The Church Fathers · 12 March 295
The Acts of Maximilian
Anonymous
What it is
A twenty-one-year-old conscript at Theveste refuses the lead seal of enlistment. The proconsul points out that there are Christians serving in the imperial bodyguard right now; Maximilian answers that they know what is good for them, and that he cannot do evil. His father takes the body home.
Why it lasted
The earliest documented case of conscientious objection to military service on Christian grounds, and proof from the prosecution's own mouth that other Christians saw no conflict at all.
Scripture it works from
Where to read it
Public domain and free to read in full, though not held here. The archives below have it.
These open a search on each archive rather than a direct link, which is the honest way to point at an edition nobody here has checked line by line.
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