Leugen Kringledorf | April 22nd, 2023
The purpose of historical writings is mostly two-fold: preservation and developmental understanding. In the first case, historical sources act as a guide to relevant facts about a given point in time. For example, Jesus’ existence and crucifixion have been documented outside the Bible. Tacitus documented the Neronian persecution of Christians in the 1st Century. Pliny the Younger wrote a letter in the 1st Century asking for guidance on how to judge Christians. All of these writings offer evidence of historical people and events, and for Christians today, this gives us further confidence in the beliefs we possess.
In the second case, the knowledge found in historical texts provides insight into the development of certain institutions and ideas. For instance, we may look at how key events led to shifts in traditional perspectives as seen in events such as the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation. To illustrate, the Great Schism was the first main Church split that resulted in the formation of a rivalry between Eastern and Western European Christians. And while it may seem that this singular event spurred the development of separate traditions, we can further examine the historical record of the first millennium to understand how geological and political factors resulted in shifts in regio-Church opinion over the course of centuries. But often in history, the development of certain ideas and practices is uncertain. Writings do not provide a distinct story, so it is the job of historians to use the preserved record to argue developmental proceedings. This article will serve as an example of this process and will discuss the development of the Cult of Saints and how it has come to influence the veneration of Saints in modern institutions.
Before discussing this topic at length, it is important to define what "the Cult of Saints" is in reference. Near the end of antiquity in the third and fourth centuries, the Cult of the Saints was a religious system of beliefs and rituals that focused on martyrs and their relics. This terminology is not used in an effort to score theological points but rather is the accepted historical reference to Christian practices emerging in late antiquity. The practices found within the Cult of Saints shall be outlined later in this article. For now, just understand the use of the Cult of Saints is not an attack on individual Christian beliefs.
Of all the ancient empires, the Roman Empire is certainly one of the most well-documented, especially when it comes to religious beliefs. The Romans were involved with polytheism, believing that there is a multitude of gods that all have their individual domains. Worshippers would build shrines and temples for each individual god. When hard times fell upon a Roman, they would turn to whatever god had domain over their problem. They would offer that god prayers and gifts in return for that god’s favor. For instance, if someone was at sea, and the waves became dangerous, a Roman may turn to Neptune for help. If someone were to go out to hunt, beforehand they may offer gifts and prayers to a shrine of Diana.
All of this is documented in the Bible as well. Paul in his ministry went around the Roman empire and had many encounters with Roman polytheism. Paul had to deal with the worship of the goddess Artemis (different than the Greek goddess of the hunt. She was a local goddess to the Ephesians for fertility) in Ephesus (Acts 19). Paul was once even considered a god himself as he and Barnabas were thought to be Hermes and Zeus, respectively (Acts 14). A most interesting account is in Acts 17 when Paul comes across the “temple to the unknown god” showing that the Romans were nothing but thorough in their respect for the gods.
It is clear that Christianity was developed during the time of polytheism. This means the overwhelming majority of Gentiles converting to Christianity in Rome came from a polytheistic background. With them, they brought their bias and superstitions, and it appears the Cult of Saints was born out of this propagation of paganistic tradition.
This idea that Roman converts to Christianity would influence Christian tradition is not a ludicrous one. After all, there are clear examples of this taking place. For example, it is commonly believed that the Church chose December 25th to celebrate Christmas "in an effort to adopt and absorb the traditions of the pagan [Roman] Saturnalia festival." Furthermore, one common way Romans celebrated the Saturnalia festival was by decorating their homes and temples with evergreen boughs, a practice still seen today in Christmas celebrations. Therefore, it is not a surprising leap to claim the origin of the Cult of Saints is paganism. In fact, this connection to paganism is demonstrated in key historical observations and through highlighting overlapping connections between Roman pagan beliefs and the beliefs of the Cult of Saints.
