Chapter 2 Of Fox's Book of Martyrs Volume 1 Fox's Book of Martyrs Volume 1 By John Fox Edited by William Byron Forbush Chapter 2 THE TEN PRIMITIVE PERSECUTIONS PART 3 THE EIGHTH PERSECUTION UNDER VALERIAN ON NOTOMINE 257 BEGAN UNDER VALERIAN IN THE MONTH OF APRIL 257 and continued for three years and six months. The martyrs that fell in this persecution were innumerable, and their tortures and deaths as various and painful. The most eminent martyrs were the following, though neither rank, sex, nor age were regarded. Rufina and Secunda were two beautiful and accomplished ladies, daughters of Pasterius, a gentleman of eminence in Rome. Rufina, the elder, was designed in marriage for Armentarius, a young nobleman, Secunda, the younger, for Verinus, a person of rank and opulence. The suitors, at the time of the persecutions commencing, were both Christians, but when danger appeared to save their fortune, they renounced their faith. They took great pains to persuade the ladies to do the same, but, disappointed in their purpose, the lovers were base enough to inform against the ladies. who, being apprehended as Christians, were brought before Junius Donatus, governor of Rome, where unknown to many 257 they sealed their martyrdom with their blood. Stephen, bishop of Rome, was beheaded in the same year, and about that time Saturninus, the pious orator as bishop of Toulouse, refusing to sacrifice to idols, was treated with all the barbarous indignities imaginable, and fastened by the feet to the tail of a bull. Upon the signal given, the enraged animal was driven down the steps of the temple, by which the worthy martyr's grains were dashed out. Sextus succeeded Stephen, a bishop of Rome. He is supposed to have been a Greek by birth or by extraction, and had for some time served in the capacity of a deacon under Stephen. His great fidelity, singular wisdom, and uncommon courage distinguished him upon many occasions. And a happy conclusion of a controversy with some heretics is generally ascribed to his pity and prudence. In the year 258 Marcianus, who had the management of the Roman government, procured an order from the emperor Valerian to put to death all the Christian clergy in Rome, and hence the bishop with six of his deacons suffered martyrdom in 258. Let us draw near to the fire of martyred Lauren, that our cold hearts may be worn thereby. The merciless tyrant, understanding him to be not only a minister of the sacraments, but a distributor also of the Church's riches, promised to himself a double prey by the apprehension of one soul. First, with the rake of avarice to scrape to himself the treasure of poor Christians, then, with the fiery fork of tyranny, so to toss and turmoil them, that they should wax wary of their profession. With furious face and cruel countenance, the greedy wolf demanded where this Lawrence had bestowed the substance of the Church, who, craving three days' respite, promised to declare where the treasure might be had. In the meantime he called a good number of poor Christians to be congregated. So when the day of his answer was come, the persecutor strictly charged him to stand to his promise. Stretching out his arms over the poor, said, These are the precious treasure of the Church. These are the treasure, indeed, in whom the face of Christ reigneth, in whom Jesus Christ hath his mansion placed. What more precious jewels can Christ have than those in whom he hath promised to dwell? There so it is written, I was unhungered, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger, and ye took me in. And again, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. What great riches can Christ our Master possess than the poor people in whom he loveth to be seen? O, what tongue is able to express the fury and madness of the tyrant's heart? Now he stamped, he stared, he ramped, he fared as one out of his wits. His eyes like fire glowed, his mouth like a boar formed. his teeth like a hell-hound grinned. Now not a reasonable man, but a roaring lion, he might be called. "'Candle the fire!' he cried. "'Of wood make no spare!' Has this villain deluded the Emperor? Away with him! Away with him! Whip him with scourges! Jerk him with rods! Boof at him with fists! Brain him with clubs! Jest at the traitor with the Emperor! Pinch him with fiery tongues! Girt him with burning plates! Bring out the strongest chains and the fire-forks, And the grated bed of iron on the fire with it. Pin the rebel hand and foot, And when the bed is fire-hot, on with him. Roast him, broil him, toss him, turn him. On pain of our highest displeasure Do every man his office, O ye tormentors!' The word was no sooner spoken that all was done. After many cruel handlings This meek lamp was laid, I will not say on his fiery bed of iron, but on his soft bed of down, so mightily God brought with his martyr Lawrence, so miraculously God tempered his elements of fire, that it became not a bed of consuming pain, but a pallet of nourishing rest. In Africa the persecution raged with peculiar violence. Many thousands received the crown of martyrdom. among whom the following were the most distinguished characters. Ciprian, bishop of Carthage, an eminent prelate, and a pious ornament of the Church. The brightness of his genius was tempered by the solidity of his judgment, and with all the accomplishments of the gentleman he blended the virtues of a Christian. His doctrines were orthodox and pure, his