Early Christian Views on Crowns and Wreaths

Tertullian, De Corona Direct teaching

Keep for God what belongs to Him, pure and untouched. He will crown it if He chooses. No, more than that, He truly does choose. He calls us to it. He says, "To him who conquers I will give a crown of life." You too, be faithful unto death, and you too, fight the good fight, whose crown the apostle says in 2 Timothy 4:8 has been laid up for him, and of which he feels such rightful confidence. The angel in Revelation 6:2 also, as he goes forth on a white horse, conquering and to conquer, receives a crown of victory. And another, in Revelation 10:1, is adorned with an encircling rainbow, like a heavenly meadow in its fair colors. In the same way, the elders sit crowned around, crowned too with a crown of gold, and the Son of Man Himself shines forth above the clouds. If these are the appearances in the vision of the seer, what will the realities be like in the actual manifestation? Look at those crowns. Inhale those odors. Why do you condemn to a little chaplet, or a twisted headband, the brow that has been destined for a diadem? For Christ Jesus has made us kings to God and His Father. What do you have in common with the flower that is to die? You have a flower in the Branch of Jesse

Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching

For a Christian man's crown is not only that which is received in the time of persecution: peace also has its crowns, wherewith the victors, from a varied and manifold engagement, are crowned, when their adversary is prostrated and subdued.

Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching

...e receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain it. And they indeed do it that they may receive a corruptible crown, but you an incorruptible one." 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 And again, "No man who wars for God entangles himself in the anxieties of this world, so that he may be able to please Him to whom he has approved himself. Moreover, if a man also competes, he will not be crowned unless he has fought lawfully." 2 Timothy 2:4-5 And again, "Now I beseech you, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God; and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed in the renewing of your spirit, that you may prove what is the will of God, good, and acceptable, and perfect." Romans 12:1-2 And again, "We are children of God; but if children, then heirs; heirs indeed of God, but joint-heirs with Christ, if we suffer together, that we may also be glorified together." Romans 8:16-17 And in the Apocalypse the same exhortation of divine preaching speaks, saying, "Hold fast what you have, lest another take your crown." Revelation 3:11 This example of perseverance and persistence is also shown in Exodus, when Moses, for the overt

Cyprian, Epistles Direct teaching

...run, but one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain. Now they do it that they may receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible." 1 Corinthians 9:24-25. Moreover, setting forth his own struggle, and declaring that he himself would soon be a sacrifice for the Lord’s sake, he says, "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me on that day; and not to me only, but also to all those who love His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:6-8. This fight, therefore, foretold long ago by the prophets, begun by the Lord, and carried on by the apostles, Mappalicus promised again to the proconsul in his own name and in the name of his companions. Nor did his faithful voice fail in what it promised. He showed the fight to which he had pledged himself, and he received the reward he deserved. I not only beg but also urge the rest of you that you all should follow that martyr, now most blessed, and the other sharers in that struggle—soldiers and comrades, steadfast in faith, patient

Ignatius, Epistle to Polycarp (Long Version) Direct teaching

... the times carefully. While you are here, be a conqueror; for here is the course, and there are the crowns. Look for Christ, the Son of God, who was before time, yet appeared in time; who was invisible by nature, yet visible in the flesh; who was impalpable and could not be touched, being without a body, but for our sakes became such, so he might be touched and handled in the body; who was impassible as God, but became passible for our sakes as man; and who in every kind of way suffered for our sakes.

