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I am going to lose my life (not that it’s worth much) for the cross,” Ignatius wrote. “I am ever so eager to be a martyr, but I do not know if I deserve to be.” “I need your love if I am going to deserve the fate I long for, and not prove a ‘castaway’.” “These chains – my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers.” “...if we do not willingly die in union with his Passion, we do not have his life in us.” “I hope, indeed, by your prayers, to have the good fortune to fight with wild beasts in
Friday, November 21, 2008
The Martyred Bishop
One of the most fascinating and famous early Christian martyrs was the Bishop of Antioch, Ignatius. When he died in a Roman arena in the year 107 CE, savaged by wild beasts, he was about 70 years old. Born just after Jesus’ crucifixion, Ignatius had served Christ all his life, and he went willingly to his death, seeing in it the culmination of all his service. As amazing as it seems to us today, Ignatius actually longed for his violent death. To him, it was a chance to be a sacrifice to God, and to truly earn the name, “Christian.” Who was this compelling figure, whose final goal was to get to God, no matter the cost? Ignatius was a man known to us today as one of the “Apostolic Church Fathers”, a group that includes other first century Bishops like Clement and Polycarp. These men were appointed by the Apostles themselves, forming a succession of authority to continue to lead the church. The writings of these men tell us about the early churches in and Asia Minor, including the Church of Antioch in Syria, where followers of Jesus were first called Christians.Ignatius was the second Bishop of Antioch, chosen by the Apostle Peter. His job as a Bishop was to lead church prayers, celebrate the Eucharist, conduct baptisms, give spiritual counsel, preside over marriages, and preach sermons.He had the devoted help of the Deacons and Presbyters working under him.He was a learned, faithful, humble, and selfless man. So why did he have to die – who would want to kill a man like that?The Emperor Trajan, that’s who. Ruling Rome from the year 98 to 117 CE, Trajan was paranoid about secret societies that might plot to take power away from him. In his fear, he banned all clubs and political associations.That included gatherings of Christians, who seemed suspicious because they met in their homes behind closed doors, claimed to worship a different “King”, were accused of eating “flesh and blood”, and were growing in number alarmingly fast. Trajan was the first Emperor to make capital punishment of Christians an official policy.We know about his policies from a pair of letters written between Trajan and Pliny, the governor of Bithynia in Asia Minor. The two letters tell us a lot about what dangers Christians faced, and reveal why Bishop Ignatius had to die. Pliny lived in an Empire where the citizens were required to worship the Roman Emperor and the Roman gods at the official temples, using the established religious rites. He was unsure of how to deal with the troublesome Christians in his region. Pliny saw the Christian “superstition” spreading rapidly and endangering Roman religion, culture, and society. How should Christians be investigated and punished? Under what circumstances should they be executed? What should he do if someone was anonymously accused of being a Christian? In trying to work out the details of the policy by himself, Pliny had tortured and executed a few Christians, but he was in doubt about the exact procedures to follow. So he wrote to Trajan for clarification. Trajan wrote back, and told Pliny to follow a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell...but if they do tell, then kill them!’ policy. Officially, if a person was proven to be a Christian, then the punishment was death. But anonymous accusations were not to be allowed. Christians were not to be actively sought out. Furthermore, even if a person was accused of being a Christian, they had a chance to obtain pardon through repentance. Specifically, if the accused person publically worshipped and sacrificed to the Roman gods, then they could escape the death penalty. But some Christians were unable to deny Jesus in that way. Death was preferable. One such person who strongly preferred death was Bishop Ignatius. We know the story of Ignatius from seven letters he wrote while on his way to die. We also have a document called “The Martyrdom of Ignatius” which was supposedly written by two people who accompanied him on his final journey and witnessed his execution. The “Martyrdom” tells how Ignatius had guided the church of Antioch through the earlier persecutions of the Emperor Domitian, and how he was glad the persecution had ceased. But part of Ignatius still wished he could become a martyr, because by dying that way, he would perfect his discipleship to Christ, and become as intimately close to the Lord as it was possible to be.When Trajan threatened Christians with death, as described above, Ignatius saw his chance to attain his goal.It happened that Trajan was staying in Antioch while on a campaign against the Parthians. It is not clear from the source material whether Ignatius was accused and arrested or if he turned himself in. In any case, Ignatius came willingly before the Emperor, where he testified that he was a Christian who carried the spirit of Jesus within him. Under the law, Ignatius was a proven Christian, by his own admission. Trajan sentenced him to be bound and taken by soldiers to Rome, where he would be devoured by beasts for the gratification of the people. Ignatius actually cried out with joy, saying, I thank thee, O Lord, that Thou hast vouchsafed to honor me with a perfect love towards Thee, and hast made me to be bound with iron chains, like Thy Apostle Paul.Next, Ignatius had to make the long journey to Rome, escorted over land and sea by ten soldiers. On the way, he met with many fellow Christians, who came to see him where he stopped.The Bishop gave out many words of encouragement and listened to the problems of the church representatives.Then, just as Paul once did, Ignatius wrote letters to those churches to guide them.We have seven letters from him in all, six to churches and one to the Bishop Polycarp.To our modern way of thinking, it seems strange and a bit awe-inspiring that a person would actively seek martyrdom. What goes through the mind of a person like that? The letters of Ignatius give us an intimate understanding in his own words.He wrote about dying as “going through the pangs of being born.” He wrote, “Let me imitate the Passion of my God”, and “Let me be fodder for wild beasts – that is how I can get to God. I am God’s wheat and I am being ground by the teeth of wild beasts to make a pure loaf for Christ.” “Then I shall be a real disciple of Jesus Christ when the world sees my body no more. Pray Christ for me that by these means I may become God’s sacrifice.”
I am going to lose my life (not that it’s worth much) for the cross,” Ignatius wrote. “I am ever so eager to be a martyr, but I do not know if I deserve to be.” “I need your love if I am going to deserve the fate I long for, and not prove a ‘castaway’.” “These chains – my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers.” “...if we do not willingly die in union with his Passion, we do not have his life in us.” “I hope, indeed, by your prayers, to have the good fortune to fight with wild beasts inRome Rome Rome Rome Antioch
I am going to lose my life (not that it’s worth much) for the cross,” Ignatius wrote. “I am ever so eager to be a martyr, but I do not know if I deserve to be.” “I need your love if I am going to deserve the fate I long for, and not prove a ‘castaway’.” “These chains – my spiritual pearls! Through them I want to rise from the dead by your prayers.” “...if we do not willingly die in union with his Passion, we do not have his life in us.” “I hope, indeed, by your prayers, to have the good fortune to fight with wild beasts in
Christian Apocrypha: Peter versus Simon Magus
The Old Testament has its Apocrypha, books that were important and popular, but did not make it into the canonical Bible, such as the “Books of the Maccabees” and “Judith”. The New Testament has its Apocrypha as well, books which were so popular and so often copied in the early days of Christianity that they survive to this day, even though they did not make it into the Bible. Although they could not compare with inspired scripture like the Gospels, these books were written to teach Christian ideas and to entertain readers at the same time. One of these books, the “Acts of Peter”, is a direct sequel to a story found in the Acts of the Apostles, the encounter between Peter and Simon the Magician.
Simon was an infamous sorcerer from the Samaritan town of Gitta. Acts 8:4-24 describes how Simon met with Peter in Samaria and tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. “Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, ‘This man is the power of God that is called Great.’ And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.
“Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.’ Simon answered, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.’”
Simon’s act gave rise to the term “Simony”, which means the crime of paying money in exchange for holy authority or a position in the church. After he is rebuked for his crime, Simon is not mentioned again in the New Testament. But his story was not over. Early Christian writers condemned him as the founder of a second century group of Gnostics, heretics who claimed that only complex secret knowledge brought salvation. Simon’s followers claimed that he was the power of the true God in human form. Their belief system was in direct conflict and competition with the spread of early Christianity in the Roman Empire. In fighting for the hearts and minds of the people, Christian writers saw the need to attack the heresy where it began, with the magician Simon. The story of Simon in Acts is unfinished; Simon is rebuffed but not defeated. And so the apocryphal book, the “Acts of Peter” was written to continue the story and show its readers the final defeat and death of Simon Magus.
