On the Feast of St. Justin Martyr, I thought I’d highlight this interesting exchange recorded at the hearing that preceded his execution in 165 A.D. During the trial of Justin by the Roman prefect Quintus Junius Rusticus, Justin provides his refusal to offer worship to the pagan gods and his allegiance to the Christian God. Along with Justin, several others are tried for the same “crime” of non-worship as demanded by the law of the time.
In the time of the lawless partisans of idolatry, wicked decrees were passed against the godly Christians in town and country, to force them to offer libations to vain idols; and accordingly the holy men, having been apprehended, were brought before the prefect of Rome, Rusticus by name. And when they had been brought before his judgment-seat, said to Justin, Obey the gods at once, and submit to the kings. Justin said, To obey the commandments of our Saviour Jesus Christ is worthy neither of blame nor of condemnation. Rusticus the prefect said, What kind of doctrines do you profess? Justin said, I have endeavoured to learn all doctrines; but I have acquiesced at last in the true doctrines, those namely of the Christians, even though they do not please those who hold false opinions. Rusticus the prefect said, Are those the doctrines that please you, you utterly wretched man? Justin said, Yes, since I adhere to them with right dogma. Rusticus the prefect said, What is the dogma? Justin said, That according to which we worship the God of the Christians, whom we reckon to be one from the beginning, the maker and fashioner of the whole creation, visible and invisible; and the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who had also been preached beforehand by the prophets as about to be present with the race of men, the herald of salvation and teacher of good disciples. And I, being a man, think that what I can say is insignificant in comparison with His boundless divinity, acknowledging a certain prophetic power, since it was prophesied concerning Him of whom now I say that He is the Son of God. For I know that of old the prophets foretold His appearance among men.
Rusticus the prefect said, Where do you assemble? Justin said, Where each one chooses and can: for do you fancy that we all meet in the very same place? Not so; because the God of the Christians is not circumscribed by place; but being invisible, fills heaven and earth, and everywhere is worshipped and glorified by the faithful. Rusticus the prefect said, Tell me where you assemble, or into what place do you collect your followers? Justin said, I live above one Martinus, at the Timiotinian Bath; and during the whole time (and I am now living in Rome for the second time) I am unaware of any other meeting than his. And if any one wished to come to me, I communicated to him the doctrines of truth. Rusticus said, Are you not, then, a Christian? Justin said, Yes, I am a Christian.
Then said the prefect Rusticus to Chariton, Tell me further, Chariton, are you also a Christian? Chariton said, I am a Christian by the command of God. Rusticus the prefect asked the woman Charito, What say you, Charito? Charito said, I am a Christian by the grace of God. Rusticus said to Euelpistus, And what are you? Euelpistus, a servant of Cæsar, answered, I too am a Christian, having been freed by Christ; and by the grace of Christ I partake of the same hope. Rusticus the prefect said to Hierax, And you, are you a Christian? Hierax said, Yes, I am a Christian, for I revere and worship the same God. Rusticus the prefect said, Did Justin make you Christians? Hierax said, I was a Christian, and will be a Christian. And Pæon stood up and said, I too am a Christian. Rusticus the prefect said, Who taught you? Pæon said, From our parents we received this good confession. Euelpistus said, I willingly heard the words of Justin. But from my parents also I learned to be a Christian. Rusticus the prefect said, Where are your parents? Euelpistus said, In Cappadocia. Rusticus says to Hierax, Where are your parents? And he answered, and said, Christ is our true father, and faith in Him is our mother; and my earthly parents died; and I, when I was driven from Iconium in Phrygia, came here. Rusticus the prefect said to Liberianus, And what say you? Are you a Christian, and unwilling to worship [the gods]? Liberianus said, I too am a Christian, for I worship and reverence the only true God.
The trial of St. Justin Martyr.
The prefect says to Justin, Hearken, you who are called learned, and think that you know true doctrines; if you are scourged and beheaded, do you believe you will ascend into heaven? Justin said, I hope that, if I endure these things, I shall have His gifts. For I know that, to all who have thus lived, there abides the divine favour until the completion of the whole world. Rusticus the prefect said, Do you suppose, then, that you will ascend into heaven to receive some recompense? Justin said, I do not suppose it, but I know and am fully persuaded of it. Rusticus the prefect said, Let us, then, now come to the matter in hand, and which presses. Having come together, offer sacrifice with one accord to the gods. Justin said, No right-thinking person falls away from piety to impiety. Rusticus the prefect said, Unless you obey, you shall be mercilessly punished. Justin said, Through prayer we can be saved on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, even when we have been punished, because this shall become to us salvation and confidence at the more fearful and universal judgment-seat of our Lord and Saviour. Thus also said the other martyrs: Do what you will, for we are Christians, and do not sacrifice to idols.
