The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity

Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John 124.2

Sed cui placet, adhuc resistat, et dicat uerum esse quod ait Iohannes, non dixisse dominum quod discipulus ille non moritur, sed hoc tamen significatum esse talibus uerbis, qualia eum dixisse narrauit, et asserat apostolum Iohannem uiuere, atque in illo sepulcro eius quod est apud Ephesum, dormire eum potius quam mortuum iacere contendat. Assumat in argumentum, quod illic terra sensim scatere, et quasi ebullire perhibetur, atque hoc eius anhelitu fieri, siue constanter siue pertinaciter asseueret. Non enim possunt deesse qui credant, si non desunt qui etiam Moysen asserant uiuere; quia scriptum est eius sepulcrum non inueniri, et apparuit cum domino in monte, ubi et elias fuit, quem mortuum legimus non esse, sed raptum. Quasi Moysi corpus non potuerit alicubi sic abscondi, ut prorsus homines lateret ubi esset, atque inde ad horam diuinitus excitari, quando cum christo elias et ipse sunt uisi; sicut ad horam multa sanctorum corpora surrexerunt, quando passus est Christus, et post eius resurrectionem apparuerunt multis in sancta, sicut scriptum est, ciuitate. Sed tamen, ut dicere coeperam, si quidam Moysen mortuum negant, quem scriptura ipsa, ubi sepulcrum eius nusquam inueniri legimus, mortuum tamen esse sine ulla ambiguitate testatur, quanto magis Iohannes ex istorum occasione uerborum ubi dominus ait: sic eum uolo manere donec uenio, creditur uiuus dormire sub terra? Quem tradunt etiam (quod in quibusdam scripturis quamuis apocryphis reperitur), quando sibi fieri iussit sepulcrum, incolumem fuisse praesentem, eo que effosso et diligentissime praeparato, ibi se tamquam in lectulo collocasse, statim que eum esse defunctum; ut autem isti putant, qui haec uerba domini sic intellegunt, non defunctum, sed defuncto similem cubuisse, et cum mortuus putaretur, sepultum fuisse dormientem, et donec christus ueniat sic manere suam que uitam scaturigine pulueris indicare; qui puluis creditur, ut ab imo ad superficiem tumuli adscendat, flatu quiescentis impelli. Huic opinioni superuacaneum existimo reluctari. Viderint enim qui locum sciunt, utrum hoc ibi faciat uel patiatur terra quod dicitur; quia et reuera non a leuibus hominibus id audiuimus.

'2. But let any one who so lists still refuse his assent, and declare that what John asserts is true enough, that the Lord said not that that disciple dies not, and yet that this is the meaning of such words as He is here recorded to have used; and further assert that the Apostle John is still living, and maintain that he is sleeping rather than lying dead in his tomb at Ephesus. Let him employ as an argument the current report that there the earth is in sensible commotion, and presents a kind of heaving appearance, and assert, whether it be steadfastly or obstinately, that this is occasioned by his breathing. For we cannot fail to have some who so believe, if there is no want of those also who affirm that Moses is alive; because it is written that his sepulchre could not be found, and that he appeared with the Lord on the mountain along with Elias, of whom we read that he did not die, but was translated. As if Moses' body could not have been hid somewhere in such a way as that its position should altogether escape discovery by men, and be raised up therefrom by divine power at the time when Elias and he were seen with Christ just as at the time of Christ's passion many bodies of the saints arose, and after His resurrection appeared, according to Scripture, to many in the holy city. But still, as I began to say, if some deny the death of Moses, whom Scripture itself, in the very passage where we read that his sepulchre could nowhere be found, explicitly declares to have died; how much more may occasion be taken from these words where the Lord says, Thus do I wish him to stay till I come, to believe that John is sleeping, but still alive, beneath the ground? Of whom we have also the tradition (which is found in certain apocryphal scriptures), that he was present, in good health, when he ordered a sepulchre to be made for him; and that, when it was dug and prepared with all possible care, he laid himself down there as in a bed, and became immediately defunct: yet as those think who so understand these words of the Lord, not really defunct, but only lying like one in such a condition; and, while accounted dead, was actually buried when asleep, and that he will so remain till the coming of Christ, making known meanwhile the fact of his life by the bubbling up of the dust, which is believed to be forced by the breath of the sleeper to ascend from the depths to the surface of the grave. I think it quite superfluous to contend with such an opinion. For those may see for themselves who know the locality whether the ground there does or suffers what is said regarding it, because, in truth, we too have heard of it from those who are not altogether unreliable witnesses.'


Text: R. Willems, 1954.
Translation: J. Gibb, 1888.

Burial site of a saint - tomb/grave

Scepticism/rejection of specific texts

Miracle after death
Miraculous behaviour of relics/images
Bodily incorruptibility
Power over life and death

Bodily relic - entire body
Contact relic - dust/sand/earth

Ecclesiastics - bishops

Source

Discussion

Bibliography