Polycarp was bishop of Smyrna (Izmir in modern-day Turkey) in the mid second century. Some time around AD 155/156, he was arrested and brought into a stadium where the proconsul, Statius Quadratus, urged him to swear by the genius of Caesar and to curse Christ. Polycarp was warned that, if he didn’t obey, he would be executed, either torn apart by wild beasts or burned alive. The dilemma was that Polycarp acknowledged that ‘we have been taught to pay proper respect to rulers and authorities appointed by God, as long as it does us no harm’.19 But when faced with coercion in matters of faith,
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