Examples Of Christian Heroism

A Christian Hero is a defender of Orthodoxy, who spreads God's word while demonstrating the teachings of Jesus.

Christian Heroism means someone is completely willing to dedicate their life to spread the Word of God. This is made possible through everyone who sacrificed everything they had to teach people about God. Everyone is called to Christian heroism but only those who listen to God can be true Heroes. In the words of St. Augustine, " Let thy mercy shine on me, that I may inquire and find an answer" (Augustine Chapter IX).

Christian heroism means dedicating your life to the service of God, and spreading his teachings. St. Antony gave up his inherited wealth to live a live as a hermit, fighting the temptations of the devil. "Reminding

him in whispers about his wealth, his sister and family, the pleasures of money" (Athanasius 3). Similar to St. Anthony, St Augustine gave up what he had to follow God, but instead of giving up wealth he stopped practicing a heretic life. St. Augustine saw the Christian example set by his mother a experienced a conversion. St. Augustine recollects this conversion in book eight of his Confessions when he writes “ But I was weak and chose the easier way, and for this single reason my whole life was on inner turbulence and listless indecision… But I was no longer fettered in that vanity. I had surmounted it” (Augustine Chapter I).
Christian heroism is made possible through those who give up their lives and, listen and follow the lessons of Christ.

St. Polycarp literally exemplifies this when he refused to give up his faith and is martyred, Polycarp also shows that he is a Christian hero when an eyewitness wrote “ For he (Polycarp) waited for his betrayal, just like the Lord did, so that we might follow him, in looking out for the needs of others as well as ourselves. St, Patrick also followed this example when he went back to Ireland and lead the Irish people to a new chapter of Christian following. He went back to IReland after he experienced a major conversion of God, “ And the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and be converted with all my heart to the Lord my God” (Patrick Paragraph 2). St. Antony followed his faith and became a hermit living in cave for most of his life, fasting in the name of the lord. This is recounted by Athanasius when he writes "He had one of his acquaintances shut him up alone in one off the tombs and bring him bread at intervals of many days" (paragraph 8). Antony also helped start some of the early Monasteries because he told his followers, " Young men should be earnest in training instead of trying stimulate the body they should be accustomed to hard work" (Paragraph 7). As J.B Lightfoot wrote, "The early church was hated by society and government of the Roman Empire" (Introduction Polycarp). As this quote shows, Christianity was

not supported by the Romans but these early defenders of Orthodoxy made Christian heroism possible through their examples.
All people are called to live a religious life, however only those who truly listen to God's word are called to Christian heroism.

Like St. Augustine, he ignored God for much of his early life but had a conversion and became a symbol of the Early Church. He accounts this in Chapter X of book eight of his Confessions, " While I was deliberating whether I would serve the Lord my God now, as I had long purposes to do." This shows that St. Augustine, like all of us, was called to live a religious life. Church Leaders like Bishop St. Ambrose are especially called to heroism, "As Bishop of Milan, St Ambrose became an ardent opponent of the Arian heresy, as well as a renowned preacher" (Armenio 70). If Ambrose had not been a member clergy he might not have been able to have the political power that he

had.
"In the earliest years, the Christians referred to the Faith as "the way" (Armenio 46). This quote proves that early Christians were defenders of Orthodoxy because they knew that their faith and only their faith was the right was to follow Jesus. Early Christians also showed this through Martyrdom, "Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith" (Armenio 92). So many early Christians have their lives to follow God, and were martyred for their beliefs, but they will be remember as defenders of the Orthodox.

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