The Catholic writer Eusebius recorded that Polycrates of
Ephesus, around 195 A.D. wrote the following to the Roman Bishop Victor
who, as the previous writing showed, wanted all who professed Christ to
change Passover from the 14th of Nisan to Sunday:
We observe the exact day; neither adding, nor taking away. For in
Asia also great lights have fallen asleep, which shall rise again on
the day of the Lord’s coming, when he shall come with glory from
heaven, and shall seek out all the saints. Among these are Philip, one
of the twelve apostles, who fell asleep in Hierapolis; and his two aged
virgin daughters, and another daughter, who lived in the Holy Spirit
and now rests at Ephesus; and, moreover, John, who was both a witness
and a teacher, who reclined upon the bosom of the Lord, and, being a
priest, wore the sacerdotal plate. He fell asleep at Ephesus. And
Polycarp in Smyrna, who was a bishop and martyr; and Thraseas, bishop
and martyr from Eumenia, who fell asleep in Smyrna. Why need I mention
the bishop and martyr Sagaris who fell asleep in Laodicea, or the
blessed Papirius, or Melito, the Eunuch who lived altogether in the
Holy Spirit, and who lies in Sardis, awaiting the episcopate from
heaven, when he shall rise from the dead? All these observed the
fourteenth day of the passover according to the Gospel, deviating in no
respect, but following the rule of faith. And I also, Polycrates, the
least of you all, do according to the tradition of my relatives, some
of whom I have closely followed. For seven of my relatives were
bishops; and I am the eighth. And my relatives always observed the day
when the people put away the leaven. I, therefore, brethren, who have
lived sixty-five years in the Lord, and have met with the brethren
throughout the world, and have gone through every Holy Scripture, am
not affrighted by terrifying words. For those greater than I have said
’ We ought to obey God rather than man’ (Eusebius. Church History, Book
V, Chapter 24. Translated by Arthur Cushman McGiffert. Excerpted from
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Series Two, Volume 1. Edited by Philip
Schaff and Henry Wace. American Edition, 1890. Online Edition Copyright
© 2004 by K. Knight).
Notice that Polycrates said that he and the other early church leaders
(like the Apostles Philip and John, and their successors like Polycarp,
Thraseas, Eumenia, Sagaris, Papirius, Melito) would not deviate from
the Bible, and that they knew the Bible taught them to keep the
Passover on the correct date, and not on a Sunday. Also notice that
they always observed the day when the people put away the leaven.
Polycrates also reminded the Roman bishop that true followers of Christ
"obey God rather than men"
( A scrap that I came across in my studies)
This is a place where I post my thoughts on God, man, sin, death, failure, triumph and all the laughter and anguish that they produce.
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