Christ's acceptance of crucifixion, the most heinous Roman form of execution,
was taken as a sign of His supreme humility. Would not Paul have emulated
that in accepting beheading?
OTOH, for the Roman upper classes any form of execution usually meant that all
family property and goods were confiscate. Anticipating the headsman's sword
by suicide allowed the heirs to retain the property.
John Parsons
On Fri, 20 Aug 1999 [log in to unmask] wrote:
> no. Tom's right. Martyrs are always given the instrument of their
> execution as an attribute and the story has always been that Paul was
> beheaded. It raises an interesting question though insofar as contemporary
> pagan historians refer to beheading as a form of execution particularly
> dreaded by upper class Romans who readily committed suicide to avoid it.
>
> Jo Ann
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rev. David G. Peters <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: Friday, August 20, 1999 2:19 AM
> Subject: Re: Unknown apostle
>
>
> >Thomas Izbicki wrote:
> >
> >> Usually Paul is depicted with a sword, because - as a citizen (to the
> best
> >> of my memory) - that was the form of execution to be employed.
> >>
> >> Tom Izbicki
> >
> >I have always been under the impression that St. Paul is traditionally
> >represented carrying a sword because of his authorship of so many epistles
> of
> >the New Testament - "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"
> (Eph
> >6:17).
> >
> >Rev. David G. Peters
> >PhD Candidate in Historical Theology
> >Marquette University, Milwaukee
> > - and -
> >Pastor
> >Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, (WELS)
> >2908 S. Colony Ave.
> >Union Grove, WI 53182-9564
> >414 / 878-4156
> >e-mail: [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
>
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