Книга 4

Around the twelfth year of the reign of Trajan 839, the recently mentioned 840 bishop of the Church of Alexandria 841 died. The fourth after the apostles to carry out this ministry was Prim 842. In the same year in Rome, Evarest, who died in the eighth year of his bishopric, was succeeded by Alexander 843, the fifth successor of Peter and Paul. 1. The Church of our Savior and the preaching of His teachings gained strength and prospered more and more every day; The misfortunes of the Jews, constantly changing, reached the limit. In the eighteenth year of Trajan's reign, 844 Jews raised a new uprising, in which a great many of them died. 2. In Alexandria, the rest of Egypt and also in Cyrene 845, as if animated by some terrible and rebellious spirit, they rushed towards the Greeks who lived with them 846. The uprising grew; the next year 847 it was already a real war. 3. All of Egypt was then ruled by Lupus 848; in the first battle it so happened that the Greeks were defeated. Those who fled to Alexandria caught and killed the Jews living in the city. Having lost their support, the Cyrene Jews began, under the leadership of Lukuas 849, to plunder the Egyptian land; the devastation of the nomes became their constant occupation. The emperor sent Marcius Turbon against them with a foot army, a fleet, and also cavalry. 4. Turbo fought a long and stubborn war, entered into battles many times and killed thousands of thousands of Jews not only from Cyrene, but also those living in Egypt, who came to the aid of their king Lucuas. 5. The emperor, suspecting that the Jews in Mesopotamia 850 would attack the local population, ordered Lucius Quintus 851 to clear this area of ​​them. Lucius, leading an army with him, destroyed a huge number of the Jews there, for which the emperor appointed him ruler of Judea. This is how the Greek historians who wrote about this time 852 talk about it. 1. Trajan ruled for twenty years without six months. 853 After him, Aelius Hadrian took over the reign 854. Kodrat turned to him with an Apology, composed in defense of our faith, since some evil people tried to haunt us. Most of the brothers still have this work; We have it too. It brilliantly testifies to the intelligence and apostolic orthodoxy of Kodrat. 2. How long ago he lived can be judged by his own words: “The deeds of our Savior were always obvious, for they were real: the people whom He healed, whom He raised, were seen not only at the moment of their healing or resurrection; they were always visible, not only when the Savior was on earth, but also lived long enough after His Resurrection, some have survived to our times.” 3. This was Kodrat. And Aristides 855, a firm follower of our faith, like Codratus, offered 856 Hadrian 857 an Apology for it 858. This work is still preserved by many to this day. In the third year of the same reign, 859, Bishop Alexander died, having ruled the Roman Church for ten years 860; he was succeeded by Xist 861. In Alexandria, around the same time, in the tenth year of his ministry, 862 Prim passed away. His successor was Just 863. 1. I have never found a list of Jerusalem bishops indicating the time of their ministry (they say, however, that they were short-lived). 2. From written sources I only learned that before the siege of Jerusalem by Hadrian in 864 there were fifteen of them, successively replacing each other, that they were all original Jews and accepted Christ’s teaching sincerely, so that people who could judge this considered them worthy of episcopal service. Their entire Church consisted of believing Jews, from the apostles to those who lived to see the siege, when the Jews, who had again fallen away from the Romans, were defeated in a difficult struggle 865. 3. Since from that time on there were no more circumcised bishops, they should be listed starting from the first. The first was Jacob, called the brother of the Lord; second - Simeon, third - Justus, Zacchaeus - fourth, fifth - Tobias, sixth - Benjamin, John - seventh, eighth - Matthias, ninth - Philip, tenth - Seneca, eleventh - Justus, twelfth - Levi, thirteenth - Ephraim, fourteenth - Joseph, last, fifteenth - Judah 866. 4. There were so many bishops in Jerusalem, from the apostles to the present time; they are all from the circumcised. 5. In the twelfth year of the reign of Hadrian 867, Xistus, who had been a bishop in the Roman Church for ten years 868, died. His successor was Telesphorus 869, seventh after the apostles. A year and several months later, Eumenes 870 became the primate of the Alexandrian Church, the sixth in a row, after the death of his predecessor, who ruled the Church for eleven years 871. 1. So, the Jews rebelled again 872, and their revolt grew. Rufus 873, the ruler of Judea, with an army sent to help him by the emperor, mercilessly, taking advantage of their madness, pursued and destroyed them in tens of thousands 874: men, women, children - all at the same time; According to the law of war, he enslaved their entire country. 2. The leader of the Jews was then a man named Barkoheba 875, which means “star,” - a murderer and robber 876; he, referring to this name, inspired the slaves that he was a luminary that descended from the sky, 3. in order to miraculously give them, the tortured, light 877. In the eighteenth year of Hadrian's reign, 878, the war was in full swing; the siege of Betfera 879 (it was a very fortified town near Jerusalem) dragged on; the rebels died from hunger and thirst and reached the last extreme. The madman responsible for this suffered a worthy punishment 880; and by legislative decision and order of Hadrian, all the people were forbidden from that time to set foot on the ground in the vicinity of Jerusalem; they were not even allowed to look at their native places from afar. This is written by Ariston from Pella 881. 14. Thus the city of the Jews fell into desolation; no one remained from the old inhabitants, and it was settled by foreign people; a Roman city later arose here with a different name: it was called Aelia in honor of the emperor Aelius Hadrian. The Church there was also composed of pagans, and Mark 882 was the first to serve in it after the circumcision bishops. 1. Like bright stars, they shone throughout the entire universe of the Church; faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ was in full bloom among the entire human race, when the demon, the hater of the beautiful, the enemy of truth, the tireless opponent of human salvation, took up arms against the Church, using all sorts of tricks; Previously, he prepared persecution from the outside, now, deprived of this opportunity, 2. used the services of deceivers and magicians to destroy souls; inventing various methods of struggle, he invented all sorts of means so that these magicians and deceivers, hiding behind the name of our faith, would drag the souls of the believers they captured into the depths of destruction, while turning away those unfamiliar with faith with their actions from the path to the Word of salvation. 3. From Menander, the successor of Simon, whom we mentioned earlier 883, came as if some kind of snake-like force, two-mouthed and two-headed, which gave birth to the creators of two different heresies: Saturninus 884, an Antiochian by birth, and Basilides 885, an Alexandrian. One in Syria and the other in Egypt 886 opened schools of godless heresies. 4. Irenaeus says that Saturninus repeated most of the false inventions of Menander 887; Basilides, referring to something unspeakable, was carried away in thought into the infinite 888 and invented monstrous tales for his wicked heresy. 5. At the same time, many church writers fought for the truth and defended the apostolic and church faith with the power of reason. Some of them left their writings for future generations - weapons against these heresies. 6. The work of the most famous writer of that time, Agrippa Castor, has reached us 889 - a devastating exposure of Basilides, showing the terrible lie of his heresy. Revealing its secrets, Agrippa says that Basilides compiled 24 books on the Gospel, invented for himself the prophets Barkabbas, Varkof and others who never existed and received these barbaric names in order to amaze people capable of being amazed by this; he teaches to eat food sacrificed to idols 890 and calmly renounce the faith during persecution; following Pythagoras, he prescribes five years of silence for those who come to him. 8. Having selected other similar examples, the mentioned writer excellently examined and showed with his own eyes the errors of the Basilides heresy. 9 . Irenaeus writes that Carpocrates 891, the father of another heresy, the Gnostic heresy 892, lived at the same time. These were no longer secretly, like Simon, but openly engaged in magical operations, as if some great work, boasting of their carefully prepared magical drink, communication with demons, their companions who send dreams, and other things of the same kind. And accordingly, they taught that those who wish to perfectly comprehend their mysteries, or rather, their abominations, must commit the most shameful acts: they will not be able to escape from the cosmic rulers (as they called them) otherwise than by satisfying them with their shameless behavior 893. 10. With the help of such minions, the malicious demon doomed the eternal death of people who were deceived to grief, and gave the pagans complete opportunity to blaspheme the word of God: based on rumors about those people, they slandered the entire Christian people. 11. This is mainly why the wicked and most absurd suspicion has spread among the pagans that we are entering into illicit relations with our mothers and sisters and eating terrible food. 12. It did not last long, however: the truth is strong in itself, and its light burns brightly over time. 13. The new machinations of the enemies immediately collapsed, exposed by their very activity; heresies, one after another, proposed new teachings; the former fell apart, lost in a multitude of diverse thoughts, and disappeared. The unchanging, shining Church, universal and one true, has always grown and strengthened, illuminating everyone - both Greeks and barbarians - with the light of the Divine dispensation and philosophy, majestic, unalloyed, free, wise and pure. 14. Over time, the slander against our faith died out, and our teaching remained the only one, dominant and generally accepted, for it surpassed all others in the greatness and wisdom of its Divine-philosophical dogmas. Now no one will dare to blaspheme our faith or slander it the way our opponents loved to do before. 15. However, in those days the truth brought into the arena many of its fighters who fought against godless heresies both orally and in writing. 1. Among them is Hegesippus, to whom we have already referred many times, borrowing from the tradition he communicated about the times of the apostles. 2. In the 5 books of his “Records” he conveys in the simplest style the exact tradition of the apostolic preaching and indicates the time when he became known, since he mentions those who erected idols in the old days: “They erected cenotaphs 894 and churches, as they do to this day; They also appointed Caesar Hadrian's slave Antinous 895, who lived in our time and in whose honor the Antinous Games are celebrated. Hadrian also founded the city named after Antinous 896, and established a college of prophets.” 3. Justin also lived then, a sincere lover of true philosophy; Having studied with the Greeks, he studied their sciences 897. And he indicates his time in the Apology to Antoninus 898: “It is worth mentioning Antinous, who lived in our days, whom everyone rushed out of fear to honor as a god, although they knew who he was and where he came from” 899. 4. He also reports the following about the then Jewish War: “In the current Jewish War, Barkoheba, the leader of the Jewish uprising, ordered the cruel torture of only Christians if they did not renounce Christ and refused to blaspheme Him” 900. 5. He writes that he turned from Greek philosophy to the veneration of God not thoughtlessly, but by reasoning: “I myself loved the teachings of Plato, but hearing slander against Christians and seeing how fearless they were before death and before everything that was considered terrible, I thought: it is impossible for such people to live in vices and pleasures; A man who loves pleasure, is intemperate, and believes that it is good to eat human flesh, can he welcome death as a deliverance from all passions? Will he not try in every possible way to prolong his earthly life and hide from the authorities, rather than denounce himself and have him executed?” 901. 6. He writes that Adrian received from Serenius Grannian, a famous governor, a letter about Christians: it is unfair to execute them without any accusation, just to please the screaming crowd. The emperor responded by writing to Minucius Fundanus, proconsul of Asia 902, ordering him not to judge anyone without accusation and reasonable conviction. 7. Justin also encloses a copy of this letter in the Latin original, prefacing it with these words: “We could ask you for what we want: to judge us on the basis of the letter of the greatest and most glorious Caesar Hadrian, your father, but we turn to you because our request is fair. We enclose a copy of Adrian’s letter so that you know that we are telling the truth in this too. Here she is" 903. 7. The said writer then gives a Latin copy, which we have translated into Greek to the best of our ability. 