Today:

For the Sardinian soldiers, there were two kinds of Christians- the Recluses and the Socialites. The Recluses were what any person could see walking around the a city, dressed regular, civilized, and never standing out. When you talked to them, they didn't announce that they were Christian because they felt it was their own private belief and it wasn't as if they were going to try to persuade you to join. A pagan would have his way, and the Recluse would have his own. No arguments- short and sweet. As for the Socialites- they were a troublesome sort. You could be at the market and buying sausage and talk with another customer there. The other customer would bring up Christianity as if it was a part of the topic (which it wasn't), not bathe (for bathing was sinful in many of their sects), or try and yell out in the crowd how everybody was full of sin. It was all a show. They ranted and raved in a methodical speech that they probably practiced for an entire day in hopes that their peers (other socialites) would be impressed. It was very hard to get martyred as a Christian. You would have to go out of your way to cause trouble. Simply giving a thanks to the emperor and moving on during a festival was all it had to be, but Socialites liked to refuse the gratuity. It wasn't as if people really thought the emperor was a god- that wasn't the point. You just swallow the bitter medicine and move on. It wouldn't kill you. But for the Socialites, it was more than that. They had to prove something. The African Christians and the Macedonian mountain Christians had women as leaders sometimes or the women had prophetic dreams as if they were the Sybil oracle, herself. And each Christian thought he or she was better than an other Christian.

In the Sardinian prisons it was just the same issue. Two different schools of thoughts bitterly argued with one another on which was the ideal sense of Christianity. The Irenaeans had split off from the main part of the Church with Hippolytus as their Roman bishop. The Church called him the Anti-pope. Little did people know that he would be the first of his kind. As a disciple of Irenaeus, Hippolytus styled his beliefs similar to the Gallic bishop. Two decades ago, Pope Zephyrinus had infuriated him by subverting the discipline of the Church by his lax action in receiving back into the Church those guilty of gross offences.

Pope Pontianus had been the Bishop of the Roman Church for five years now, and for the last few months, the pope and the anti-pope shared the same hallway. For the Sardinians, they didn't know if this was annoying or amusing. Every day for the first month the Irenaean Christians and the Church Christians bickered and quoted scriptures trying to outdo one another but it slowly faded and less Christians came to assist either side. It looked as if the Church was through. Neither side would budge. Finally, all that was left were the prisoners themselves and they were left in the dank, dark cells listening to the water dripping from the unseen shadows.

Hippolytus rubbed his thickening gray beard as he huddled in a corner listening to the shuffling around in the cells. For the last few weeks, the atmosphere had changed between him and Pontianus. None of the Christian leaders could remember who started it, but now everybody was jovial- it was partially because they finally realized that the bickering was unnecessary. They were all heading for the mines within a week. Jokes and songs started appearing and finally, Hippolytus and Pontianus found themselves laughing and enjoying one another's company. If people could remark on Hippolytus' beard with wonderment, they should have really been surprised at Pontianus'. His beard nearly touched his waistline and the man's eyes were tired from exhaustion.

"I think it is time for me to give up my seat and giving it to somebody that can help our Brothers and Sisters more," Pontianus admitted. All of the Christians sucked in their breath through the prison cells. Nobody knew what to say. It was Hippolytus that spoke up.

"Brother Pontianus," the man's hoarse voice soothingly spoke. "I feel the same for myself. How has our hostilities helped brotherly love? It hasn't. What we have taught our followers was anger and separation. No community was involved in this- just individualism. I will tell my brothers to go back to their old friends and hug them in rejoice for they all share the same love from Christ. Reawaken lost friendships and accept the differences that we all carry. It is a part of us. Let us gather our friends outside and tell them the news." Pontianus nodded in agreement from the dark shadows and Hippolytus continued. "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned..." (To be continued)