Cyprian of Carthage, Exhortation to Martyrdom
God is so offended by idolatry that He has even commanded the death of anyone who persuades others to sacrifice to and serve idols. Deuteronomy says that if your brother, your son, your daughter, the wife who lies in your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul secretly urges you, "Let us go and serve other gods, the gods of the nations," you must not consent, you must not listen, your eye must not spare him, and you must not conceal him; instead you shall denounce him. Your hand shall be the first to strike him down, and the hand of all the people shall follow; they shall stone him and he shall die, because he sought to turn you away from the Lord your God (Deuteronomy 13:6-10). The Lord speaks again and declares that no city is to be spared even if the whole city has agreed to idolatry. If you hear in one of the cities the Lord your God gives you to inhabit that its people say, "Let us go and serve other gods" whom you have not known, you shall kill all who are in that city by the sword, burn the city with fire, and leave it a desolation forever; it shall never be rebuilt, so that the Lord may turn from the fierceness of His anger. Then He will grant you mercy, show compassion, and multiply you, provided you obey the voice of the Lord your God and keep His commandments (Deuteronomy 13:12-16). Remembering the force of this command, Mattathias killed the man who approached the altar to sacrifice. If these commandments concerning the worship of God and the rejection of idols were kept before Christ's coming, how much more must they be kept after His coming. For when He came He not only exhorted us by words but also by deeds: after enduring every injury and insult He suffered and was crucified, so that by His example He might teach us to suffer and die, leaving no one an excuse for refusing to suffer, since He suffered for us; and since He suffered for the sins of others, how much more ought each person to suffer for his own sins. Therefore in the Gospel He warns and says: "Whoever confesses Me before men, I also will confess before My Father who is in heaven; but whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 10:32-33). Likewise the Apostle Paul declares: "If we endure, we shall also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us" (1 Corinthians 15:57-58). Likewise John says: "Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; whoever confesses the Son has the Son and the Father also" (1 John 2:23). From this the Lord urges and strengthens us to despise death, saying: "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). And again: "Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."
Latin
QUOD SIC IDOLOLATRIAE INDIGNETUR DEUS, UT PRAECEPERIT ETIAM EOS INTERFICI QUI SACRIFICARE ET SERVIRE IDOLIS SUASERINT. In Deuteronomio: Quod si rogaverit te frater tuus, aut filius tuus, aut filia tua, aut uxor tua quae est in sinu tuo, aut amicus tuus, qui aequalis est animae tuae, latenter dicens: « Eamus et serviamus diis aliis, diis gentium; » non consenties ei, et non exaudies eum, et non parcet oculus tuus super eum, et non celabis eum, annuntians annuntiabis de illo. Manus tua erit super eum, in primis interficere eum, et manus omnis populi postremo; et lapidabunt eum et morietur, quoniam quaesivit avertere te a Domino Deo tuo. Et iterum loquitur Dominus et dicit nec civitati parcendum, etiamsi universa consenserit ad idololatriam: Aut si audieris in una ex civitatibus quas Dominus Deus tuus dabit tibi inhabitare te illic, dicentes: « Eamus et serviamus diis aliis, » quos non nosti, interficiens necabis omnes qui sunt in civitate caede gladii, et incendes civitatem igni, et erit sine habitaculo in aeternum. Non reaedificabitur etiam nunc, ut avertatur Dominus ab indignatione irae suae. Et dabit tibi misericordiam et miserebitur tui, et multiplicabit te, si exaudieris vocem Domini Dei tui, et observaveris praecepta ejus. Cujus praecepti et vigoris memor Mattathias interfecit eum qui ad aram sacrificaturus accesserat. Quod si ante adventum Christi circa Deum colendum et idola spernenda haec praecepta servata sunt, quanto magis post adventum Christi servanda sunt; quando ille veniens non verbis tantum nos hortatus sit, sed et factis, post omnes injurias et contumelias passus quoque et crucifixus, ut nos pati et mori exemplo suo doceret, ut nulla sit homini excusatio pro se non patienti, cum passus sit ille pro nobis; et cum ille passus sit pro alienis peccatis, multo magis pro peccatis suis pati unumquemque debere? Et ideo in Evangelio comminatur et dicit: Quicumque confessus fuerit me coram hominibus, et ego confitebor eum coram Patre meo, qui in caelis est; qui autem negaverit me coram hominibus, et ego negabo eum coram Patre meo, qui in caelis est. Item Apostolus Paulus: Si enim commorimur, inquit, et convivemus: si toleramus, et conregnabimus: si negabimus, et ipse negabit nos. Item Joannes: Qui negat Filium, neque Patrem habet: qui confitetur Filium, et Filium et Patrem habet. Unde nos ad contemptum mortis hortatur Dominus et corroborat dicens: Nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus, animam autem non possunt occidere. Magis autem metuite eum qui potest animam et corpus occidere in gehennam. Et iterum: Qui amat animam suam, perdet eam: et qui odit animam suam in isto saeculo, in vitam aeternam conservabit illam.