Imitatio Christi
The act of dying either willingly or against one’s will on behalf of a belief has been an intense subject throughout ancient history into modern times and can be found in the literature of many different religious and cultural groups. Originally referring to nothing more than a witness, the word martyr in its modern sense has become a very loaded term which can invoke imagery of honor and valiance or violence and fear, depending on which side you stand. Since the crucifixion and alleged resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians have been following his examples in life and death. The magnitude and detail of this imitatio Christi varies for each individual, ranging from the simple following of his teachings, to seeking out an almost identical suffering to that which he was inflicted with during his crucifixion. The writings of the New Testament often include language that seems to direct a follower to mimic the ways of Jesus. From this interpretation a new brand of martyrdom was born in which martyrs are often identified with Christ-like traits and where their narratives are often give many details that are reminiscent of the passion of Christ.
The Passion of Jesus Christ as a Martyr Narrative
The story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has obviously had a huge impact on many of the world’s people. Dying for a belief or way of life is not something that is uncommon in ancient literature. Jesus’ death, however, was special in that its narrative gives the impression that his death was deliberate and predetermined. He “saw his death as being absolutely essential to his cause” (Smith 1997, 72). The story of his life in the Gospels was composed after his death and resurrection, giving the writers “the benefit of divine and historic hindsight” which influenced their retelling to the point that their narratives often seem like they are always leading to his inevitable death (Smith 1997, 70). The symbolic language used throughout the Gospels helps give meaning to his life by alluding to his imminent and fated death (Smith 71). As the time of his death approaches, Jesus begins to do things that make it seem as though he pushing towards his own execution (Smith 1997, 81). He enters Jerusalem during the celebration of Passover when the city is crowded with Jews (Matthew 21:5-13; Luke 19:35-36), he enters the temple, drives out all the merchants and customers, and overturns tables and chairs (Matthew 21:12; Luke 19:45), and is perceived to threaten the temple (Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2, 14:58). Later, when Jesus is interrogated “by the high priest and the elders of the Sanhendrin”, he is incredibly uncooperative (Smith 1997, 83). When asked if he is “the Son of God”, Jesus answers, “You have said so. But I tell you , from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” This obviously upsets the priest and he accuses him of blasphemy (Matthew 26:63-64). Jesus never makes any attempt to save himself or prevent his execution, even though he is frightened and begs for God’s help (John 12:27; Mark 14:36; Matthew 26:42). All of these things suggest that Jesus is ultimately “in control of the proceedings” (Smith 1997, 85). It is necessary for his “death to be the most violent, painful, prolonged, humiliating, and public that could be devised” in order “to open men’s hearts to God’s” message (Smith 1997, 72). Throughout the Gospels Jesus is often referred to as a teacher. His verbal teachings, usually in the form of parables, are plentiful, but the bulk of his teachings seem to come from “what he does, not what he says” (Capes 2003, 14). For early Christians, “the person and teachings of Jesus became the guiding principle for…behavior” (Moss 2010, 20). The words of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark instruct his followers to “take up their cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). Whether this quote is interpreted as directly referring to his crucifixion is up to the individual, but for early Christian martyrs it seems to be calling them to imitate Christ’s life, as well as his death, often in gruesome detail. All of these aspects of the life and death of Jesus are crucial in understanding the structure and intent found in later imitatio Christi martyr narratives.
The Call to Imitate in the Gospels and Other Texts of the New Testament
Jesus’ call to follow resonates throughout the gospels of the New Testament and can often be interpreted as calls to martyrdom. These authors of these gospels, however, were not the first to use this language of imitation. “The importance of imitation in moral discourse” had already been “well established in ancient discourse and particularly in the writings of Greco-Roman moralists” (Moss 2010, 20). These moralists “utilized the language of mimesis and ethical exempla as a powerful rhetorical tool”, inferring that “through the imitation of the words and deeds of great figures,” one could “become like them” (Moss 2010, 21). This sort of language can also be found in Jewish literature from the Hellenistic period, which “used the language of mimesis to inspire their readers to live more virtuous lives” (Moss 2010, 21). So, it can be said that the understanding and conveying of imitation language by the writers of the Gospels was highly influenced by literary sources in antiquity.
Mark
The Gospel According to Mark is riddled with language of imitation. Perhaps the most famous passage referring to imitation of Christ is in the aforementioned line 34 of Mark 8, in which Jesus says, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me”. He goes on to say that “whosoever loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:35). This line can easily be interpreted as a call to martyrdom. Another passage that include language of imitation is Mark 10:37-40 in which Jesus tells “James and John, the sons of Zebedee”, that they will drink from the cup that he drinks, and will be baptized with the baptism he is baptized and tells them that “to sit at my right hand or my left is not mine to grant, but is for those for whom it has been prepared”. The mention of a place to sit at his right or left hand being something only awarded to the privileged is something that comes up in later Christian martyr narratives where martyrs see themselves as being destined to die in the name of their Lord.