1. “Minute Fundana. I received a letter from Serenius Grannian 904, a famous person, your predecessor. It seems to me that this matter cannot be left without consideration; It is impossible for people to live without knowing peace, and informers have the responsibility to harm and commit evil. 2. If the inhabitants of the province can confirm their accusation against Christians and answer before the court, then let them act this way, but not with demands and cries. It is very proper, in the event of an accusation, to investigate you. 3. If someone can prove their accusation, namely that they are acting illegally, then establish a punishment in accordance with the crime. But by Hercules! If someone has made an activity out of denunciations, put a stop to this disgrace and figure out how to punish for it” 905. This is a copy of Adrian's letter 906. Hadrian repaid the debt to the land after twenty-one years of reign 907; His successor was Antoninus 908, nicknamed the Pious 909. In the first year of his reign, 910, Telesphorus passed away, in the eleventh year of his ministry, and the lot of the Roman bishopric fell to Hyginus 911. Irenaeus writes that Telesphorus famously marked the end of his life with martyrdom 912, and reports that at the same time, under the mentioned bishop Hyginus, Valentin 913, the creator of his own heresy, and Cerdon 914, the founder of Marcion's error 915, became known in Rome. He writes like this: 1. “Valentine arrived in Rome under Hyginus, entered into power and glory under Pius 916 and lasted until Anicetus 917. Cerdon, Marcion's predecessor, also appeared under Hyginus, the ninth bishop. He came to the Church, publicly repented, but led such a way of life: he taught secretly, then he repented again 918; convicted by those whom he taught evil, he withdrew from fellowship with his brothers” 919. 2. This is what he writes in the 3rd book of his essay “Against Heresies”, and in the 1st he talks about Kerdon as follows: “A certain Kerdon, based on what he learned from the disciples of Simon (he arrived in Rome under Hyginus, the ninth bishop, counting from the apostles), taught that God, preached by the Law and the Prophets, is not the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; His father can be known, but that God is unknowable; This one is just, and this one is kind. Marcion, a native of Pontus, borrowed this teaching from him and developed it, shamelessly blaspheming" 920. 3. The same Irenaeus convincingly revealed the abyss of destruction in Valentinian teaching, associated with so many errors; it revealed his hidden evil, lurking like a snake in a hole 921. 4. Their contemporary, writes Irenaeus, was a certain Mark 922, extremely skilled in magical inventions. Irenaeus describes their shameful initiations and vile mysteries: 5. “They prepare the bridal chamber and perform the initiation, pronouncing some spells over the initiates; they say it is a spiritual marriage 923 similar to heavenly unions. Others lead the initiates to the water and baptize them with these words: “In the name of the unknowable father, in the name of truth, the mother of all, in the name of the descended Jesus.” At the same time, some pronounce Hebrew words 924 to the great shock of the initiates” 925. 6. After four years of episcopate, Hyginus died, and Pius took his place in Rome. In Alexandria, after Eumenes, who died after a full thirteen years of episcopacy, Mark 926 became shepherd, carrying out this ministry for ten years; He was accepted, after the death of Mark, by Keladion 927. 7. In Rome, after Pius, who died in the fifteenth year of his bishopric, Anicetus became the primate of the Church. Egyptippus writes 928 that he arrived in Rome with him and remained there until the bishopric of Eleuthera 929. 8. At this time, Justin was in full bloom, defending the word of God in a philosophical guise and fighting for the faith in his writings. He wrote a book against Marcion 930, where he mentions that he compiled it during his lifetime. He says 931 this: “Marcion from Pontus 932 and now still teaches gullible people that there is a certain god greater than the Creator. In the entire human race he found people whom, with the help of demonic suggestions, he convinced to blaspheme and deny that the Creator of the whole world is the Father of Christ; the world was created by some other god, greater than Him. All those instructed by such teachers are called Christians; so philosophers who do not hold the same thoughts are called by the same name, taken from philosophy.” 10. In conclusion, he adds: “We have an essay against all heresies that have arisen 933. If you want to read it, I’ll provide it.” 11. The same Justin worked hard enough arguing with the Greeks 934. He addressed both the Emperor Antoninus, nicknamed the Pious, and the Roman Senate 935 with works containing a defense of our faith; lived in Rome. In the Apology he himself says who he is and where he comes from. “To the autocrat Titus Aelius Hadrian, Antoninus the Pious, Caesar Augustus; son Verissimus 936, philosopher; Lucius 937, the natural son of Caesar the philosopher 938 and adopted by the Pious, a lover of enlightenment, addresses the sacred Senate and the entire Roman people with a petition for people unjustly hated and offended by all nations, Justin, son of Priscus, son of Bacchius, a native of Flavius of Naples 939 in Palestine Syria, one of these people" 940 . The same emperor, having received similar petitions from our other brothers living in Asia and oppressed in every possible way by the local population 941, addressed the Asian Assembly 942 with the following order: 1. “The autocrat, Caesar Marcus Aurelius Antoninus Augustus 943 Armenian, high priest 944, tribune of the people for the fifteenth time and consul for the third, greets the Asian Assembly. 2. I know that the gods themselves are concerned that such people do not hide from them. They can punish people who do not want to worship them much more than you can. 3. Those whom you do not give peace, you only strengthen in their faith, although you accuse them of godlessness. Let us assume that when accused they have a free choice: they will choose to die for their God. That is why they win, being ready to give their souls rather than do what you demand of them. 4. As for earthquakes, past and present, it is appropriate to remind you that during such disasters you lose heart every time: compare their behavior and yours. 5. They are full of hope in God, but all the time you do not think about the gods and do not serve the Immortal; Christians who serve Him are persecuted and persecuted to death. 6. Interceding on their behalf, many provincial rulers wrote to our divine father 945, and he answered them, ordering them not to disturb the Christians if it turned out that they were not plotting anything against Roman rule. And many people let me know about them, and I answered them in accordance with the opinion of our father. 7. If someone persistently accuses a Christian as such, then the charge against the accused is dropped, if he is truly a Christian, and the accuser is subject to trial. Read at Ephesus to the Asian Assembly" 946. 8. This course of events is evidenced by the contemporary bishop of the city of Sardis, Meliton 947, known from the Apology 948, which he wrote in defense of our faith to the emperor Verus 949. 1. At the time when Anicetus ruled the Roman Church, Polycarp was still alive; he arrived in Rome to talk with Anicetus and figure out when to celebrate Easter 950. Irenaeus writes about this. 2. He also conveys another story about Polycarp, which should be added to what is already known about him. From the 3rd book of Irenaeus “Against Heresy”: 3. “Polycarp not only listened to the instructions of the apostles and communicated with many who saw the Lord, but he was also appointed bishop of the Smyrna Church in Asia by the apostles. 4. We saw him in his early youth (he lived for a very long time and passed away at a very old age, having obviously suffered with glory for Christ); he always taught what the apostles taught him, what the Church would convey, and what alone is truth. 5. All the Asian Churches and the successors of Polycarp, right down to the present, testify that he is a more faithful witness of the truth and much more trustworthy than Valentinus, Marcion and other madmen. Polycarp, being with Anicetus in Rome, returned many from those heretics to the Church of God, preaching that from the apostles he received the teaching of truth, the one and only one - the one that the Church will transmit. 6. There are people who heard from him how John, a disciple of the Lord, went into a bathhouse in Ephesus and, seeing Cerinthos there, without washing himself, rushed away, saying: “Let us run, lest the bathhouse collapse: there is Cerinthos there, the enemy of the truth.” 7. The same Polycarp, having once met with Marcion, responded to his words “Do you recognize us?” replied: “I will know, I will recognize the firstborn of Satan.” To such an extent, the apostles and their disciples were wary of even talking with those who distorted the truth. And Paul said: “Beware of the heretic after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a one has become corrupted and sins, being self-condemned” 951. There is the Epistle of Polycarp to the Philippians, very powerful; those who desire salvation and think about him can learn from him the image of his faith and hear the preaching of the truth” 952. 9 . Here are the words of Irenaeus: “Polycarp in this Epistle to the Philippians (it has come down to us) uses evidence from the First Epistle of Peter” 953. 10. Antoninus, nicknamed the Pious, died in the twenty-second year of his reign 954. His successor was his son, Marcus Aurelius Verus, also called Antoninus 955, together with his brother 956 Lucius. 1. At this time, 957 Asia was shaken by great persecution, and Polycarp ended his life with martyrdom. I consider it necessary to include in this narrative a record of its end that has reached us. 2. There is an Epistle on behalf of the Church, which he ruled, to the local Churches, which sets out the event of that time: 3. “May the Church of God, which has found refuge in Smyrna, the Church of God in Philomelia 958 and all the places where the holy universal Church has found refuge—the mercy, peace and love of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ multiply. We have written to you, brothers, about the martyrs and blessed Polycarp, who seemed to seal and end the persecution with his martyrdom” 959. 4. Immediately after this and before the story of Polycarp, they tell 960 about the remaining martyrs and describe their steadfastness in suffering. The crowd standing around was amazed, watching how the bodies were either cut with whips down to the arteries and veins, so that the entrails were visible in the very hiding places of the body, or laid on prickly sea shells and sharp blades. After all sorts of torment and torture, they were finally thrown to be devoured by animals. 5. They say that the noble Germanicus 961 especially distinguished himself by overcoming, by God's grace, the innate fear of bodily death. The proconsul 962 wanted to convince him: he pointed out his age, tried, referring to his blossoming youth, to arouse self-pity in him, but the young man immediately, readily attracted the beast to himself, teased him and set him on, just to quickly get rid of this life with its untruth and lawlessness. 6. Seeing this beautiful death, amazed at the courage of the martyr who loved God, marveling in general at the valor of the Christian race, the crowd began to cry out in unison: “Death to the atheists! Find Polycarp! 7. These cries caused great confusion, and a certain Phrygian named Quintus, who had recently arrived from Phrygia 963, seeing the animals and the formidable instruments of torture, became unconscious with fear, weakened in soul and renounced salvation. 8. The aforementioned work tells how he, headlong, without thinking about anything, ran with others to court, was captured and clearly showed everyone that they should neither seek danger nor be recklessly brave. This is where the story of the martyrs ends. 9 . The wondrous Polycarp, having heard the first news about them, was not alarmed and was in an even and calm mood. He wanted to stay right there in the city 964, but he gave in to the persuasion and entreaties of those around him and went to the village, not far from the city; He lived there with several people and only tirelessly prayed to the Lord day and night, asking for peace and begging for it for the Churches throughout the universe: this was his usual prayer. 10. Three days before he was captured, at night, while he was standing in prayer, a vision appeared to him: the mat under his head immediately burst into flames and burned to the ground. Having woken up, he immediately interpreted this phenomenon to those present and not only predicted the future, but directly announced to his people that he must die for Christ in fire. 11. Every effort was made to search for him, and brotherly love forced him to move to another village, where his pursuers soon came. Having seized two local slaves, they, having beaten one, went at his direction to the shelter of Polycarp. 12. They arrived late and found out that he was lying upstairs. From here he could have moved to another house, but he did not want to, saying: “God’s will be done” 965. 