Chapter 4 No.4

Hippo was the see of St. Austin, then

seventy-four years of age (forty almost of which had been

passed in ministerial labors), and warned, by

the law of nature, of the approach of dissolution.

It was as if the light of prosperity and peace

were fading away from the African Church, as

sank the bodily powers of its great earthly

ornament and stay. At this time, when the terrors{5}

of the barbaric invasion spread on all sides, a

bishop wrote to him to ask whether it was allowable

for the ruler of a Church to leave the scene of his

pastoral duties in order to save his life.

Different opinions had heretofore been expressed on{10}

this question. In Augustine's own country

Tertullian had maintained that flight was unlawful,

but he was a Montanist when he so wrote. On

the other hand, Cyprian had actually fled, and

had defended his conduct when questioned by{15}

the clergy of Rome. His contemporaries,

Dionysius of Alexandria, and Gregory of Neoc?sarea,

had fled also; as had Polycarp before them, and

Athanasius after them.

Athanasius also had to defend his flight, and he{20}

defended it, in a work still extant, thus: First,

he observes, it has the sanction of numerous

Scripture precedents. Thus, in the instance of

confessors under the old covenant, Jacob fled

from Esau, Moses from Pharao, David from Saul;{25}

Elias concealed himself from Achab three years,

and the sons of the prophets were hid by Abdias

in a cave from Jezebel. In like manner under

the Gospel, the disciples hid themselves for fear

of the Jews, and St. Paul was let down in a basket{30}

over the wall at Damascus. On the other hand,

no instance can be adduced of overboldness and

headstrong daring in the saints of Scripture.

But our Lord Himself is the chief exemplar of

fleeing from persecution. As a child in arms He

had to flee into Egypt. When He returned, He{5}

still shunned Judea, and retired to Nazareth.

After raising Lazarus, on the Jews seeking His

life, "He walked no more openly among them,"

but retreated to the neighborhood of the desert.

When they took up stones to cast at Him, He{10}

hid Himself; when they attempted to cast Him

down headlong, He made His way through them;

when He heard of the Baptist's death, He retired

across the lake into a desert place, apart. If it

be said that He did so, because His time was not{15}

yet come, and that when it was come, He

delivered up Himself, we must ask, in reply, how a

man can know that his time is come, so as to

have a right to act as Christ acted? And since

we do not know, we must have patience; and,{20}

till God by His own act determines the time, we

must "wander in sheepskins and goatskins,"

rather than take the matter into our own hands;

as even Saul, the persecutor, was left by David

in the hands of God, whether He would "strike{25}

him, or his day should come to die, or he should

go down to battle and perish."

If God's servants, proceeds Athanasius, have

at any time presented themselves before their

persecutors, it was at God's command: thus Elias{30}

showed himself to Achab; so did the prophet

from Juda, to Jeroboam; and St. Paul appealed

to C?sar. Flight, so far from implying

cowardice, requires often greater courage than not to

flee. It is a greater trial of heart. Death is an

end of all trouble; he who flees is ever expecting{5}

death, and dies daily. Job's life was not to be

touched by Satan, yet was not his fortitude

shown in what he suffered? Exile is full of

miseries. The after-conduct of the saints showed

they had not fled for fear. Jacob, on his{10}

death-bed, contemned death, and blessed each of the

twelve Patriarchs; Moses returned, and

presented himself before Pharao; David was a

valiant warrior; Elias rebuked Achab and

Ochazias; Peter and Paul, who had once hid{15}

themselves, offered themselves to martyrdom at

Rome. And so acceptable was the previous

flight of these men to Almighty God, that we

read of His showing them some special favor

during it. Then it was that Jacob had the{20}

vision of Angels; Moses saw the burning bush;

David wrote his prophetic Psalms; Elias raised

the dead, and gathered the people on Mount

Carmel. How would the Gospel ever have been

preached throughout the world, if the Apostles{25}

had not fled? And, since their time, those, too,

who have become martyrs, at first fled; or, if they

advanced to meet their persecutors, it was by

some secret suggestion of the Divine Spirit. But,

above all, while these instances abundantly{30}

illustrate the rule of duty in persecution, and the

temper of mind necessary in those who observe

it, we have that duty itself declared in a plain

precept by no other than our Lord: "When they

shall persecute you in this city," He says, "flee

into another;" and "let them that are in Judea{5}

flee unto the mountains."