For starters, pagan reactions to the Cult of Saints are telling. For instance, take the words of Eunapius of Sardis:
“For they collected the bones and skulls of criminals who had been put to death for numerous crimes… made them out to be gods, and thought that they became better by defiling themselves at their graves. ‘Martyrs’ the dead men were called, and ministers of a sort, and ambassadors with the gods to carry men’s prayers.”(7)
From a Christian point-of-view, it is easy to read and make arguments against Eunapius in one sense. After all, the “numerous crimes” those men committed were likely worshipping Jesus. What is interesting is his description of how Christians appeared to make "gods" of martyrs. It would seem in death, certain Christians became elevated to a status above all others, not in a respectful way but one centered on apotheosis. Romans at the time had a similar belief in which they believed that death "transformed ordinary people... into gods, the di manes, who would be worshipped individually by their surviving families and collectively by the Roman state." Furthermore, from Enapius' account, the Christian dead became "ministers" and "ambassadors" to "carry men's prayers." Again, this connection between the living and the dead is seen in Roman polytheism as the Romans believed "that the deified dead could extend the lives of their worshippers, offer guidance in dreams, and intervene in the lives of the living in a wide variety of ways." Thus, Eunapius' words serve as a witness to the connection between paganism and Christian practices during the late third and fourth centuries. And to further give credence to this connection, prominent Christians during the fourth century called to question some of the very same funerary rights seemingly mentioned by Eunapius. Peter Brown does an excellent job explaining this:
“For one generation, a lively debate on ‘superstition’ within the Christian church flickered around the cemeteries of the Mediterranean. In the 380s, Ambrose at Milan, and, in the 390s, Augustine in Hippo, attempted to restrict among their Christian congregations certain funerary customs, most notably the habit of feasting at the graves of the dead, either at the family tombs or in the memoriae of the martyrs. In Augustine’s explicit opinion, these practices were a contaminating legacy of pagan beliefs: ‘When peace came to the church, a mass of pagans who wished to come to Christianity were held back because of their feast days with their idols used to be spent in an abundance of eating and drinking.”
Augustine's account affirms the hypothetical connection between Roman paganism and the Cult of Saints by directly linking certain funerary customs to paganism. In fact, Augustine reports that pagans were held from entering the Church due to their continued observation of paganistic funerary tradition. Later on, mounting concern would grow amongst notable early Christians as burial customs amongst Christian laity became focussed on the inclusion of Saints. This is most famously documented in an exchange between Paulinus of Nola and Augustine. At some point, Paulinus had written a letter to Augustine asking for Augustine's opinion on a matter of burial. A woman had come to Paulinus and begged for her son to be buried in the tomb of a Saint. Paulinus decided to oblige the woman and had her son buried in the basilica of Felix the Confessor. Interestingly, Paulinus had done something similar years earlier for his own son, who died at the age of eight. Despite this, Paulinus began to question whether the practice was actually profitable, and so he sought for Augustine to settle the matter. It seemed Augustine thought Paulinus’ concerns to be considerable, and therefore wrote a clear answer in a letter titled De cura gerenda pro mortuis.
In this letter, Augustine explicitly argues that the proximity of a body to a Saint brings no profit to the believer in the next life. Augustine first poses a thoughtful question to Paulinus, asking, "[D]oes it cause or increase the misery of the spirits of men after this life if their bodies are not buried?", to which he explains that "we should not believe... that the unburied are prohibited from navigating and crossing the infernal river. Who can suggest such poetic and fantastic notions to a Christian heart? For the Lord Jesus, asserts that without fear Christians should give themselves over to the hands of their enemies, give their bodies in their power, and yet that not a hair of their head shall perish; and he exhorts them not to fear those who, when they have killed the body, can do no further harm."
Augustine further suggests that if the location of a believer's corpse had a direct effect on their ability to enter heaven, then the bodies of those killed by persecutors who never saw a proper burial would be at a significant disadvantage. But he directly states this is not the case.
"The bodies of many Christians, then, have not been covered by the earth, but none of them have been separated from heaven and earth...[God] knows from where to resuscitate what He has created..."