13. Knowing that his pursuers were already here, he, as they say, went down and began to talk with them with such a shining, meek face that they, who did not know him before, thought they were seeing a miracle; Looking at his extreme old age, at his stately and calm demeanor, they wondered whether it was worth trying so hard to capture such an old man. 14. He immediately orders a table to be set up for them, offers them to eat their fill and asks them to give him one hour to pray in peace; it was allowed; He stood up and began to pray and was so filled with God’s grace that those present, listening to his prayer, became frightened and many began to repent that they were going to destroy such a venerable old man, pleasing to God. 15. The story of Polycarp reports the following events verbatim as follows: “When he finished the prayer and remembered everyone who had ever communicated with him, unnoticed and great, glorious and unknown, and the entire universal Church, the time came for departure; Polycarp was put on a donkey and taken to the city; It was Holy Saturday. He met the Irinarch 966 Herod and his father Nikita. They transferred him into a cart and, sitting next to him, began to persuade him: “What’s wrong with saying: “Lord Caesar,” making a sacrifice and saving your life?” 16. Polycarp did not answer at first, but when they began to pester him, he said: “What you advise me to do, I am not going to do.” Having no time in their persuasion, they, with abuse and threats, threw him out of the cart with such force that, falling, he skinned his shin. Not paying attention to this, he, as if nothing had happened to him, cheerfully and hastily walked to the square where he was being led. 17. There was such a noise in the square that many could not hear anything, but when Polycarp came to the square, there was a voice from heaven: “Be strong, Polycarp, and take courage.” No one saw the speaker, but many of us heard the voice. 18. When they brought him in, there was a great noise: they heard that Polycarp had been captured. When he finally approached, the proconsul asked him: “Are you Polycarp?” and after an affirmative answer, he began to persuade him to renounce: “Respect your old age” and other things that they are accustomed to say: “Swear by the fortune of Caesar 967, change your mind, say: “Death to the atheists!” 19. Polycarp darkened his face and, looking at the entire crowd in the square, shook his hand at them and, looking at the sky, said: “Death to the atheists!” 20. But the proconsul insisted, saying: “Swear, and I will let you go; curse Christ." Polycarp said: “I have served Him for 86 years, and He has not offended me in any way. Can I blaspheme my King, who saved me? 21. He again insisted and said: “Swear by the fortune of Caesar.” “Your thoughts about me swearing by the fortune of Caesar are empty. And as you pretend that you don’t know who I am, then listen to the free word: I am a Christian; if you want to learn Christian teaching, take a day and listen.” 22. The proconsul said: “Convince the people.” Polycarp said: “I have honored you with a conversation, because we have been instructed to give due honor to the authorities and rulers appointed by God, if this is not to our detriment. They, in my opinion, are not worthy of defending themselves against them.” 23. The proconsul said: “I have animals: I will unleash them on you if you do not change your thoughts.” He said: “Call me.” We cannot exchange good for bad; It’s good to move away from the bad to the just.” He told him again: “I will pacify you with fire if you don’t care about animals and if you don’t change your mind.” 24. Polycarp said: “You threaten with a fire that burns for its time and soon goes out; But you do not know that fire is prepared for future judgment and eternal punishment for the wicked. Why are you delaying? Do what you want! 25. Saying this and much more, he was filled with courage and joy, and his face was illuminated with grace; he was not embarrassed by the words of the proconsul, but the proconsul lost his temper and sent a herald to announce three times in the square: “Polycarp admitted that he is a Christian.” 26. When the herald said this, then the entire crowd of pagans and Jews living in Smyrna, unable to restrain themselves, raised a furious roar: “He is the teacher of Asia, he is the father of Christians; denies our gods and teaches many not to make sacrifices to them and not to honor them.” 27. Saying this, they began to shout and ask the asiarch 968 Philip to release a lion against Polycarp. He said that this was impossible, because the fight against the animals was over. Then they decided to unanimously shout to burn Polycarp alive. 28. His vision with the pillow had to be fulfilled when, standing in prayer, he saw that it was burning, and, turning to the faithful surrounding him, he prophetically said: “I must burn alive.” 29. And so, it happened very quickly, sooner than was said. Immediately crowds of people brought firewood and brushwood from workshops and baths; The Jews especially tried, as usual. 30. When the fire was ready, Polycarp took off all his clothes, unfastened his belt and tried to untie his shoes, which he had never done before, because every faithful always tried to touch his body as quickly as possible. He was always revered: his good life and his old age were respected. 31. They immediately laid out all the accessories of the fire around him, but when they wanted to nail him down, he said: “Leave me like this: He who gives me the strength to endure the fire will give me the strength to stand calmly on the fire without your nails.” They didn't pin him down, they just tied him down. 32. He, standing with his hands behind him, tied, like a choice ram from a large flock, being sacrificed as a burnt offering pleasing to God Almighty, said: 33. “Father of Your beloved and glorified Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have come to know You, God of angels and powers, demons, every creature and all the righteous who live before You, I glorify You that You have made me worthy on this day and hour, among Your martyrs, to receive a portion in the Chalice of Your Christ 34. for the sake of resurrection into eternal life of soul and body, in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May I be accepted as one of them today before Your face as a fat and desirable sacrifice, 35. for You prepared it in advance, foretold it and brought it, O true God, who knows no lies. Therefore, I thank You for everything, I glorify You, I extol You through the eternal Bishop, Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, through Whom and with Him together in the Holy Spirit, glory to You, now and in future centuries. Amen". 36. When he said this “Amen” and finished the prayer, those assigned to the fire lit the fire. A great flame broke out, and we, who were given the power to see, saw a miracle; We survived to tell others about what happened. 37. The flames formed something like a vault; as if a sail, full of wind, surrounded the body of the martyr, and he stood in the middle, not like burning flesh, but like gold and silver being purified by fire in a furnace. We felt a fragrance like smoking incense and some other precious aroma. 38. Finally, the lawless saw that they could not destroy his body with fire, and ordered the executioner to pierce him with a sword. 39. When he did this, so much blood gushed out that it put out the fire, and the whole crowd was amazed: what a great difference there is between the infidels and the elect, of which the most wondrous in our time was he, the apostolic teacher and seer, who was the bishop of the universal Church in Smyrna. Every word that came out of his mouth was and will be fulfilled. 40. The crafty enemy and envious enemy of the righteous, seeing the greatness of his martyrdom, his impeccable lifestyle from the beginning, knowing that he was crowned with the crown of immortality and would take away the undeniable reward, tried to prevent us from taking his body, although many wanted to do this and have a piece of his holy flesh. 41. They convinced Niketas, the father of Herodes, brother of Alki, to beg the proconsul not to give up his body: “Lest they, having abandoned the Crucified One, begin to honor him.” They said this at the prompting and insistence of the Jews, who noticed that we were going to take him from the fire, and did not understand that we could neither leave Christ, who suffered for the salvation of the whole world of those being saved, nor honor anyone else; 42. We worship Him as the Son of God; We love the martyrs, as we deserve, as disciples of Christ, imitators of Him, for their unsurpassed devotion to their King and Teacher. We could also become their interlocutors and fellow students! 43. The centurion 969, seeing the Jewish quarrelsomeness, laid his body in full view of everyone, as is their custom, and burned it; We then collected his bones, which are more expensive than precious stones and nobler than gold, and placed them where they should be. 44. There, if possible, the Lord will give us, who have gathered in jubilation and joy, to celebrate the birthday of His martyr in memory of former fighters for the faith, for the teaching and preparation of future ones. 45. This is about blessed Polycarp, who suffered in Smyrna, the twelfth after the eleven, from Philadelphia 970, but he is remembered most of all, and even the pagans talk about him everywhere 971. 46. The brothers of the Church of Smyrna tell us about Polycarp, the wondrous apostolic man, and what end he was awarded in the Epistle I mentioned. This scripture also contains a message about other martyrs who suffered in the same Smyrna almost simultaneously with Polycarp. Among them was Metrodorus 972, as if he were a presbyter of the Marcionian heresy; he died at the stake. 47. Of the martyrs of that time, a certain Pionius 973 was especially glorified: his lengthy confession, his bold speeches, defense of the faith before the people and the authorities, teachings to the people, affectionate treatment of those who fell in the trials of persecution, consolations to the brothers who visited him in prison; information about what torture he endured, about his further suffering, about how he was nailed, about his courage at the stake and his death after all his wondrous deeds - this is fully described in the essay about him 974, to which I refer those who love such reading. We included this scripture in our summary of the ancient martyrs. 48. There are also reports about other people tortured in the Asian city of Pergamum 975; about Carp, Papila 976 and the woman Agathonika 977, who died with glory after repeated and glorious confession. 1. At the same time, the recently mentioned Justin, who presented a book in defense of our faith to the mentioned emperors, was adorned with holy martyrdom 978. The philosopher Crescent 979, who tried to earn his name as a Cynic by his lifestyle and disposition, conceived an insidious plan. Justin, often talking with him in the presence of listeners, corrected him and in the end, defending the truth, received the crown of martyrdom as a reward. 2. Truly a philosophist, in the aforementioned Apology 980, foreseeing what has not yet happened, he directly says: 3. “I expect that one of those I have named will plot against me and put stocks on me, for example Crescent; He loves not wisdom at all, but hype. A person who talks about what he does not know is not worthy of the name of philosopher. He publicly declares that Christians are atheists and wicked, and does this to give pleasure and joy to people who are confused. 4. He either rushes at us, not knowing Christ’s teaching, and then he is the scoundrel of scoundrels; he is much lower than ordinary people, who are often careful not to talk about what they do not know, and do not give false testimony. Either, having learned this teaching, he did not understand its greatness, or, having understood, he acts as before, so as not to be suspected that he is a Christian; 5. in that case he is the stupidest scoundrel, a slave of fear and senseless conventional wisdom. After asking him a few questions, I realized that he really didn’t know anything, and I confronted him about it. I want you to know this. And that I am telling the truth, then I am ready, if our disputes were not brought to your attention, to argue with him in your presence: that would also be a royal matter. 6. If you know my questions and his answers, then it is clear to you that he knows nothing of ours; if he knows something, but, as I said earlier, does not dare to say it, fearing listeners, then he does not love wisdom, but glory and does not take into account the beautiful word of Socrates” 981. 7. This is what Justin writes. And that he ended his life, as he foresaw, from the machinations of Criskent, this is repeatedly evidenced 982 in his works by Tatian 983, who in his youth was a sophist, studied Greek sciences, and acquired considerable fame here. In his book “Against the Hellenes” he says this: “Wonderful Justin correctly declared 984 that the above-mentioned people 985 are like robbers” 986. 8. Then, having talked about philosophers, he concludes this way: “Criscent, who nestled in the great city 987, was distinguished by his love for youths and was very money-loving. 9 . Advising to despise death, he himself was so afraid of death that he tried, as a great evil, to put Justin to death, because Justin, preaching the truth, exposed the philosophers 988 as gluttons and deceivers. This, according to him, is the reason for the martyrdom of Justin. 1. Justin, in his first Apology 990, remembers the martyrs who suffered before him and his struggle. One of his stories is instructive. 2. He writes like this: “A certain woman lived with a debauched husband and was previously a debauchee herself, but having become acquainted with the teachings of Christ, she came to her senses and tried to bring her husband to reason. She told him about the teachings of Christ and about the punishment in eternal fire of people who live dissolutely, and not in purity and not according to sound reasoning. 