The 40 soldiers on the frozen lake Sebaste, Armenia.

The 40 soldiers on the frozen lake

Sebaste, Armenia. Around AD 320.

Forty Roman soldiers refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods. They were Christians, and they would not deny Christ, even under orders.

Their commander chose a slow death for them.

On a bitter winter night, they were stripped naked and forced onto a frozen lake. On the shore, within sight, stood a heated bathhouse. Any man who renounced Christ could walk off the ice and into the warmth.

Through the night, the soldiers encouraged each other and prayed that all forty would stay faithful to the end.

Then one broke. He staggered off the ice toward the bath. According to the account, the shock of the sudden heat killed him almost instantly.

But a guard on the shore had been watching all night. The ancient account says he saw a vision of crowns descending on the men on the ice and counted only thirty-nine. He tore off his clothes, declared himself a Christian, and walked onto the lake to take the empty place.

By morning, there were forty again.

Their story was preached by Basil of Caesarea within living memory of the event, and churches have honored them for 1,700 years.

One man had a warm room and lost everything.
Another had everything and chose the ice.

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