Peter
The Letters of Peter continues this language of imitation, but tend more towards an “explicit association of personal suffering with that of Christ” (Moss 2010, 34). The author of Peter focuses the message that followers of Christ should be able to “accept unjust suffering and to submit to” persecution as Jesus did (Moss 2010, 35). His passages are often easily interpreted as a call to martyrdom. An example of this can be found in I Peter 2:19-25 where he talks about how if one endures suffering when they have done the right thing, they will “have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.” Another passage of imitation in I Peter, among many others, is I Peter 4:1 where he tells the followers of Christ that they should “arm” themselves “with the same intention” as Christ, to suffer “in the flesh”.
Hebrews
The Letter to the Hebrews also tends in this direction with language that suggests that one who models their own death after the persecution, torture, and crucifixion of Jesus is will receive a better reward after death (Hebrews 11:26, 35-40), and that suffering leads to perfection and exaltation like Christ (Hebrews 2:10).
Revelation
The language of Revelation seems more war-like, instructing followers to “conquer” like Christ in order to “not be harmed by the second death”, to gain “some of the hidden manna”, “authority over the nations”, or a place on the throne, and so on (Revelation 2:11, 17, 26; 3:21).
Paul
Paul’s writings are often geared towards an instruction of imitation of himself and of Jesus. He sees himself “as the mediator between Christ and the congregation” and that by imitating him, you will be indirectly imitating Christ (Moss 2010, 23). An example of this can be seen in his letter to the Philippians in which he tells them to “join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us”. He goes on to say that in mimicking him and, in turn, following the ways of Christ, “he will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory” (Philippians 3:17-21). This continues the language of reward for imitation that can be found in many other New Testament texts
The Martyrdom of Polycarp
The martyrdom of Polycarp is a very important Christian martyr narrative that gives a detailed account of imitatio Christi. The narrative of Polycarp “is cited as the first martyrdom account and…as the harbinger of a new ideology of martyrdom” which lead to “a shift in Christian understandings of their suffering and death” (Moss 2012, 52). His martyrdom is the first narrative to use the word “martyr” and “martyrdom” “in the clear sense of death at the hands of a hostile secular authority” (Bowersock 1995, 13). Many of the details of Polycarp’s martyrdom are very similar to that of the passion of Christ. Just as Jesus is betrayed by his own disciple, Polycarp is betrayed by people in “his own household” (The Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, 6) Like Jesus, Polycarp allows himself to be captured. He predicts his own death and waits for is captors to come to him in order that “the will of God be done” (Polycarp, 5, 7). Polycarp goes peacefully with his captors and even offers them a meal before he is taken to be interrogated. He rides a donkey into the city, in the same way Jesus rode into Jerusalem(Polycarp, 7-8). Prominent names from the passion of Jesus, such as Herod and Judas, are involved in Polycarp’s narrative (Polycarp, 6, 8). He uses few words when interrogated by the Romans, similar to Jesus when he is interrogated by the priest (Polycarp, 8). When Polycarp is burned alive, he asks not to be nailed down (Polycarp, 13-14). Though this may seem like a deviation from Christ narrative, it actually shows that Polycarp was in control of the proceedings, and that he did not need to be held down, even through intense pain. This gives the reader a sense that he was in control of his own death in the same way as Christ. In the end, the flames do not actually burn his body, and so his opponents “plunge a dagger into” him (Polycarp, 16). This is reminiscent of the passion of Jesus as well, when he is stabbed in the side by a Roman soldier so that he might die faster. Polycarp’s death became a model for martyrdom and imitatio Christi for early Christians. He was viewed not only as an outstanding martyr, but also as a teacher, and those who followed his example “considered themselves brothers…in Christ” (Bowerstock 1995, 45).
Annotated Bibliography
Bowersock, G. W. Martyrdom and Rome. Great Britain: University Press, Cambridge, 1995.
The passages in Bowersock’s book that I found useful were a bit sporadic. In chapter 1, “The Making of Martyrdom”, Bowersock discusses the martyr narratives of both Stephen and Polycarp, and the similarities of these narratives to the passion of Christ. He also discusses Paul’s allusions to Stephen in his letters. In chapter 3, “The Civic Role of Martyrs”, Bowerstock talks about Polycarp’s role as a martyr, as well as a teacher in his community and discusses his group of followers and their perceived brotherhood through his teachings. I also found some things useful in the 1st appendix of his book, “Protomartyr” where he discusses Stephen and his literal witness of God and Christ.
