Slay the Wounded Man Rev. James Sinke
[He] not only, as it is signified in the Gospel, passed by the prostrate wounded man, as did the priest or the Levite, but by an ingenious and novel cruelty rather would slay the wounded man by taking away the hope of salvation, by denying the mercy of his Father, by rejecting the repentance of his brother. (Anonymous, “Against Novatian,” chap. 1)
S
ome bribed a Roman official to get a certificate saying that they had offered a sacrifice to the gods. Others made the sacrifice and breathed a sigh of relief. But now their consciences were troubled: they had fallen away from the Savior they once professed. Would the church embrace them in their repentance even though they had publicly denied the Son of God, torn apart the fellowship of the saints, and brought ridicule to the church’s witness? Novatian’s answer was to declare that nothing could reopen the barred gates of heaven to those who had denied Jesus.
Libellatici and Sacrificati For Emperor Decius Neueius, there was no separation between politics and religion. With Germanic tribes threatening the fragile borders of his empire, and famine and disease threatening the peace within its borders, Decius believed that the only method for regaining the pride of Rome was to forcibly return the empire to ancient Roman civil religion.
By regularly making sacrifices to the gods, the empire would regain their favor and its past glory. In AD 249, Decius decreed that all Roman citizens and subjects of his empire, with the exception of the Jews, must make an annual sacrifice to the Roman gods. Those who made the sacrifices were given a certificate (libellus), but those who were found not to be carrying a valid certificate were subject to fines, imprisonment, and potentially execution. A libellus from the Decian persecution 250 AD. The first portion of text reads: “To those in charge of the sacrifices of the village Theadelphia, from Aurelia Bellias, daughter of Peteres, and her daughter, Kapinis. We have always been constant in sacrificing to the gods, and now too, in your presence, in accordance with the regulations, I have poured libations and sacrificed and tasted the offerings, and I ask you to certify this for us below. May you continue to prosper.”
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