On Flight in Persecution

Contents

Reading pages: 1–11 · 12–14

1. 1Answering Fabius, who asked whether Christians may flee in persecution, Tertullian first argues that persecution comes by God's will, as the winnowing and testing of his servants, since it makes them better.
2. 2The devil's iniquity is only the instrument of persecution, not its author: as Job, Peter, the Lord's Prayer, and Paul's thorn show, Satan can do nothing to God's servants except by God's permission.
3. 3God, who makes peace and creates war, is the author of persecution; those who fear that crowded church gatherings will provoke the heathen should trust that nothing happens without God's will.
4. 4Because persecution comes from God, it is good in itself, even when it seems evil to those it harms, and so it ought not and cannot be escaped by flight.
5. 5Whoever flees for fear of denying has already half denied; it is better to stay and trust God to protect, as the martyr Rutilius, who fled repeatedly, was caught and burned all the same.
6. 6Christ's command to flee from city to city was given to the apostles for their mission to Israel; once the gospel went to the nations the apostles no longer fled, as Paul's refusal to avoid Jerusalem shows, so the command does not bind Christians now.
7. 7A permanent command to flee would contradict Christ's other sayings on confessing him, enduring to the end, and not fearing those who kill the body; the fearful are threatened with the second death, not offered flight.
8. 8Christ withdrew from danger only until his teaching was complete; then he faced his Passion, and in Gethsemane, though his flesh was weak, he submitted to the Father's will, as Christians should.
9. 9The apostles, who wrote from chains and exile, never renewed the command to flee; Paul's armour of God, John's teaching that perfect love casts out fear, and the oracles of the Spirit all call to martyrdom, not flight.
10. 10The proverb that he who flees lives to fight again is worldly wisdom; a Christian soldier who flees has already been defeated, and like Jonah he cannot escape God anyway, so it is better to stay and trust him.
11. 11When deacons, presbyters, and bishops flee, the laity lose heart; Scripture condemns the shepherd who abandons his flock to the wolves, so church leaders above all must not flee in persecution.
12. 12Buying off persecutors with money is only flight by another means and a form of denial; Christ bought Christians with his blood, the apostles never ransomed themselves, and what Christians owe God in persecution is their blood, not coins.
13. 13The command to give to all who ask concerns alms, not extortion, and the saying about making friends by mammon does not mean paying off persecutors; Tertullian denounces whole churches and their bishops who pay regular protection money to soldiers.
14. 14Christians can meet safely by faith and prudence, at night or in small groups, rather than by bribery; the teaching is hard, but those who have received the Paraclete neither flee nor buy off persecution.