A Glimpse of Polycarp

Two or three weeks ago, at a Sunday morning book discussion, Dave mentioned that he admires Polycarp. I wondered why. Because I find church history interesting, curiosity got the best of me and I did some reading about Polycarp on Wikipedia and a website called Polycarp.

This is A Glimpse of Polycarp....

St. Polycarp of Smyrna (69 AD-156 AD) was a Christian bishop of Smyrna, in present day Turkey. He was appointed Bishop of the church in Smyrna "where he faithfully ministered for years." It is recorded that "He had been a disciple of John". It is probable that he knew John the Apostle, the disciple of Jesus. Along with Polycarp, Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch reportedly knew the apostles personally.
Polycarps letter to the Phillippians and the letter of the Smyrnaens recounting the martyrdom of Polycarp form part of a collection of writings called "The Apostolic Fathers", a term used to emphasized their particular closeness to the apostles. Another important source of information about Polycarp comes from the epistles of Ignatius, which include one to Polycarp. The most interesting thing to me is the story of his martyrdom.
The website entitled Polycarp states: "Polycarps' greatest contribution to Christianity may be his martyred death. His martyrdom stands as one of the most well documented events of antiquity."
Emperor worship was instituted by the Romans. The emperor of Rome waged a bitter attack against the Christians. The website states: "Polycarp was arrested on the charge of being a Christian--a member of a politically dangerous cult whose rapid growth needed to be stopped."
In 156 AD Polycarp was arrested and told that if he would proclaim "Caesar is Lord" and offer a pinch of incense to the emperors statue, he would escape death. He responded "Eighty Six years I have served Christ and he never did me any wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me?"
For not compromising his beliefs, he was sentenced to be burned alive at the stake. Believing God would help him endure, he requested he be tied instead of nailed to the stake. Believers that were present said they heard a voice from heaven saying "Be strong Polycarp and play the man". After his last prayer, the fire was lit, but the flames hovered around him as if "a wall of wind" protected him. Finally, the executioner was told to drive a sword through Polycarp. Witnesses said "His blood gushed forth and distinguished the fire" but the sword caused his death.
You can watch a quick video about Polycarp on www.polycarp.net .

Sue