Capes, David B. "Imitaio Christi and the Gospel Genre". Bulletin for Biblical Research (2003): 1-19.
Capes’ article thoroughly analyses imitatio Christi throughout the New Testament texts. He begins by discussing how the authors of the gospels were not the first people to write using language of imitation. These authors were probably greatly influenced by the earlier Greco-Roman and Jewish writers who stressed that one should imitate the actions and deeds of important figures in order to become like them. Capes goes over the New Testament texts, one by one, analyzing in detail the calls to imitation of Christ that are present in each. He also discusses the narrative of Polycarp and compares it to the language in these other texts.
Cobb, Stephanie. Dying to Be Men: Gender and Language in Early Christian Martyr Texts. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
The chapter of Cobb’s Dying to be Men that was useful to me is titles “Be a Man”. This chapter discusses the different values that early interpreters of the passion of Christ found. These virtues exist throughout Christian martyr narratives and are often labeled as being masculine, rather than feminine, traits. These virtues include mastery of the passions, volition, justice, powers of persuasion, and age. Cobb discusses the application of these traits to the narrative of Polycarp and compares and contrasts this story with the story of Jesus. She also talks about other martyr narratives, explaining that not all use these same sort of characteristics as virtues.
Frend, W. H. C. Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of a Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus. Great Britain: Alden Press, 1965.
The chapter I found most useful in Frend’s book was chapter 3, “Martyrdom in the New Testament Period”. This chapter talks about how the themes and ways of presenting things in the New Testament are not original. The only thing that sets these works of literature apart from other ancient texts is the narrative of Jesus. Frend compares different parts of the gospel literature with that of ancient Jewish literature. He discusses similarities that exist between the narratives of later Christian martyrdoms, and examines how much these similarities should be paid attention to, since many of them also exist in other ancient literature genres.
Greenberg, L. Arik. “My Share of God’s Reward”: Exploring the Roles and Formulations of the Afterlife in Early Christian Martyrdom. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2009.
The section of Greenburg’s book that I found particularly helpful was the part about Polycarp within chapter 4, “The Post-canonical Acta Traditions”. In this section, Greenburg mentions that the narrative of Polycarp’s death is the first story to use the words “martyr” and “martyrdom” in the modern sense of dying for one’s faith. He stresses that Polycarp’s martyrdom is not the “first martyrdom”, just the first narrative to focus completely on the subject of martyrdom and use as much imitation language as can be found in his narrative.
Henten, Jan Willem van and Friedrich Avemarie. Martyrdom and Noble Death: Selected Texts from Greco-Roman, Jewish and Christian Antiquity. New
York: Routledge, 2002.
From this book, I used information from its account of “The Martyrdom of Polycarp”. Henten talks about the narrative of Polycarp’s death and being the oldest Christian document that is completely devoted to the martyrdom of an early Christian. He talks about the many parallels that exit between Polycarp’s narrative and the narrative of Jesus’ life and death, but also notices that many details do not match completely. This, he believes, is intentional so that the figure of Polycarp is distinguishable from that of Jesus Christ and is not assumed to be divine.
Middleton, Paul. Martyrdom: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: T & T Clark International, 2011.
For my project I used information only from section 2.1-2.4 of Chapter 3, “The Theology of Martyrdom in Early Christianity”, in Middleton’s book. These sections focus on the imitation of Christ in early Christianity. Section 2.1, “Dying and Rising with Christ”, discusses how the narration of Christian martyrdom is often what gives the impression of imitation and focuses on two martyr stories: The deaths of Stephen and Polycarp. In this section, Middleton outlines the many similarities that exist between these two martyr narratives and the passion of Christ. The next section, “Confessing Christ”, talks about early martyr narratives as examples for later martyrs, and the action of confessing one’s Christianity. The section “Martyrdom as Victory” talks about the war-like and athletic language of conquering in the name of Christ that exists in many early Christian martyr narratives. Finally, the section “Life and Death” discusses how the death of martyrs was interpreted as life in that they would gain life through dying for Christ and through imitation of his death.
Moss, Candida R. Ancient Christian Martyrs. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.