3. He continued to live in debauchery and with his behavior alienated his wife. The woman, considering it impious to continue to share a bed with her husband, who, contrary to the law of nature and contrary to justice, tried to make everything a means of pleasure, decided to break their union. 4. Her relatives began to beg her and advised her to wait, in the hope that her husband would change. She forced herself to stay. 5. Her husband left for Alexandria, and when she was informed that he was behaving even uglier, she, in order not to be involved in his untruth and wickedness, remaining married and living a common life, gave him what you call a “divorce bill.” 6. And her wonderful husband (he should have been glad that the wife who used to, without a second thought, happily drink and debauch with the servants and day laborers, put an end to this and wanted him to put an end to such behavior), when she left him against his will, sued her, saying that she was a Christian. 7. The wife submitted to you, Emperor 991, a request to allow her to first settle all household affairs and then, after putting everything in order, begin the defense. You allowed her to do this. 8. Her ex-husband, who now had nothing to convict her of, decided to attack a certain Ptolemy, her mentor in Christian teaching, whom Urbicius 992 condemned. 9 . The husband led the matter in this way: he persuaded the centurion, his friend, to seize Ptolemy and only ask him if he was a Christian; Ptolemy, a truthful man who thinks honestly and directly, confessed himself to be a Christian. The centurion chained him and tortured him in prison for a long time. 10. Finally they took him to Urbicia, and here again the interrogation was about one thing: was he a Christian? And again, realizing the benefit he received from Christ’s teaching, Ptolemy confessed this school of Divine virtue. 11. After all, he who renounces any teaching renounces either because he saw something bad, or because he considers himself unworthy of this teaching and alien to it. Both of these are unbecoming of a true Christian. 12. When Urbicius ordered the execution of Ptolemy, a certain Lucius, also a Christian, seeing that the sentence was pronounced without any reasonable basis, said to Urbicius: “What’s the matter? This man is not an adulterer, not a libertine, not a murderer, not a thief, not a robber, he is not convicted of any crime at all, and you are sending him to execution for professing the name of a Christian. You do not judge, Urbicius, as befits a pious emperor, and a philosopher, the son of Caesar 993, and the sacred senate.” 13. Urbicius, without answering anything, said to Lucius: “In my opinion, you are the same,” and when Lucius answered: “Entirely,” he ordered him to be executed too. Lucius thanked him, saying that he was finally delivered from such evil rulers and was going to the good Father, King and God. Someone third came up and was also sentenced to death” 994. Directly after this story, Justin, by the way, gives the speech we have already mentioned: “And I expect that one of those I have named will plot against me,” 995, etc. 1. Justin left us many useful works; they testify to a mind that has been schooled and immersed in contemplation of the Divine; to them we refer inquisitive people, noting for their benefit those that have become known to us. 2. He has a speech addressed to Antoninus, called the Pious, to his children and to the Roman Senate, outlining our teaching; the second contains a defense of our faith and is written to the successor of the said autocrat, Antonin Verus. We are now talking about the events of that time. 3. He also has another essay - “To the Hellenes” 996, where he discusses at length about many questions that occupy both us and Greek philosophers, and also defines the nature of demons; There is no point in dwelling on this now. 4. And his work to the Hellenes has also reached us, which he entitled “Reproof” 997. Also “On the Divine Autocracy” 998, compiled by him not only from our scriptures, but also from Hellenic books. 5. Then another entitled “Lyrnik” 999 and another, interpreting the nature of the soul 1000: having presented different opinions on the question posed in this work, he offers considerations of Greek philosophers; He promises to refute them and present his own in another essay. 6. He also composed a dialogue against the Jews 1001: this is a conversation that he had in Ephesus with Tryphon 1002, a man most famous at that time among the Jews. In it he tells how God's grace directed him to the word of faith, with what zeal he previously studied philosophy and with what enthusiasm he sought the truth 1003. 7. In the same book, he talks about the machinations of the Jews against Christ and His teachings and develops his thoughts as follows, turning to Tryphon: “You not only did not repent of your atrocities, but you sent chosen people throughout the land from Jerusalem to announce that a godless Christian heresy has appeared, and to tell about it everything that people who do not know us are making about us: you are guilty not only before yourself, but in general before all people” 1004. 8. He writes that before his time the gift of prophecy illuminated the Church 1005, and recalls the Revelation of John, claiming that it belongs to this apostle 1006; he cites several prophetic sayings 1007 and accuses Tryphon of the fact that the Jews threw them out of Scripture 1008. There are many other works of his 1009 among many brothers. 9 . In the old days they were considered worthy of attention; Irenaeus recalls his words and cites them in the 4th book “Against Heresies”: “Justin says beautifully in his essay against Marcion: “I would not believe the Lord Himself if He told me that next to the Creator there is another God” 1010. And in the 5th book of the same work, Irenaeus writes: “Justin said beautifully that before the coming of the Lord, Satan never dared to blaspheme God, since he did not yet know that he was condemned” 1011. 10. It is necessary to say this so that those who love to learn will carefully read his works. That's the thing about Justin. In the eighth year of the aforementioned reign, 1012, Bishop Anicetus, who ruled the Roman Church for eleven years, died; his successor was Soter 1013. The successor of Keladion, who stood at the head of the Alexandrian Church for 14 years 1014, was Agrippinus 1015. In the Antiochian Church, sixth after the apostles was Theophilus 1016; fourth after Heron was Cornelius 1017, and fifth on the ladder of succession was Eros 1018. This was the time when church writers flourished: Egesippus, whom we already know; Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth; Pinita 1019, Bishop of Crete; Philip 1020, Apollinaris 1021, Melito, Musan 1022 and Modestus 1023, and especially Irenaeus, whose writings brought to us the true, sound faith of the apostolic tradition. 1. Hegesippus, in five books that have come down to us, left a full account of his way of thinking. He says that during his trip to Rome he communicated with many bishops and heard the same teachings from everyone. This is how he concludes his conversation about Clement’s Epistle to the Corinthians: 2. “The Corinthian Church remained faithful until Primus, who was bishop in Corinth. I communicated with him on the way to Rome, where I was heading by sea, and spent enough days with the Corinthians, mutually comforted by our orthodoxy. 3. While in Rome, I compiled a list of bishops who successively succeeded each other right up to Anicetus. His deacon was Eleuther, Anicetus' successor was Soter; after him - Eleuther. In every succession and in every city everything goes as the Law, the Prophets and the Lord command.” 4. He also reports on the emergence of modern heresies: “After James the Righteous, who suffered for the same reason as the Lord, his cousin Simeon, the son of Cleopas, was appointed bishop. He was offered by everyone as the Lord's cousin. The Church at that time was called a pure virgin, because no one had yet seduced her with vain teaching. 5. Phebuthis, dissatisfied with the fact that he did not become a bishop, began to seduce her with the teaching of one of the seven heresies that existed among the people (he was one of them). From here came Simon and his followers - the Simonians; Kleobius and his followers are Kleobians; Dositheus and his followers are Dosithians; Gorpheus and his followers - Gorpheans and Masbotheans 1024. From them the Menandrians 1025, the Marcionites 1026, the Carpocratians 1027, the Valentinians 1028, the Basilidians 1029 and the Saturnilians 1030: each introduced his own teaching, different from others. 6. From them came false Christs, false prophets, false apostles; with their destructive speeches against God and Christ, they fragmented church unity.” 7. He also talks about the sects that have long existed among the Jews: “There were different rumors among the circumcision, that is, among the sons of Israel, about the tribe of Judah and about Christ: there were Essenes 1031, Galileans 1032, Hemerobaptists 1033, Masbothians, Samaritans 1034, Sadducees 1035, Pharisees" 1036. 8. He writes a lot about other things; We partly mentioned his stories, bringing them to the point and in a timely manner. He cites excerpts from the “Gospel of the Jews”, from the “Syrian Gospel” 1037, and translates something from Hebrew, thereby revealing that he is one of the Jews who accepted our faith. He also mentions something from the oral Jewish tradition. 9 . Not only he, but also Irenaeus 1038, and all the ancients called the Wisdom of Solomon's Proverbs. Speaking about the so-called apocrypha, he reports that some of them were compiled by contemporary heretics. But let's move on to something else. 1. First of all, we must say about Dionysius. He was entrusted with the episcopal see in Corinth. He generously shared the fruits of his inspired hard work not only with his flock, but also with foreigners. He brought the greatest benefit by addressing the Churches with ecumenical Messages. 2. There is an Epistle to the Lacedaemonians, instructing in orthodoxy and urging them to maintain peace and unity, and another to the Athenians, urging them to faith and life according to the Gospel. Dionysius reproaches the Athenians for frivolity; after their leader, Puplius 1039, died as a martyr during the persecution that happened then, they were ready to fall away from the faith. 3. He also remembers Codratus, who was their bishop after the tortured Puplius, and testifies that through his zeal they were gathered and rekindled with faith. He then tells us that Dionysius the Areopagite, who according to Acts 1040 was converted by the Apostle Paul, was the first bishop of Athens. 4. There is also his Epistle to the Nicomedia 1041, in which he refutes the heresy of Marcion and stands for the established truth. 5. Addressing the Church in Gortyn 1042 and the other Cretan Churches, he praises their Bishop Philip, for his Church has repeatedly testified to its faithfulness, and again reminds them to beware of the heretical infection. 6. Addressing the Church in Amastris 1043 and the other Pontic Churches, he recalls Bacchylides and Elpistos, who asked him to write this Epistle; interprets the Divine Scripture, calls their bishop Palma by name. He gives a lot of advice regarding marriage and chastity and orders them to accept in a friendly manner, if they have repented, those who have fallen, sinned, even those guilty of heretical error. 7. Among these Epistles there is one to the inhabitants of Knossos 1044: in it he convinces their bishop Pinitus not to force the heavy burden of chastity on the brothers and to take into account the fact that many are weak. 8. Pinit, in his answer, admires Dionysius, praises him, but in turn convinces him to give more solid food and to further feed the people entrusted to him with scriptures leading to perfection; It is impossible that, sitting all the time on teachings similar to liquid milk food, they will imperceptibly grow old as foolish children 1045. This Message clearly reveals the appearance of Pinit: his orthodoxy, concern for the benefit of those under his control, education and understanding of the Divine. 9 . Dionysius also has an Epistle to the Romans addressed to the then bishop Soter; It is best to cite his praise of the Roman custom, which survived until the contemporary persecution 1046: 10. “Initially, you had the custom of doing every kind of benefit to all the brothers and sending help to many Churches. You relieve the poor, supply parcels to the brothers in the mines. You, Romans, preserve the Roman custom, handed down from your fathers, to provide such assistance. Your blessed Bishop Soter not only observed it, but abundantly supplied the saints and, like a loving father, encouraged the brothers who came to him with kind words.” 11. In the same letter he also recalls Clement’s Epistle to the Corinthians, noting that, according to this custom, it is read in the Churches. “Today is the holy day of the Lord, and we have read your Message; Let us always read it for our own instruction, just as we read the one that Clement sent us even earlier.” 12. He also speaks about the forgery of his Messages: “The brothers asked me to write messages to them; I wrote them, but the apostles of the devil filled them with weeds 1047: they threw out one, added another - woe to them! It’s not surprising that they tried to falsify the Scriptures of the Lord, since they were busy with less important things.” 