is born. Who is he? The English preacher and poet who would become dean of St. Paul's Cathedral in London. He was one of the most prominent preachers of his day and one of the greatest English poets. It was he who authored such oft quoted lines as "No man is an island," "For whom does the bell toll? It tolls for thee," and "Death be not proud."

January 25, 98: Upon the sudden death of Emperor Nerva, Trajan takes the throne. It is Trajan who will, two years later, ask Pliny the Younger to investigate a new superstition known as "Christianity." Even though Pliny's report considers the “cult” to be relatively harmless, it will lead to moderate persecution. It will also mark the first time Christians are recognized as being distinct from Jews.

January 26, 1564: The decrees of the Council of Trent are
accepted and confirmed by Pope Pius IV . A product of the Counter Reformation, the decrees improved church organization, strengthened the powers of the papacy, and blocked any chance of reconciliation with the Protestants.

January 27, 1302: Dante Alighieri, after facing
false charges of corruption, is heavily fined and excluded from political office permanently. He would eventually be driven out of Florence in April, after which Dante began writing The Divine Comedy, the epic poem in which he travels through hell, purgatory, and heaven.