The Simple Man vs. the Philosopher
By Elizabeth Prata
I was finishing my book by Scottish Puritan, The Scandal of False Teaching. I love the minds of the Puritans, deep thinkers, and as a result, it was an excellent book.
Anyway, in the book the author related a story from old church history. There was a man named Tyrannius Rufinus, born around 345AD in Italy. He died around 410/411. He was a Roman priest, writer, theologian, and translator of Greek theological works into Latin at a time when knowledge of Greek was declining in the West, says Encyclopedia Britannica. Rufinus is known for translating Eusebius’ works from Greek to Latin. When Rufinus completed the translation of Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, Rufinus went on and added two more chapters of church history where Eusebius left off. Those were books 10 and 11.
In book 10, chapter 3, Rufinus related a story about the doings during the Council of Nicea and a certain event that happened there.
Durham said than back in the days of the Council of Nicea, there were debates and talks. There came a climax of a showdown between a simple man and a skilled philosopher. Note: a dialectician is a person skilled in philosophical debate.
The story goes like this, from Rufinus:
Now we may learn how much power there is in simplicity of faith from what is reported to have happened there. For when the zeal of the religious emperor had brought together priests of God from all over the earth, rumor of the event gathered as well philosophers and dialecticians of great renown and fame.
One of them who was celebrated for his ability in dialectic used to hold ardent debates each day with our bishops, men likewise by no means unskilled in the art of disputation, and there resulted a magnificent display for the learned and educated men who gathered to listen.
Nor could the philosopher be cornered or trapped in any way by anyone, for he met the questions proposed with such rhetorical skill that whenever he seemed most firmly trapped, he escaped like a slippery snake.
But that God might show that the kingdom of God is based upon power rather than speech, one of the confessors, a man of the simplest character who knew only Christ Jesus and him crucified, was present with the other bishops in attendance.
When he saw the philosopher insulting our people and proudly displaying his skill in dialectic, he asked everyone for a chance to exchange a few words with the philosopher. But our people, who knew only the man’s simplicity and lack of skill in speech, feared that they might be put to shame in case his holy simplicity became a source of laughter to the clever.
But the elder insisted and he began his discourse in this way: “In the name of Jesus Christ, O philosopher,” he said, “listen to the truth. There is one God who made heaven and earth, who gave breath to man whom he had formed from the mud of the earth and who created everything what is seen and what is not seen with the power of his word and established it with the sanctification of his spirit.
This word and wisdom whom we call Son took pity on the errors of humankind was born of a virgin by suffering death freed us from everlasting death and by his resurrection conferred on us eternal life Him we await as the judge to come of all that we do. Do you believe that this is so, O philosopher?”
But he as though he had nothing whatever that he could say in opposition to this so astonished was he at the power of what had been said could only reply to it all that he thought that it was so, and that what had been said was the only truth.
Then the elder said “If you believe that this is so arise follow me to the church and receive the seal of this faith.”
The philosopher turning to his disciples and to those who had gathered to listen said “Listen, O learned men: so long as it was words with which I had to deal, I set words against words and what was said I refuted with my rhetoric. But when power rather than words came out of the mouth of the speaker words could not withstand power nor could man oppose God. And therefore if any one of you was able to feel in what was said what I felt, let him believe in Christ and follow this old man in whom God has spoken.” And thus the philosopher became a Christian and rejoiced at last to have been vanquished.
Source Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History, Book 10, ch 3; Excerpt on the First Council of Nicaea, published in year 402-403.
Now, the First Council at Nicea ended in the year 325 and the translation and addendum by Rufinus was published in 402. As with any history that’s separated by such a gap of years, the Bible being the exception, there may be embellishments or errors. Maybe it happened that way, and maybe it didn’t. It doesn’t matter.
Yet it is true, “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,” says 1 Corinthians 1:27. The power is not in our delivery, the power is in the word of God energized by the Spirit.
Don’t be hesitant to share God’s truth, no matter how faltering or stuttering you believe you are, (Moses, anyone?) God will use you in some capacity or another.
Paul said, “and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power“, 1 Corinthians 2:4