13. There is also a letter from Dionysius to the deeply religious sister Christophora, in which he provides spiritual food befitting her. 1. Theophilus, the bishop of the Antiochian Church we mentioned, has three books to Autolycus, setting out the principles of faith; a book entitled "Against the Heresy of Hermogenes 1048"; in it he uses evidence from the Revelation of John; There are other educational books as well. And since heretics, like tares, littered the clear field of apostolic teaching, church shepherds everywhere drove them away from the sheep of Christ, like ravenous beasts, either by instructing and convincing the brothers themselves, or by entering into open struggle with the enemy: they destroyed them with oral reasoning; irrefutably exposed their teaching with arguments from written sources. That Theophilus also acted with others in this struggle is clear from his excellent book against Marcion; it, along with the others we mentioned, has survived to this day. His successor was Maximin 1049, the seventh, counting from the apostles, bishop of the Antiochian Church. Philip, who, according to Dionysius, was a bishop in Gortyn, wrote a most thorough essay against Marcion. Irenaeus 1050 and Modest also wrote. The latter, more than the others, showed everyone firsthand the errors of this man. Many others also wrote; Their works are preserved to this day by many brothers. 1. At the same time, at the height of their glory were Melito, bishop of Sardis, and Apollinaris, bishop of Hierapolis, who - each separately - addressed the then Roman emperor with an Apology for our faith. 2. The following works of Meliton have come to our attention: “On Easter”, two books; “On the way of life and the prophets”; "About the Church"; "About the Day of the Lord"; “On human faith”; "About Creation"; “On the obedience of the senses to faith” and, in addition, “On the soul and body, or on the one”; "About Baptism"; “About truth, faith and the birth of Christ”; “On the prophecies about Him”; "On Hospitality"; "Key"; "About the Devil"; "On the Revelation of John"; “About God incarnate” and, finally, “Petition to Antonin”. 3. At the beginning of his essay “On Easter”, he indicates the time of its composition: “Under Servilius Paulus 1051, proconsul in Asia, at the time when Sagaris died as a martyr 1052, a great controversy arose in Laodicea 1053 about Easter, which in those days fell precisely at that very time. That’s when it was written.” 4. Clement of Alexandria recalls this book in his own book on Easter 1054, which, according to him, he compiled regarding Melito’s writings 1055. 5. “This has never happened: now in Asia, according to new edicts, pious people are being persecuted and persecuted. Shameless informers and lovers of other people’s things, based on these orders, openly commit robbery, robbing innocent people night and day.” 6. Then he says: “If this is done by your order, well, so be it! A just king will never make an unjust decision, and we will gladly accept this death as some kind of honor. We have only one request to you: first get to know those who caused such hatred, and decide fairly whether they deserve death and punishment or life and peace; if this order and the new edict do not come from you (it would not be appropriate to issue it even against barbarian enemies), then we ask you all the more: do not leave us to this open robbery.” “Our philosophy grew stronger and established itself first among the barbarians 1056; It flourished among your people during the great reign of Augustus, your ancestor. She brought happiness to your empire: since then both the power and glory of Rome have grown. You are their desired heir and you will remain with your son, preserving the philosophy 1057, which grew with the empire and began with the reign of Augustus; your ancestors honored it, like other religions. 8. But here is indisputable proof that for the benefit of the happily begun empire, our teaching grew and strengthened: starting from the reign of Augustus, no trouble came to Rome; on the contrary, through the prayers of everyone, everything was beautiful and glorious. 9 . Only Nero and Domitian, incited by some villains, wanted to slander our faith and since then, according to the senseless custom of denunciation, streams of lies have been pouring on us. 10. Your pious ancestors tried to correct this ignorant idea: they often sent written reprimands to those who dared to introduce any innovations regarding Christians. Your grandfather Hadrian wrote about this to many, including Fundanus, proconsul of Asia, and your father, when you were already his co-ruler, wrote to the cities so that there would be no innovations in relation to us: the Larisseans 1058, the Thessalonians, the Athenians and all the Greeks. 11. You share his thoughts on this matter; you are more humane and more devoted to philosophy - and we believe that you will do everything we ask of you” 1059. 12. All this is in the mentioned letter. He begins his “Eclogues” 1060, as a preface, with a list of generally accepted books of the Old Testament. This list should be provided here. He writes like this: 13. “Meliton greetings brother Onesimus. Out of zeal for our faith, you have often asked me to make you selections from the Law and the Prophets relating to the Savior and to our entire faith; you wanted to know exactly the number of Old Testament books and the order in which they are located. I tried to fulfill your desire, knowing your zeal for the faith and curiosity for its teaching; you consider this the most important thing, loving God and working for eternal salvation 1061. 14. I went to the East and reached those places 1062 where the Scriptures were preached and fulfilled, I found out exactly about the Old Testament books and sent you a list of them. Here are their names: the five books of Moses - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy; Joshua, Judges, Ruth, four books of Kings; two Chronicles, Psalms of David, Proverbs of Solomon, or the book of Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Job; prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah and the twelve in one book, Daniel, Ezekiel, Ezra 1063. From these I made selections, dividing them into six books” 1064. Enough has been said about Meliton. Many people have many books of Apollinaris; The following speeches to the said emperor have reached us; "To the Hellenes" in five books; “On Truth” two books; “To the Jews” two. Later he wrote against the Phrygian heresy 1065 (it blossomed wildly after a short time, but then only began to germinate) and against Montanus 1066, its creator, who had gone astray along with his imaginary prophetesses 1067. From Musan, whom we mentioned earlier, came a very strong admonishing word written to the brothers who had deviated into the heresy of the so-called Encratites 1068, which was then in its infancy and introduced a false, alien and destructive teaching. They say that Tatian led people astray. 1. Recently citing his words about the wondrous Justin, we said that he was a disciple of the martyr. Irenaeus confirms this in the 1st book “Against Heresies” and writes this about Tatian himself and his heresy: 2. “From Saturninus and Marcion came the so-called Encratites, who preached celibacy, denied the creation of the world by God and secretly accused Him of creating man and woman for the purpose of bearing children. In their ingratitude to God, the Creator of all, they introduced abstinence from what they called animate, and denied salvation to the first man. This is what they have invented, and this blasphemous teaching was brought by a certain Tatian. Justin's listener, while he was with him, did not proclaim anything like this; and after his martyrdom he left the Church and, in the child of teacher’s conceit, imagining himself above others, created his own teaching, composed some invisible eons, like Valentin’s; together with Marcion and Saturninus, he declared marriage destructive and debauchery 1069 and came up with evidence asserting the impossibility of salvation for Adam 1070.” 1071 4. This is what Irenaeus wrote then. After a short time, this heresy was strengthened by a certain Severus 1072, and its adherents began to be called Severians by his name. 5. They recognize the Law, the Gospels and the Prophets, but interpret the thoughts of the Holy Scriptures in their own way; They scold the Apostle Paul, reject his Epistles and do not accept Acts 1073. 6. Their former head, Tatian, compiled - I don’t know how - a set of four Gospels, calling it “The Gospel of Four” 1074; Some people still have it. They say that he dared to express the thoughts of the apostle in other words, under the pretext of correcting the style 1075. 7. Many works remained from him; many mention, as the most famous, the word “To the Hellenes,” in which, recalling the most ancient times, he declares that Moses and the Hebrew prophets are older than all those who are famous among the Hellenes 1076. This work seems to be the best and most useful of all his works 1077 . That's the thing about this man. 1. Under the same emperor, heresies multiplied in Mesopotamia, and a certain Bardesan 1078, a very gifted man with an excellent command of the Syriac language, compiled and wrote dialogues in his native language and in his native script against the followers of Marcion and other heresiarchs. He had many other works 1079. His 1080 disciples (there were many of them, for he was a strong dialectician) translated them from Syriac into Greek. 2. Among these works there is a very convincing dialogue with Antoninus about the fate of 1081; they say there are other works written about the persecution of that time. 3. Bardesan previously belonged to the school of Valentin, but, having realized many of his inventions and refuted them, he decided that he himself had returned to the thoughts of the faithful. However, he did not completely clean off the dirt of the old heresy of 1082. Primus - Bishop of Alexandria in 109–120. Alexander (Alexandrion) - Bishop of Rome in 109–119. According to legend, he suffered martyrdom - he was burned in an oven on the orders of Adrian. Memory March 16. Cyrene is a city founded by the Greeks ca. 630 BC e. on the African coast of the Mediterranean Sea between Greater Sirte and Marmarika. From 96 BC e. under the rule of Rome. Dio Cassius reports rumors of cannibalism among the Jews during this revolt (Cass. Dio. LXVIII.32). Marcus Rutilius Lupus was prefect of Alexandria from 113–117. See also: Cass. Dio. LXVIII. 32; LXIX. 12. Dio Cassius calls him Andrew (Cass. Dio. LXVIII. 32). We are talking about the province of Mesopotamia, founded in 115 on the territories captured by Trajan between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Lucius Quietus († 118) - Roman general and ruler of Judea in 117. About the revolt of the Jews 115–117. wrote Appian, Arrian and Dio Cassius. See: Pucci M. La rivolta ebraica in Egitto (115–117 d. C.) nella storiografia antica // Aegiptus. Vol. 62. 1982. P. 195–217. Compare: Theoph. Ad Out. III. 27 (19 years, 6 months and 16 days); Eutr. VIII. 5. 1 (19 years, 6 months and 15 days). Trajan died at the age of 64 on August 7, 117, when he was returning to Rome from a campaign in Parthia. Publius Aelius Hadrian (76–138) – cousin of Trajan; quaestor in 101; tribune of the people in 105; commander of the legion during the second campaign against the Dacians (106); praetor in 107; consul in 108; legate of Pannonia and Syria; thanks to the influence of the Empress Plotina, he was adopted by Trajan before his death; became Roman emperor on August 11, 117. About him, see: SHA. Adr. Aristides Marcian - one of the first Christian apologists; originally from Athens; According to legend, he suffered martyrdom. In addition to the Apology, two more texts have reached us under the name of Aristides - the homily “On the Appeal of the Thief and the Answer of the Crucified One” and an excerpt from the “Message to all Philosophers”; The attribution of these works to Aristide is now disputed by many researchers. On Aristide, see: Chron. Olymp. 226; Hier. Vir. ill. XX; Hier. Er. 70 ad Magnum. About the time of compilation of the Apology, see: Grant R. M. Greek Apologists of the Second Century. Philadelphia, 1988, pp. 38–39. Also see: Hier. Vir. ill. XX. About the addressee of the Apology, see: Haase F. Der Adressat der Aristides Apologie // Theologische Quartalschrift. Jg. 14–15.1917–1918. S. 422–429. For a long time, Aristide's Apology was considered lost. However, thanks to the discoveries of the 70–80s. XIX century We now have three versions of this text - Greek, Syriac and Armenian. See: Aristides. Apologie/Ed. V. Pouderon. Paris, 2003. For a Russian translation of all three versions, see: Writings of ancient Christian apologists. St. Petersburg, 1999, pp. 275–336. On the “Apology” see: Alfonsi L. La teologia della storia ne1GApologia di Aristide // Augustinianum. Vol. 16. 1976. P. 37–40; Lattke M. Der Tod Jesu Christi in der Apologie des Aristides. Eine Fallstudie mit forschungsgeschichtlicher Einleitung und Bibliographie // Christianity Early. Vol. 1.2010. P. 575–601; ÓCeallaigh G. S. “Marcianus” Aristides on the worship of God // Harvard Theological Review. Vol. 51.1958. P. 227–254; Palmer D. W. Atheism, Apologetic, and Negative Theology in the Greek Apologists of the Second Century // Vigiliae Christianae. Vol. 37.1983. No. 3. P. 234–259; Idem. War der Apologet Aristides ein Mann von Bildung? // Frühchristentum und Kultur/Hrsg, von F. R. Prostmeier. Freiburg; Basel; Wien, 2007. S. 35–74; Wolff R. L. The Apology of Aristides. A Re-examination // Harvard Theological Review. Vol. 30.1937. P. 233–247. Third year of Hadrian's reign - August 119 to August 10, 120 Xistus (Sixtus I) - Bishop of Rome in 119–129. He suffered martyrdom (beheaded) under Hadrian. See also: Chron. Olymp. 