The “Acts of Peter” was written between 150 and 200 CE, to denounce and discredit the founder of the rival Gnostics. It tells of a public miracle contest between Peter and Simon Magus. The story begins when Simon miraculously flies through the air into Rome. There, he works more wonders and begins to preach that he, not Jesus, is the Messiah and the power of God. Simon is so convincing that large groups of the Christian faithful begin to worship him instead, and leaders like Paul are not there to stop them. This is an emergency; it seems the power of Satan is working through Simon to cause all the simple and weak believers in Rome to fall.
God sends a vision to Peter, summoning him to go to Rome to fight Simon. Upon his arrival, Peter speaks to a large crowd of the brethren, and warns them that Satan is tricking them into leaving their faith. The people repent, but the danger of Simon remains, and they ask Peter to remove the threat once and for all. The magician is staying at the house of a senator whom he has converted, so Peter takes the crowd to his door. From this point on, the story becomes a duel of miracles between Simon and Peter. The contest is reminiscent of the duel between Moses and Aaron, and Pharaoh’s sorcerers (Exodus 7:8-13), in that Simon ultimately shows that he has some powers, but he cannot match or resist the power of God.
Peter’s first miracle is to give a dog the power of speech. Peter sends the dog in to tell Simon to come out. Simon instructs the dog to tell Peter he is not there. The dog curses Simon and exits to tell Peter that it is time for “a great contest with the enemy of Christ and his servants, and many that have been deceived by him shalt thou turn unto the faith; wherefore thou shalt receive from God the reward of thy work. And when the dog had said this he fell down at the apostle Peter's feet and gave up the ghost. And when the great multitude saw with amazement the dog speaking, they began then, some to throw themselves down at Peter's feet, and some said: Show us another sign, that we may believe in thee as the minister of the living God, for Simon also did many signs in our presence and therefore did we follow him.”
Peter’s second miracle is to bring a dead fish back to life and set it swimming for all to see. Restored to his faith by these signs, the senator has Simon beaten and thrown out of his house. Simon comes to Peter’s residence and calls him out, saying, “Lo, here am I, Simon: come thou down, Peter, and I will convict thee that thou hast believed on a man which is a Jew and a carpenter's son.” Peter sends down a woman and her nursing baby. In this third miracle, the baby curses Simon with an adult voice, announcing that Peter will meet him in the Roman forum on the Sabbath, there to decide the contest.
At night, Jesus appears to Peter and says, “Already is much people of the brotherhood returned through me and through the signs which thou hast wrought in my name. But thou shalt have a contest of the faith upon the sabbath that cometh, and many more of the Gentiles and of the Jews shall be converted in my name unto me who was reproached and mocked and spat upon. For I will be present with thee when thou askest for signs and wonders, and thou shalt convert many: but thou shalt have Simon opposing thee by the works of his father; yet all his works shall be shown to be charms and contrivances of sorcery.”
When the Sabbath arrives, such a large crowd gathers, that people are charged for their seats. Christian brethren and Roman pagans alike fill the forum. Even senators and prefects are in attendance. The crowd demands that Peter and Simon each give proof of their claims so that the people may choose who to believe. Peter promises proof, and mocks Simon for his attempts to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, as described in Acts. Simon then mocks Jesus as a mere man who lived and died. The Roman prefect then issues the first challenge for both men. He calls one of his servants and commands that Simon should kill the slave, and that Peter should bring him back to life. Simon speaks a word, and the man dies. Peter says God is not to be tempted or proved, but that God will love and hear those that are worthy. At Peter’s prayer, the man is brought back to life.
For the second challenge, the mother of a dead senator brings her son’s body to the forum. Peter shouts, “Ye men of Rome, let there now be a just judgment betwixt me and Simon; and judge ye whether of us two believeth in the living God, he or I. Let him raise up the body that lieth here, and believe in him as the angel of God. But if he be not able, and I call upon my God and restore the son alive unto his mother, then believe ye that this man is a sorcerer and a deceiver”. Simon retorts, “Ye men of Rome, if ye behold the dead man arise, will ye cast Peter out of the city? And all the people said: We will not only cast him out, but on the very instant will we burn him with fire.”
Simon proceeds to trick the crowd, by moving the dead body like a puppet. Peter, threatened with burning, reveals the deception to the onlookers: the man is still dead. Peter then genuinely brings the senator back to life. When the crowd threatens to burn Simon instead, Peter reminds them to love their enemies. Simon is spared so that he might repent, but a few days later, the defeated magician proclaims that everyone has been deceived by Peter. Simon Magus announces that he will fly up to God his father. Amazingly, he begins to fly over Rome. Peter calls out to Jesus to make Simon fall, not to die, but to fail in converting any more people. Simon plummets, breaks his leg, and is finally abandoned by the Romans, who believe in Peter henceforth. Later, however, he dies during surgery.
So ends this apocryphal tale. The Gnostic followers of Simon eventually fell to the advance of Catholic Christianity, just as Simon fell before Peter. Rome, after several centuries, surrendered to Peter’s faith. This book may once have influenced the outcome of that struggle, but that victory did not come quickly enough for the apostle. Another section of the “Acts of Peter” gives the earliest known description of Peter’s death – he was crucified upside down in Rome. The “Acts of Peter”, with its whimsical miracles, like a talking dog and baby, was never destined to stand alongside canonical, inspired scripture. But it does entertain while teaching that it is important to help fellow Christian believers along when others try to lead them astray. In this story, Peter is an outstanding servant of God when he answers God’s call to go and speak the truth in answer to the lies of a deceiver, trusting in God to work through him and bring both new and fallen believers to the faith.
Simon was an infamous sorcerer from the Samaritan town of Gitta. Acts 8:4-24 describes how Simon met with Peter in Samaria and tried to buy the power of the Holy Spirit. “Now a certain man named Simon had previously practiced magic in the city and amazed the people of Samaria, saying that he was someone great. All of them, from the least to the greatest, listened to him eagerly, saying, ‘This man is the power of God that is called Great.’ And they listened eagerly to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who was proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Even Simon himself believed. After being baptized, he stayed constantly with Philip and was amazed when he saw the signs and great miracles that took place.
“Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. The two went down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit (for as yet the Spirit had not come upon any of them; they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus). Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain God’s gift with money! You have no part or share in this, for your heart is not right before God. Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and the chains of wickedness.’ Simon answered, ‘Pray for me to the Lord, that nothing of what you have said may happen to me.’”
Simon’s act gave rise to the term “Simony”, which means the crime of paying money in exchange for holy authority or a position in the church. After he is rebuked for his crime, Simon is not mentioned again in the New Testament. But his story was not over. Early Christian writers condemned him as the founder of a second century group of Gnostics, heretics who claimed that only complex secret knowledge brought salvation. Simon’s followers claimed that he was the power of the true God in human form. Their belief system was in direct conflict and competition with the spread of early Christianity in the Roman Empire. In fighting for the hearts and minds of the people, Christian writers saw the need to attack the heresy where it began, with the magician Simon. The story of Simon in Acts is unfinished; Simon is rebuffed but not defeated. And so the apocryphal book, the “Acts of Peter” was written to continue the story and show its readers the final defeat and death of Simon Magus.
The “Acts of Peter” was written between 150 and 200 CE, to denounce and discredit the founder of the rival Gnostics. It tells of a public miracle contest between Peter and Simon Magus. The story begins when Simon miraculously flies through the air into Rome. There, he works more wonders and begins to preach that he, not Jesus, is the Messiah and the power of God. Simon is so convincing that large groups of the Christian faithful begin to worship him instead, and leaders like Paul are not there to stop them. This is an emergency; it seems the power of Satan is working through Simon to cause all the simple and weak believers in Rome to fall.
God sends a vision to Peter, summoning him to go to Rome to fight Simon. Upon his arrival, Peter speaks to a large crowd of the brethren, and warns them that Satan is tricking them into leaving their faith. The people repent, but the danger of Simon remains, and they ask Peter to remove the threat once and for all. The magician is staying at the house of a senator whom he has converted, so Peter takes the crowd to his door. From this point on, the story becomes a duel of miracles between Simon and Peter. The contest is reminiscent of the duel between Moses and Aaron, and Pharaoh’s sorcerers (Exodus 7:8-13), in that Simon ultimately shows that he has some powers, but he cannot match or resist the power of God.
