Disputation of Achatius · §5 · Acts of the Martyrs

The Son as Word from the Heart

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Martianus questions Achatius about the Son of God and then orders him to gather the Christians of the whole church to follow the emperor religion.

Martianus said, "What I have always wanted to learn, you have suddenly confessed: the error of your belief and law. So God has a Son, as you say?" Achatius answered, "He has." Martianus said, "Who is the Son of God?" Achatius answered, "The Word of truth and grace." Martianus said, "Does he have this as his name?" Achatius answered, "You had asked not about his name, but about the power of the Son himself." Martianus said, "Make the name plain." Saint Achatius answered, "He is called Jesus Christ."

Martianus said, "From which wife of God was he conceived?" Saint Achatius answered, "God did not beget his Son by intercourse with a woman, in the manner of men. He formed Adam first, with his right hand fashioning him. Far be it from you to ascribe the touch of a mortal girl to the divine majesty. He put together the limbs of the first man from mud, and when he had already completed the whole figure, he granted him soul and spirit. In the same way the Son of God, the Word of truth, came forth from the heart of God. For this reason it is written: My heart pours out a good word (Psalms 45:1)."

Martianus said, "So God is bodily?" Achatius said, "He alone knows that. We do not know his invisible form, but we revere his strength and power." Martianus said, "If he is not in a body, he also knows nothing of a heart. For sense cannot exist without limbs." Achatius answered, "Wisdom is not born in these limbs, but it is given by God. What, then, does the body have to do with sense?"

Martianus said, "Look at the Cataphrygians, men of an ancient religion. They have turned to my rites, abandoned what they were, and with us they pay their vows to the gods. Be quick to obey in the same way. Gather the Christians of the whole church, and with them observe the religion of our emperor. Let the whole people come with you; it hangs upon your decision." Achatius answered, "They are all ruled not by my nod, but by the command of God. So let them listen to me if I persuade them of what is just, but if it is perverse and harmful, let them refuse me."

Greek

V. Martianus ait: Quod discere semper optabam, repente confessus es errorem vestrae persuasionis et legis. habet ergo, ut dicis, filium deus? respondit Achatius: Habet. Martianus ait: Quis est filius dei? respondit Achatius: Verbum veritatis et gratiae. Martianus ait: Hoc habet nomen? respondit Achatius: Non de nomine interrogaveras, sed de ipsa filii potestate. Martianus ait: Nomen explana. sanctus Achatius respondit: Iesus Christus vocatur. Martianus ait: Ex qua dei uxore conceptus est? respondit sanctus Achatius: Non hominum more deus filium ex muliebri coitu genuit, sed Adam primum dextera sua faciente formavit. nam absit ut tu maiestati divinae contactum puellae mortalis affirmes. luto primi hominis membra composuit, et ubi integram iam compleverat effigiem, animam spiritumque concessit. sic et filius dei verbum veritatis ex dei corde processit. ideo scriptum est: Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum. Martianus ait: Corporalis igitur deus est? Achatius dixit: Ipse solus agnoscit, nos vero non cognoscimus invisibilem formam, sed virtutem potentiamque veneramur. Martianus ait: Si in corpore non est, etiam cordis ignarus est. nam sensus non potest esse sine membris. respondit Achatius: Non in his membris sapientia nascitur, sed a deo datur. quid ergo pertinet corpus ad sensum? Martianus ait: Cataphryges aspice, homines religionis antiquae, ad mea sacra conversos reliquisse quae fuerant, et nobiscum diis vota persolvere: et tu similiter parere festina. omnes catholicae legis collige Christianos et cum his religionem nostri imperatoris attende. veniat tecum omnis populus, ex tuo pendet arbitrio: respondit Achatius: Illi omnes non meo nutu, sed dei praecepto reguntur. audiant me itaque, si iusta persuadeam; sin vero perversa et nocitura, contemnant.

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Martianus, consular prefect under Decius, has Achatius brought before him to require sacrifice with him to the emperor's gods.

This work is anonymous and names no addressee. It is a disputation in dialogue form set under Decius, in which Martianus, consular prefect, has Achatius brought before him to require sacrifice with him to the emperor's gods. The narrator presents the interrogation as remembrance of the deeds of God's servants, ending with imprisonment and referral of the record to Decius, and the clause explaining why Achatius was singled out is corrupt and uncertain.

Achatius argues that Christians honor the emperor by constant prayer for his life, just rule, armies and world peace, but sacrifice is owed to the true God, not to a man, identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Most High Adonai above cherubim and seraphim. He rejects Apollo, Hyacinth, Neptune, Asclepius, Venus, Jupiter, Juno and the rest of that sort, refuses to deny Christ who will judge living and dead, and refuses to name those of the whole church or accept the charge of sorcery. The reader meets Achatius, also called Agathangelus, Martianus, Decius, Jesus Christ, Adam, and Piso and Menander, whose place in one clause as separate bishop and presbyter or as further titles of the speaker is uncertain, and hears judgment sayings, a saying of Christ, and a psalm quoted by Achatius, with Martianus as the voice argued against.

Here sacrifice means pagan offering demanded as proof of loyalty, true God means the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob opposed to visible gods, and gods means Apollo, Jupiter, Juno and others. Son of God and Word of truth name Jesus Christ, Christian faith means the life under attack, whole church means the universal Christian people, deny means public disowning under threat, force means judicial compulsion to sacrifice, and sorcerers states the charge against Christians. Quotations come without book names, introduced by prophet cries, it is written, and again, and psalms follow old numbering about one number lower than modern numbering, cited as Gen, Ps, Matt and Rom, while one passage about the rest of that sort stands in an unreadable gap.

Printed text used

Translated from Oscar von Gebhardt, Acta martyrum selecta (Berlin: A. Duncker, 1902) (Latin)

This work has passed our source check. We made this study translation with AI help. No scholar has yet certified it as faithful and complete. Open Greek on any section to see the source text. It is not a critical edition.

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