by
(Simon)
Lien-Yueh Wei

PhD candidate in Patristics,
 New College
(Divinity School),
University of Edinburgh

The Nature of Perpetua’s Dreams:

The Theological Meanings and Significance of Sacred Dreams[1]

I. Introduction 

“The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicitas (Passio Sanctarum  Perpetuae et Felicitatis, hereafter Passio),” is one of the extraordinary texts in early Christianity. It may be the first and only known text written in a woman’s name by her own hand and the only first-person account of a Christian woman’s feeling and experience before the fourth century.[2] It was widely circulated within the early Christian community from the third century and publicly read to the congregations, at least annually on Perpetua’s commemoration (March 7) held in the East as well as in the West from the fourth century.[3] Moreover, it had been so authoritative and influential within the community that many early Christians considered it as canonical Scripture.[4] Many church fathers highly respected Perpetua, and their writings also testified to the text’s popularity.[5]

      Because of its uniqueness, Passio has attracted the comment of many scholars. Some modern scholars probe the issues of Perpetua’s ego, internal struggle and gender complex, as well as the meanings of the symbols in her visions (or dreams[6]).[7] Others trace the origins of the scene, images, and ideas in the text back to the social context or Greek and Roman literatures.[8] Still others examine the intentions of the text’s author and editor as well as the ideology behind them.[9]

      Instead of Perpetua or the text, however, this paper tries to explore the dreams themselves, or the nature of Perpetua’s dreams, which has rarely been addressed from the late Middle Age to the present. It has been especially overlooked by modern theologians. This does not mean that this paper is dealing with something non-theological (e.g. psychological) or unimportant to contemporary Christian community. On the contrary, this paper will argue that Perpetua’s dreams were very crucial to her (especially to her martyrdom) and that their essential meanings are critical and beneficial also to contemporary Christians and modern theology.

      This paper intends to explore the role which Perpetua’s dreams played in her passion as well as the theological meanings of dreams which can be revealed by Passio.[10] By so doing, an early Christian view on sacred dreams may be discovered.[11] It will then argue that both sacred dreams and the understanding of their profoundly theological meanings are very significant, rather than peripheral, to the faith and lives of both ancient and modern Christians.

II. The Nature of Perpetua’s Dreams 

1. Sacred Dreams as Sacred Space

According to Mircea Eliade, space is not homogeneous; some parts of space are qualitatively different from others. When theophany takes place in some space, that space becomes sacred. The sacred space depends not on physical or geographical dimensions, but on religious and mysterious ones. The nostalgia of the religious is to inhibit the sacred space. The religious desires to situate themselves in that space in order to open themselves to the divine.[12]

Perpetua’s first dream has provided ample evidence that sacred dreams are a sacred space in which theophany takes place, and that humanity can actually meet the divine spiritually as well as physically. Hence, the nature of Perpetua’s dream can be viewed as a sacred space.  

(a) Perpetua’s Dreams as a Sacred Space

The majority of Perpetua’s first dream (Passio IV) describes a scene with a golden ladder reaching up to heaven. As many scholars have suggested, Perpetua probably associated this scene with the image of Jacob’s ladder (Gen 28:10-22) after awaking from the dream.[13] If so, then Perpetua may have recalled the Genesis narrative of Jacob’s dream in Bethel. In that dream Jacob saw a ladder stretching from the earth up to heaven on which the angles of God were ascending and descending; and “[the] Lord stood beside him [Jacob] and said, ‘I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father…I am with you and will keep you wherever you go. (Gen 28:13, 15, NRSV)”

Perpetua most likely thought of what Jacob said after waking up from his dream: “This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. (Gen 28:17)” Perpetua may have recognized, as Jacob did, that she had traveled to heaven and met the Lord spiritually as well as “actually” in and through the dream since she, like Jacob, did not assume her experience of encounter with the divine was unreal— either imaginary or unconscious. Rather, Jacob’s and Perpetua’s remarks after awaking from dreams and the dream texts (i.e. Gen 28 and Passio) have testified that either the divine or the dreamers viewed their encounters with each other as real and holy.[14] Unlike many modern Christians, both the divine and these two dreamers regarded dreams as a common way for God to present Himself to believers.

In the next scene of this dream Perpetua went up to heaven, where she saw a white-haired shepherd milking sheep in the heavenly garden, with many thousand saints of whom dressed in shining white robes. Joyce Salisbury notices that the image of heaven in this scene owes more to the Apocalypse of St. Peter than of the Book of Revelation and that the shepherd as welcoming guide appeared in Shepherd of Hermas, rather than the Bible.[15] However, few will argue that for Perpetua, the shepherd did not signify the Lord as the Good Shepherd in the Scripture (e.g. Ps 23; Jn 10:1-29) even though early Christian iconography always portrayed the Good Shepherd as a young man, instead of old, as appeared in Perpetua’s dream.[16]    

In this scene, the Lord said to Perpetua, “I am glad you have come, child (Bene uenist, tegnon. Passio IV, 6).”[17] Perpetua, like most Christians, perhaps had wished to have, but never had the experience of seeing her Lord and hearing His voice. Yet, it is the dream, rather than any human effort, ritual, or religious practice, that made her wish come “true.” The Lord unveiled Himself and spoke face to face with her without through any agent— either angels or the Holy Bible. This happened neither in a sacred temple nor in the holy heaven, but in the dream.

