Letter of the Churches of Lyons and Vienne · §7 · Origen of Alexandria

Rage turned beastlike and holy endurance under torture

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After pagan slaves falsely accused Christians of forbidden feasts and unions, the letter describes the resulting fury and the tortures aimed at Sanctus, Maturus, Attalus and Blandina.

When those slanders spread, everyone became like beasts against us. Even those who had held back before because of family ties now raged fiercely and gnashed in rage at us. In this, what our Lord had spoken was coming true: "A time will come when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God" (John 16:2).

Then the holy martyrs endured torture beyond all description, since Satan was eagerly striving to draw even one of those blasphemies from their own mouths. The full fury of crowd, governor, and soldiers broke beyond all measure upon Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne, upon Maturus, newly baptized yet a brave contender, and upon Attalus, a man from Pergamum by birth who had always been a pillar and support for the Christians here, and upon Blandina. Through her Christ showed that what seems cheap and ugly and contemptible to people he counts worthy of great glory with God, when love for him is shown in power and does not boast in outward form.

Greek

Ταῦτα δὲ φημισθέντα, πάντες ἀπεθηριώθησαν εἰς ἡμᾶς, ὥστε καὶ εἴ τινες τὸ πρότερον δι᾽ οἰκειότητα ἐμετρίαζον, τότε μεγάλως ἐχαλέπαινον καὶ διεπρίοντο ἐφ᾽ ἡμῖν· ἐπληροῦτο δὲ τὸ ὑπὸ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν εἰρημένον ὅτι ἐλεύσεται καιρὸς ἐν ᾧ πᾶς ὁ ἀποκτείνας ὑμᾶς δόξει λατρείαν προσφέρειν τῷ θεῷ. Ἐνταῦθα λοιπὸν ὑπεράνω πάσης ἐξηγήσεως ὑπέμενον κολάσεις οἱ ἅγιοι μάρτυρες, φιλοτιμουμένου τοῦ σατανᾶ κἂν ἐξ ἐκείνων ῥηθῆναί τι τῶν βλασφήμων· ὑπερβεβλημένως δὲ ἐνέσκηψεν ἡ ὀργὴ πᾶσα καὶ ὄχλου καὶ ἡγεμόνος καὶ στρατιωτῶν εἰς Σάγκτον τὸν διάκονον ἀπὸ Βιέννης καὶ εἰς Μάτουρον, νεοφώτιστον μέν, ἀλλὰ γενναῖον ἀγωνιστήν, καὶ εἰς Ἄτταλον Περγαμηνὸν τῷ γένει, στῦλον καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῶν ἐνταῦθα ἀεὶ γεγονότα, καὶ εἰς Βλανδῖναν, δι᾽ ἧς ἐπέδειξεν ὁ Χριστὸς ὅτι τὰ παρὰ ἀνθρώποις εὐτελῆ καὶ ἀειδῆ καὶ εὐκαταφρόνητα φαινόμενα μεγάλης καταξιοῦται παρὰ θεῷ δόξης διὰ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀγάπην τὴν ἐν δυνάμει δεικνυμένην καὶ μὴ ἐν εἴδει καυχωμένην.

About this text

Christians at Vienne and Lyons have suffered exclusion, arrest, torture and death in a civic persecution.

The letter was written by the churches of Lyons and Vienne to the brothers and sisters in faith in Asia and Phrygia who hold the same faith and hope. It was written in Greek after Christians at Vienne and Lyons suffered exclusion, arrest, torture and death in a civic persecution under Marcus Aurelius. The writers report the scale of the affliction and the endurance of the martyrs.

The letter presents the assault as the work of the devil, who trains his own people against the servants of Christ, while grace makes firm pillars who draw the attack onto themselves and count suffering small beside the coming glory. The reader meets Vettius Epagathus who volunteers to defend the accused, Sanctus the deacon from Vienne, Maturus, Attalus the man from Pergamum, the enslaved Blandina, Biblis, the bishop Pothinus and Zacharias. Sanctus answers every interrogation only with I am a Christian, Blandina declares I am a Christian and nothing base happens among us, Biblis answers the slander about eating children, Pothinus answers the governor about who is the God of the Christians, and a saying is given as spoken by our Lord that killers will think they offer worship to God.

In this rendering martyrs means Christians who confess under torture and death, profession of faith means the public declaration I am a Christian, those who denied the faith means Christians who denied Christ at first arrest, the pagans means the local populace and soldiers acting against them, governor means the Roman officer who interrogates, servants of Christ means Christians bound to Christ, advocate means a defender and the Spirit within, the devil means Satan, and torture means judicial punishment to force denial or slander. Thyestean feasts and Oedipodean unions are old phrases for the false slanders that Christians ate children and practiced forbidden unions. Sayings from scripture are woven in without book names or citation except the one introduced as spoken by our Lord, and this rendering adds modern chapter and verse in parentheses.

This work has passed this project's source check. This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.