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The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp
St. Polycarp of Smyrna · image, public domain
The Church of Smyrna tells how its old bishop, a disciple of the Apostle John, was arrested and burned. Told to curse Christ, he answers: “Eighty and six years have I served Him, and He never did me any injury: how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”
It is the oldest account of a martyr's death outside the New Testament.
Contents
About this edition
Translated by Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1 (1885).
This translation is in the public domain. We took the text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library and left out the editors’ footnotes.
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