Opening the library…

Home Bible Corpus Discover You

Search the Bible

The Life and Passion of Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr. By Pontius the Deacon

Pontius the Deacon

Section 11

About this work

Author: Pontius the Deacon

11. Banishment followed these actions, so

‹ Section 10 Section 12 ›

good

and

so

benevolent

.

For

impiety

always

makes

this

return

,

that

it

repays

the

better

with

the

worse

.

And

what

God’s

priest

replied

to

the

interrogation

of

the

proconsul

,

there

are

Acts

which

relate

.

In

the

meantime

,

he

is

excluded

from

the

city

who

had

done

some

good

for

the

city’s

safety

;

he

who

had

striven

that

the

eyes

of

the

living

should

not

suffer

the

horrors

of

the

infernal

abode

;

he

,

I

say

,

who

,

vigilant

in

the

watches

of

benevolence

,

had

provided

—

oh

wickedness

!

with

unacknowledged

goodness

—

that

when

all

were

forsaking

the

desolate

appearance

of

the

city

,

a

destitute

state

and

a

deserted

country

should

not

perceive

its

many

exiles

.

But

let

the

world

look

to

this

,

which

accounts

banishment

a

penalty

.

To

them

,

their

country

is

too

dear

,

and

they

have

the

same

name

as

their

parents

;

but

we

abhor

even

our

parents

themselves

if

they

would

persuade

us

against

God

.

To

them

,

it

is

a

severe

punishment

to

live

outside

their

own

city

;

to

the

Christian

,

the

whole

of

this

world

is

one

home

.

Wherefore

,

though

he

were

banished

into

a

hidden

and

secret

place

,

yet

,

associated

with

the

affairs

of

his

God

,

he

cannot

regard

it

as

an

exile

.

In

addition

,

while

honestly

serving

God

,

he

is

a

stranger

even

in

his

own

city

.

For

while

the

continency

of

the

Holy

Spirit

restrains

him

from

carnal

desires

,

he

lays

aside

the

conversation

of

the

former

man

,

and

even

among

his

fellow

-

citizens

,

or

,

I

might

almost

say

,

among

the

parents

themselves

of

his

earthly

life

,

he

is

a

stranger

.

Besides

,

although

this

might

otherwise

appear

to

be

a

punishment

,

yet

in

causes

and

sentences

of

this

kind

,

which

we

suffer

for

the

trial

of

the

proof

of

our

virtue

,

it

is

not

a

punishment

,

because

it

is

a

glory

.

But

,

indeed

,

suppose

banishment

not

to

be

a

punishment

to

us

,

yet

the

witness

of

their

own

conscience

may

still

attribute

the

last

and

worst

wickedness

to

those

who

can

lay

upon

the

innocent

what

they

think

to

be

a

punishment

.

I

will

not

now

describe

a

charming

place

;

and

,

for

the

present

,

I

pass

over

the

addition

of

all

possible

delights

.

Let

us

conceive

of

the

place

,

filthy

in

situation

,

squalid

in

appearance

,

having

no

wholesome

water

,

no

pleasantness

of

verdure

,

no

neighbouring

shore

,

but

vast

wooded

rocks

between

the

inhospitable

jaws

of

a

totally

deserted

solitude

,

far

removed

in

the

pathless

regions

of

the

world

.

Such

a

place

might

have

borne

the

name

of

exile

,

if

Cyprian

,

the

priest

of

God

,

had

come

thither

;

although

to

him

,

if

the

ministrations

of

men

had

been

wanting

,

either

birds

,

as

in

the

case

of

Elias

,

or

angels

,

as

in

that

of

Daniel

,

would

have

ministered

.

Away

,

away

with

the

belief

that

anything

would

be

wanting

to

the

least

of

us

,

so

long

as

he

stands

for

the

confession

of

the

name

.

So

far

was

God’s

pontiff

,

who

had

always

been

urgent

in

merciful

works

,

from

needing

the

assistance

of

all

these

things

.