“‘Polycarp has confessed that he is a Christian.’ This proclamation having been made by the herald, the whole multitude both of the heathen and Jews, who dwelt at Smyrna, cried out with uncontrollable fury, and in a loud voice, ‘This is the teacher of Asia, the father of the Christians, and the overthrower of our gods, he who has been teaching many not to sacrifice, or to worship the gods.’ Speaking thus, they cried out, and besought Philip the Asiarch to let loose a lion upon Polycarp. But Philip answered that it was not lawful for him to do so, seeing the shows of wild beasts were already finished. Then it seemed good to them to cry out with one consent, that Polycarp should be burnt alive.”[1]
And Polycarp was martyred for his beliefs in Christianity. He was willing to risk his life for the truth. He spoke truth to power. Along with many saints throughout history, he refused to bow to the powerful corrupters of his time.
Fast forward into the 20th century where Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn begged the world to “live not by lies.” Solzhenitsyn had been wrongly imprisoned in the Russian gulags by the communists. He refused to follow the great lie that communism would lead to Utopia. He refused to pretend that the communists were doing good for the people of the USSR. He saw its truths in tortures, murders, and starvation in the gulags, so he collected stories from many other prisoners and published them in his book, “The Gulag Archipelago,” which opened the world’s eyes to the horrors of communism in the 1970s. Thanks to Solzhenitsyn’s courage (and to the United States President Ronald Reagan who read his book), we witnessed the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the beginning of the fall of communism.
Let us hope and pray that the horrors of communism are once fully eradicated from this world. Pray for our brothers and sisters who are still living under the thumb of communism in China, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Cuba, and Cambodia. Let us hope that we all can be as courageous as Polycarp and Solzhenitsyn – men who spoke truth to power and refused to bow to the lies of their time.
SJ Thomason is a Christian wife, mother, and university administrator in business. She believes that truth matters. Follow her on her YouTube channel @TruthMatters_SJ.
[1] The Martyrdom of Polycarp. New Advent. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0102.htm?utm_