Acts of Achatius (Disputation of Achatius) (complete)

The Acts of the Disputation of Saint Achatius.

Whenever we recall the glorious deeds of the servants of God, we give thanks to him who both protects the patient one in punishment and crowns the victor in glory. So Martianus, a man of consular rank appointed by the emperor Decius, an enemy of the Christian law, ordered Achatius to be brought before him, having heard that he was a kind of shield and refuge of that religion; and when he had been brought in, he said to him, “You ought to love our princes, since you live under Roman laws.” Achatius answered, “And to whom is the emperor dearer, or by whom is he so loved, as by Christians? For we offer constant and unceasing prayer for him, that he may complete a long life in this light, govern the peoples with just power, and above all have a time of peace in his reign; and then for the welfare of the soldiers and for the state of the world and of the earth.” Martianus said, “These things I too commend; but so that the emperor may more fully recognize your loyalty, offer sacrifice to him with us.” Achatius said, “I pray to my God, who is true and great, for the welfare of the king; but sacrifice he ought not to demand, nor ought we to pay it. For who offers sacred rites to a man?” Martianus said, “Answer: to what god do you pour out your prayer, so that we too may render him sacred rites?” Achatius said, “I wish you to know my God, which would be to your profit, and to acknowledge the God who is true.” Martianus said, “Tell me his name.” Achatius said, “The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Martianus said, “Are these the names of gods?” Achatius answered, “Not these; but he who spoke to them, he is the true God; him we must fear.” Martianus said, “Who is he?” Achatius answered, “The Most High Adonai, who sits above the cherubim and seraphim.” Martianus said, “What is a seraph?” Achatius said to him, “A minister of the most high God and a priest of the lofty throne.”

Martianus said, “What vain philosophical disputation has deceived you? Spurn invisible things; rather acknowledge the true gods whom you see.” Achatius answered, “Who are the gods to whom you order me to sacrifice?” Martianus said, “To Apollo, our savior, the averter of famine and pestilence, by whom the whole world is preserved and ruled.” Achatius answered, “To that interpreter of the future, as you think him? who, unhappy wretch, burning with love for a girl, ran about distracted, not knowing that he would lose his longed-for prey. It is plain, then, that he who did not know this was no diviner, and that he whom a girl deceived was no god. Nor did he suffer this grief alone, but fortune soon punished him with a crueler loss. For, being shameless toward boys, he was taken with the beauty of a certain Hyacinthus, as you well know, burned with desire, and, wretched and ignorant of the future, killed with a discus the one he longed to see. He who once served as a slave together with Neptune, he who kept another man's flocks—is it to him you order me to sacrifice? Or shall I offer sacrifice to Aesculapius, struck by lightning, or to adulterous Venus and the other monstrosities? Or, for fear of losing this life, shall I worship those whom I do not deign to imitate—whom I despise, whom I accuse, whom I abhor; whose deeds, if anyone committed them now, could he escape the severity of your law? Do you now worship in some what you punish in others?” Martianus said, “It is the custom of Christians to invent many slanders against our gods. Therefore I order you to come with me to Jupiter and Juno, so that, celebrating a pleasant banquet together, we may render to the deities what is their due.” Achatius answered, “How shall I sacrifice to one whose tomb is known to be in Crete? Has he risen from the dead?”

