JUSTIN MARTYR AND HIS APOLOGIES.

215

Rome, where he had frequent conferences with one Crescens, a philosopher of some note in that city, who had laboured to traduce the Christians and represent their religious profession under the most infamous character.

The occasion of his presenting his second Apology was somewhat remarkable and deserves to be mentioned. A certain female at Rome, together with her husband, had lived a very dissolute course of life; but, falling in with the Christians, she was reclaimed from her vicious practices. From that time she endeavoured by every prudent and scriptural method to convince her husband of the error of his way, but without effect-and, his manner of life being such that she could no longer live with him, she procured a divorce, and the parties separated. Enraged at this conduct, the husband accused her to the emperor of being a Christian; but, on her putting in a petition for leave to answer the accusation the man relinquished the charge, and falling upon the person who, under God, was the happy means of converting her to the faith, one Ptolemeus, he procured his imprisonment and ultimately his condemnation and death. On that occasion, one of the brethren of the church at Rome, whose name was Lucius, being present, he presumed to represent how unreasonable a thing it was that an innocent and virtuous man, charged with no crime, should be sentenced to death merely for bearing the Christian name-at the same time intimating that it reflected disgrace on the government. But the words were no sooner out of his mouth than he, together with a third person, was sentenced to the same fate. The severity of these proceedings roused the solicitude and care of Justin for his Christian brethren —and prompted him to draw up his second Apology, which he addressed to the emperor and the senate of Rome. He states the case of his Christian brethren-complains of the wickedness and cruelty with which they were every where treated, in being punished merely because they were Christians, without being accused of any thing criminal-he answers the trite objections that were raised against them, and desires no greater favour than that the world might be really acquainted with their case. But Justin's appeal produced no impression on those to whom it was addressed. He and six of his friends were seized and carried before Rusticus, the prefect of the city of Rome, where many

attempts were made to prevail on them to bow the knee to Jupiter and comply with the imperial edicts; but these entreaties had no effect upon them. "No man," says Justin, "who is in his right mind can desert truth to embrace error and impiety." And, when threatened that unless they complied they should be tortured without mercy, they calmly replied, "Despatch us as soon as you please; we are Christians and cannot turn to idols.” On hearing this, the governor pronounced the following sentence, that "for refusing to sacrifice to the gods, and obey the imperial edicts, they were first to be scourged, and then beheaded according to law," which was immediately carried into execution.

The reign of this philosophic emperor abounds with instances of unrelenting cruelty towards the Christians, similar to those I have already related. Justin Martyr mentions the martyrdom of Ptolemeus, from whom the only question asked was, “Are you a Christian? "and, on his confessing that fact, he was instantly put to death. Lucius was also put to death for making the same avowal (as already mentioned) and for asking Urbicus, the prefect of the city, why he condemned Ptolemeus, who was neither convicted of adultery, rape, murder, theft, robbery, nor any other crime, but merely for owning himself to be a Christian. 'Tis manifest, therefore, that under this emperor it was made a capital offence for any one to avow himself a Christian; and these inhuman proceedings were sanctioned by an emperor making great pretensions to reason and philosophy; and they were, moreover, carried on for the purpose of maintaining a system of superstition and idolatry, repugnant to every principle of reason and truth; for these atrocious cruelties were exercised towards persons of the most virtuous character, on account of their adherence to the worship of the one living and true God, the first principle of all rational religion.

I mentioned, in a former Lecture, that there was reason to believe Christianity had obtained a footing in France in the days of the apostles; and this statement is corroborated by the circumstance that towards the close of the reign of this emperor, Marcus Antoninus, A. D. 177, a terrible persecution broke out against the churches of Lyons and Vienne, two cities lying contiguous to each other, in the heart of that country, then called Gallia or Gaul. When the violence of the storm had abated,

PERSECUTION OF THE CHURCHES OF LYONS AND VIENNE. 217

an account of what had transpired was drawn up, in the form of an epistle from the churches of Vienne and Lyons, addressed to their brethren in Asia and Phrygia. It is preserved by Eusebius, and Dr. Lardner pronounces it the "finest thing of the kind in all antiquity." I may give you a few extracts. The epistle commences with the following apostolical salutation:"The servants of Christ sojourning in Vienne and Lyons, to their brethren in Asia Propria and Phrygia, who have the same faith and hope of redemption with us ;-peace, and grace, and glory from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ." They then declare themselves unable to express the greatness of the affliction which the saints in those cities had recently undergone, or the intense animosity of the heathen against them. Christians were absolutely prohibited from appearing in any house except their own,-in baths, in the markets, or in any public place. "The first assault," say they, "came from the populace, by means of shouts, blows, dragging their bodies, plundering their goods, pelting them with stones, with all the indignities that might be expected from a fierce and outrageous multitude. These, however, were magnanimously sustained. Being then led into the forum, by the tribune and the magistrates, they were examined before all the people, whether they were Christians; and, on acknowledging the fact, they were committed to prison until the arrival of the governor, before whom they were presently brought, and who treated them with great savageness of behaviour."