221. Justus - Bishop of Alexandria in 120–131. The Romans besieged the Jews, who fortified themselves during the Second Jewish War on the site of Jerusalem destroyed in 70 by Titus, in 132–135. Eusebius talks about the Second Jewish War below: IV. 6. 1–3. See also: Chron. Olymp. 225. The twelfth year of the reign of Hadrian - from August 11, 128 to August 10, 129. Telesphorus - Bishop of Rome in 129–139. Eumenes - Bishop of Alexandria in 131–144. In the Chronicle of Eusebius-Jerome - thirteen years (Chron. Olymp. 227). The reason for the uprising was the attempt of the Romans to build a city on the site of the destroyed Jerusalem, which was supposed to be given the name Aelia Capitolina, and on the site of the demolished Temple of Jerusalem - the Church of Jupiter Capitolinus for the worship of the emperor. The dissatisfaction of the Jews was also caused by Hadrian's decision to ban castration - circumcision also fell under this ban (Dig. 48. 4. 2). See: SHA. Adr. 14. 2. The uprising involved primarily the lower classes of Jewish society; At the first stage, Christians also supported him. On the Second Jewish War, see: Cass. Dio. LXIX. 12–14. See also: Appelbaum S. Points of view on the second Jewish revolt // Scripta classica Israelica. Vol. 7.1983–1984. P. 77–87; Eck W. Rom herausfordern. Bar Kochba im Kampf gegen das Imperium Romanum. Das Bild des Bar Kochba-Aufstandes im Spiegel der neuen epigraphischen Überlieferung. Rom, 2007; Idem. The Bar Kokhba Revolt: the Roman point of view // Journal of Roman Studies. Vol. 89. 1999. P. 76–89; Marks M. The Image of Bar Kokhba in Traditional Jewish Literature: False Messiah and National Hero. University Park (PA), 1994; Reznick L. The Mystery of Bar Kokhba. Northvale, 1996; The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered: New Perspectives on the Second Jewish Revolt Against Rome/Ed. P. Schafer. Tübingen, 2003; Schafer P. Der Vahr-Kokhba-Aufstand. Studien zum 2. judischen Krieg gegen Rom. Tubingen, 1981. Tiny Rufus, procurator of Judea under Hadrian In total, there were about 200,000 people in the ranks of the rebels. This refers to Simon, the leader of the Second Jewish Revolt, who proclaimed himself the messiah and took the name “Bar Kokhba” (“son of the star”) Simon's enemies called him "Bar-Cosita" ("son of lies"). Wed. prophecy of Balaam (Numbers 24:17). The eighteenth year of the reign of Hadrian - from August 11, 134 to August 10, 135. Beter is a city southwest of Jerusalem. Ariston of Pella - Christian apologist and historian of the 2nd century. Eusebius refers to his work “The History of the War with Bar Kokhba”, now lost. Mark – 16th Bishop of Jerusalem; occupied the department in 135–156; suffered martyrdom. Memory October 22. Saturninus (Satornil) (c. 100 - c. 150) - heresiarch, representative of Antiochian Gnosticism, who tried to combine Gnostic dualism with anti-Judaism. Saturnin contrasted the incomprehensible God the Father, the Creator of the hierarchy of angels, with the kingdom of Satan, who rules over matter. He attributed the creation of the world not to the Father, but to seven angels, among whom he included the Jewish God. In his opinion, there are two kinds of people - good (from the Father) and evil (from Satan). Saturninus denied the act of the Incarnation of the Savior and argued that Jesus Christ was a man only in appearance. The path of people to the Father, which Jesus indicated, lies, as he believed, through strict world-denying asceticism (refusal of animal food, marriage, etc.). See: Iren. Adv. haer. I. 24. 1–2. On the teachings of Saturninus, see also: Karsavin L.P. Decree. op. pp. 21–22. Basilides is one of the most prominent representatives of Egyptian Gnosticism, who taught in Alexandria between 120 and 140. The system he created is clearly emanational in nature (the creation of the world through outflow) with a hidden dualistic basis (God the Father and Christ (His original Mind) are opposed to the world-creating angels). The universe, he argued, consists of 365 heavens. Basilides denied the reality of Christ's suffering and spoke of the purely ideal nature of atonement. He considered the Jewish God to be the head of the world-creating angels, who wished to subjugate all nations to the Jews and, for this reason, came into conflict with the rest of the “powers.” See: Iren. Adv. haer. 1.24.1,3–7; Hipp. Philos. VII. 20–27; Tert. Res. cam. 2; Clem. Alex. Strom. II. 3.10; 8.36. On the teachings of Basilides, see also: Karsavin L.P. Decree. op. pp. 26–30; Löhr W. A. Basilides und seine Schule: Eine Studie zur Theologie- und Kirchengeschichte des zweiten Jahrhunderts. Tubingen, 1996. In Alexandria (Iren. Adv. haer. 1.24. 1).v Iren. Adv. haer. 1.24. 1. See: Iren. Adv. haer. 1.24.3. Agrippa Castor is one of the representatives of the early Christian anti-Gnostic tradition; his works have not survived. About him see: Hier. Vir. Ill. XXI. That is, meat sacrificed. See: Iren. Adv. haer. I. 24. 5. Carpocrates - a prominent representative of Egyptian Gnosticism, who lived in the first half of the 2nd century; founder of the pneumatic sect; developed mystic-theosophical teachings, synthesizing elements of Christianity, Gnosticism and late Platonism; argued that the world was created not by the Supreme God, but by angels who rebelled against Him; downplayed the role of Jesus Christ in the economy of salvation, calling Him an ordinary man with a special gift of knowledge of hidden things, to whom the Father gave the power to ascend to Him. See: Iren. Adv. haer. I. 25; Epiph. Adv. omn. haer. XXX. See also: Kraft H. Gab es einen Gnostiker Karpocrates? // Theologische Zeitschrift. Bd. 8. 1952. S. 434–443. Iren. Adv. haer. 1.25. 6. A cenotaph (“empty grave”) is a funerary monument for a deceased person whose remains are either buried elsewhere or have not been found. Antinous is a young man of extraordinary beauty; originally from the Bithynian city of Claudiopolis; slave and favorite of Emperor Hadrian; in 130, during Hadrian's trip to Egypt, he drowned in the Nile: according to one version, Antinous, in religious ecstasy, threw himself into the river, hoping with his sacrifice to invoke a blessing on the emperor; according to another, he committed suicide due to melancholy and satiety with life. Inconsolable Hadrian proclaimed Antinous a god. Churches and statues were erected in his honor throughout the Empire. See: SHA. Adr. XIV. 5–7; Aur. Vict. Caes. XIV. 6. The story of Antinous has become a common place in Christian anti-pagan polemics, see: Just. Apol. I. 29; Athenag. Leg. 30; Theoph. Ad Out. III. 8; Tert. Ad nat. II. 10; Athan. Contra gen. 9. By order of Hadrian, the Egyptian city of Beza, near which Antinous drowned, was renamed Antinopolis. Antoninus Pius (“First Apology”). Gaius Minucius Fundanus was proconsul of Asia in 122–123. Quintus Licinius Silvanius Granianus was proconsul of Asia in 121–122. Just. Apol. 1.69. This rescript was sent to Minucius Fundan in 123. About him, see: Keresztes P. The Emperor Hadrian's Rescript to Minucius Fundanus // Phoenix. Vol. 21. 1967. P. 120–129. Regarding Hadrian's attitude towards Christians, see also his letter to the consul Servian (SHA. Quad. tyr. VIII). The exact figure is given by St. Theophilus of Antioch - 20 years, 10 months and 28 days (Theoph. Ad Aut. III. 27). Wed: SHA. Adr. XXV. 11; Eutr. VIII. 7.3; Aur. Vict. Caes. XIV. 12; Epit. XIV. 1. Hadrian died at the age of 63 on July 10, 138. Titus Aelius Hadrian Antoninus Pius (86–161) – came from a Gallic senatorial family; consul 120; proconsul of Asia in 134–135; February 25, 138 adopted by Hadrian; became Roman Emperor on July 19, 138. About him, see: SHA. Pius. Julius Capitoli gives several reasons why Antoninus received the nickname Pius (“The Pious”) from the Senate - for his respect for his elders; for mercy towards people condemned by Adrian before his death; for the immeasurable honors shown to the late Adrian; for preventing the suicide of Adrian, who was suffering from a painful illness; for natural kindness (SHA. Pius. II. 3–7) The first year of the reign of Antoninus Pius was from July 19, 138 to July 18, 139. Hyginus - Bishop of Rome in 139–143. Memory of January 11. Iren. Adv. haer. HI. 3. 3. Eusebius quotes the relevant passage below: V. 6.4–5. Valentine (f c. 160) is one of the most famous representatives of Egyptian Gnosticism of the first half of the 2nd century; until 135 he preached in Alexandria, then in Rome. The core of his philosophical system was the doctrine of Pleroma (the absolute fullness of being) - a blissful spiritual world formed by fifteen pairs of male and female eons, ideal essences. He argued that the animate corporeal world arose because one of the aeons (Wisdom) lost part of its essence in chaos; Human souls were freed from the power of the body thanks to the revelation from the Pleroma. See: Iren. Adv. haer. I. 5. 4; 6; 11 et seq.; Tert. Adv. Val.; Tert. Praes. haer. 7, 10, 30, 33–34 et seq.; Tert. Carn. Chr. 1,15,17 et seq.; Tert. Res. cam. 2.56; Hipp. Philos. VI. 20.35 et seq. Rus. lane see: Valentina School. Fragments and evidence/Ed. E. V. Afonasina. St. Petersburg, 2002; Afonasin E. V. Gnosis. Fragments and evidence. St. Petersburg, 2008. About the teachings of Valentin, see: Karsavin L.P. Decree. op. pp. 30–35; Posnoe M.E. Gnosticism of the 2nd century and the victory of the Christian Church over it. Kyiv, 1917. P. 476–503; Markschies Ch. Valentinus Gnosticus?: Untersuchungen zur valentinianischen Gnosis; mit einem Kommentar zu den Fragmenten Valentins. Tubingen, 1992. Kerdon - Gnostic philosopher; a native of Syria; preached in Rome in the 40s. II century According to Irenaeus, he was a follower of Simon Magus. At the heart of his theosophical system was the distinction between the God of the Old Testament and God the Father. See: Iren. Adv. haer. 1.27.1. Marcion of Pontus (85 - ca. 180) is a prominent representative of the Gnostic tradition; developing Kerdon's ideas, he emphasized the contrast between God the Creator (the evil God of the Law) and God the Father (the all-good God), who, in his opinion, are in constant struggle. In his system, Christ acted as the “good God,” the savior of people from the oppression of the Old Testament God. Marcion was often accused of falsifying a number of New Testament texts. He had many followers. See: Iren. Adv. haer. I. 27. 2–4; Tert. Adv. Marc; Tert. Praes. haer. 7, 10, 30 et seq.; Tert. Cam. Chr. 1 et seq.; Tert. Res. earn. 2, 56. About the teachings of Marcion, see: Bratukhin A. Yu. Works and days of Tertullian // Quintus Septimius Florence Tertullian. Against Marcion... P. 36–43; Karsavin L. P. Decree. op. pp. 35–38; Morev M.P. Marcion from Sinope: the first reformer of Christianity: author's abstract. diss... k.i. n. Saratov, 2002; Blackman E. S. Marcion and His Influence. London, 1948; HarnackA. Marcion. Das Evangelium vom fremden Gott. Leipzig, 1924. Bd. 1–2; Hoffmann R. J. Marcion: On the Restitution of Christianity. An Essay on the Development of Radical Paulist Theology in the Second Century. Chico (CA), 1984; Marcion und seine kirchengeschichtliche Wirkung/Marcion and his Impact on Church History/Hrsg. von G. May und K. Greschat. Berlin; New York, 2001; May K. Markion. Gesammelte Aufsätze /Hrsg. von K. Greschat und M. Meiser. Mainz, 2005; Moll S. The Arch-Heretic Marcion. Tübingen, 2010; Williams D. S. Reconsidering Marcion's Gospel // Journal of Biblical Literature. Vol. 108.1989. P. 477–496. Pius - Bishop of Rome in 143-157. Memory 11 July. Anicetus - Bishop of Rome in 157-168. Memory April 17. See about this: Tert. Praes. haer. 30. Iren. Adv. haer. III. 4.3. Iren. Adv. haer. 1.27.1–2. Mark is a student of Valentinus, who tried to combine Gnosticism with the philosophy of Pythagoras; his students revered him as a prophet; believed, like Menander, the creation of the world was not the work of God, but of angels; spread his teachings mainly in the province of Asia. About him see: Iren. Adv. haer. I. 13. 1–5; 14. 1 et seq.; Tert. Res. earn. 5; Hipp. Philos. VI. 39. We are talking about the second baptism (the so-called “redemption”), which the followers of Mark practiced, hoping to enter inside the Pleroma, that is, to achieve absolute being. They distinguished this “spiritual” baptism, leading to perfection, from the first “spiritual” baptism, performed for the sake of liberation from sinfulness. See: Iren. Adv. haer. I. 21. These words meant: “I call on that which is above all the power of the Father, which is called light, good spirit and life, because you reigned in the body” (Iren. Adv. haer. 1.21.3). Iren. Adv. haer. 1.21. 3. See also: Epiph. Adv. omn. haer. XXXIV. 20. Mark II (Marcian) - Bishop of Alexandria in 144–154. Memory January 1. Keladion - Bishop of Alexandria in 154-168. This passage from Egesippus is quoted below by Eusebius: IV. 22.3. Eleutherius - Bishop of Rome in 177-189; before that he was a deacon of the Roman Church. Memory May 26. In the "First Apology" (Just. Apol. 1.26). According to Tertullian, Marcion was a shipbuilder from the province of Pontus (Tert. Praes. haer. 30). This work of Justin is also lost. This refers to the treatise “Against the Hellenes,” which has not reached us. The Second Apology of Justin was addressed to the Roman Senate, the reason for its writing was the execution of three Christians in Rome. According to a number of researchers, the time of creation of the Second Apology is close to the time of writing the First, i.e. approx. 