Commodianus

Commodianus (or Commodian) is a Latin Christian poet who wrote around AD 250. According to the poet himself, he was a Pagan who converted to Christianity later in life. It is believed that he was from Roman territory in Africa, although some have suggested he was Syrian. He is the author of two extant works of poetry, Instructiones and Carmen apologeticum. All but two of the eighty poems in Instructiones are acrostics, following the abecedarian form (with each new line beginning with the next letter in the alphabet).

According to “History of the Christian Church”:
-----“In the rough-hewn verses of Commodian—North African clergyman,
-----converted pagan, and poet of the common tongue—the voice of a
-----fervent yet untutored faith speaks across the centuries. His
-----lines lack the polish of classical form, yet they throb with
-----moral urgency, apocalyptic expectation, and an unvarnished zeal
-----for the conversion of Jew and Gentile alike. In his hands,
-----Latin is already bending toward the Romance vernaculars, and
-----Christian poetry is clothed in the homely garb of the
-----marketplace.”

The following is a prose translation by the Rev. Robert Ernest Wallis.

God’s Indignation

In the law, the Lord of heaven, and earth, and sea has commanded, saying, Worship not vain gods made by your own hands out of wood or gold, lest my wrath destroy you for such things. The people before Moses, unskilled, abiding without law, and ignorant of God, prayed to gods that perished, after the likenesses of which they fashioned vain idols. The Lord having brought the Jews out of the land of Egypt, subsequently imposed on them a law; and the Omnipotent enjoined these things, that they should serve Him alone, and not those idols. Moreover, in that law is taught concerning the resurrection, and the hope of living in happiness again in the world, if vain idols be forsaken and not worshipped.

Entry written by D.S. Martin. He is the author of six poetry collections including Angelicus (2021, Poiema/Cascade), plus three anthologies — available through Wipf & Stock. His new book The Role of the Moon, inspired by the Metaphysical Poets, is now available from Paraclete Press.