Bishop Polycarp studied under the Apostle John
The heat was on. The Smyrna police hunted for Polycarp , the revered bishop of that city. Already they had put other Christians to death in the arena; now a mob cried for the leader. Polycarp had left the city and was hiding out at the farm of some friends. As the soldiers moved in, he fled to another farm. Though the aged churchman felt no fear of death and had wanted to stay in the city, his friends had urged him to hide, perhaps fearing that his death would demoralize the church. If so, they were quite wrong. When the police reached the first farm, they tortured a slave boy to learn Polycarp’s whereabouts. Then they rushed, fully armed, to apprehend the bishop. Though Polycarp had time to escape, he refused. “God’s will be done,” he resolved. Instead, he welcomed his captors as guests, offered them food and asked for an hour alone to pray. He took two hours. Some of the captors seemed sorry to be arresting such a nice old man . On the way back to Smyrna, the police chief