Thus argues the great Athanasius, living in

spirit with the saints departed, while full of

labor and care here on earth. For the

arguments on the other side, let us turn to a writer,{10}

not less vigorous in mind, but less subdued in

temper. Thus writes Tertullian on the same

subject, then a Montanist, a century and a half

earlier: Nothing happens, he says, without

God's will. Persecution is sent by Him, to put{15}

His servants to the test; to divide between good

and bad: it is a trial; what man has any right

to interfere? He who gives the prize, alone can

assign the combat. Persecution is more than

permitted, it is actually appointed by Almighty{20}

God. It does the Church much good, as leading

Christians to increased seriousness while it lasts.

It comes and goes at God's ordering. Satan

could not touch Job, except so far as God gave

permission. He could not touch the Apostles,{25}

except as far as an opening was allowed in the

words, "Satan hath desired to have you, but I

have prayed for thee," Peter, "and thou, being

once converted, confirm thy brethren." We

pray, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver{30}

us from evil;" why, if we may deliver ourselves?

Satan is permitted access to us, either for

punishment, as in Saul's case, or for our chastisement.

Since the persecution comes from God, we may

not lawfully avoid it, nor can we avoid it. We

cannot, because He is all powerful; we must not,{5}

because He is all good. We should leave the

matter entirely to God. As to the command of

fleeing from city to city, this was temporary. It

was intended to secure the preaching of the

Gospel to the nations. While the Apostles preached{10}

to the Jews,-till they had preached to the

Gentiles,-they were to flee; but one might as

well argue, that we now are not to go "into the

way of the Gentiles," but to confine ourselves

to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel," as that{15}

we are now to "flee from city to city." Nor,

indeed, was going from city to city a flight; it was

a continued preaching; not an accident, but a

rule: whether persecuted or not, they were to go

about; and before they had gone through the{20}

cities of Israel, the Lord was to come. The

command contemplated only those very cities.

If St. Paul escaped out of "Damascus by night,

yet afterwards, against the prayers of the disciples

and the prophecy of Agabus, he went up to{25}

Jerusalem. Thus the command to flee did not last

even through the lifetime of the Apostles; and,

indeed, why should God introduce persecution,

if He bids us retire from it? This is imputing

inconsistency to His acts. If we want texts to{30}

justify our not fleeing, He says, "Whoso shall

confess Me before men, I will confess him before

My Father." "Blessed are they that suffer

persecution;" "He that shall persevere to the end,

he shall be saved;" "Be not afraid of them that

kill the body;" "Whosoever does not carry his{5}

cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple."

How are these texts fulfilled when a man flees.

Christ, who is our pattern, did not more than

pray, "If it be possible, let this chalice pass:"

we, too, should both stay and pray as He did.{10}

And it is expressly told us, that "We also ought

to lay down our lives for the brethren." Again, it

is said, "Perfect charity casteth out fear;" he

who flees, fears; he who fears, "is not perfected

in charity." The Greek proverb is sometimes{15}

urged, "He who flees, will fight another day;"

yes, and he may flee another day, also. Again,

if bishops, priests, and deacons flee, why must

the laity stay? or must they flee also? "The

good shepherd," on the contrary, "layeth down{20}

his life for his sheep"; whereas, the bad shepherd

"seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep,

and fleeth." At no time, as Jeremiah, Ezekiel,

and Zechariah tell us, is the flock in greater

danger of being scattered than when it loses its{25}

shepherd. Tertullian ends thus: "This doctrine, my

brother, perhaps appears to you hard; nay,

intolerable. But recollect that God has said, 'He

that can take, let him take it;' that is, he who

receives it not, let him depart. He who fears to{30}

suffer cannot belong to Him who has suffered.

He who does not fear to suffer is perfect in love,

that is, of God. Many are called, few are chosen.

Not he who would walk the broad way is sought

out by God, but he who walks the narrow."

Thus the ingenious and vehement Tertullian.{5}