Now, Augustine is careful to mention that burial for the dead is not meaningless as it is a "mark of a good and human disposition towards the remains of one's friends." However, he is also apt to clarify that "while it is desirable that there be such solace for the survivors, by which means they can show their pious attitudes towards their beloved...I do not see what assistance this can be to the dead...." That being said, in an effort of transparency, it should be noted that Augustine does go on to explain that prayers for the dead for aid via Saints are a necessity; however, this opinion is vastly separated from the idea of spiritual aid through the proximity of corpses.
Augustine's letter, written about 421 A.D., highlights how the pressure of pagan influence on Christian traditions began to shift the minds of the Christian laity despite opposition from Church leaders. As Brown writes,
“[I]t appears that articulate and cultivated leaders of the Christian church attempted to take a stand against ‘pre-Christian’ practices among their congregations... the weight of these practices had apparently increased with the conversion of the pagan masses to Christianity; and... the pressure of pagan ways of thinking and worshipping had made itself felt... in the ceremonial trappings and in the beliefs surrounding the new cult of martyrs... Pre-Christian practices were controlled among the laity at their own private graves, and the more rambunctious of these were totally excluded from festivals at the graves of the martyrs. Nevertheless, popular opinion had forced on all but a discontented few the frank acceptance of pagan forms of ceremonial and of potentially ‘superstitious’ view on the localization of the soul at the grave in the case of the cult of relics and the tombs of the saints. Thus, a clearly documented victory of the ‘vulgar’ can be thought to lie at the roots of the sudden prominence achieved, in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, by the cult of the saints.”
Leaders of the church attempted to put a stop to pre-Christian practices amongst the dead, but it was to no avail. The weight of these practices forced them to take root amongst the people as pagans converted. This seems absolute when one begins the incredible comparison between the concept of relics in Roman paganism and Christianity during the fourth century.
According to the Roman Catholic church, a "relic" is an "object connected with a saint, e.g., part of the body or clothing or something the person used or touched." The concept of relics in terms of Christianity has been around since possibly the second century; however, the veneration of relics became widely accepted by Christian laity in the fourth century. A very distinct evidence of this comes from a story about a woman named "Lucilla." In 311-12, Lucilla was a Spanish noblewoman who owned the bone of a martyr. Her story is noteworthy as she was "in the habit of kissing [the bone] before she took the Eucharist...." At one point, a deacon rebuked her for this action, but she walked away confused and full of wrath. Lucilla serves as an important example of the special regard for relics in Christian laity at the time. The bones and objects of Saints were thought to possess extendable holiness, perfecting the hands of the holder. The prevalence of relics can be seen in a similar light within Roman paganism as early as 390 B.C. Camillus, in a speech against the abandonment and relocation of ruins from Rome to Veii, would speak about the sanctity of certain pagan relics.
"It may be said perhaps that we shall perform these duties in Veii... But... could the proper sanctities be preserved? I cannot now make mention of all our gods, or of all our rites - but think... of Jupiter's Feast: how could his couch be decked anywhere but on the Capitol? What of Vesta's eternal fires, or of the image preserved in her shrine as a pledge of Rome's dominion? What of the sacred shields of Mars and of Quirinus, our Father? All these things you would leave behind on unconsecrated ground - sanctities as old as Rome, or older... How is that possible without sin?"
The relics of the gods were seen as a necessity amongst Romans. They were viewed as sacred, and their loss was considered sinful. Therefore, it is easy to see how this religious perspective would become rampant within Christianity as pagans began to convert.
Naturally, then, the link between Roman paganism and the Cult of Saints is clear, but why is it of importance? The origin of religious practices of the Cult of Saints is significant as many of these practices are still around today. Relics are an incredibly important concept within Roman Catholicism. It is a requirement that every Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox church is in possession of a relic. Furthermore, if Roman paganism is responsible for the elevation of Saints to intercessory rights, then prayers for saintly intercession are ill-founded. At the very least, the understanding of the Cult of Saints should bring about a serious discussion within the Church about what is grounded in Apostolic truth and what is brought from pagans.
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas
https://www.history.com/topics/christmas/history-of-christmas-trees
https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/optatus_01_book1.htm#C16