which He had taught
me, I boldly faced the beast. Now
that
beast came on with such noise and
force, that it could itself
have destroyed a city. I came near
it, and the monstrous
beast stretched itself out on the
ground, and showed
nothing but its tongue, and did
not stir at all until I had
passed by it. Now the beast had
four colours on its headblack,
then fiery and bloody, then
golden, and lastly white.
Now after I had
passed by the wild beast, and had
moved
forward about thirty feet, lo! a
virgin meets me, adorned as
if she were proceeding from the
bridal chamber, clothed
entirely in white, and with white
sandals, and veiled up to
her forehead, and her head was
covered by a hood. And she
had white hair. I knew from my
former visions that this was
the Church, and I became more
joyful. She saluted me, and
said, "Hail, O man!" And I
returned her salutation, and said,
"Lady, hail!" And she answered.
and said to me, "Has
nothing crossed your path?" I say,
"I was met by a beast of
such a size that it could destroy
peoples, but through the
power of the Lord and His great
mercy I escaped from it."
"Well did you escape from it,"
says she, "because you cast
your care on God, and opened your
heart to the Lord,
believing that you can be saved by
no other than by His
great and glorious name. On this
account the Lord has sent
His angel, who has rule over the
beasts, and whose name is
Thegri, and has shut up its mouth,
so that it cannot tear you.
You have escaped from great
tribulation on account of your
faith, and because you did not
doubt in the presence of such
a beast. Go, therefore, and tell
the elect of the Lord His
mighty deeds, and say to them that
this beast is a type of
the great tribulation that is
coming. If then ye prepare
yourselves, and repent with all
your heart, and turn to the
Lord, it will be possible for you
to escape it, if your heart be
pure and spotless, and ye spend
the rest of the days of your life
in serving the Lord blamelessly.
Cast your cares upon the
Lord, and He will direct them.
Trust the Lord, ye who doubt,
for He is all-powerful, and can
turn His anger away from you,
and send scourges" on the
doubters. Woe to those who hear
these words, and despise them:
better were it for them not
to have been born."
Chapter III
I asked her about the four
colours which the beast had on
his head. And she answered, and
said to me, "Again you are
inquisitive in regard to such
matters." "Yea, Lady, said I,
"make known to me what they
are." "Listen," said she: "the
black is the world in which we
dwell: but the fiery and
bloody points out that the world
must perish through blood
and fire: but the golden part
are you who have escaped from
this world. For as gold is
tested by fire, and thus becomes
useful, so are you tested who
dwell in it. Those, therefore,
who continue steadfast, and are
put through the fire, will be
purified by means of it. For as
gold casts away its dross, so
also will ye cast away all
sadness and straightness, and
will
be made pure so as to fit into
the building of the tower. But
the white part is the age that
is to come, in which the elect
of God will dwell, since those
elected by God to eternal life
will be spotless and pure.
Wherefore cease not speaking
these things into the ears of
the saints. This then is the
type
of the great tribulation that is
to come. If ye wish it, it will
be
nothing. Remember those things
which were written down
before." And saying this, she
departed. But I saw not into
what place she retired. There
was a noise, however, and I
turned round in alarm, thinking
that that beast was
coming.
(The Shepherd of Hermas is
the name of a treatise highly
esteemed in early times and
once ranking next to the Holy
Scriptures. It is an ethical
rather than a theological
work,
preaching repentance, and
consisting of visions,
behavior
mandates, and parables. It is
a particularly valuable as a
contemporary record of 2nd
century Christianity in Rome.
The authorship has been
attributed to Hermas,
mentioned
by Saint Paul in his letter to
the Romans, 14; but with more
likelihood, to a brother of
Pope Pius I.
- from The New Catholic
Dictionary)
Shepherd
of Hermas | Description,
Summary, History,
Importance, & Facts |
Britannica
Shepherd
of Hermas,
2nd-century Christian
writing that is one of
the works representing
the Apostolic
Fathers (Greek
Christian writers of the
late 1st and early 2nd
centuries). The
author, Hermas,
is known only through
the autobiographical
details given in
the Shepherd. An
enslaved Christian who
was given his freedom,
he became a wealthy
merchant, lost his
property, and did
penance for past sins. He
stated that he was a
contemporary of Clement
of Rome (possibly
Pope Clement
I;
died c. 95). However,
the Muratorian
Canon, the
oldest (c. 180) extant list
of New
Testament writings,
asserts that he was a
brother of Pope Pius I (died
155), and internal
evidence in the Shepherd seems
to support the later
date.
FULL
STORY at above link,