Chapter 2, “Asia Minor: Imitating Christ”, was the most useful section of this book for me. In this chapter, Moss discusses imitation language throughout the gospels of the New Testament. She also discusses the letters of Ignatius and talks about how Polycarp was involved in their dissemination. She goes on to talk about the narrative of Polycarp in more depth. She gives some background on Polycarp along with a short account of his martyrdom. She then goes on to cite some other scholars, discussing the integrity of the account of Polycarp, the authenticity, and the process through which his account can be dated.
Moss, Candida R. The Other Christs: Imitating Jesus in Ancient Christian Ideologies of Martyrdom. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
For this project, I focused mainly on the introductory section and chapters 1 and 2 in Moss’ book. The introductory section talks about Christian martyrs as being imitators of Christ in both a literal and literary sense. She discusses how early Christianity tends to center on suffering and the crucified Christ as a main example for imitation. She talks about how instances of Christian martyrdom after Christ, serve as further example for other Christians. She discusses how the act of martyrdom seems to change the status of these often common Christians, to a state of exaltation within their communities. Chapter 1, “Suffering like Christ”, goes into more specifics, focusing on the call to imitation in the texts of the New Testament as well as in the writings of Clement and Ignatius of Antioch. Chapter 2, “The Martyr as Alter Christus”, goes on to discuss specific martyr accounts, including Stephen and Polycarp, and talks about their narratives and the intention to tell their stories in a way that is reminiscent of the passion of Christ.
Smith, Lacey Baldwin. Fools, Martyrs, Traitors: The Story of Martyrdom in the WesternWorld. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1997.
From Smith’s book, I used only information from chapter 4, “Jesus of Nazareth: ‘Follow Me’”. This chapter talks a lot about the narration of Jesus’ life and death in the gospels. Smith sees the narratives in the gospels as all leading to the death of Jesus, that his crucifixion and resurrection is the single most important detail of these narratives. She describes them as “accounts of his death with extended introductions. Smith talks about the symbolic language throughout the New Testament gospels that gives the life story of Jesus meaning. She discusses the death of Jesus as special compared to other ancient deaths and martyrdoms, especially in Greco-Roman and Jewish literature. The final part of this chapter discusses the events leading to the crucifixion of Christ, his deliberate push towards his execution, and his lack of effort to prevent his suffering and death.
The passages in Bowersock’s book that I found useful were a bit sporadic. In chapter 1, “The Making of Martyrdom”, Bowersock discusses the martyr narratives of both Stephen and Polycarp, and the similarities of these narratives to the passion of Christ. He also discusses Paul’s allusions to Stephen in his letters. In chapter 3, “The Civic Role of Martyrs”, Bowerstock talks about Polycarp’s role as a martyr, as well as a teacher in his community and discusses his group of followers and their perceived brotherhood through his teachings. I also found some things useful in the 1st appendix of his book, “Protomartyr” where he discusses Stephen and his literal witness of God and Christ.
Capes, David B. "Imitaio Christi and the Gospel Genre". Bulletin for Biblical Research (2003): 1-19.
Capes’ article thoroughly analyses imitatio Christi throughout the New Testament texts. He begins by discussing how the authors of the gospels were not the first people to write using language of imitation. These authors were probably greatly influenced by the earlier Greco-Roman and Jewish writers who stressed that one should imitate the actions and deeds of important figures in order to become like them. Capes goes over the New Testament texts, one by one, analyzing in detail the calls to imitation of Christ that are present in each. He also discusses the narrative of Polycarp and compares it to the language in these other texts.
Cobb, Stephanie. Dying to Be Men: Gender and Language in Early Christian Martyr Texts. New York: Columbia University Press, 2008.
The chapter of Cobb’s Dying to be Men that was useful to me is titles “Be a Man”. This chapter discusses the different values that early interpreters of the passion of Christ found. These virtues exist throughout Christian martyr narratives and are often labeled as being masculine, rather than feminine, traits. These virtues include mastery of the passions, volition, justice, powers of persuasion, and age. Cobb discusses the application of these traits to the narrative of Polycarp and compares and contrasts this story with the story of Jesus. She also talks about other martyr narratives, explaining that not all use these same sort of characteristics as virtues.
Frend, W. H. C. Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of a Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus. Great Britain: Alden Press, 1965.
The chapter I found most useful in Frend’s book was chapter 3, “Martyrdom in the New Testament Period”. This chapter talks about how the themes and ways of presenting things in the New Testament are not original. The only thing that sets these works of literature apart from other ancient texts is the narrative of Jesus. Frend compares different parts of the gospel literature with that of ancient Jewish literature. He discusses similarities that exist between the narratives of later Christian martyrdoms, and examines how much these similarities should be paid attention to, since many of them also exist in other ancient literature genres.