Peter’s first miracle is to give a dog the power of speech. Peter sends the dog in to tell Simon to come out. Simon instructs the dog to tell Peter he is not there. The dog curses Simon and exits to tell Peter that it is time for “a great contest with the enemy of Christ and his servants, and many that have been deceived by him shalt thou turn unto the faith; wherefore thou shalt receive from God the reward of thy work. And when the dog had said this he fell down at the apostle Peter's feet and gave up the ghost. And when the great multitude saw with amazement the dog speaking, they began then, some to throw themselves down at Peter's feet, and some said: Show us another sign, that we may believe in thee as the minister of the living God, for Simon also did many signs in our presence and therefore did we follow him.”
Peter’s second miracle is to bring a dead fish back to life and set it swimming for all to see. Restored to his faith by these signs, the senator has Simon beaten and thrown out of his house. Simon comes to Peter’s residence and calls him out, saying, “Lo, here am I, Simon: come thou down, Peter, and I will convict thee that thou hast believed on a man which is a Jew and a carpenter's son.” Peter sends down a woman and her nursing baby. In this third miracle, the baby curses Simon with an adult voice, announcing that Peter will meet him in the Roman forum on the Sabbath, there to decide the contest.
At night, Jesus appears to Peter and says, “Already is much people of the brotherhood returned through me and through the signs which thou hast wrought in my name. But thou shalt have a contest of the faith upon the sabbath that cometh, and many more of the Gentiles and of the Jews shall be converted in my name unto me who was reproached and mocked and spat upon. For I will be present with thee when thou askest for signs and wonders, and thou shalt convert many: but thou shalt have Simon opposing thee by the works of his father; yet all his works shall be shown to be charms and contrivances of sorcery.”
When the Sabbath arrives, such a large crowd gathers, that people are charged for their seats. Christian brethren and Roman pagans alike fill the forum. Even senators and prefects are in attendance. The crowd demands that Peter and Simon each give proof of their claims so that the people may choose who to believe. Peter promises proof, and mocks Simon for his attempts to buy the power of the Holy Spirit, as described in Acts. Simon then mocks Jesus as a mere man who lived and died. The Roman prefect then issues the first challenge for both men. He calls one of his servants and commands that Simon should kill the slave, and that Peter should bring him back to life. Simon speaks a word, and the man dies. Peter says God is not to be tempted or proved, but that God will love and hear those that are worthy. At Peter’s prayer, the man is brought back to life.
For the second challenge, the mother of a dead senator brings her son’s body to the forum. Peter shouts, “Ye men of Rome, let there now be a just judgment betwixt me and Simon; and judge ye whether of us two believeth in the living God, he or I. Let him raise up the body that lieth here, and believe in him as the angel of God. But if he be not able, and I call upon my God and restore the son alive unto his mother, then believe ye that this man is a sorcerer and a deceiver”. Simon retorts, “Ye men of Rome, if ye behold the dead man arise, will ye cast Peter out of the city? And all the people said: We will not only cast him out, but on the very instant will we burn him with fire.”
Simon proceeds to trick the crowd, by moving the dead body like a puppet. Peter, threatened with burning, reveals the deception to the onlookers: the man is still dead. Peter then genuinely brings the senator back to life. When the crowd threatens to burn Simon instead, Peter reminds them to love their enemies. Simon is spared so that he might repent, but a few days later, the defeated magician proclaims that everyone has been deceived by Peter. Simon Magus announces that he will fly up to God his father. Amazingly, he begins to fly over Rome. Peter calls out to Jesus to make Simon fall, not to die, but to fail in converting any more people. Simon plummets, breaks his leg, and is finally abandoned by the Romans, who believe in Peter henceforth. Later, however, he dies during surgery.
So ends this apocryphal tale. The Gnostic followers of Simon eventually fell to the advance of Catholic Christianity, just as Simon fell before Peter. Rome, after several centuries, surrendered to Peter’s faith. This book may once have influenced the outcome of that struggle, but that victory did not come quickly enough for the apostle. Another section of the “Acts of Peter” gives the earliest known description of Peter’s death – he was crucified upside down in Rome. The “Acts of Peter”, with its whimsical miracles, like a talking dog and baby, was never destined to stand alongside canonical, inspired scripture. But it does entertain while teaching that it is important to help fellow Christian believers along when others try to lead them astray. In this story, Peter is an outstanding servant of God when he answers God’s call to go and speak the truth in answer to the lies of a deceiver, trusting in God to work through him and bring both new and fallen believers to the faith.
A Prophet's Sidekick
The sidekick: Batman had his Robin, Lone Ranger had his Tonto, Don Quixote had his Sancho, and the Prophet Jeremiah had his ... Baruch? Indeed, the great prophet whose words are recorded in the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations had help - a friend, follower, and scribe all rolled into one. Jeremiah was called by God as a boy to warn Jerusalem that because the people of Judah had worshipped other gods, Babylon was going to conquer them, unless they repented. The people did not listen or repent, and eventually, Jeremiah was called to tell Judah that there was no longer any way to avoid the invasion of Judah by Babylon, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Babylonian exile. Finally, Jeremiah was called to promise the eventual restoration of the people to their land.
It was a fateful time in which to live. In Jeremiah’s lifetime, the good King Josiah instituted religious reforms based on the rediscovered book of Deuteronomy, but his three sons (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah), who were kings after him, disregarded those reforms and refused to heed the prophecies of Jeremiah. Zedekiah, the king who came after the sons of Josiah, was to be the last king of Judah. Jeremiah warned the last king not to rebel against Babylon, but Zedekiah made an alliance with Egypt anyway. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and conquered it, taking Zedekiah away in chains and destroying the city. Jeremiah’s prophecies had come to pass. It was a national disaster for Judah. Is it any wonder that the people wanted to “shoot the messenger”?
Jeremiah’s message was deeply unpopular, and there were times when he was imprisoned, or when his life was in danger. Some wanted to destroy his words. The prophet needed help to face such opposition, and he had it in the form of a scribe, named in our English Bible: Baruch. Baruch’s actual name was “Berekhyahu”, which means “Blessed of God”. He was the son of Neriyahu, (in English: Neriah, meaning “God is my Lamp”) and the brother of Seriah, the chamberlain of King Zedekiah. Baruch came from a distinguished family, and was himself a very learned man.
The first duty of Baruch was to write down the words spoken by the prophet. “In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him.” (Jer 36:1-4)
Baruch’s role went beyond merely writing, however. Circumstances arose which demonstrated the value of Jeremiah’s sidekick. Jeremiah felt threatened by King Jehoiakim. Even when it was too dangerous for the prophet to come out of hiding and speak in the Temple, it was still God’s command that the people hear the message. So it fell to Baruch to temporarily fulfill the role of Jeremiah himself. “And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, ‘I am prevented from entering the house of the Lord; so you go yourself, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. It may be that their plea will come before the Lord, and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.’ And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.” (Jer 36:5-8)
When the king’s officials heard Baruch reading the scroll, they were alarmed at the prophecy. Telling Baruch to hide and avoid arrest, they brought the scroll before the king. But the king showed his contempt for the prophecy by cutting it into pieces and burning them. “Now, after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned. And concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah you shall say: [...] his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah, all the disasters with which I have threatened them—but they would not listen. Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the secretary Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.” (Jer 36:27-32)
So Baruch wrote down and spoke in public the words of the prophet. It was almost like he was a prophet himself. What did he feel and think about himself and his role? Did he want more credit or fame? Did he want to be a prophet himself? Jeremiah chapter 45 suggests that perhaps he did “seek great things” for himself. So too did Sancho seek greatness for himself as a reward for faithful service to the great Don Quixote. Perhaps it is a natural feeling for a sidekick to have. But God’s direct reply to Baruch was bleak. “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: [...] I am going to break down what I have built, and pluck up what I have planted—that is, the whole land. And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the Lord; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go.’” (Jer 45:1-5) In a time when the whole country was to be destroyed, there was no “greatness” in being a prophet. Merely staying alive was the best reward Baruch could be given in such a terrible time.
Perhaps it is thanks to Baruch, the scribe, secretary, and editor, that we have the book of Jeremiah today. He is considered to be one of the writers who contributed to the Bible. His fame is such that, in the Catholic version of the Bible, the Apocryphal book “1 Baruch” is traditionally attributed to him and included in the Old Testament. He may not have felt appreciated in his own lifetime, but he now has the respect he deserved back then. Given his fame, it was understandably exciting when actual physical evidence of his life was found by archaeologists in Jerusalem.
A bulla is a small round clay seal, which is placed on a rolled-up scroll and stamped with the name of the writer of the scroll. A collection of these bullae were found in Jerusalem in a house burned during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. The fire burned the scrolls but baked the clay seals and preserved them. Among the seals was one stamped with the name, “Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu the scribe”, or, Baruch son of Neriah as it is written in the English Bible. It is quite possible that this is the very seal used by Baruch himself. Other seals, found with the Baruch seal, bear the names of people mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, including King Jehoiakim’s son, Jerahmeel (Jer 36:26), the King’s secretary Elishama (Jer 35:12), and the King’s scribe Gemariah (Jer 36:10). These other seals make it even more likely that the Baruch bulla is really that of Jeremiah’s scribe. A second Baruch bulla has also been found. Taken together, the seals are physical evidence of the historical truth contained in the Bible.
It was a fateful time in which to live. In Jeremiah’s lifetime, the good King Josiah instituted religious reforms based on the rediscovered book of Deuteronomy, but his three sons (Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Jeconiah), who were kings after him, disregarded those reforms and refused to heed the prophecies of Jeremiah. Zedekiah, the king who came after the sons of Josiah, was to be the last king of Judah. Jeremiah warned the last king not to rebel against Babylon, but Zedekiah made an alliance with Egypt anyway. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon besieged Jerusalem and conquered it, taking Zedekiah away in chains and destroying the city. Jeremiah’s prophecies had come to pass. It was a national disaster for Judah. Is it any wonder that the people wanted to “shoot the messenger”?
Jeremiah’s message was deeply unpopular, and there were times when he was imprisoned, or when his life was in danger. Some wanted to destroy his words. The prophet needed help to face such opposition, and he had it in the form of a scribe, named in our English Bible: Baruch. Baruch’s actual name was “Berekhyahu”, which means “Blessed of God”. He was the son of Neriyahu, (in English: Neriah, meaning “God is my Lamp”) and the brother of Seriah, the chamberlain of King Zedekiah. Baruch came from a distinguished family, and was himself a very learned man.
The first duty of Baruch was to write down the words spoken by the prophet. “In the fourth year of King Jehoiakim son of Josiah of Judah, this word came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Take a scroll and write on it all the words that I have spoken to you against Israel and Judah and all the nations, from the day I spoke to you, from the days of Josiah until today. It may be that when the house of Judah hears of all the disasters that I intend to do to them, all of them may turn from their evil ways, so that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote on a scroll at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the Lord that he had spoken to him.” (Jer 36:1-4)
Baruch’s role went beyond merely writing, however. Circumstances arose which demonstrated the value of Jeremiah’s sidekick. Jeremiah felt threatened by King Jehoiakim. Even when it was too dangerous for the prophet to come out of hiding and speak in the Temple, it was still God’s command that the people hear the message. So it fell to Baruch to temporarily fulfill the role of Jeremiah himself. “And Jeremiah ordered Baruch, saying, ‘I am prevented from entering the house of the Lord; so you go yourself, and on a fast day in the hearing of the people in the Lord’s house you shall read the words of the Lord from the scroll that you have written at my dictation. You shall read them also in the hearing of all the people of Judah who come up from their towns. It may be that their plea will come before the Lord, and that all of them will turn from their evil ways, for great is the anger and wrath that the Lord has pronounced against this people.’ And Baruch son of Neriah did all that the prophet Jeremiah ordered him about reading from the scroll the words of the Lord in the Lord’s house.” (Jer 36:5-8)
When the king’s officials heard Baruch reading the scroll, they were alarmed at the prophecy. Telling Baruch to hide and avoid arrest, they brought the scroll before the king. But the king showed his contempt for the prophecy by cutting it into pieces and burning them. “Now, after the king had burned the scroll with the words that Baruch wrote at Jeremiah’s dictation, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were in the first scroll, which King Jehoiakim of Judah has burned. And concerning King Jehoiakim of Judah you shall say: [...] his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; I will bring on them, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and on the people of Judah, all the disasters with which I have threatened them—but they would not listen. Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to the secretary Baruch son of Neriah, who wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words of the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire; and many similar words were added to them.” (Jer 36:27-32)
So Baruch wrote down and spoke in public the words of the prophet. It was almost like he was a prophet himself. What did he feel and think about himself and his role? Did he want more credit or fame? Did he want to be a prophet himself? Jeremiah chapter 45 suggests that perhaps he did “seek great things” for himself. So too did Sancho seek greatness for himself as a reward for faithful service to the great Don Quixote. Perhaps it is a natural feeling for a sidekick to have. But God’s direct reply to Baruch was bleak. “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, to you, O Baruch: [...] I am going to break down what I have built, and pluck up what I have planted—that is, the whole land. And you, do you seek great things for yourself? Do not seek them; for I am going to bring disaster upon all flesh, says the Lord; but I will give you your life as a prize of war in every place to which you may go.’” (Jer 45:1-5) In a time when the whole country was to be destroyed, there was no “greatness” in being a prophet. Merely staying alive was the best reward Baruch could be given in such a terrible time.
Perhaps it is thanks to Baruch, the scribe, secretary, and editor, that we have the book of Jeremiah today. He is considered to be one of the writers who contributed to the Bible. His fame is such that, in the Catholic version of the Bible, the Apocryphal book “1 Baruch” is traditionally attributed to him and included in the Old Testament. He may not have felt appreciated in his own lifetime, but he now has the respect he deserved back then. Given his fame, it was understandably exciting when actual physical evidence of his life was found by archaeologists in Jerusalem.
A bulla is a small round clay seal, which is placed on a rolled-up scroll and stamped with the name of the writer of the scroll. A collection of these bullae were found in Jerusalem in a house burned during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem. The fire burned the scrolls but baked the clay seals and preserved them. Among the seals was one stamped with the name, “Berekhyahu son of Neriyahu the scribe”, or, Baruch son of Neriah as it is written in the English Bible. It is quite possible that this is the very seal used by Baruch himself. Other seals, found with the Baruch seal, bear the names of people mentioned in the book of Jeremiah, including King Jehoiakim’s son, Jerahmeel (Jer 36:26), the King’s secretary Elishama (Jer 35:12), and the King’s scribe Gemariah (Jer 36:10). These other seals make it even more likely that the Baruch bulla is really that of Jeremiah’s scribe. A second Baruch bulla has also been found. Taken together, the seals are physical evidence of the historical truth contained in the Bible.
Christian Apocrypha: The Story of Paul and Thecla
The Old Testament has its Apocrypha, books that were important and popular, but did not make it into the canonical Bible, such as the “Books of the Maccabees” and “Judith”. The New Testament has its Apocrypha as well, books which were so popular and so often copied in the early days of Christianity that they survive to this day, even though they did not make it into the Bible. Although they could not compare with inspired scripture like the Gospels, these books were written to teach Christian ideas and to entertain readers at the same time. One such book is the “Acts of Paul”, a collection of stories about the Apostle Paul. The Acts of Paul, like the “Acts of Peter” and other apocryphal Acts of the Apostles, were meant to satisfy the need for more stories about the Apostles. The “Acts of Paul” contains the famous story of the greatest of virgin martyrs, a young woman named Thecla. She was a model for female ascetics through the centuries, and she was made into a Saint. Her story can inspire women today as they take on leadership roles in a once male-dominated church.
“Paul and Thecla” was written in the second century by a presbyter (church elder) in Asia Minor, the region where Paul started several churches during his missionary journeys. Paul had been dead for a century when the story was written, but his collected letters continued to guide the church. The story begins as Paul travels from Antioch to Iconium (both in modern Turkey), on his first missionary journey. In the Bible, Acts 13 explains that Paul preached to the Gentiles and the Jews in Antioch, making many converts, but others were angered by his preaching and forced him to flee to Iconium.
In “Paul and Thecla”, we get a rare physical description of Paul, which has influenced artists for centuries. We read, “And he saw Paul coming, a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness, for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel.”
Paul goes to stay at the house of Onesiphorus, where he begins to preach the word of God concerning the resurrection of Jesus and the importance of abstinence from sex. Paul wrote about abstinence in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, saying, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.” So the author of “Paul and Thecla” is possibly being authentic when he has Paul say, “Blessed are they who have kept the flesh pure, for they shall become a temple of God,” and “Blessed are the bodies of virgins, for they shall be well pleasing to God, and shall not lose the reward of their purity.” Originally, when Paul was writing 1 Corinthians, he expected that the end of the world was soon to come. It was therefore less important to get married because one should instead be preparing for the heavenly bridegroom, Christ. But among some Christians who interpreted Paul’s legacy, the ascetic movement continued even after that sense of eschatological expectation faded, hence the teaching about abstinence in “Paul and Thecla”.