150. We, however, believe that it was published in the 70s. II century under Marcus Aurelius (after the death of Lucius Verus). Verissimus (The Most Truthful) is the nickname of the future emperor Marcus Aurelius, which was given to him after the death of his father Annius Verus by Emperor Hadrian (SHA. Mage. 1.10). Lucius Ceionius Commodus Verus (130–169) – son of Lucius Aelius Verus; adopted by Emperor Antoninus Pius and became known as Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus Verus; was co-emperor of Marcus Aurelius in 161–169. and the husband of his daughter Lucilla. About him see: SHA. Ver. Eusebius, quoting Justin, changes the case in the word “philosopher” from dative to genitive. Therefore, his definition of “philosopher” refers not to Lucius Verus mentioned above, but to his father Lucius Aelius Verus, who was adopted in 136 by Emperor Hadrian, but died on January 1, 138 (about him, see: SHA.Ael.). Flavius ​​Naples is a city in central Samaria between Mount Gerizim and Ebal, founded in 72 by Vespasian, 2 km west of the ruins of Shechem. The explosion of hostility against Christians in the province of Asia was caused by the fact that they were held responsible for a series of devastating earthquakes that struck the area in the late 50s. II century The Asian Assembly is one of the provincial councils, consisting of representatives of different communities. The competence of such councils, among other things, included religious affairs. The version of this message contained in the First Apology appears as "Titus Aelius Adrian Antoninus Augustus" (Just. Apol. 1.70) - the official name of the emperor Antoninus Pius. Eusebius gives the official name of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. The reading of Eusebius is certainly preferable due to the coincidence of dates - both the fifteenth year of the tribunicate and the third consulate of Marcus Aurelius fall in 161, while the fifteenth year of the tribune of Antoninus Pius falls in 153, and his third consulate in 140. Therefore, the epistle was written by Marcus Aurelius between March 7 (the date of death of Antoninus Pius) and December 9 (date of expiration of consular powers of Marcus Aurelius) 161 Perhaps the discrepancy in the manuscripts of Justin and Eusebius is due to the fact that the letter was prepared during the life of Antoninus Pius, but was sent to Asia after his death on behalf of his successor Marcus Aurelius. Pontifex Maximus, head of the College of Pontiffs. Unlike the text cited by Justin, where the words “to my father” appear, in Eusebius we read: “to our father.” This is quite natural, since the author of the letter for Justin is Antoninus Pius, the only son (adopted) of Hadrian, and for Eusebius it is Marcus Aurelius, who was not the only son (also adopted) of Antoninus Pius. The pronoun “our” implies two co-emperor emperors: Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. The mention of the appeal of the provincial rulers, which apparently points to Hadrian (see above: IV. 8.6–9.3), may have been included in the text of the message from the original version, which testifies in favor of the version of a hasty change of authorship. The fact of the authorship of Marcus Aurelius also once again proves that the series of documents completing Justin's First Apology was added to it later either by the author himself or by subsequent editors. Meliton of Sardis († before 190) - famous Christian apologist of the 2nd century; first compiler of the list of canonical books of the Old Testament; Bishop of Sardis; supporter of Asian bishops in the dispute over the timing of Easter; author of numerous works, a list of which Eusebius gives in IV. 26.2 (cf.: Hier. Vir. ill. XXIV). Of these, the homily “On Easter” (discovered in 1940), as well as fragments of the works “On Soul and Body”, “Apology”, “Eclogues”, “On Baptism”, “On the Cross”, “On Faith” and “On the Resurrection” have been preserved. See: Méliton de Sardes. Sur la Pâque et fragments/Ed. 0.Perler. Paris, 1966. Rus. trans.: Works of St. Melitona, en. Sardinian. About Easter. About soul and body. Fragments/Trans. from Greek A. G. Dunaeva // Works of ancient Christian apologists. pp. 419–693. About Meliton, see: Aasgaard R. Among Gentiles, Jews and Christians. Formation of Christian Identity in Melito of Sardis // Religious Rivalries and the Struggle for Success in Sardis and Smyrna/Ed. R. S. Ascough. Waterloo, 2005, pp. 156–174; Cantalamessa R. Mcliton de Sardes. Une christologie agnostique du IIe siècle // Revue des Sciences Religieuses. Vol. 37.1963. P. 1–26; Cohick L.H. The "Péri Pascha" Attributed to Melito of Sardis: Setting, Purpose and Sources. Providence (RI), 2000; Daniélou J. Figure et événement chez Méliton de Sardes // Neotestamentica et Patristica: Festschrift für O. Cullmann. Leiden, 1962. P. 282–292; Hall S. G. Melito in the Light of the Passover Haggadah // Journal of Theological Studies. NS. Vol. 22. 1971. P. 29–46; Knapp H. M. Melitós Use of Scripture in “Peri Pascha”: Second Century Typology // Vigiliae Christianae. Vol. 54.2000. P. 343–374; Noakes K. W. Melito of Sardis and the Jews // Studia Patristica. Vol. 13. Part 2.1975. P. 244–249; Peterson E. Ps.-Cyprian “Adversus Iudaeos” und Méliton von Sardes // Vigiliae Christianae. Vol. 6.1952. P. 33–43. The only surviving passages from Melito's Apology are in Eusebius' Ecclesiastical History (IV. 26.4–7). According to him, this work was called “Petition to Antonin” (IV. 26. 2). It was probably written in the 70s. II century Wed: Chron. Olymp. 237. This refers to the emperor Marcus Aurelius, who after his adoption by Antoninus Pius bore the name Marcus Aelius Aurelius Verus. Polycarp visited Rome ca. 155 He failed to reach an agreement with Anicetus of Rome about the time of celebrating Easter. However, they remained in communication with each other. Eusebius quotes the corresponding passage from the Epistle of Irenaeus to the Bishop of Rome Victor in V. 24. 16. Iren. Adv. haer. III. 3.4. Polyc. Ad Philip. 1. 2; 2. 1–2; 5. 3; 7.2; 8. 1; 10.2. Polycarp quotes the following passages from 1 Peter: 1 Peter 1:8,13,21; 2:11,12,22,24; 3:9; 4:7. Antoninus Pius died on March 7, 161 in the 23rd year of his reign (Eutr. VIII. 8. 4; cf.: Epit. XV. 1). St. Theophilus of Antioch (Theoph. Ad Aut. III. 27) quite accurately calculates the duration of his reign - 22 years, 7 months and 6 days (actually 18 days). Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121–180) came from a senatorial family originating from Spain; nephew of Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius. In 138, before his death, Emperor Hadrian ordered his successor Antoninus Pius to adopt Marcus Aurelius. In 145, Marcus Aurelius married Antoninus Pius' daughter Faustina the Younger; in 146 he was proclaimed co-ruler of his adoptive father and father-in-law. Marcus Aurelius ascended the throne on March 7, 161; until February 169 he ruled together with Lucius Verus. About him see: SHA. Marc. Lucius Verus was not Marcus Aurelius' brother by blood; they were considered brothers by adoption. Philomelius is a city in southeastern Phrygia; at the time described it belonged to the province of Asia. Germanicus is one of the twelve Philadelphia martyrs. Memory January 19. This refers to Statius Quadratus, proconsul of the province of Asia in 167. Phrygia is an ancient region that occupied the interior of western Asia Minor. Wed. the words of the disciples of the Apostle Paul in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 21:14). Irinarch is an official responsible for public order in the city. Fortuna is the goddess of happiness and good fortune. During the era of the Empire, the cult of Fortune, the protector of the emperor, became the most important element of the imperial cult; her image can be found on the coins of almost all Roman emperors of that time. Asiarchs were officials in the Roman province of Asia whose duties included overseeing religious spectacles and public performances; mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 19:31). Centurion - centurion, commander of a detachment of one hundred warriors. Philadelphia is a city in Lydia on the Cogam River southeast of Sardis. Metropolitan - presbyter of the Smyrna Church; one of the 12 Philadelphia martyrs. Memory January 19. Pionius – presbyter of the Smyrna Church; According to legend, after torture he was crucified and then burned. The martyrdom of Pionius is usually associated with the later persecution under Decius. Memory of March 11. Martyrium Pionii presbyteri et sodalium // The Acts of the Christian martyrs. Oxford, 1972, pp. 137–166. Pergamum is a city near the Caicus River in western Mysia in northwestern Asia Minor near the coast of the Aegean Sea; formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Pergamon. Karp - Bishop of the Tiatira Church (northern Lydia); Papila is a deacon of the same Church. According to legend, Karp and Papila were captured and, after torture, sent, tied to horses, from Thyatira to Sardis. Their servant Agathodorus voluntarily went with them. In Sardis they were subjected to torture, from which Agathodorus died. Then Karp and Papila were again tied to horses and sent to Pergamon, where, after severe torture, they were thrown into the oven. However, they were miraculously unharmed, and heavy rain extinguished the fire. Then Karp and Papila were beheaded. Their memory is celebrated on October 13. The martyrdom of Carpus and Papila is often attributed to a later time (252). Agathonika is the sister of Deacon Papila, beheaded together with him and Bishop Carpus in Pergamon. The death of Justin the Philosopher is described in the work “The Martyrdom of the Holy Martyrs Justin, Chariton, Charito, Evelpist, Hieracus, Paeon and Liverian (Valerian),” which has come down to us in several editions. See: Writings of ancient Christian apologists. pp. 362–372. Criscent (Crescent) - Roman Cynic philosopher Ser. II century This refers to the statement of Socrates: “No one should be preferred to the truth” (Plat. Resp. X. 595c). In fact, in the writings of Tatian that have come down to us, there is not a single piece of evidence that Criscent is responsible for the martyrdom of Justin the Philosopher. As for “Martyrdom,” the city prefect of Rome in 160–167/168 appears as the persecutor of Justin and his comrades. Quintus Junius Rusticus. Tatian (beginning of the 2nd century - ca. 175) - Christian writer of the 2nd century; born in Syria into a pagan family; received an excellent education, traveled a lot, settled in Rome in adulthood and converted to Christianity there; was a student of Justin Martyr; soon after the death of his teacher he returned to Syria and probably joined the Gnostics. The author of numerous works, of which only the “Apology” has come down to us (Tatian. Oratio ad Graecos and Fragments / Ed. M. Whittaker. Oxford, 1982; Russian translation: Tatian. Speech against the Hellenes // Works of ancient Christian apologists. P. 10–45; Tatian. Word to the Hellenes // Early Christian apologists of the 2nd–4th centuries. Translations and research. M., 2000. pp. 93–117). Tatian's greatest fame was brought to him by his so-called. The Diatessaron is a compendium of the four Gospels, preserved in fragments and later translations. About Tatiana, see: Iren. Adv. haer. I. 28. 1; Clem Alex. Strom. III. 12.81; Hier. Vir. ill. XXIX; Epiph. Adv. omn. haer. 1.1. See also: Afinogenov D. E. To whom is Tatian's apology addressed? // Bulletin of ancient history. 1990. No. 1. P. 167–174; It's him. Tatian and his “Word to the Hellenes” in a historical context // Early Christian Apologists... P. 80–92; Mayorov G. G. Decree. op. pp. 62–65; Skvortsov K. Christian philosopher Tatian // Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy. 1867. No. 4. P. 3–24; Grant R. M. The Date of Tatian’s Oration // Harvard Theological Review. Vol. 46.1953. P. 99–101; Droge A. Op. cit. P. 82–101; Elze M. Tatian und seine Theologie. Göttingen, 1960; Clarke G. W. The Date of the Oration of Tatian // Harvard Theological Review. Vol. 60.1967. P. 122–126; AIfonsi L. Taziano e i barbari: Una nota // Romanobarbarica. Vol. 2.1977. P. 5–9; Petersen W. L. Tatian's Diatessaron: Its Creation, Dissemination, Significance and History in Scholarship. Leiden, 1994; Hunt E. J. Christianity in the 2nd Century: The Case of Tatian. London, 2003; Zola N. J. Tatian's Diatessaron and the Passion Chronology: Dissertation. Abilene (TX), 2009. This phrase is absent from surviving manuscripts of Justin's writings. Eusebius misunderstands the text of Tatian, who in this place is not talking about people like Criscentus, but about demons deceiving people with “miracles” of healing. This refers to pagan philosophers who received money from the Roman emperors for teaching. In fact, the story below is contained in Justin's Second Apology. Quintus Lollius Urbicus - Roman statesman Ser. II century; under Antoninus Pius, legate of Britain, who successfully fought with local tribes (SHA. Ant. V. 4), then, in 146–160, prefect of Rome. Most likely a reference to Lucius Verus. These words should not be taken as evidence that the addressee of the Second Apology was Antoninus Pius and his sons. Justin only wants to say that the actions of Lollius Urbicus cast a shadow on any emperor who seeks to be known as a pious philosopher Caesar. This work is also mentioned by the blessed one. Jerome (Hier. Cat. Scr. eccl. XXIII). For a long time it was identified with the “Speech to the Hellenes” that has come down to us, a small apologetic treatise of five chapters (Russian translation: St. Justin, Philosopher and Martyr. Op. cit. pp. 389–394), which now raises serious doubts among most researchers. Many scientists believe that in this case we are talking about an essay that has come down to us under the title “Exhortation to the Hellenes” (Russian translation: Ibid. pp. 401–449). This work is often identified with the surviving treatise “On the Autonomy (of God)” (Russian translation: Ibid. pp. 455–464). This work has not reached us. The essay “On the Soul” has also not survived. This work is dedicated to a certain Marcus Pompey, about whom we know nothing. Tryphon is an educated Jew who fled after the Second Jewish War to Corinth, where he began to zealously study philosophy; a dispute with Justin the Philosopher took place during his trip to Ephesus (Just. Dial. 1). Ibid. 82. Justin proves that the prophetic gift was lost by the Jews and became the property of Christians. Ibid. 81. Justin quotes the Apocalypse in connection with the question of the thousand-year reign of Christ. Ibid. 71. Justin proves that the Jews distorted the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Justin’s works also often include “Epistle to Diognitus” and “On the Resurrection” (Russian translation: Epistle to Diognitus / Translation by A. S. Desnitsky // Early Christian Apologists of the 2nd–4th centuries: Translations and Research. M., 2000. pp. 122–132). Iren. Adv. haer. IV. 6.2. The eighth year of the reign of Marcus Aurelius - from March 7, 168 to March 6, 169. Soter - Bishop of Rome in 169-177. See also: Chron. Olymp. 