The Sibyl’s Acrostic

My wish, however, is to draw a testimony to the divine nature of Christ even from outside sources. For with such testimony it is clear that even those who blaspheme his name must admit that he is God and the Son of God, if indeed they will believe the words of those who thought as they did. The Erythraean Sibyl, then, who tells us herself that she lived in the sixth generation after the flood, was a priestess of Apollo. She wore the sacred headband in imitation of the god she served, guarded the tripod wrapped in the serpent’s coils, and gave prophetic answers to those who came to her shrine. Her parents in their folly had devoted her to this service, a service that produced nothing good or noble, only an indecent frenzy, like the one recorded in the case of Daphne. On one occasion, however, she rushed into the sanctuary of her empty superstition and was truly filled with inspiration from above. In prophetic verses she declared the future purposes of God, plainly pointing to the coming of Jesus by the first letters of the lines, which form an acrostic of these words: Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, Cross. The verses themselves are these:

Judgment! Earth’s oozing pores will mark the day;

Earth’s heavenly King his glories will display:

Sovereign of all, exalted on his throne,

Unnumbered multitudes their God will own,

Seeing their Judge, with mingled joy and fear,

Crowned with his saints, in human form appear.

How empty, while desolate earth’s glories lie,

Riches, and pomp, and man’s idolatry!

In that dread hour, when nature’s fiery doom

Startles the slumbering dwellers of the tomb,

Trembling all flesh will stand; each secret wile,

Sins long forgotten, thoughts of guilt and guile,

Open beneath God’s searching light will lie:

No refuge then, but hopeless agony.

Over heaven’s expanse will gathering shades of night

From earth, sun, stars, and moon withdraw their light;

God’s arm will crush each mountain’s towering pride;

On ocean’s plain no more will navies ride.

Dried at the source, no river’s rushing sound

Still soothes, no fountain quenches the parched ground.

Around, afar, will roll the trumpet’s blast,

Voice of wrath long delayed, revealed at last.

In speechless awe, while earth’s foundations groan,

On judgment’s seat earth’s kings their God will own.

Uplifted then, in majesty divine,

Radiant with light, behold salvation’s sign!

Cross of that Lord who, once for sinners given,

Reviled by man, now honored by earth and heaven,

Over every land extends his iron sway.

Such is the name these hidden lines display:

Savior, eternal King, who bears our sins away.

It is clear that the virgin spoke these verses under the influence of divine inspiration. And I cannot help counting her blessed, whom the Savior chose in this way to make known his gracious purpose toward us.