language easy and elegant, and his manners graceful and benign. In fine he was both a pious and polite preacher. In his youth he was educated in the principles of gentilism, and having considerable fortune, he lived in a very extravagance of splendor, and all the dignity affirmed. About the year 246, Poikilius, a Christian minister of Carthage, became the happy instrument of Ciprian's conversion, on which account, and for the great love that he always afterward bore for the author of this conversion, He was termed Coecilius Ciprian. Previous to his baptism, he studied the scriptures with care, and being struck with the beauties of the truths they contained, he determined to practice the virtues therein recommended. Subsequent to his baptism, he sold his estate, distributed the money among the poor, brushed himself in plain attire, and commenced a life of austerity. He was soon after made a presidial. and being greatly admired for his virtues and works, on the death of Donatus in Anno Domini 248, he was almost unanimously elected Bishop of Carthage. Caprian's care not only extended over Carthage, but to Numidia and Mauritania. In all his transactions he took great care to ask the advice of his clergy, knowing that unanimity alone could be of service to the Church, this being one of his maxims. that the bishop was in the church, and the church in the bishop, so that unity can only be preserved by a close connection between the pastor and his flock. In Anno Domini 250, Cyprian was publicly proscribed by the emperor Decius under the appellation of Coecilius Cyprian, bishop of the Christians. And the universal cry of the pagans was, Cyprian to the lions, Cyprian to the beasts, The bishop, however, withdrew from the rage of the populace, and his effects were immediately confiscated. During his retirement he wrote thirty pious and elegant letters to his flock, but several schisms that bankrupt into the church gave him great uneasiness. The rigor of the prosecution abating, he returned to Carthage, and did everything in his power to expunge Aaronius' opinion. A terrible plague breaking out in Carthage. It was, as usual, laid to the charge by the Christians, and the magistrates began to persecute accordingly, which occasioned an epistle from them to Cyprian, in answer to which he vindicated the cause of Christianity. On November 257, Cyprian was brought before the proconsul Aspatius Patournus, who exiled him to a little city on the Libyan Sea. On the death of this proconsul, he returned to Carthage, but was soon after seized by and carried before the new governor, who condemned him to be beheaded, which sentence was executed on the 14th of September, Anno Domini 258. The disciples of Cyprian martyred in this persecution were Lucius, Flavian, Victoricus, Remus, Montanus, Julian, Primalus, and Donatian. At Utica a most terrible tragedy was exhibited. Three hundred Christians were, by the orders of the pro-council, placed round a burning lime kiln. A pan of coals and incense being prepared, they were commanded either to sacrifice to Jupiter, or to be thrown into the kiln. Unanimously refusing, they bravely jumped into the pit, and were immediately suffocated. Fructusus, Bishop of Tarragon, in Spain, and his two deacons, Augurius and Eulogius, were were burned for being Christians. Alexander Malthus and Priscus, three Christians of Palestine, the women of the same place, voluntarily accused themselves of being Christians, on which account they were sentenced to be devoured by tigers, which sentence was executed accordingly. Maxima, Donatilla and Secunda, three virgins of the Burga, had gall and vinegar given them to drink, were then severely scourged tormented on a gibbet, rubbed with lime, scorched in a gridiron, worried by wild beasts, and the planks beheaded. It is here proper to take notice of the singular but miserable fate of the Emperor Valerian, who had so long and so terribly persecuted the Christians. This tyrant by a stratagem was taken prisoner by Sapphor, Emperor of Persia, who carried him into his own country. and there treated him with the utmost unexampled indignity, making him kneel down as the meanest slave, and treading upon him as a footstool when he mounted his horse. After having kept him for the space of seven years in this abject state of slavery, he calls his eyes to be put out, though he was then eighty-three years of age. This not satiating his desire of revenge, he soon after ordered his body to be flayed unwrapped with salt, under which torments he expired, and thus fell one of the most tyrannical emperors of Rome, and one of the greatest persecutors of the Christians. On November 260, Gallienus, the son of Valerian, succeeded him, and during his reign a few martyrs accepted. The church enjoyed peace for some years. THE NINTH PERSECUTION UNDER AURELIAN The principal sufferers were Felix, Bishop of Rome. This prelate was advanced to the Roman seat in 274. He was the first martyr to Aurelian's patrulancy, being beheaded on the 22nd of December in the same year. Agathasus, 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. These are the only martyrs left upon record during this reign, as it was soon put to a stop by the emperors being murdered by his own domestics at Byzantium. Aurelian was succeeded by Tacitus, who was followed by Probos, as the latter was by Charus, this emperor being killed by a thunderstorm, his sons Karnios and Numerian