What a beautiful sight it is for God when a Christian wrestles with pain;
when he takes up the fight against threats, capital punishment, and
torture; when smiling he mocks at the clatter of the tools of death and
the horror of the executioner; when he defends and upholds his liberty in
the face of kings and princes, obeying God alone to whom he belongs; when
triumphantly and victoriously he challenges the very one who has passed
sentence on him! For he is victor who has reached the goal of his
aspirations.
Is there any soldier who would not face danger more boldly under the eyes
of his general? Only he who proves himself receives the prize, and yet
the general cannot give what is not his: he cannot prolong life. He can
do nothing but give military honors.
But the fighter for God does not feel forsaken in his pain nor will he be
destroyed by death. Thus it may seem as if the Christian were miserable,
but that he can never be, in reality. You yourselves extol unfortunate
men such as Mucius Scaevola to the skies. He would have perished among
his enemies if he had not sacrificed his right hand. But how many from
among us have sacrificed not only their right hand but much more than
that: they suffered the scorching and burning of their whole body without
uttering one single cry of pain! And they had it in their power to obtain
their release. However, why do I compare men with Mucius or Aquilius or
with Regulus? Among us, boys and frail women laugh to scorn torture and
the gallows cross, the wild beasts and all the other horrors of
execution! In their pain they show an endurance that comes from heaven.
Minucius Felix, Octavius 37.1-5.
Bruderhof wrote:
> Consider, then, whether those who have received such teaching can
> possibly practice promiscuous and unlawful intercourse, or, most
> godless of all, eat human flesh! We are forbidden so much as to look
> at gladiator fights lest we become privy to and participants in
> murder! We also consider it immoral to watch other shows because our
> eyes and ears shall not be defiled with sympathy for acts of murder as
> they are celebrated there in song. As for speaking about cannibalism:
> there the children of Thyestes and Tereus are devoured. As for
> speaking about adultery: with them it is the theme of their tragedies,
> not just as a misdeed of men, but even more so of gods, celebrated as
> a heroic act in elegant language during their contests!
>
> May the very thought of doing such things be far from the Christians!
> They exercise wise self-control. They practice continence, observe
> monogamy, guard chastity, and wipe out injustice, destroying sin with
> its root. With them justice is lived out, laws are kept, and faith is
> witnessed to by deeds. They confess God. They consider truth supreme.
> Grace protects them. Peace shields them. The holy Word leads them.
> Wisdom teaches them. Life is decisive. God is their king.
>
> Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Book III.15.
>
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