Enter the virgin Thecla, a young Greek woman who sits below a window and listens to Paul preach day and night. Although she is engaged to a young man named Thamyris, she becomes fascinated by the virgin life Paul is preaching, and she does not get up, even to eat or drink. Her mother and Thamyris are unable to move her, and she no longer wants to be married. Paul’s preaching that people should stay sexually pure in order to have eternal life is very upsetting to Thamyris and the local young men. But why did it appeal to Thecla? In early Christianity, the virgin life could, in a way, empower women. In a married household, the man was in charge and the role of a woman was strictly defined and centered on child bearing. Perhaps Thecla saw a way to be free of all that.
The angry Thamyris has Paul dragged before the governor and accused of teaching women not to marry. Paul is then jailed, but Thecla will not be parted from him. She bribes her way into the prison where she sits at Paul’s feet and continues to hear about God’s plan for salvation. When Paul is returned to the governor to face trial, Thecla continues to hold fast to him, until her enraged mother calls for Thecla to be burned alive as a lesson to any other women who may have approved of Paul’s message. Paul is scourged and driven from the city while a pyre is lit for Thecla, who bravely faces her death. Due to a miraculous intervention by God, a huge rainstorm quenches the flames and saves her.
The outcast Thecla goes in search of Paul, who has taken refuge in a roadside tomb. She finds Paul praying for her survival, and they are reunited. Thecla cuts her hair short and agrees to follow Paul, but he does not baptize her as she asks, telling her to be patient. Paul and Thecla travel to Antioch, but when they arrive, an influential young nobleman named Alexander falls in love with her. He publically tries to force himself on her, and she fights free, tearing his robe and knocking off his crown. In his humiliation at being laughed at by onlookers, he has her brought before the governor and accused of assaulting a nobleman, and she is unjustly sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts in an arena. The local women are horrified at this evil judgment. Paul is nowhere to be found, so Queen Tryphaena, who is related to Caesar, agrees to keep custody of Thecla until her sentence is carried out. Tryphaena comes to love Thecla like her deceased daughter. The day of the arena games comes, and the Queen watches anxiously as Thecla faces the lions and bears. Another miracle occurs - a lioness sacrifices herself for Thecla, defending her by killing the other animals, while the local women gasp and cry out.
Thecla spots a pool of water, and decides to baptize herself in it before she dies, in the name of Jesus Christ. The angry Alexander has even more beasts thrown at her. Women in the crowd throw perfumed flowers that effectively put the animals to sleep. Then, Alexander has Thecla tied between two raging bulls, hoping to see her torn apart, but a heavenly fire burns the ropes. Finally, the watching Queen is overcome and collapses, while her handmaidens call out that they think she is dead. She has really only fainted, but suddenly Alexander and the governor become afraid of what her relative, Caesar, might do. Tryphaena’s death at the games could make Caesar attack Antioch. The games are abruptly halted. (If this was the Queen’s ploy, it was a clever one.) The governor demands to know who Thecla is, and what she has about her to protect her from the beasts. “She answered, ‘I am a handmaid of the living God. As to what I have about me, I have believed in him in whom God is well pleased, his Son. For his sake not one of the beasts touched me. For he alone is the goal of salvation and the foundation of immortal life.’”
Thecla is released to the crowd of women, and proceeds to teach the gospel to the newly believing Queen and her household. But Thecla yearns for Paul again, and goes to seek him where he is preaching in Myra. There she reveals to Paul that she has stayed a virgin, and that she has baptized herself. Paul is astonished to see her, and commands her to go and teach the word of God, using the gold given to her by the Queen to help the poor. So Thecla returns to Iconium, where she finds her former fiancé dead. After offering her mother the gospel, Thecla travels to Seleucia, a city in Mesopotamia, where she founds and lives in a cave convent and baptizes, heals, and teaches the word of God to many people for the next seventy-two years.
Apocryphal works like “Paul and Thecla” are not on the level of Holy Scripture, but they do reflect teachings and concerns of the time in which they were written, and so they can teach us what was important to early Christians. Certainly the sufferings Thecla faced were historical. Depending on which Roman Emperor was in power during a given decade, and what policies he had towards Christians, there were many periods during the centuries before Constantine when Christians were thrown to wild beasts, burned, crucified, or tortured to death in public arenas. They were executed for refusing to worship pagan gods. Of course, they did not experience the miraculous interventions that saved Thecla. But perhaps “Paul and Thecla” was written during a period of persecution, and was meant to give courage to people who were going to face martyrdom.
Was there a real Thecla? Various Church fathers mention “Thekla” and list her as one who faced martyrdom by fire and beasts, and Seleucia was later known as the city of the holy virgin Thecla. There really was a Tryphaena, first cousin once removed to the Emperor Claudius (41-54CE). It is probable that the real story of Thecla (whatever it was) was romanticized and embellished by the second century presbyter who wrote “Paul and Thecla”. That presbyter wrote a very popular story which was widely copied and translated, but unfortunately, the church objected strongly to some elements in it. The author was punished by being expelled from the church. What the patriarchal church leaders of the second century could not tolerate even in fiction was a woman evangelist baptizing and preaching. Only men were allowed to baptize and preach. Fortunately the story of “Paul and Thecla” has survived to modern times, and now many churches ordain women. This very old feminist story was evidently written before its time.
“Paul and Thecla” was written in the second century by a presbyter (church elder) in Asia Minor, the region where Paul started several churches during his missionary journeys. Paul had been dead for a century when the story was written, but his collected letters continued to guide the church. The story begins as Paul travels from Antioch to Iconium (both in modern Turkey), on his first missionary journey. In the Bible, Acts 13 explains that Paul preached to the Gentiles and the Jews in Antioch, making many converts, but others were angered by his preaching and forced him to flee to Iconium.
In “Paul and Thecla”, we get a rare physical description of Paul, which has influenced artists for centuries. We read, “And he saw Paul coming, a man small of stature, with a bald head and crooked legs, in a good state of body, with eyebrows meeting and nose somewhat hooked, full of friendliness, for now he appeared like a man, and now he had the face of an angel.”
Paul goes to stay at the house of Onesiphorus, where he begins to preach the word of God concerning the resurrection of Jesus and the importance of abstinence from sex. Paul wrote about abstinence in 1 Corinthians 7:8-9, saying, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is well for them to remain unmarried as I am. But if they are not practicing self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion.” So the author of “Paul and Thecla” is possibly being authentic when he has Paul say, “Blessed are they who have kept the flesh pure, for they shall become a temple of God,” and “Blessed are the bodies of virgins, for they shall be well pleasing to God, and shall not lose the reward of their purity.” Originally, when Paul was writing 1 Corinthians, he expected that the end of the world was soon to come. It was therefore less important to get married because one should instead be preparing for the heavenly bridegroom, Christ. But among some Christians who interpreted Paul’s legacy, the ascetic movement continued even after that sense of eschatological expectation faded, hence the teaching about abstinence in “Paul and Thecla”.
Enter the virgin Thecla, a young Greek woman who sits below a window and listens to Paul preach day and night. Although she is engaged to a young man named Thamyris, she becomes fascinated by the virgin life Paul is preaching, and she does not get up, even to eat or drink. Her mother and Thamyris are unable to move her, and she no longer wants to be married. Paul’s preaching that people should stay sexually pure in order to have eternal life is very upsetting to Thamyris and the local young men. But why did it appeal to Thecla? In early Christianity, the virgin life could, in a way, empower women. In a married household, the man was in charge and the role of a woman was strictly defined and centered on child bearing. Perhaps Thecla saw a way to be free of all that.
The angry Thamyris has Paul dragged before the governor and accused of teaching women not to marry. Paul is then jailed, but Thecla will not be parted from him. She bribes her way into the prison where she sits at Paul’s feet and continues to hear about God’s plan for salvation. When Paul is returned to the governor to face trial, Thecla continues to hold fast to him, until her enraged mother calls for Thecla to be burned alive as a lesson to any other women who may have approved of Paul’s message. Paul is scourged and driven from the city while a pyre is lit for Thecla, who bravely faces her death. Due to a miraculous intervention by God, a huge rainstorm quenches the flames and saves her.
