A Warning To Would Be Martyrs

Ἐπὰν δ’ ἔμπαλιν εἴπῃ· Ὅταν διώκωσιν ὑμᾶς ἐν τῇ πόλει ταύτῃ, φεύγετε εἰς τὴν ἄλλην· οὐχ ὡς κακὸν τὸ διώκεσθαι παραινεῖ φεύγειν, οὐδ’ ὡς θάνατον φοβουμένους, διὰ φυγῆς ἐκκλίνειν προστάττει τοῦτον, βοὺλεται δὲ ἡμᾶς μηδενὶ αἰτίους μηδὲ συναιτίους κακοῦ τινος γίνεσθαι, σφίσιν τε αὐτοῖς, πρὸς δὲ καὶ τῷ διώκοντι καὶ τῷ ἀναιροῦντι· τρόπον γάρ τινα προσαγγέλλει ἑαυτὸν περιίστασθαι· ὁ δὲ παρακούων, τολμηρὸς καὶ ῥιψοκὶνδυνος. Εἰ δὲ ὁ ἀναιρῶν ἀνθρωπον Θεοῦ, εἰς Θεόν ἀμαρτάνει, καὶ τοῦ ἀποκτινύντος αὐτὸν ἔνοχος καθίσταται ὁ ἑαυτὸν προσάγων τῷ δικαστηρίῳ· οὐτος δ’ ἄν εἴη ὁ μὴ περιστελλόμενος τὸν διωγμὸν, ἀλώσιμον διά θράσος παρέχων ἑαυτόν· οὖτός ἐστι, τὸ ὀσον ἐφ’ ἑαυτῷ, ὁ συνεργὸς γινόμενος τῇ τοῦ διώκοντος πονηρίᾳ. Εἰ δὲ καὶ προσερεθίζοι, τέλεον αἴτος, ἐκκαλούμενος τὸ θηρίον. Ὡς δ’ αὔτως, κᾶν αἰτίαν μάχης παράσχῃ τινὰ, ἠ ζημίας, ἠ δίκης, ἠ ἔχθρας, ἀφορμὴν ἐγέννησε διωγμοῦ. Διὰ τοῦτ’ οὔν μηδενὸς ἀντέχεσθαι τῶν ἐν τῷ βιῷ προστέτακται ἡμῖν, ἀλλὰ καὶ, τῷ αἴροντι τὸ ἱμάτιον καὶ τὸν χιτῶνα προσδιδόναι· οὑχ ἵνα ἀπροσπαθεῖς διαμένωμεν μόνον, ἀλλ’ ὡς μὴ, ἀντιποιούμενοι, τοὺς ἐπιδικαζομένους ἐφ’ ἑαυτοὺς ἀγριαίνωμεν, καὶ δι’ ἡμῶν ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ ὀνόματος διακινῶμεν βλασφημίαν. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων

And again when He says, 'When they persecute you in this city, flee to the other,'1 He does not counsel flight as if to be persecuted were evil; nor by fear of death does He order them to take to flight, but He wishes us neither to be the cause nor the accomplice of any evil, either to ourselves or to them, to the persecuted or to the destroyers. For, in a way, He exhorts us care for ourselves, and he who does not listen is rash and foolhardy. If he who destroys a man of God sins against God, he also is guilty of death who presents himself before the tribunal. And this is also so with him who does not avoid persecution, but out of daring presents himself for capture. Such a man, insofar as he is responsible, becomes a fellow worker in the wickedness of the persecutor. And if he provokes another, his is the whole guilt, for he is calling forth the beast. And likewise if he is any cause for conflict or penalty or retribution or hatred, he is the occasion for persecution. Therefore we are commanded not to cling to any of those things of this life, but even 'to him that takes our cloak to give our coat,'2 not only that we may be without passion, but that we may not by our demands for justice make others wild, and stir them up to blaspheme the name. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, Book 4, Ch 10.  1 Mt 10.23  2 Lk  6.29