File:The story of our Christianity; an account of the struggles, persecutions, wars, and victories of Christians of all times (1893) (14597229039).jpg

Identifier: storyofourchrist00bird (find matches)
Title: The story of our Christianity; an account of the struggles, persecutions, wars, and victories of Christians of all times
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Bird, Frederic Mayer, 1838-1908 Harrison, Benjamin, 1833-1901
Subjects: Church history
Publisher: Philadelphia, Pa., Peerless Publishing Co.
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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On his returnSerapion said, You are comeat last. Give it to me, and letme go. As if he had beenkept alive only to wait for thisabsolution, he breathed hislast as soon as he had receivedthe morsel. The Church had muchtrouble, as we shall see, overthe cases of three lapsed per-sons, and of others called libel-latici, who had signed a papersignifying that they had sacri-ficed, though they had not doneso. Some held that they mightnever be restored to fellowship,and this cruel rigor was thecause of an important schism.But the more mature andmore enthusiastic believerswere in no clanger of fallingaway. Certain confessors, im-prisoned a whole year in Rome,wrote thus to Cyprian: Whatcan be more glorious and blessed, than under tortures and in sight of death toacknowledge God the Lord, and with lacerated body, with free though departingspirit, in Christs name to become fellow-sufferers with Him? We have not yet.shed our blood, but we are ready to shed it. Pray for us, dearest Cyprian, that the
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OUTER MUMMY CASE OF QUEEN NEFERT-ART,Discovered in 1881, at Dur-el-Bahali. 142 THE STORY OF OUR CHRISTIANITY. Ivord may daily more richly comfort and strengthen us, and at length lead to thebattlefield that is before us His warriors, whom He hath practiced and proved inthe camp of a prison. May He bestow upon us those divine arms which nevercan be conquered. Decius soon perished in a battle with the Goths, and was succeeded byGallus. For a year the Church had rest; then the spread of pestilence, withother public calamities, roused the fury of the superstitious people against theChristians. A new edict appeared, requiring all subjects of the empire tosacrifice to the gods. Again the services were suppressed, and the faithfulliad to hide themselves; for it was now understood that prudence was a partof duty. Cyprian, in a letter to an African church, is explicit on this point: Let none of you, my brethren, when he sees how our people are drivenaway and scattered from fear of the persecut

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