Rusticus the prefect pronounced sentence, saying, Let those who have refused to sacrifice to the gods and to yield to the command of the emperor be scourged, and led away to suffer the punishment of decapitation, according to the laws. The holy martyrs having glorified God, and having gone forth to the accustomed place, were beheaded, and perfected their testimony in the confession of the Saviour. And some of the faithful having secretly removed their bodies, laid them in a suitable place, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ having wrought along with them, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Source: Translated by Marcus Dods. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 1. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1885.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.
Wow. We may talk about standing up for “what we believe”, but it’s pretty hard to match this episode, either in clarity of purpose or courage.
The late Neolithic age may be lumped in with the ancient Greek world in some circles, but it goes without saying that they shouldn’t be. The major historical divide – between prehistory and history – occurred around 3200 B.C. with the invention of writing, and we can also throw in the use of new metals such as bronze and then iron to distinguish periods on the timeline. If we look at late Neolithic civilizations and later Greek civilizations (post Aegean age), we really shouldn’t expect many similarities when examining artifacts on the micro level. At least, that’s what I would expect.
With that said, it occurred to me that there is a little too much in common between certain works of Neolithic Mesopotamian (Proto-Elamite) pottery and Greek Geometric pottery. Take the work on the left, for example. This beaker from Susa, Iran (c. 4000 B.C.) is a beautiful example of Neolithic art. Painted on a simple vessel, it shows a highly abstracted (dare I say “modern”?) ibex (goat with horns) seen from the side in the central register. We see no color variations, no shading – simply blocks of pigment forming shapes. No doubt this was due to the limitations of the medium the artist was working with when this beaker was made.
Depicted using a composite view, we can see both horns create a massive circle that surrounds a smaller of square-in-circle design. The body of the ibex is reduced to a whimsical “pinched” shape in which both body and legs form a visual unity. The underside of the animal forms an almost perfect arch, and the top of its body almost mirrors it. The head of the animal and the tail are the only other identifiable components, though these have almost been tacked on later to help us make sense of this shape.
On the top register is a series of birds, lined up one after the other. Seen from a distance, these look less like birds and more like uneventful vertical lines forming a decorative pattern, but it is still possible to see the small diagonal marks near the top (indicating their heads) and the small diagonal marks near the bottom of the register (indicating their bodies). The birds’ excessively long necks are a creative way of expressing something that we might otherwise not think much of; here, the artists has turned it into a mesmerizing pattern. What an interesting design for a Neolithic work!
Now what I find curious is that if we fast forward a little over 3000 years, we can find an oddly similar approach to the design of Greek Geometric period vase painting. On the right is a Greek vessel known as the Hirschfeld Krater or the Dipylon Krater. The large krater, dating to about 750 B.C., shows a series of horizontal bands and meander patterns that wrap around from top to bottom, interrupted by a few registers that show funerary scenes with humans and animals. Like the Susa beaker, the Dipylon Krater has been painted without color variations and without shading. Again, this is likely due to the limitations of the techniques available to the artists at the time.
If we look at the details of the Dipylon Krater, we can see a very similar approach to the subject matter as was done by the Susa artist. We find figures painted very abstractly: simplified, condensed, exaggerated. A prevalence of geometric shapes (from which comes the name of the historical period in Greek art). Shields form perfect circles, as do the sections cut out of the shields. Circular decorations and dots blanket the empty spaces of the background. While no horned animals are visibly present, the horses pulling the chariot form an almost decorative pattern with their parallel legs lined up in a way to provide a sense of depth. The humans in the scene have also been reduced so much that their heads are shaped like oblong circles with single dots in the center, presumably suggesting eyes.
I have admittedly not done much research into the nature of Greek Geometric period vase painting, so I do not know if there was any historical connection to Neolithic Susa that would account for the similarities in style. However, I would imagine that this would not be the case due primarily to the chronological divide between the timelines of the civilizations. I think that the stylistic similarities between the two could potentially be attributed to the media the artists were using (not conducive to variations in value or an abundance of detail), and also the limitations in knowledge of perspective at the time. Nevertheless, there are similarities that go beyond this that are rather curious to me, such as the focus on geometric shapes and the abstraction.
So, with that said, I ask others – are any similarities here remarkable or is this a case of reading too much into things that can be easily explained?
Ed. Note – this is a discussion from the Western Civ Forum archives
Recently watched long show on military campaigns of the early part of the Bible. Among these discussed were Abraham’s rescue of Lot, Moses flight from Egypt, Joshua’s capture of Jericho, Gideon’s defeat of the Middianites, and Saul and Jonathan’s battles against the Philistines. Although I had reservations about some of the conclusions made, it was quite interesting to learn about the warfare the Israelites engaged in for many years, circa 1300 B.C. and forward.
One of the interesting points was that there is archaeological evidence referencing a tribe of well-fighting warrior people called the – actually I forget the name. Anyway, there’s some speculation that this tribe was actually the early followers of Abraham. They pointed to Abraham’s rescue of a hostage Lot during a nighttime raid as an example of his keen military strategy. I’m not sure whether or not there is a link.
Has anyone else heard of this connection, or know the name?
Image: “Gideon and His Three Hundred (Bible Card)” by the Providence Lithograph Company