succeeded him, and during all these reigns the church had peace. Diocletian mounted the imperial throne and now dominated 284. At first he showed great favor to the Christians. In the year 286 he associated Maxillian with him in the empire, and some Christians were put to death before any general persecution broke out. Among these were Felician and Primus' troop brothers. Marcos and Marcellinus were twins, natives of Rome and of noble descent. Their parents were heathen, but the tutors, to whom the education of the children was entrusted, brought them up as Christians. Their constancy at length subdued those who wished them to become pagans, and their parents and whole family became converts to a faith they had before reprobated. They were martyred by being tied to posts and having their feet pierced with nails. After remaining in this situation for a day and a night, their sufferings were put to an end, too, by thrusting lances through their bodies. Zoe, the wife of the jailer, who had the care of the before-mentioned martyrs, was also converted by them, and hung upon a tree with a flower of straw lighted under her. When her body was taken down, it was thrown into a river with a large stone tied to it in order to sink it. In the year of Christ, 286, a most remarkable affair occurred. A legion of soldiers, consisting of 6,666 men, contained none but Christians. This legion was called the Theban Legion because the men had been raised in Sebia. They were quartered in the east until the Emperor Maximian ordered them to march to Gaul to assist him against the rebels of Burgundy. They passed the Alps into Gaul under the command of Mauritius, Candidus and Exeterni, their worthy commanders, and at length joined the Emperor. Maximian about this time ordered a general sacrifice, at which the whole army was to assist, and likewise he commanded that they should take the oath of allegiance and swear, at the same time, to assist in the extirpation of Christianity in Gaul. Alarmed at these orders, Each individual of the Theban legion absolutely refused either to sacrifice or take the oath to be restrived. This so greatly enraged Maximian that he ordered the legion to be decimated, that is, every tense man to be selected from the rest and put to the sword. This bloody order having been put in execution, those who remained alive were still inflexible. When a second decimation took place, and every tenth man of those living was put to death. This second severity made no more impression than the first had done. The soldiers preserved their fortitude and their principles, but by the advice of their officers they drew up a loyal remonstrance to the Emperor. This, it might have been pursued, would have softened the Emperor, but it had a contrary effect, for, enraged at their perseverance and unanimity, He commanded that the whole legion should be put to death, which was accordingly executed by the other troops, who cut them to pieces with their swords. September 22, 286. Alban, from whom St. Alban, in Hertfordshire, received its name, was the first British martyr. Great Britain had received the Gospel of Christ from Lucius, the first Christian king, but did not suffer from the rage of persecution for many years after. He was originally a pagan, but converted by a Christian ecclesiastic named Amphibolus, whom he sheltered on account of his religion. The enemies of Amphibolus, having intelligence of the place where he was secreted, came to the house of Alban in order to facilitate his escape. When the soldiers came, he offered himself up as the person they were seeking for. The deceit being detected, the governor ordered him to be scorched. and then he was sentenced to be beheaded, June the 22nd and Madonna 287. The venerable Bede assures us that upon this occasion the executioner suddenly became a convert to Christianity and entreated permission to die for Alban or with him. Obtaining the latter request they were beheaded by a soldier who voluntarily undertook the task of the executioner. This happened on the 22nd of June under Dominic 287, at Verulam, now St. Albans, in Herfordshire, where a magnificent church was erected to his memory about the time of Constantine the Great. The edifice, being destroyed in the Saxon Wars, was rebuilt by Offa, King of Mercia, and a monastery erected adjoining to it, some remains of which are still visible, and the church is a noble Gothic structure. Faith, a Christian female of Aquitaine, in France, was ordered to be appointed upon a gradient, and then beheaded. Hanno Dominus 287. Quentin was a Christian and a native of Rome, but determined to attempt the propagation of the Gospel in Gaul, with one Lucian. They preached together in Amiens, after which Lucian went to Beaumaris, for he was martyred. Quentin remained in Picardy. and was very zealous in his ministry. Being seized upon as a Christian, he was stretched to his pulleys, until his joints were dislocated. His body was then torn with wire scourges, and boiling oil and pitch poured on his naked flesh. Lighter tortures were applied to his sides and armpits, and after he had been thus tortured, he was remanded back to prison, and died of the barbarities he had suffered. 