Vettius Epigathus, one of the brethren, a young man of exemplary piety and unwearied in acts of beneficence, was roused at witnessing such a manifest perversion of justice, and boldly demanded to be heard in behalf of his brethren, pledging himself to prove that there was nothing among them either atheistic or impious. He was a person of quality; but, however reasonable his demand, it served no other purpose than to excite the clamour of the mob and irritate the governor, who merely asked him if he were a Christian, which he avowed in the most undaunted manner, and for which he was immediately executed. Others imitated his confidence and zeal, and suffered with the same alacrity of mind. In process of time, ten of their number lapsed, "whose case," say they," filled us with great and un

measurable sorrow." This appears to have much dejected the churches, and spread a general alarm, well knowing the consequences of apostacy. The vilest calumnies were at this time propagated against them: they were accused of eating human flesh and committing unnatural crimes-" things," say they, "not fit to be mentioned or imagined, and such as ought not to be believed of mankind." The rabble became incensed against them even to madness, and the ties of affinity, or friendship, seem to have been wholly disregarded. "Now it was," say they," that our Lord's words were fulfilled: "The time will come, when whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.' But the tortures which the martyrs sustained exceed the power of description." The whole fury of the multitude, the governor, and the soldiers, was in a particular manner wreaked on Sanctus, a deacon of a church in Vienne -on Maturus-on Attalus of Pergamus, one of the main pillars of the church-and on Blandina, a female, who was most barbarously tortured from morning to night, in order to extort from her a confession which should criminate her brethren; but her only words were, "I am a Christian, and no evil is committed among us."

I have thus given you a specimen—and it is merely a specimen, of the ferocious and brutal attack that was made on these churches; but the detail is disgusting, and would only harrow up your feelings, which I am desirous to spare. Delicate females were put to the torture, to extort from them a confession "that the Christians ate their own children! " But what was the reply of these females? "How is it possible that we should eat infants-we, to whom it is not lawful to eat the blood of animals?" referring, no doubt, to the prohibition against eating things strangled and blood, Acts xv. Several of them were thrown to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre; and, among others, Blandina, above-mentioned: after having been scourged, and then placed in a hot iron chair, she was enclosed in a net, and exposed to a wild bull, by which she was tossed and gored, and at length despatched by the sword.

As to the dead bodies of the martyrs, they were treated with every possible and conceivable indignity. They were thrown to the dogs, and watched day and night lest their friends should

JUSTIN'S ACCOUNT OF THE CHRISTIAN PRACTICES. 219

bury them. Their bodies were mutilated in the most shameful manner, and the mangled carcases, after being exposed for six days, were consumed to ashes and cast into the river, hoping, as they said, to disappoint them of a resurrection. The prisons were glutted with the number of Christians, and they were thrust into the darkest and most loathsome cells, where numbers were suffocated. Pothinus, one of the pastors of the church in Lyons, then upwards of ninety years old, was dragged before the tribunal, insulted by the soldiers and the rabble in the vilest manner and then thrown into prison, where he languished two days and expired.

These instances may suffice for the purpose of conveying to you some idea of this horrible persecution, which, lamentable to say, received the express sanction of the philosophic emperor, Marcus Aurelius. "He sent orders," says the letter, "for sucht as avowed themselves Christians to be put to death, and the apostates to be liberated." Such proceedings, as Mosheim justly remarks, are an indelible disgrace to the memory of the prince by whom they were carried on. His death, however, which took place in the year 180, put a period to this fiery trial, which, with little intermission, had continued in one quarter or other, during a period of eighteen years.

Having in this Lecture adverted to the writings of Justin Martyr, I shall now once more return to them, for the sake of presenting you with the account which he has left us of the meetings of the Christians on the Lord's day, during his time. He has been speaking of the manner in which persons were admitted into the church by baptism; but, as I shall have occasion to adduce his testimony on this point in a subsequent Lecture, I shall at present pass it over. He then thus proceeds :

"Afterwards we remind each other of these things, and they who are wealthy assist those who are in need, and we are always together: and over all our offerings we bless the Creator of all things, through his Son Jesus Christ, a d [by, or] through the Holy Spirit and on the day called Sunday [the first day of the week] there is an assembling together of all who dwell in the cities and country: when the memoirs of the apostles and the writings of the prophets are read, as long as circumstances per

: