#simplicianus

There was one Victorinus, famous in Rome as a teacher of rhetoric, who in his old age was converted to Christianity, and came to Simplicianus, who was an eminent man, whispering softly in his ears, “I am a Christian.” But the holy man answered, “I will not believe it, nor count thee so, till I see thee among the Christians in the church.” At which he laughed, saying, “Do these walls make a Christian? Cannot I be such unless I openly profess it, and let the world know the same? “ A while after being more confirmed in the faith, and considering that, if he should thus continue ashamed of Christ, Christ would be ashamed of him in the last day, he changed his language, and came to Simplicianus, saying, “Let us go to the church: I will now in earnest be a Christian.” And there, though a private confession of his faith might have been sufficient, yet he chose to make it open, saying, “That he had openly professed rhetoric, which was not a matter of salvation, and should he be afraid to own the Word of God in the congregation of the faithful?