Martianus said, “Either sacrifice or die.” Achatius answered, “That is what the Dalmatians do too, who are skilled in the art of brigandage: when they have occupied the narrow passes of the roads and the hidden places on the route to commit murder, they lie in wait for each passer-by, and whenever any traveler sets foot there, he is bound by this bargain—to leave behind either his money or his life. No one there asks what is reasonable, but what the one who compels has the power to do. Your sentence is like this: you either order what is unjust to be done, or threaten death. I dread nothing, I fear nothing. Public law punishes the fornicator, the adulterer, the thief, the corrupter of males, the sorcerer, and the murderer. If I am guilty of these, I condemn myself before you speak; but if I am led to punishment because I worship the God who is true, I am condemned not by the will of the law but by the will of the judge. The prophet cries out, threatening: There is none who seeks God; all have turned aside, together they have become worthless. Therefore you cannot clear yourself. For it is written: With the judgment by which anyone judges, so will he also be judged. And again: As you judge, so will you be judged, and as you do, so will it be to you.” Martianus said, “I have not been ordered to judge, but to compel. So if you despise this, be sure of punishment.” Achatius answered, “And I have been commanded never to deny my God. If you serve a frail man of flesh who will soon depart from this world, who you know will soon be eaten by worms, how much more must I obey the most powerful God, whose might endures for ever? And his is that saying: Whoever denies me before men, I too will deny him before my Father who is in heaven, when I come in glory and power, as foretold, to judge the living and the dead.”

Martianus said, “What I always wished to learn, you have suddenly confessed: the error of your persuasion and law. So God, as you say, has a son?” Achatius answered, “He has.” Martianus said, “Who is the Son of God?” Achatius answered, “The Word of truth and grace.” Martianus said, “Is that his name?” Achatius answered, “You had not asked about his name, but about the power of the Son himself.” Martianus said, “Tell me the name.” Saint Achatius answered, “He is called Jesus Christ.” Martianus said, “From what wife of God was he conceived?” Saint Achatius answered, “God did not beget a son in the manner of men, from intercourse with a woman; rather, he formed Adam first, making him with his own right hand. Far be it from you to ascribe to the divine majesty contact with a mortal girl. He put together the limbs of the first man from clay, and when he had completed the whole figure, he gave him soul and spirit. So too the Son of God, the Word of truth, proceeded from the heart of God. Therefore it is written: My heart has uttered a good word.” Martianus said, “Is God corporeal, then?” Achatius said, “He alone knows; we do not know his invisible form, but we revere his strength and power.” Martianus said, “If he is not in a body, he is also without a heart; for there can be no understanding without limbs.” Achatius answered, “Wisdom is not born in these limbs; it is given by God. What then has the body to do with understanding?” Martianus said, “Look at the Cataphrygians, men of an ancient religion: they have turned to my rites, left what they were, and pay vows to the gods with us. You too, hasten to obey likewise. Gather all the Christians of the catholic law and with them pay heed to the religion of our emperor. Let all the people come with you; it hangs on your decision.” Achatius answered, “They are all governed not by my nod but by the command of God. So let them listen to me if I urge what is just; but if what is perverse and harmful, let them despise it.”

Martianus said, “Hand over to me the names of all of them.” Achatius answered, “Their names are recorded in the heavenly book and the divine pages. How then will mortal eyes see what the immortal and invisible power of God has recorded?” Martianus said, “Where are the magicians, the partners in your art, or the teachers of this crafty deceit?” Achatius answered, “We have received everything from God and receive it still; the sect of the magic art we abhor.” Martianus said, “You are magicians because you are introducing some new kind of religion.” Achatius answered, “We destroy those whom you first make, and, having made them, you yourselves fear. For your gods would fail you if the craftsman ran short of stone, or the stone of a craftsman. We fear not him whom we fashion, but him by whom we were fashioned: who created us as Lord, loved us as Father, and, like a good patron, snatched us from eternal death.” Martianus said, “Give the names, lest you yourself succumb to punishment.” Achatius answered, “I myself stand before the tribunal, and you ask for a name? Do you hope you can conquer many, when I alone overcome you? If you are set on names: I am called Achatius; and if you inquire into my own proper name, I am called Agathangelus; and Piso is bishop of the Trojans, and Menander a presbyter. Do now what you please.” Martianus said, “You will be taken back to prison, so that the emperor may learn of the proceedings and decide by his nod what is to be done with you.” When the emperor Decius had read all the proceedings, admiring the exchange of answers given, he burst out laughing; he soon gave Martianus the prefecture of Pamphylia, and, greatly admiring Achatius, restored him to his own standing and to his own law. These things were done before Martianus, man of consular rank, under the emperor Decius, on the fourth day before the Kalends of April.