The outcast Thecla goes in search of Paul, who has taken refuge in a roadside tomb. She finds Paul praying for her survival, and they are reunited. Thecla cuts her hair short and agrees to follow Paul, but he does not baptize her as she asks, telling her to be patient. Paul and Thecla travel to Antioch, but when they arrive, an influential young nobleman named Alexander falls in love with her. He publically tries to force himself on her, and she fights free, tearing his robe and knocking off his crown. In his humiliation at being laughed at by onlookers, he has her brought before the governor and accused of assaulting a nobleman, and she is unjustly sentenced to be thrown to the wild beasts in an arena. The local women are horrified at this evil judgment. Paul is nowhere to be found, so Queen Tryphaena, who is related to Caesar, agrees to keep custody of Thecla until her sentence is carried out. Tryphaena comes to love Thecla like her deceased daughter. The day of the arena games comes, and the Queen watches anxiously as Thecla faces the lions and bears. Another miracle occurs - a lioness sacrifices herself for Thecla, defending her by killing the other animals, while the local women gasp and cry out.
Thecla spots a pool of water, and decides to baptize herself in it before she dies, in the name of Jesus Christ. The angry Alexander has even more beasts thrown at her. Women in the crowd throw perfumed flowers that effectively put the animals to sleep. Then, Alexander has Thecla tied between two raging bulls, hoping to see her torn apart, but a heavenly fire burns the ropes. Finally, the watching Queen is overcome and collapses, while her handmaidens call out that they think she is dead. She has really only fainted, but suddenly Alexander and the governor become afraid of what her relative, Caesar, might do. Tryphaena’s death at the games could make Caesar attack Antioch. The games are abruptly halted. (If this was the Queen’s ploy, it was a clever one.) The governor demands to know who Thecla is, and what she has about her to protect her from the beasts. “She answered, ‘I am a handmaid of the living God. As to what I have about me, I have believed in him in whom God is well pleased, his Son. For his sake not one of the beasts touched me. For he alone is the goal of salvation and the foundation of immortal life.’”
Thecla is released to the crowd of women, and proceeds to teach the gospel to the newly believing Queen and her household. But Thecla yearns for Paul again, and goes to seek him where he is preaching in Myra. There she reveals to Paul that she has stayed a virgin, and that she has baptized herself. Paul is astonished to see her, and commands her to go and teach the word of God, using the gold given to her by the Queen to help the poor. So Thecla returns to Iconium, where she finds her former fiancé dead. After offering her mother the gospel, Thecla travels to Seleucia, a city in Mesopotamia, where she founds and lives in a cave convent and baptizes, heals, and teaches the word of God to many people for the next seventy-two years.
Apocryphal works like “Paul and Thecla” are not on the level of Holy Scripture, but they do reflect teachings and concerns of the time in which they were written, and so they can teach us what was important to early Christians. Certainly the sufferings Thecla faced were historical. Depending on which Roman Emperor was in power during a given decade, and what policies he had towards Christians, there were many periods during the centuries before Constantine when Christians were thrown to wild beasts, burned, crucified, or tortured to death in public arenas. They were executed for refusing to worship pagan gods. Of course, they did not experience the miraculous interventions that saved Thecla. But perhaps “Paul and Thecla” was written during a period of persecution, and was meant to give courage to people who were going to face martyrdom.
Was there a real Thecla? Various Church fathers mention “Thekla” and list her as one who faced martyrdom by fire and beasts, and Seleucia was later known as the city of the holy virgin Thecla. There really was a Tryphaena, first cousin once removed to the Emperor Claudius (41-54CE). It is probable that the real story of Thecla (whatever it was) was romanticized and embellished by the second century presbyter who wrote “Paul and Thecla”. That presbyter wrote a very popular story which was widely copied and translated, but unfortunately, the church objected strongly to some elements in it. The author was punished by being expelled from the church. What the patriarchal church leaders of the second century could not tolerate even in fiction was a woman evangelist baptizing and preaching. Only men were allowed to baptize and preach. Fortunately the story of “Paul and Thecla” has survived to modern times, and now many churches ordain women. This very old feminist story was evidently written before its time.
A Closer Look at Two of Jesus' Healing Miracles
Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’ (Mark 7:31-37)
They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’ (Mark 8:22-26)
The two passages above are examples of the familiar healing miracles of the Gospel of Mark. What new things can we learn from them? More than you might guess. These brief stories appear to be simple, but if we take a closer look at the details, we can find a wealth of information in them.
For instance, the people who get healed are a deaf-mute and a blind man. What is the significance of that? It turns out that the types of people who are cured here are part of a prophecy about the Messianic age, found in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah said: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (Isaiah 35:5-6) Jesus’ healing of these particular people is in fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew’s Gospel sums up this fulfillment in the following passage: “After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” (Matthew 1529-31)
Another curious detail is the use of Jesus’ saliva to heal in both passages. Why did he use his own saliva? If you read the rest of the Gospel, you can see that it apparently wasn’t strictly necessary for the healing. Jesus heals all the other people in the Gospel without using any saliva at all. In Mark 10:46-52, for example, Jesus heals another blind man without laying hands on him at all, let alone using any spittle. “They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.”
So why was the saliva mentioned in our first two passages? In Jesus’ time, saliva was considered by physicians to be a medicinal substance, useful in the treatment of eye diseases. Amusingly, the Talmud says that the saliva of the firstborn son of a father, in particular, has these curative properties. Jesus may not have needed to use saliva, but he may have known that the people he was healing believed it to be medicinal. The act of applying saliva may have strengthened the belief, and helped the faith, of the two men so that they would be cured. After all, faith is an essential part of Jesus’ healing miracles. “Go, your faith has made you well,” says Jesus to the other blind man. Perhaps the other man’s faith did not need any help.
Did Jesus use a magic word when he said Ephphatha? Accounts of so-called wonder-workers which were written after the time of Jesus, mention that lengthy and elaborate incantations in magic languages were used to accomplish miracles such as exorcisms. Jesus really cannot be compared to those people. He never used magic or spells. All he did by looking to Heaven and saying “Ephphatha” was simply to ask God to open up the man’s closed senses. It was God the Father who was doing the healings in the Gospel, working through Jesus. Ephphatha is actually just a word in Jesus’ language, Aramaic, translated for Greek language readers.
In both of our passages, Jesus performs a healing in private, away from the village, away from the crowds, then asks the people who were healed not to talk about it. As the following Gospel passage from Matthew shows, Jesus often asked for secrecy from those he healed. “Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’ (Matthew 12:15-21)
Apparently, Jesus asked for secrecy because he did not want to be “known”, to be famous, or infamous as the case may be, for his healing miracles. Being too well known could bring trouble from the authorities, or crowds that were too large. Of course people did talk, and crowds and trouble came just as expected. The Isaiah prophecy mentioned above suggests that Jesus also wanted as much secrecy as he could get in order to delay the full and open proclamation of his true nature until he had fulfilled his mission, died, and returned.
The main point of the healings for the Gospel reader to understand is that they are signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. The following passage from Luke’s Gospel shows that healing the blind was a sign of the Kingdom. “When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:16-21)
Healing miracles were visible signs that the Kingdom was at hand. They were also evidence that the personal claims of Jesus were true. When the healings happened, they restored sight and hearing to a few people long ago. As Gospel stories, they can have a continuing effect on people in the present day. Gospel readers past and present can easily see the symbolism in the healings in our passages. Men gained sight, speech, and hearing. Likewise, people who have faith in the Gospel accounts and in Jesus can also have their eyes, voices, and ears opened to see, speak, and hear the truth of God’s word. Our eyes may be opened to the truth in stages, just like the blind man’s sight was restored in part at first, then completely. God is willing to lay hands on us for as many times as it takes.
They came to Bethsaida. Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, ‘Can you see anything?’ And the man looked up and said, ‘I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.’ Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. Then he sent him away to his home, saying, ‘Do not even go into the village.’ (Mark 8:22-26)
The two passages above are examples of the familiar healing miracles of the Gospel of Mark. What new things can we learn from them? More than you might guess. These brief stories appear to be simple, but if we take a closer look at the details, we can find a wealth of information in them.