Clement of Rome, Second Epistle (attributed) Direct teaching

...agerness, knowing that the contest is close at hand for us. Many take long voyages to compete for a corruptible reward. Yet not all receive the crown, but only those who have worked hard and struggled nobly. Let us, then, struggle in such a way that we also may all receive the crown. Let us run the straight course, the race that is incorruptible. Let many of us set out for it and struggle so that we may receive the crown. And if we are not all able to obtain the crown, let us at least come near to it. We must remember that the one who competes in a corruptible contest, if he is found acting unfairly, is taken away, whipped, and thrown out of the arena. What then do you think? If someone does anything shameful in the incorruptible contest, what will he have to endure? For about those who do not keep the seal unbroken, Scripture says, "Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." Isaiah 66:24

Cyprian, Treatises Direct teaching

...ost the Lord's grace. And therefore it is written, "Hold fast what you have, lest another take your crown." Revelation 3:11. Surely the Lord would not warn that the crown of righteousness might be taken away, unless it were true that when righteousness departs, the crown must depart also.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching

...t. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things: they do it to receive a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible one. I run in this way, not without aim; I fight, not like someone beating the air; but I discipline my body and bring it under control, lest after preaching to others, I myself should become disqualified." This skilled wrestler, therefore, encourages us in the struggle for immortality, so that we may be crowned and value the crown, which is achieved through our effort and doesn't come to us on its own. The harder we strive, the more valuable it becomes; and the more valuable it is, the more we should cherish it. Things that are attained through much careful effort are valued more highly than those that come easily. Since this power has been given to us, the Lord has taught and the apostle has instructed us to love God more, so that we may attain this prize for ourselves through our efforts. Otherwise, without doubt, this good would be irrational, not being the result of effort. Moreover, the faculty of sight wouldn't seem so desirable unless we understood the loss of being without it. Health, too, is more valued when we have experienced

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

...s that are painful. And if he continues in patience without stopping to that last step and end, the crown of virtue will be given to him, and God will reward him with immortality for the labors he endured in life for the sake of righteousness. These are the ways God has assigned to human life. In each of them He has shown both good and evil things, but in a changed and reversed order. In the one, He has first pointed out temporary evils followed by eternal goods, which is the better order. In the other, first temporary goods followed by eternal evils, which is the worse order. So whoever has chosen present evils together with righteousness will obtain greater and more certain goods than those he despised. But whoever has preferred present goods to righteousness will fall into greater and more lasting evils than those he avoided. For since this bodily life is short, its goods and evils must also be short. But since that spiritual life, which is opposite to this earthly life, is everlasting, its goods and evils are also everlasting. So it comes to pass that goods of short duration are followed by eternal evils, and evils of short duration by eternal goods.

2 Timothy 4:8 Background

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.

James 1:12 Background

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

1 Peter 5:4 Background

And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

Tertullian, De Corona Direct teaching

... Jupiter, Nemean Hercules, miserable little Archemorus, and unhappy Antinous should be crowned in a Christian, so that he himself may become a disgusting spectacle to look at. I think we have recounted all the different causes of wearing a crown, and not one of them has any place among us. All of them are foreign to us, unholy, unlawful, having already been abjured once for all in the solemn declaration of the sacrament. For they were of the pomp of the devil and his angels: the world's offices, honors, festivals, popularity-seeking, false vows, displays of human slavery, empty praise, shameful glory, and in all of them idolatry, even in respect of the origin of the crowns with which they are all wreathed. Claudius, in his preface, will indeed tell us that in the poems of Homer even heaven is crowned with constellations, and no doubt by God, no doubt for man. Therefore man too should be crowned by God. But the world crowns brothels, baths, bakehouses, prisons, schools, the amphitheaters themselves, the rooms where the clothes are stripped from dead gladiators, and even the biers of the dead. So decide how sacred and holy, how worthy of honor and pure, this article of dress is, n

Tertullian, De Corona Direct teaching

With reference to this part of the subject, therefore, it now remains that the special grounds for wearing crowns should be examined, that while we show these to be foreign, nay, even opposed to our Christian discipline, we may demonstrate that none of them have any plea of reason to support it, on the basis of which this article of dress might be vindicated as one in whose use we can participate, as even some others may whose instances are cast up to us.

Tertullian, De Corona Supporting witness

Even to those are preferred the Etruscan. This appellation is given to the crowns which, distinguished by their gems and oak leaves of gold, they put on, with mantles having an embroidery of palm branches, to conduct the chariots containing the images of the gods to the circus.

