Exhortation to Martyrdom 15
Summary: Martyrs who give up wealth, family, and reputation, like those who endure the worst tortures, deserve first place among martyrs.
Greek text · Koetschau 1:15
Ἐὰν δέ τις ὡσπερεὶ ζηλῶν χαρίσματα τὰ μείζονα καὶ μακαρίζων πλουσίους μάρτυρας καὶ πατέρας μάρτυρας „ἑκατονταπλασίονα“ γεννήσοντας τέκνα καὶ ἑκατονταπλασίονας ἀγροὺς καὶ οἰκίας ληψομένους ζητῇ, εἰ εὐλόγως ἐκεῖνοι παρὰ τοὺς ἐν βίῳ πένητας μάρτυρας πολυπλασιαζομένην ἕξουσι τὴν ἐν νοητοῖς κτῆσιν, λεκτέον πρὸς αὐτὸν ὅτι, ὥσπερ οἱ βασάνους καὶ πόνους ὑπομείναντες τῶν μὴ ἐν τούτοις ἐξητασμένων λαμπροτέραν ἐπεδείξαντο τὴν ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ ἀρετὴν, οὕτως οἱ πρὸς τῷ φιλοσωματεῖν καὶ φιλοζωεῖν καὶ τοὺς τοσούτους κοσμικοὺς δεσμοὺς διακόψαντες καὶ διαῤῥήξαντες μεγάλῃ τῇ πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀγάπῃ χρησάμενοι καὶ ἀληθῶς ἀνειληφότες τὸν ζῶντα τοῦ θεοῦ λόγον καὶ ἐνεργῆ καὶ τομώτερον „ὑπὲρ πᾶσαν μάχαιραν δίστομον“ δεδύνηνται τοὺς τοσούτους διακόψαντες δεσμοὺς καὶ κατασκευάσαντες ἑαυτοῖς πτέρυγας ὥσπερ ἀετὸς ἐπιστρέψαι „εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦ προεστηκότος“ ἑαυτῶν. ἄξιον οὖν ὥσπερ τοῖς μὴ ἐξετασθεῖσιν ἐν βασάνοις καὶ πόνοις παραχωρεῖν πρωτείων πρὸς τοὺς ἐν ἀρθρεμβόλοις καὶ ποικίλοις στρεβλωτηρίοις καὶ πυρὶ ἐνεπιδειξαμένους τὴν ὑπομονὴν, οὕτως καὶ ἡμῖν τοῖς πένησι, κἂν μαρτυρήσωμεν, ὁ λόγος ὑποβάλλει ἐξίστασθαι πρωτείων ὑμῖν τοῖς διὰ τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ πρὸς θεὸν ἀγάπην πατοῦσι τὴν ἀπατηλὴν δόξαν καὶ τῶν πολλῶν καθικνουμένην καὶ τὴν τοσαύτην κτῆσιν καὶ τὴν πρὸς τέκνα φιλοστοργίαν.
English · Claude translation
But if someone, as though earnestly desiring the greater gifts and counting blessed the martyrs who are rich and the martyrs who are fathers, who will beget children “a hundredfold” and receive fields and houses a hundredfold, should ask whether it is reasonable that they, compared with martyrs who were poor in this life, should have their possession of spiritual things multiplied, we must say to him this: just as those who endured tortures and pains displayed a more brilliant virtue in martyrdom than those not tested in these, so those who, besides love of the body and love of life, have cut through and broken so many worldly bonds, exercising great love for God and truly taking up the living and active Word of God, sharper “than any two-edged sword,” have been able, having cut through so many bonds and made themselves wings like an eagle, to return “to the house of” their master. It is right, then, that just as those who were not tested by tortures and pains should yield first place to those who showed their endurance on the rack and the various instruments of torture and in the fire, so also reason prompts us who are poor, even if we are martyred, to give up first place to you who, for the love of God in Christ, trample on the deceptive glory that captivates the many, and on so great a possession, and on affection for children.
About this passage
Notes
Translation notes
- The allusions are 1 Cor 12:31, Heb 4:12, and Prov 23:5 (LXX: riches “make themselves wings like an eagle and return to the house of their master”), which Origen applies to the martyr's soul. “Word” is capitalized here because Heb 4:12 is read of the Word of God who cuts through bonds; it may equally be God's word in Scripture.
Cite this passage
Origen, Mart. 15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-exhortatio/15/).
Plain text
Origen, Mart. 15 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/origen-exhortatio/15/).
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