Greenberg, L. Arik. “My Share of God’s Reward”: Exploring the Roles and Formulations of the Afterlife in Early Christian Martyrdom. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2009.
The section of Greenburg’s book that I found particularly helpful was the part about Polycarp within chapter 4, “The Post-canonical Acta Traditions”. In this section, Greenburg mentions that the narrative of Polycarp’s death is the first story to use the words “martyr” and “martyrdom” in the modern sense of dying for one’s faith. He stresses that Polycarp’s martyrdom is not the “first martyrdom”, just the first narrative to focus completely on the subject of martyrdom and use as much imitation language as can be found in his narrative.
Henten, Jan Willem van and Friedrich Avemarie. Martyrdom and Noble Death: Selected Texts from Greco-Roman, Jewish and Christian Antiquity. New
York: Routledge, 2002.
From this book, I used information from its account of “The Martyrdom of Polycarp”. Henten talks about the narrative of Polycarp’s death and being the oldest Christian document that is completely devoted to the martyrdom of an early Christian. He talks about the many parallels that exit between Polycarp’s narrative and the narrative of Jesus’ life and death, but also notices that many details do not match completely. This, he believes, is intentional so that the figure of Polycarp is distinguishable from that of Jesus Christ and is not assumed to be divine.
Middleton, Paul. Martyrdom: A Guide for the Perplexed. New York: T & T Clark International, 2011.
For my project I used information only from section 2.1-2.4 of Chapter 3, “The Theology of Martyrdom in Early Christianity”, in Middleton’s book. These sections focus on the imitation of Christ in early Christianity. Section 2.1, “Dying and Rising with Christ”, discusses how the narration of Christian martyrdom is often what gives the impression of imitation and focuses on two martyr stories: The deaths of Stephen and Polycarp. In this section, Middleton outlines the many similarities that exist between these two martyr narratives and the passion of Christ. The next section, “Confessing Christ”, talks about early martyr narratives as examples for later martyrs, and the action of confessing one’s Christianity. The section “Martyrdom as Victory” talks about the war-like and athletic language of conquering in the name of Christ that exists in many early Christian martyr narratives. Finally, the section “Life and Death” discusses how the death of martyrs was interpreted as life in that they would gain life through dying for Christ and through imitation of his death.
Moss, Candida R. Ancient Christian Martyrs. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012.
Chapter 2, “Asia Minor: Imitating Christ”, was the most useful section of this book for me. In this chapter, Moss discusses imitation language throughout the gospels of the New Testament. She also discusses the letters of Ignatius and talks about how Polycarp was involved in their dissemination. She goes on to talk about the narrative of Polycarp in more depth. She gives some background on Polycarp along with a short account of his martyrdom. She then goes on to cite some other scholars, discussing the integrity of the account of Polycarp, the authenticity, and the process through which his account can be dated.
Moss, Candida R. The Other Christs: Imitating Jesus in Ancient Christian Ideologies of Martyrdom. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
For this project, I focused mainly on the introductory section and chapters 1 and 2 in Moss’ book. The introductory section talks about Christian martyrs as being imitators of Christ in both a literal and literary sense. She discusses how early Christianity tends to center on suffering and the crucified Christ as a main example for imitation. She talks about how instances of Christian martyrdom after Christ, serve as further example for other Christians. She discusses how the act of martyrdom seems to change the status of these often common Christians, to a state of exaltation within their communities. Chapter 1, “Suffering like Christ”, goes into more specifics, focusing on the call to imitation in the texts of the New Testament as well as in the writings of Clement and Ignatius of Antioch. Chapter 2, “The Martyr as Alter Christus”, goes on to discuss specific martyr accounts, including Stephen and Polycarp, and talks about their narratives and the intention to tell their stories in a way that is reminiscent of the passion of Christ.
Smith, Lacey Baldwin. Fools, Martyrs, Traitors: The Story of Martyrdom in the WesternWorld. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc, 1997.
From Smith’s book, I used only information from chapter 4, “Jesus of Nazareth: ‘Follow Me’”. This chapter talks a lot about the narration of Jesus’ life and death in the gospels. Smith sees the narratives in the gospels as all leading to the death of Jesus, that his crucifixion and resurrection is the single most important detail of these narratives. She describes them as “accounts of his death with extended introductions. Smith talks about the symbolic language throughout the New Testament gospels that gives the life story of Jesus meaning. She discusses the death of Jesus as special compared to other ancient deaths and martyrdoms, especially in Greco-Roman and Jewish literature. The final part of this chapter discusses the events leading to the crucifixion of Christ, his deliberate push towards his execution, and his lack of effort to prevent his suffering and death.