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

...olor and odor? For these we both use, scattered loose and free, and we twine our necks with them in garlands. Pardon us, then, that we do not crown our heads. We are accustomed to receive the scent of a sweet flower in our nostrils, not to inhale it with the back of our head or with our hair. Nor do we crown the dead. And in this respect I the more wonder at you, in the way that you apply a torch to a lifeless person, or to one who does not feel, or a garland to one who does not smell it, when either, as blessed, he does not want flowers, or, being miserable, he has no pleasure in them. Still we adorn our obsequies with the same tranquility with which we live. And we do not bind to ourselves a withering garland, but we wear one living with eternal flowers from God, since we, being both moderate and secure in the liberality of our God, are animated to the hope of future felicity by the confidence of His present majesty. Thus we both rise again in blessedness, and are already living in contemplation of the future. Then let Socrates the Athenian buffoon see to it, confessing that he knew nothing, although boastful in the testimony of a most deceitful demon. Let Arcesilaus also, and

Justin Martyr, The First Apology Supporting witness

We also do not honor with many sacrifices and garlands of flowers the deities that people have made and placed in shrines, calling them gods. We understand these are soulless and dead and do not have the form of God (for we do not believe that God has a form that some claim to imitate in His honor), but rather have the names and forms of those wicked demons that have appeared. Why should we explain to you, who already know, into what forms craftsmen, through carving, cutting, casting, and hammering, shape the materials? Often, from objects of dishonor, simply by changing the form and creating an image of the desired shape, they make what they call a god. We find this not only senseless but also insulting to God, who, possessing ineffable glory and form, has His name attached to things that are corruptible and require constant service. You know very well that the makers of these are both intemperate and skilled in every vice, without detailing further; they even corrupt their own women who work with them. What madness! Dissolute men are said to create and fashion gods for your worship, and yet you appoint them as guardians of the temples where these gods are enshrined, not realizing

Justin Martyr, The Discourse to the Greeks Supporting witness

...uctive music that incites lustful actions, pointless and extravagant anointings, and adornment with garlands. You drive away shame with such a mass of evils, filling your minds with them and being swept away by excess, engaging commonly in wicked and senseless fornication. Moreover, why are you, as a Greek, angry at your son when he imitates Jupiter, rebels against you, and wrongs you by taking your wife? Why do you consider him an enemy while worshipping one like him? Why do you criticize your wife for living unchastely, yet honor Venus with shrines? If others had recounted these things, they might have seemed merely slanderous accusations rather than truth. But now, your own poets sing of these things, and your histories loudly proclaim them.

Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness

But until recently—what blindness!—I worshiped images made in the furnace, gods shaped on anvils and with hammers, elephant bones, paintings, and garlands on old trees. Whenever I saw a stone anointed and smeared with olive oil, I worshiped it as if some power lived in it. I spoke to it and begged blessings from a mindless block of wood. And these very gods, whose existence I had convinced myself of, I treated with shameful insults when I believed they were wood, stone, and bones, or imagined that they lived in the material of such objects. Now, having been led into the paths of truth by so great a teacher, I know what all these things are. I think honorably about those that are worthy. I offer no insult to any divine name. And I assign to each what is due, whether lower or higher, with clearly defined ranks and on distinct authority. Is Christ, then, not to be regarded by us as God? And is He, who in other respects may be considered the very greatest, not to be honored with divine worship—He from whom we have already received such great gifts while we are alive, and from whom, when the day comes, we expect greater ones?

Hermas, The Shepherd (Pastor) Direct teaching

And the angel of the Lord ordered crowns to be brought. Crowns were brought that seemed to be made of palm branches. He crowned the men who had returned branches with offshoots and some fruit, and he sent them away into the tower. He also sent the others into the tower, those who had returned branches that were green and had offshoots but no fruit, after giving them seals. And all who went into the tower had the same clothing, white as snow. But those who returned their branches green, just as they had received them, he set free, giving them clothing and seals. Now after the angel had finished these things, he said to the Shepherd, "I am going away, and you will send these away within the walls, according to what each one is worthy to have as his dwelling. Examine their branches carefully, and then dismiss them. But examine them with care. See that no one escapes you," he added. "And if any escape you, I will test them at the altar." After saying these words to the Shepherd, he departed. And after the angel had departed, the Shepherd said to me, "Let us take the branches of all these and plant them, and see if any of them will live." I said to him, "Sir, how can these dried-up bran

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

These are the crowns and sacrifices, aromatic odours, and flowers of God.

Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Supporting witness

...e placed around Him through the Church, of which He is the Head. But it is also a type of faith, of life in regard to the substance of the wood, of joy in regard to the name of crown, and of danger in regard to the thorn. For no one can come near the Word without blood. But this braided crown fades away, and the braid of perversity is untied, and the flower withers. For the glory of those who have not believed in the Lord fades away. And they crowned Jesus when He was lifted up, showing their own ignorance. For they were hard of heart, and did not understand that this very thing, which they called the Lord's disgrace, was a prophecy wisely spoken: "The Lord was not known by the people," Isaiah 1:3. This was the people that went astray, that was not circumcised in understanding, whose darkness was not enlightened, that did not know God, denied the Lord, lost the place of the true Israel, persecuted God, and hoped to bring the Word to disgrace. And the One whom they crucified as a criminal, they crowned as a king. Therefore, the Man in whom they did not believe, they will know to be God the Lord, who loves mankind, the Just One. The One whom they provoked to show Himself as Lord,

Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness

...e of flowers. They are used to having them scattered around loosely and simply, and also to wearing garlands around their necks. But they think it is unnecessary and useless to place a crown on the head of a dead body. Also, with the same calmness with which they live, they bury their dead, waiting with a very sure hope for the crown of eternal blessedness. Therefore, since their religion rejects all the superstitions of the Gentiles, it should be accepted by all people as true.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...nd hated by all who, lacking virtue, give their life over to deadly pleasures. For the placing of a crown of thorns on His head declared that it would happen that He would gather to Himself a holy people from those who were guilty. For people standing around in a circle are called a crown. But we, before we knew God, were unjust, and were thorns—that is, evil and guilty, not knowing what was good. We were also far removed from the understanding and works of righteousness, and we polluted everything with wickedness and lust. Therefore, being taken from briars and thorns, we surround the sacred head of God. For, being called by Him and spread around Him, we stand beside God, who is our Master and Teacher, and we crown Him as King of the world and Lord of all the living.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

...e to the brothers, stands on equal ground with the martyrs in honor. Hence you have presented to us garlands woven by your own hands, and you have bound your brothers to the cup of salvation.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

... with flowers. But for you there were roses and flowers from the delights of paradise, and heavenly garlands were woven around your brows. Look: summer is fruitful with the abundance of harvest, and the threshing floor is filled with grain. But you, who have sown glory, reap the fruit of glory. And, placed on the Lord's threshing floor, you see the chaff burned up with unquenchable fire. You yourselves, like grains of wheat, as sifted and precious grain, now cleansed and gathered in, regard the dwelling place of a prison as your granary. And autumn also does not lack spiritual grace for carrying out the duties of the season. The vintage is pressed outside, and the grape that will later flow into cups is crushed in the presses. You, rich clusters from the Lord's vineyard, and branches with fruit already ripe, crushed by the tribulation of worldly pressure, fill your winepress in the prison of torture, and pour out your blood instead of wine. Brave in bearing suffering, you willingly drink the cup of martyrdom. In this way the year passes with the Lord's servants. In this way the changing seasons are celebrated with spiritual merits and heavenly rewards.

Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness

nor consider anything but the glory of life eternal, and the crown of the confession of the Lord;

Judith 15:13 Background

And they put a garland of olive upon her and her maid that was with her, and she went before all the people in the dance, leading all the women: and all the men of Israel followed in their armor with garlands, and with songs in their mouths.

Isaiah 62:3 Background

Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

Psalms 21:3 Background

For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

Isaiah 28:5 Background

In that day the LORD of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people,