For instance, the people who get healed are a deaf-mute and a blind man. What is the significance of that? It turns out that the types of people who are cured here are part of a prophecy about the Messianic age, found in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah said: “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the speechless sing for joy.” (Isaiah 35:5-6) Jesus’ healing of these particular people is in fulfillment of prophecy. Matthew’s Gospel sums up this fulfillment in the following passage: “After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.” (Matthew 1529-31)
Another curious detail is the use of Jesus’ saliva to heal in both passages. Why did he use his own saliva? If you read the rest of the Gospel, you can see that it apparently wasn’t strictly necessary for the healing. Jesus heals all the other people in the Gospel without using any saliva at all. In Mark 10:46-52, for example, Jesus heals another blind man without laying hands on him at all, let alone using any spittle. “They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Jesus stood still and said, ‘Call him here.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart; get up, he is calling you.’ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. Then Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ The blind man said to him, ‘My teacher, let me see again.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your faith has made you well.’ Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.”
So why was the saliva mentioned in our first two passages? In Jesus’ time, saliva was considered by physicians to be a medicinal substance, useful in the treatment of eye diseases. Amusingly, the Talmud says that the saliva of the firstborn son of a father, in particular, has these curative properties. Jesus may not have needed to use saliva, but he may have known that the people he was healing believed it to be medicinal. The act of applying saliva may have strengthened the belief, and helped the faith, of the two men so that they would be cured. After all, faith is an essential part of Jesus’ healing miracles. “Go, your faith has made you well,” says Jesus to the other blind man. Perhaps the other man’s faith did not need any help.
Did Jesus use a magic word when he said Ephphatha? Accounts of so-called wonder-workers which were written after the time of Jesus, mention that lengthy and elaborate incantations in magic languages were used to accomplish miracles such as exorcisms. Jesus really cannot be compared to those people. He never used magic or spells. All he did by looking to Heaven and saying “Ephphatha” was simply to ask God to open up the man’s closed senses. It was God the Father who was doing the healings in the Gospel, working through Jesus. Ephphatha is actually just a word in Jesus’ language, Aramaic, translated for Greek language readers.
In both of our passages, Jesus performs a healing in private, away from the village, away from the crowds, then asks the people who were healed not to talk about it. As the following Gospel passage from Matthew shows, Jesus often asked for secrecy from those he healed. “Many crowds followed him, and he cured all of them, and he ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘Here is my servant, whom I have chosen, my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased. I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles. He will not wrangle or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets. He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick until he brings justice to victory. And in his name the Gentiles will hope.’ (Matthew 12:15-21)
Apparently, Jesus asked for secrecy because he did not want to be “known”, to be famous, or infamous as the case may be, for his healing miracles. Being too well known could bring trouble from the authorities, or crowds that were too large. Of course people did talk, and crowds and trouble came just as expected. The Isaiah prophecy mentioned above suggests that Jesus also wanted as much secrecy as he could get in order to delay the full and open proclamation of his true nature until he had fulfilled his mission, died, and returned.
The main point of the healings for the Gospel reader to understand is that they are signs of the coming of the Kingdom of God. The following passage from Luke’s Gospel shows that healing the blind was a sign of the Kingdom. “When he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’ And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” (Luke 4:16-21)
Healing miracles were visible signs that the Kingdom was at hand. They were also evidence that the personal claims of Jesus were true. When the healings happened, they restored sight and hearing to a few people long ago. As Gospel stories, they can have a continuing effect on people in the present day. Gospel readers past and present can easily see the symbolism in the healings in our passages. Men gained sight, speech, and hearing. Likewise, people who have faith in the Gospel accounts and in Jesus can also have their eyes, voices, and ears opened to see, speak, and hear the truth of God’s word. Our eyes may be opened to the truth in stages, just like the blind man’s sight was restored in part at first, then completely. God is willing to lay hands on us for as many times as it takes.
Josephus, Jesus, and Christian Interpolations
Josephus was a Jewish historian who wrote a history book called “Antiquities of the Jews” around the year 94CE. Born just a few years after Jesus’ crucifixion, Josephus was in a position to record information about Jesus’ life that would provide independent confirmation of the gospel story and satisfy skeptics through the ages. Did he write about Jesus? The answer is, maybe. Antiquities of the Jews contains one of the most controversial passages of the ancient world. Josephus was a Jew, not a Christian, and a Church Historian named Eusebius later wrote of Josephus that he did not believe Jesus was the Messiah. However, in Antiquities Book 18, Chapter 3, we find this passage about Jesus:
“Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Christ; and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct to this day.”
This passage is controversial for many reasons. It does not seem to fit well with what comes before and after it in the text; in chapter 3 there are two lengthy tragic stories about Jewish rebellions which were violently put down, then this wondrous and very brief Jesus account, and then another lengthy tragedy about Jews banished from
What is an interpolation? Ancient books were copied by hand. An interpolation would be if the copyist decided to make a little change, by taking out or adding something, perhaps in order to make the passage fit better with Christian beliefs. Then we in modern times would have only the changed version, and not the original to compare it to. But sometimes you can still tell without the original because the insertion was clumsy and does not seem to fit.
Two good examples of interpolation are in the book called Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs (written 150-100BCE). This Jewish work, which was left out of the Bible, tells of how Jacob, on his deathbed, talks to each of his sons in turn and gives them prophesies about the future. In the copies of this work we have today, there is evidence of interpolation. Somebody decided to rewrite a few of those prophesies to fit better with Christian beliefs. We know because we have the original version too, as copied by somebody else before the changes were made.
The first example is from Testament of Joseph 19:1-11. Jacob says, “Listen, my children, concerning the dream that I saw […]” The first paragraph below is the original, followed by the changed one. I put some obvious interpolations in italics.
1. (Original) And I saw in the midst of the horns a certain virgin wearing a multicolored stole; from her came forth a lamb. Rushing from the left were all sorts of wild animals and reptiles, and the lamb conquered them. Because of him the bull rejoiced and the cow and the stags were also glad with them. These things must take place in their appropriate time. And you, my children, honor Levi and Judah, because from them shall arise the salvation of
2. (Interpolation) And I saw that a virgin was born from
See how elements were changed, removed, or added? The second example is from Testament of Benjamin 3:7-8. “He [Jacob] embraced him and kept kissing him for two hours, saying,
1. (Original) In you will be fulfilled the heavenly prophecy which says that the spotless one will be defiled by lawless men and the sinless one will die for the sake of impious men.
2. (Interpolation) Through you will be fulfilled the heavenly prophecy concerning the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world, because the unspotted one will be betrayed by lawless men, and the sinless one will die for impious men by the blood of the covenant for the salvation of the gentiles and of Israel and the destruction of Beliar and his servants.
Now you know how interpolation works. The Jesus passage from Josephus might be an interpolation too. In 1971, a new discovery was published which supports this idea. It was a different Arabic version of the Jesus passage from historian Agapius' Book of the Title, a history of the world from its beginning until 942 A.D. Agapius was a tenth-century Christian Arab bishop who actually quoted Josephus’ Jesus passage, and it was different from the one you read above. Here it is:
“Similarly Josephus, the Hebrew. For he says in the treatises that he has written on the governance of the Jews: 'At this time there was a wise man who was called Jesus. His conduct was good, and he was known to be virtuous. And many people from the Jews and other nations became his disciples. Pilate condemned him to be crucified and die. But those who had become his disciples did not abandon their loyalty to him. They reported that he had appeared to them three days after his crucifixion, and that he was alive; accordingly he was perhaps the Messiah, concerning whom the Prophets have recounted wonders.”
If you compare the two, you can see that the second one might be the original passage, or closer to it. It is more neutral, and less obviously Christian in its beliefs. It reads more like the writing of a skeptical Jewish historian who is being fair and leaving the possibilities of other beliefs as open questions. You can almost imagine a copyist looking at it, being offended by the doubtful tone of it, and making changes, such as insisting Jesus was the Messiah for sure, that he was more than a man, and that he appeared to the disciples after his death for sure.
The Jesus passage from Josephus is a mystery that may never be solved. Did Josephus write it as is, testifying to Jesus as the Messiah? Was the whole passage stuck in by somebody else? Did a copyist alter what was originally there? There are many opinions. This is all just of academic interest in terms of Christian faith. In short, it does not matter to faith whether Josephus or any other independent historian wrote about Jesus at all. We have the gospels and that is enough for faith. It still would have been nice to point to non-biblical writings which “prove” the gospels are correct. This particular writing by Josephus, although famous, sadly proves nothing, and about its origin, the world may never know.