233. Agrippinus - Bishop of Alexandria in 168-180. Memory January 30. St. Theophilus of Antioch († 176) - Christian apologist and church leader of the 2nd century; born into a pagan family; received an excellent education; converted to Christianity and became a zealous preacher of the new faith; Bishop of Antioch 168–176 The author of numerous works (see their list below: IV. 24; cf. also: Hier. Cat. Scr. eccl. XLVIII), of which only the apologetic treatise “Epistle to Autolycus on the Christian Faith” has reached us (Theophilus of Antioch. Ad Autolycum/Ed. R. M. Grant. Oxford, 1970; Russian translation: Theophilus of Antioch. To Autolycus // Writings of ancient Christian apologists. pp. 128–191). About Theophilus and his works, see: Gusev D. St. Theophilus of Antioch. Kazan, 1898; Skvortsov K. Philosophical teaching of Theophilus of Antioch // Proceedings of the Kyiv Theological Academy. 1867. No. 8. P. 193–214; It's him. The philosophy of the fathers and teachers of the Church during the period of the apologists. Kyiv, 1868. P. 80–101; Droge A. Op. cit. R. 102–123; Prostmeier F. R. “Zeig mir deinen Gott!” Einführungin das Christentum für Eliten // Frühchristentum und Kultur/Hrsg. von F. R. Prostmeier. Freiburg; Basel; Wien, 2007. S. 155–182; Idem. Der Logos im Paradies. Theophilos von Antiochia und der Diskurs über eine zutreffende theologische Sprache // Logos der Vernunft – Logos des Glaubens/Hrsg. von F. R. Prostmeier und H. E. Lona. Berlin; New York, 2010. S. 207–228; Rogers R. Theophilus of Antioch: The Life and Thought of a Second-Century Bishop. Lanham (MD), 2000. Cornelius - Bishop of Antioch in 127-140. Eros - Bishop of Antioch in 140-168. Pinit († 180) - church leader and writer of the second half of the 2nd century; Bishop of Knossos on Crete. Memory October 10. About him, see below: IV. 23. 7–8. See also: Hier. Vir. ill. XXVIII. Philip († 180) - church leader and writer of the second half of the 2nd century; Bishop of Gortyna in Crete; author of the essay “Against Marcion,” now lost. Memory April 11. About him, see below: IV. 25. See also: Hier. Vir. ill. XXX. Claudius Apollinaris († after 175) - church leader and Christian apologist of the second half of the 2nd century; Bishop of Hierapolis of Phrygia; a resolute opponent of Montanism. The author of numerous works, fragments of which are preserved in the works of Eusebius and Jerome. Memory January 8. See below: IV. 27; V. 16–17. See also: Hier. Vir. ill. XXVI. Musan - church writer and polemicist of the second half of the 2nd century; actively fought against encratitis. His essay against this sect has not reached us. See below: IV. 28. See also: Hier. Vir. ill. XXXI. Modest - church writer and polemicist of the second half of the 2nd century; strongly opposed the Marcionites; his accusatory “Tale against Marcion” has not survived. See below: IV. 25. See also: Hier. Vir. ill. XXXII. The Cleobians, Dosithians, Gorpheans and Masbotheians represented different trends in Samaritanism. Menandrians are followers of the heresiarch Menander. See above: III. 26.1–3. Marcionites are followers of the heresiarch Marcion. See above: IV. 10; 11.7–9. Carpocrats are followers of the heresiarch Carpocrates. See above: IV. 7. 9. Valentinians are followers of the heresiarch Valentinus. See above: IV. 10; 11.1,3–5. Basilidians are followers of the heresiarch Basilides. See above: IV. 7.3–7. Saturnilians are followers of the heresiarch Saturninus (Satornil). See above: IV. 7. 3–4. According to Josephus, the Essenes were one of the three major Jewish sects in the period leading up to the First Jewish War. They were a closed community, entry into which was very difficult; lived in isolated colonies, often in the desert and on the shores of the Dead Sea. Their number reached 4000 people. The teaching of the Essenes was in the nature of moral philosophy; they, as a rule, were not interested in either logic or metaphysics. To a certain extent, however, the Essenes were influenced by Pythagorean ideas. About them see: Jos. Ant. XVIII. 1.5; Jos. Bell. Jud. II. 8. 2–13. The Galileans are the so-called “fourth philosophical school” in Judaism, founded at the beginning of the 1st century. n. e. Judas the Galilean from Gamala and the Pharisee Sadduc. In their ideological principles, the Galileans aligned themselves with the Pharisees. See: Jos. Ant. XVIII. 1.1.6 The Hemerobaptists were a Jewish sect affiliated with the Essenes. Samaritanism was a monotheistic system, which in many of its dogmas (the idea of ​​creation from nothing, the doctrine of demons and resurrection) was close to rabbinic Judaism, but differed from it in its belief in the Messiah. The Samaritans strictly adhered to the commandments of the Pentateuch, especially regarding the celebration of the Sabbath and circumcision. On the Sadducees, one of the three main sects in Judaism, see note above. 6 to s. 103. The Pharisees were one of the three major Jewish sects in the era before the First Jewish War. Unlike the Sadducees, the Pharisees believed in the predestination of human life. They emphasized the immortality of the soul and believed that good souls migrate from one body to another, while evil ones are doomed to eternal torment. The Pharisees were distinguished by their strictness in fulfilling religious instructions; at the same time, they recognized not only the Law of Moses, but also later laws. About them see: Jos. Ant. XVIII. 1. 3; Tert. Res. earn. 39. No one except Eusebius mentions such a Gospel. Obviously, we are talking about one of the Judeo-Christian Gospels that circulated in Syria, possibly a version of the Aramaic Gospel of Matthew. Iren. Adv. haer. IV. 20.3. Puplius - Bishop of Athens at the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd century, who suffered martyrdom during the persecution under Trajan. Memory 13 March. Nicomedia is a city in Bithynia in the north-west of Asia Minor on the shores of the Astaken Bay of the Sea of ​​Marmara; founded in 264 BC e. Bithynian king Nicomedes I. Gortyna is the oldest city in Crete, located in the south of the island on the Messara plain; existed back in the time of Homer. Amastrida is an ancient port city in Paphlagonia on the Black Sea coast of Asia Minor. Knossos is the oldest city in northern Crete. Compare: 1 Cor.3:1–2; Hebrews 5:12–14. That is, before the Great Persecution of 303–313, which began under Diocletian (which is why it is often called Diocletian) and ended under Constantine the Great and Licinius with the publication of the Edict of Milan. Hermogenes – heresiarch of the second half of the 2nd century; painter by profession. Tried to synthesize Christianity and late Platonism. He developed the idea of ​​eternal matter placed next to God, from which He creates the world and which is the source of evil. Tertullian’s treatise “Against Hermogenes” is devoted to the refutation of the Hermogenes system. The work of Theophilus, which, apparently, was widely used by Tertullian, has not reached us. Maximin - Bishop of Antioch in 176-189. Irenaeus did not have a separate essay on Marcion. Eusebius in this case means his “Five Books against Heresies.” We are apparently talking about either Lucius Sergius Paulus, consul of 168, or Servilius Pudens, consul of 166, who could have been proconsuls of Asia at that time. Sagaris - Bishop of Laodicea of ​​Phrygia in the middle. II century; supporter of the celebration of Passover according to the Jewish model (see below: V. 24.5); suffered martyrdom ca. 166 Memory of October 6. Laodicea is a city on the Lycus River in southwestern Phrygia on the border with Caria; founded by Antiochus II Theos on the site of the ancient city that existed here and named by him in honor of his sister-co-ruler. Only fragments of this work have survived. That is, the Christian religion. Larissa is an ancient city on the Peneus River in the Thessalian region of Pelasgiotis. Apart from this passage, only a small fragment from the “Apology” of Melito of Sardis has been preserved in the text of the “Easter Chronicle” (Chronicon Paschale // PG. T. 92. Col. 632). Eclogues (eclogae) - “extracts”. These words allow us to consider St. Meliton was one of the first pilgrims to the Holy Land. Perhaps St. Melito is referring not only to the First Book of Ezra, but also to the Book of Nehemiah, which was often called the Second Book of Ezra. This is the only surviving fragment from Melito's Eclogue. Eusebius gives excerpts from this book in V. 18. Montanus (mid-2nd century) – a native of Phrygia; a priest of the goddess Cybele who converted to Christianity; from 171 (according to Epiphanius, from 157) he began to act as a prophet and led the movement of those who believed in the approaching Second Coming, in anticipation of which he preached extreme asceticism; according to legend, he committed suicide - he hanged himself, like Judas the Traitor (see below: V. 16.13). On Montanism, see Tabbernee W. Prophets and Gravestones: An Imaginative History of Montanists and Other Early Christians. Peabody (MA), 2009; Treuett Ch. Montanism: Gender, Authority and the New Prophecy. Cambridge, 1996. Priscilla and Maximilla. About them, see below: V. 16.9,12–13, 15–18; 17.4; 18. 3.13. The Encratites (“abstainers”) are a sect founded c. 172 by the famous apologist Tatian. According to Irenaeus, in dogmatic terms the Encratites were influenced by some Gnostic heresiarchs (Iren. Adv. haer. I. 28. 1–2). At the same time, Hippolytus of Rome claims that they remained faithful to Orthodoxy, differing from other Christians only in their special way of life (Hipp. Philos. VIII. 20). The Encratites preached extreme asceticism (they rejected marriage, refused meat food, wine, etc.). Clement of Alexandria compares them with the Indian sect of the Sarmans (Clem. Alex. Strom. 1.15. 71). Compare: Hipp. Philos. VIII. 16; Epiph. Adv. omn. haer. XLVI. 2; Theod. Haer. fab. 1.20. That is, for people, the descendants of Adam. Iren. Adv. haer. 1.28. 1. Below, Irenaeus talks about another type of Encratites, who, on the contrary, practiced polygamy, sexual freedom, intemperance and promiscuity in food (Ibid. 1.28.2). Severus is a student of Tatian, who after his death became the head of the Encratites. At the same time, according to the testimony of St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, the Encratites considered the Acts of Andrew, John, Thomas and a number of other apocrypha to be canonical. See: Epiph. Adv. omn. haer. XLVII. This refers to the famous “Diatessaron” of Tatian, which we mentioned above (see above note 3 to p. 192). According to blessed To Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Tatian excluded from the Diatessaron the genealogy of Jesus and all passages indicating his descent from the line of David (Theod. Haer. fab. 1.20). Tatian's Apology was used as a model and was quoted by Athenagoras of Athens, Clement of Alexandria and Tertullian. Bardesan (154–225) - famous Gnostic philosopher of the second half of the 2nd century; lived in Edessa under King Avgar IX, patron of Christianity; received an excellent education, was well acquainted with both Greek and Eastern philosophical systems. He was strongly influenced by the Gnostic system of Valentinus, which he tried to combine with Persian dualism. At the same time, he sharply opposed Saturninus and Marcion. About him see: Hier. Vir. ill. XXXIII. See also: Drijuers H. J. W. Bardaisan of Edessa. 2nd ed. Assen, 1966. Bardesan wrote, in particular, about 150 religious hymns, which remained popular in the Christian East until St. Ephraim the Syrian. Of Bardesan’s numerous works, only the “Book of Laws” (in Syriac) has survived, but its authorship, according to a number of researchers, actually belongs not to him, but to his student Philip. For the text, see: The book of the Laws of Countries: Dialogue on Fate of Bardaisan of Edessa/Ed. H. J. W. Drijvers. Assen, 1965. The most famous of Bardesan's students were his son Harmonius, who developed his father's system, introducing into it elements of Greek philosophy, and the aforementioned Philip. In his work “Preparation for the Gospel” (Eus. Pgaer. Ev. VI. 10) Eusebius cites a fragment from this treatise. For the interpretation of Bardesanes in early Christian literature, including Eusebius, see: Rehm B. Bardesanes in den Pseudodemenzen // Philologus. Bd. 93. 1938. S. 218–247. You might be interested in: