by Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
Vibia Perpetua was a North African woman from the Carthage area. Born in 182 AD, she lived in a time when Christians were under constant persecution. From a wealthy family, she was married at an early age and, by the age of 21, had already given birth to a son. She discovered the Christian faith through a faithful believer who shared, in secret, the good news of Jesus.
She was preparing for baptism at the time of her arrest and was never able to be baptized. Eventually, she was sent to the arena to be a spectacle, where she was to be killed by either wild beasts or gladiators. They tried to persuade her to renounce her faith. They urged her to perform a simple pagan ritual, spreading incense as an offering to the gods. She stood firm and would not compromise her faith.
During this entire experience, Vibia kept a diary of her thoughts and the events that were happening to her. After her death, her diary was published. One part of it shares her experience with her father, who was desperately trying to convince her to renounce her faith. Of course, he wanted his precious daughter to avoid facing the wild beasts and being killed. She, however, gave a powerful response:
“Father,” said I, “do you see, let us say, this vessel lying here to be a little pitcher, or something else?” And he said, “I see it to be so.” And I replied to him, “Can it be called by any other name than what it is?” And he said, “No.” “Neither can I call myself anything else than what I am, a Christian.”
She knew Jesus and knew that she could only be called a Christian.
Acts 4:12 states, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Jesus died for everyone. Jesus died so that all can be saved, no matter what evil they may face.
The simplicity of her faith is still inspiring today. It was a faith so strong that she knew she could not be called anything else. She was a Christian. No small ritual was going to lead her off track.
There are many things in the world today that can tempt us to get off track. There are many things that take our time and take the place of God—many things that can give us a name other than Christian. Let us take only the name Christian.