The Cross and the Fish
Two religious symbols are very popular with modern Christians. We wear a cross on necklaces, and we put a simple fish icon on bumper stickers. How did these symbols come to be used in the first place, back in the early centuries of the Christian era? What did they mean to the first Christians?
The fish symbol, which dates from around the year 100CE, is made of two simple curved lines. But five greek letters were often added to it, as shown above. They make up the greek word for “fish”, which is Ichthus. Early Christians saw a special meaning in these letters. Each one stood for a word that described Jesus.
The use of these letters may have arisen after Emperor Domitian (81-96CE) called himself Son of God (Theou Yios) and had this inscribed on coins. It was up to Christians to deny the divinity of the Roman ruler and uphold the divinity of their Lord.
The fish symbol (without the letters) was already in use for thousands of years before Christians adopted it. It was used to represent the Mother Goddess in many cultures. But it made complete sense for followers of Jesus to adapt it to their purposes, because the gospels are simply full of fish. In Matthew 4:18-19, an example leaps out of the water at us: “As he [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’” So the fish symbol was right for Christians because several of Jesus’ Disciples were fishermen. The act of spreading the gospel and finding new believers was compared to fishing for people.
Matthew 13:47-48 continues the analogy. “‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.” John 21:4-6 promises that with the guidance of the resurrected Jesus, the catch of people into the Kingdom will be a huge one. “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.” Indeed, could the gospel writer have ever imagined two billion Christians in the year 2001?
Another reason the fish symbol is appropriate is that fish live in water, and Christians have a well known sacrament involving water. One early church leader, Tertullian, wrote about baptism, saying “we, little fishes, after the example of our Ichthus, Jesus Christ, are born in water.”
Prior to the year 313, when religious toleration was declared in the Roman Empire, Christians were sometimes severely persecuted. During the worst times, they had to hold their meetings in secret. It is believed that they used the fish symbol to mark the location of a gathering. Another tradition holds that they used the symbol to identify each other. If one person drew one curved line in the dirt, the other could show they were Christian by completing the fish with another line.
The symbol of the cross, like the fish, is ancient. Before Christians adopted it, it was used to represent fire, the sun, life, and many other concepts, in many cultures. But in the Roman Empire, the cross had only one meaning – an instrument of execution by crucifixion. From that point of view, it may seem odd to wear a cross around your neck. It is like wearing a little electric chair or a noose. But to early Christians, the cross symbol was holy, and for obvious reasons. Jesus’ death upon a cross sanctified the symbol. In Galatians 6:14-15, Paul says, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!” Instead of a symbol of death, the cross became a symbol of new life.
By the year 100, the cross, alongside the fish, was a main Christian symbol, but it mainly took the form of a gesture. Christians made the sign of the cross on their foreheads before taking any important action, as a sign against the power of demons. They swore by the power of the cross and were known as devotees of the cross. Misunderstanding Pagans accused Christians of actually worshipping the cross, so Christians did not openly use the cross symbol on physical objects like monuments during times of persecution. Instead, a substitute such as an anchor symbol was used. Another substitute was a monogram for the name of Christ, such as Chi-Ro, the first two letters of the word Christ in greek.
The Roman Emperor Constantine helped make the cross symbol an accepted and openly used icon in art. In the year 312CE, during a campaign against his rival Maxentius, Constantine reportedly saw a cross symbol in the sky, along with the words “In this, conquer.” In Constantine’s dream, Jesus supposedly told him to place the symbol on his standards. Subsequently he was victorious. In 326CE, Constantine’s mother supposedly found the wooden pieces of the actual cross near Jerusalem. When Christianity became an official religion in Rome, the cross was openly used in art and on monuments, from then on up to the present day, when church goers commonly wear a cross around their necks and decorate their homes, graves, and churches with crosses.
Symbols are an important part of any worship. Christian symbols like the cross and the fish were indeed borrowed from older cultures, but invested with new meaning. The fish was perhaps the most important symbol to early Christians, but the cross eclipsed it in the fourth century. But in modern times, the fish has made a comeback, proving the enduring nature of symbols. We do not worship symbols, of course, but they are needed to express Christian ideas in simple ways that appeal to all people.
The fish symbol, which dates from around the year 100CE, is made of two simple curved lines. But five greek letters were often added to it, as shown above. They make up the greek word for “fish”, which is Ichthus. Early Christians saw a special meaning in these letters. Each one stood for a word that described Jesus.
The use of these letters may have arisen after Emperor Domitian (81-96CE) called himself Son of God (Theou Yios) and had this inscribed on coins. It was up to Christians to deny the divinity of the Roman ruler and uphold the divinity of their Lord.
The fish symbol (without the letters) was already in use for thousands of years before Christians adopted it. It was used to represent the Mother Goddess in many cultures. But it made complete sense for followers of Jesus to adapt it to their purposes, because the gospels are simply full of fish. In Matthew 4:18-19, an example leaps out of the water at us: “As he [Jesus] walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the lake—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.’” So the fish symbol was right for Christians because several of Jesus’ Disciples were fishermen. The act of spreading the gospel and finding new believers was compared to fishing for people.
Matthew 13:47-48 continues the analogy. “‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.” John 21:4-6 promises that with the guidance of the resurrected Jesus, the catch of people into the Kingdom will be a huge one. “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, ‘Children, you have no fish, have you?’ They answered him, ‘No.’ He said to them, ‘Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.” Indeed, could the gospel writer have ever imagined two billion Christians in the year 2001?
Another reason the fish symbol is appropriate is that fish live in water, and Christians have a well known sacrament involving water. One early church leader, Tertullian, wrote about baptism, saying “we, little fishes, after the example of our Ichthus, Jesus Christ, are born in water.”
Prior to the year 313, when religious toleration was declared in the Roman Empire, Christians were sometimes severely persecuted. During the worst times, they had to hold their meetings in secret. It is believed that they used the fish symbol to mark the location of a gathering. Another tradition holds that they used the symbol to identify each other. If one person drew one curved line in the dirt, the other could show they were Christian by completing the fish with another line.
The symbol of the cross, like the fish, is ancient. Before Christians adopted it, it was used to represent fire, the sun, life, and many other concepts, in many cultures. But in the Roman Empire, the cross had only one meaning – an instrument of execution by crucifixion. From that point of view, it may seem odd to wear a cross around your neck. It is like wearing a little electric chair or a noose. But to early Christians, the cross symbol was holy, and for obvious reasons. Jesus’ death upon a cross sanctified the symbol. In Galatians 6:14-15, Paul says, “May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision nor uncircumcision is anything; but a new creation is everything!” Instead of a symbol of death, the cross became a symbol of new life.
By the year 100, the cross, alongside the fish, was a main Christian symbol, but it mainly took the form of a gesture. Christians made the sign of the cross on their foreheads before taking any important action, as a sign against the power of demons. They swore by the power of the cross and were known as devotees of the cross. Misunderstanding Pagans accused Christians of actually worshipping the cross, so Christians did not openly use the cross symbol on physical objects like monuments during times of persecution. Instead, a substitute such as an anchor symbol was used. Another substitute was a monogram for the name of Christ, such as Chi-Ro, the first two letters of the word Christ in greek.
The Roman Emperor Constantine helped make the cross symbol an accepted and openly used icon in art. In the year 312CE, during a campaign against his rival Maxentius, Constantine reportedly saw a cross symbol in the sky, along with the words “In this, conquer.” In Constantine’s dream, Jesus supposedly told him to place the symbol on his standards. Subsequently he was victorious. In 326CE, Constantine’s mother supposedly found the wooden pieces of the actual cross near Jerusalem. When Christianity became an official religion in Rome, the cross was openly used in art and on monuments, from then on up to the present day, when church goers commonly wear a cross around their necks and decorate their homes, graves, and churches with crosses.
Symbols are an important part of any worship. Christian symbols like the cross and the fish were indeed borrowed from older cultures, but invested with new meaning. The fish was perhaps the most important symbol to early Christians, but the cross eclipsed it in the fourth century. But in modern times, the fish has made a comeback, proving the enduring nature of symbols. We do not worship symbols, of course, but they are needed to express Christian ideas in simple ways that appeal to all people.
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