31st October, Anno Domini 287 his body was sunk in the Somme. THE TENTH PERSECUTION UNDER DIOCLETIAN ANNO DOMINI 303 Under the Roman Emperors, commonly called the Era of the Martyrs, was occasioned partly by the increasing number and luxury of the Christians and the hatred of Galerius, the adopted son of Diocletian, who, being stimulated by his mother, abdicated Pagan, never ceased persuading the Emperor to enter upon the persecution, until he had accomplished his purpose. The fatal day fixed upon to commence the bloody work was the 23rd of February, Anno Domini 303, that being the day in which the Terminalia were celebrated, and on which, as the cruel pagans boasted, they hoped to put a termination to Christianity. On the appointed day the persecution began in Nicomedia, on the morning of which The prefect of that city prepared, with a great number of officers and assistants, to the church of the Christians, where, having forced open the doors, they seized upon all the sacred books, and committed them to the flames. The whole of this transaction was in the presence of Diocletian and Galerius, who, not contented with burning the books, had the church leveled with the ground. This was followed by a severe edict. commanding the destruction of all other Christian churches and books, and an order soon succeeded to render Christians of all denominations outlaws. The publication of this edict occasioned an immediate martyrdom, for a bold Christian not only tore it down from the plates to which it was affixed, but execrated the name of the Emperor for his injustice. A provocation like this was sufficient to call down pagan vengeance upon his head. He was accordingly seized, severely tortured, and then burned alive. All the Christians were apprehended and imprisoned, and Galerius privately ordered the imperial palace to be set on fire, that the Christians might be charged as the incendiaries, and a plausible pretense given for carrying on the persecution with the greater severities. A general sacrifice was commenced, which occasioned various martyrdoms. No distinction was made of age or sex. The name of Christian was so obnoxious to the pedants that all indiscriminately fell sacrifices to their opinions. Many houses were set on fire, and whole Christian families perished in the flames, and others had stones fastened about their necks, and, being tied together, were driven into the sea. The persecution became general in all the Roman provinces, but more particularly in and, as it lasted ten years, it is impossible to ascertain the numbers martyred, or to enumerate the various modes of martyrdom. Racks, scourges, swords, daggers, crosses, poison and famine were made use of in various parts to dispatch the Christians, and invention was exhausted to devise tortures against such as had no crime, but thinking differently from the water is a superstition. A city of Phrygia, consisting entirely of Christians, was burned, and all the inhabitants perished in the flames. Tired with slaughter at length, several governors of provinces represented to the imperial court the impropriety of such conduct. Hence many were respited from execution. But though they were not put to death, as much as possible was done, to render their lives miserable, many of them having their ears cut off, their noses slit, their right eyes put out, their limbs rendered useless by dreadful dislocations, and their flesh seared in conspicuous places with red-hot irons. It is necessary now to particularize the most conspicuous persons who laid down their lives in martyrdom in this bloody persecution. Sebastian, a celebrated martyr, was born at Narbonne, in Gaul, instructed in the principles of Christianity at Milan. and afterward became an officer of the Emperor's Guard at Rome. He remained a true Christian in the midst of idolatry, unalloyed by the slanders of a court, untamed by evil examples, and uncontaminated by the hopes of reformment. Refusing to be a pagan, the Emperor ordered him to be taken to a field near the city, termed the Campus Martius, and there to be shot to death with arrows. which sentence was executed accordingly. Some pious Christians coming to the place of execution, in order to give his body burial, perceived signs of life in him, and immediately moving him to a place of security, they, in a short time, effected his recovery, and prepared him for a second martyrdom. For as soon as he was able to go out, he placed himself intentionally in the Emperor's way, as he was going to the temple. and reprehended him for his various cruelties and unreasonable prejudices against Christianity. As soon as Diocletian had overcome his surprise, he ordered Sebastian to be seized and carried to a place near the palace and beaten to death. And that the Christian should not either use means again to recover or bury his body, he ordered that it should be thrown into the common sewer. Nevertheless, a Christian lady named Lucina, found means to remove it from the sewer, and bury it in the catacombs, or repositories of the dead. End of Chapter 2 Part 3 This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. Our many free resources, as well as our complete mail-order catalog containing thousands of classic and contemporary Puritan and Reform books, tapes and videos at great discounts, is on the web at www.swrb.com. We can also be reached by email at SWRB at SWRB.com, by phone at 780-450-3730, by fax at 780-468-1096, or by mail at 4710-37A Avenue, Edmonton, that's E-D-M-O-N-T-O-N, Alberta, abbreviated capital A, capital B, Canada, T6L3T5. You may also request a free printed catalog. And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.