Melito of Sardis

In their time Melito, bishop of the community at Sardis, and Apollinaris, bishop of the one at Hierapolis, were at the height of their distinction. Each of them, on his own account, addressed discourses in defense of the faith to the emperor of the Romans of that time, whom we have already mentioned. [a] The following works of theirs have come to our knowledge. Of Melito: the two books On the Passover; On the Way of Life and the Prophets; On the Church; a discourse On the Lord’s Day; also On the Faith of Man; On Formation; On the Obedience of Faith; On the Senses; besides these, On Soul and Body; On Baptism; On Truth; On Faith and the Birth of Christ; his discourse On Prophecy; On Soul and Body; On Hospitality; The Key; the books On the Devil and the Revelation of John; On God Embodied; and last of all, the petition to Antoninus. [b]

In the work On the Passover he shows the time at which he wrote it, beginning with these words: “When Servilius Paulus was proconsul of Asia, at the time Sagaris was martyred, there was a great dispute in Laodicea about the Passover, which fell at its proper season in those days; and this was written.” [e] Clement of Alexandria mentions this work in his own discourse On the Passover, which he says he composed because of Melito’s writing. [f]

In his book addressed to the emperor he records that things like these were done against us in that reign: “For what has never happened before is happening now: the race of the godly is being persecuted, driven about in Asia by new decrees. Shameless informers, lovers of other people’s goods, take their opportunity from the edicts and rob openly, plundering night and day people who have done no wrong.” And after other things he says: “If this is being done at your command, let it stand as well done; for a just emperor would never make an unjust decision, and we gladly bear the honor of such a death. We bring you only this one request: that you yourself first find out who is at work in such contentiousness, and judge justly whether they deserve death and punishment, or safety and quiet. But if this plan and this new decree, which would not be fit even against barbarian enemies, does not come from you, all the more do we beg you not to leave us exposed to such plundering by the mob.”

Again he goes on to say: “For our philosophy first flourished among the barbarians. Then it blossomed among your peoples in the great reign of your ancestor Augustus, and became above all a good of happy omen for your empire. For from that time the power of the Romans grew great and splendid. You have become its longed-for heir, and so you will remain, together with your son, as you guard the philosophy that grew up with the empire and began with Augustus, which your ancestors too honored along with the other religions. And the greatest proof that our teaching flourished for good together with an empire so happily begun is this: since the reign of Augustus nothing bad has befallen it, but on the contrary everything has been splendid and glorious, in answer to the prayers of all. Alone of them all, Nero and Domitian, persuaded by certain malicious men, wanted to bring our teaching into disrepute; and from them the lie of false accusation against people like us has flowed down by an unreasonable habit. But your godly fathers corrected their ignorance, often rebuking in writing the many who dared to start something new against us. Among them your grandfather Hadrian is known to have written to many others, and in particular to Fundanus, the proconsul and governor of Asia. And your father, while you were sharing the government of everything with him, wrote to the cities that they should start nothing new against us, among them to the people of Larissa, to the Thessalonians, to the Athenians, and to all the Greeks. [g] And since you hold the same view about these things as they did, and indeed one far more humane and philosophical, we are confident that you will do everything we ask of you.” That is what is set down in the work mentioned. [h]

In the Extracts he wrote, the same author gives at the start of his preface a list of the acknowledged books of the Old Testament, which it is necessary to set out here. He writes: [i] “Melito to his brother Onesimus, greeting. You have often asked, in your zeal for the word, to have extracts made from the Law and the Prophets concerning the Savior and our whole faith; and you also wanted to learn exactly about the ancient books, how many they are and in what order. I have taken pains to do this, knowing your zeal for the faith and your love of learning about the word, and that above all, in your longing for God, you put these things first, as you strive for eternal salvation. So when I went up to the East and came to the place where these things were proclaimed and done, I learned exactly the books of the Old Testament, and I send you the list below. Their names are these: of Moses, five, Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Leviticus, Deuteronomy; Joshua son of Nun; Judges; Ruth; four books of Kingdoms; two of Chronicles; the Psalms of David; the Proverbs of Solomon, which is also called Wisdom; Ecclesiastes; the Song of Songs; Job; of the prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the Twelve in a single book, Daniel, Ezekiel; Ezra. From these I have made the extracts, dividing them into six books.” So much for Melito. [j]