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ABOUT this same time it happened that Christianity was
disseminated in Persia, by reason of the following causes. Frequent
embassies were sent to and fro between the sovereigns of Persia and the
Roman empire, for which there were continual occasions. Necessity
brought it about at that time that the Roman emperor thought proper to
send Maruthas bishop of Mesopotamia, who has been before mentioned,
on a mission to the king of the Persians. The king discovering great
piety in the man treated him with great honor, and gave heed to him as
one who was indeed beloved of God. This excited the jealousy of the
magi, whose influence is considerable over the Persian monarch, for
they feared lest he should persuade the king to embrace Christianity.
For Maruthas had by his prayers cured the king of a violent headache
to which he had been long subject, and which the magi had been unable
to relieve. The magicians therefore had recourse to this deception.
As the Persians worship fire, and the king was accustomed to pay his
adorations in a certain edifice to the fire which was kept perpetually
burning, they concealed a man underneath the sacred hearth, ordering
him to make this exclamation at the time of day when the king was
accustomed to perform his devotion! 'The king should be thrust out
because he is guilty of impiety, in imagining a Christian priest to be
loved by the Deity.' When Isdigerdes -- for that was the king's
name -- heard these words, he determined to dismiss Maruthas,
notwithstanding the reverence with which he regarded him. But
Maruthas being truly a God-loving man, by the earnestness of his
prayers, detected the imposition of the magi. Going to the king
therefore he addressed him thus: 'Be not deluded, O king,' said
he, 'but when you again enter that edifice and hear the same voice,
explore the ground below, and you will discover the fraud. For it is
not the fire that speaks, but human contrivance does this.' The king
received the suggestion of Maruthas and went as usual to the little
house where the ever-burning fire was. When he again heard the same
voice, he ordered the hearth to be dug up; whereupon the impostor,
who uttered the supposed words of the Deity, was discovered.
Becoming indignant at the deception thus attempted the king commanded
that the tribe of the magi should be decimated. When this was effected
he permitted Maruthas to erect churches wherever he wished; and from
that time the Christian religion was diffused among the Persians.
Then Maruthas being recalled went to Constantinople; not long
afterwards however, he was again sent as ambassador to the Persian
court. Again the magi devised contrivances so as by all possible means
to prevent the king from giving him audience. One of their devices was
to cause a most disgusting smell where the king was accustomed to go,
and then accuse the Christians of being the authors of it. The king
however having already had occasion to suspect the magi, very
diligently and closely scrutinized the matter; and again the authors of
the nuisance were detected. Wherefore he punished several of them,
and held Maruthas in still higher honor. For the Romans as a nation
he had much regard, and prized good feeling on their part very highly.
Nay, he almost embraced the Christian faith himself, as Maruthas in
conjunction with Abdas bishop of Persia gave another experimental
proof of its power: for these two by giving themselves to much fasting
and prayer, had cast out a demon with which the king's son was
possessed. But the death of Isdigerdes prevented his making an open
profession of Christianity. The kingdom then devolved on Vararanes
his son, in whose time the treaty between the Romans and Persians was
broken as we shall have occasion to narrate a little later.
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