In the final scene of this dream Perpetua is eating a little cheese given by the Lord while all those who stood around saying “Amen.” The most distinctive and impressive description in this scene probably is: “And at the sound of their voice I was awakened, still chewing something sweet and indescribable (et ad sonum uocis experrecta sum, commanducans adhuc dulcis nescio quid. Passio IV, 9).”[18] 

This description illustrates that Perpetua was “really” eating the heavenly holy food, at least from the perspective of her sense of taste (perhaps and stomach). The fact could be either that she had been really eating an authentic sweet substance from the moment she was in the dream world till the moment in the waking world, or that her feeling of eating the holy food in the dream was so real and strong that it has lasted to her awaking state. In either case, the dream offered her genuine, physical contact with the heavenly divine realm  (at least, from the perspective of her sense of taste) while she was still dwelling in the earthly realm. Her spiritual experience in the dream generated an extended effect which enabled her to actually taste the things which only exist in heaven.

At this point, the Lord had disclosed Himself to Perpetua visibly and audibly in the sacred dream while Perpetua had experienced a joyful encounter with her Lord as well as the things in the heavenly realm through her “the-other” sense of sight, hearing, and taste. Perpetua may now have fully realized that the Lord had manifested Himself to her in dreams, and her dreams thus became a holy place in which theophany took place. She may be aware that there had always existed a “visible” holy place— the dream world— in her life, even though she was living in a profane world where the visible holy place— the church— was excluded or deteriorated (Passio X). 

(b) Theological Meaning of Sacred Dreams as Sacred Space 

Both Tertullian and Augustine also recognized the reality of Perpetua’s encounter with the divine in dreams. Tertullian depicted Perpetua’s experience of meeting the Lord in the dreams as “[which] she received of Paradise.”[19] Augustine believed that Perpetua through the dreams not only met the Lord but also “received new milk ere she shed her precious blood.”[20]

In the view of these church fathers’, dreams are a normal locus in which God reveals Himself to Christians and thus intervenes in their lives. Dreams offer Christians, in any kind of external situation or bodily condition, access to the presence of God, the sacred space. Perpetua was, therefore, able to see the Lord while she was still detained in prison. Dreams made her joyfully feel that she was in heaven, rather than prison.    

In this sense, the nature of sacred dreams could be understood as “a break (an opening by which passage from heaven to earth is made possible),” “the axis mundi (the place connects the earthly world and the divine world),” [21] or the sanctuary. If a church is the collective sacred space for the community of faith, then dreams (or the dream world) is the private sacred space for an individual believer. Since both spaces are sacred, the attitude of Christians toward them should be similarly respected.

In fact, the space of dreams may be the last pure and holy place in the religious field. Freud or modern scientists have never polluted it because it cannot be encroached upon by humanity, just as dreams cannot be controlled by dreamers themselves or anyone. The dream world is an autonomous region. What Freud influences is merely people’s view on dreams, rather than the dream world.

Without knowing the nature of sacred dreams, however, many contemporary Christians may think that they can meet their Lord only in heaven after death. For them, neither is there a sacred place in which holy God will appear visibly. Nor is there a hope of seeing their Lord or hearing His voice face to face while they are still living in this sinful world. But the truth may be that the Lord is eager to reveal Himself and meet us all the time, especially in and through dreams, just as what He did to Perpetua. We may not experience what Perpetua did in dreams until our attitude toward dreams and our view on them is close to hers because our suspicious attitude toward or ignorant view on what and how God can do may affect or even prevent what God intends to do. The narrative about Moses sending twelve men under God’s command to spy out the land of Canaan provides a clear example for this.[22] In this regard, both sacred dreams and the understanding of them are equally significant to contemporary Christians.

Furthermore, if we have perceived dreams as a sacred space in which theophany takes place, then the narrative in Ex 3:1-5 (where God asked Moses to remove his sandals in order to stand on the sacred place where theophany occurred) seems to remind us that before sleep we should “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles (Heb 12:1)” in order to prepare ourselves to meet God in dreams. If we encounter the divine in dreams, we, like the author of Passio, should spread the truth that dreams ought to be seen essentially as “the house of God and the gate of heaven (Gen 28:17)”, that is, as a holy place.

Perpetua’s dreams have demonstrated that the nature of sacred dreams is a sacred locus in which theophany occurs. If there are still some sacred spaces which even lay people can access, dreams may be the most private, exceptional, and mysterious one among them. It is a sacred place which has never been polluted or encroached upon by humanity. It is the space of the “Wholly Other.” Our attitude towards dreams should be religious and sacred. If we desire to see the holy God or to taste the things in heavenly realm while we are still residing in this world, then every day we should expect and prepare ourselves to meet God in dreams. At the same time, God may be expecting us to slumber so that He can come to our dreams to meet us.

2. Sacred Dreams as a Divine Language Transmitting on Messages

Passio has shown that the main purpose of Perpetua’s dreams is to deliver divine messages. They are essentially used by the divine as a language to carry messages. The divine messages in the dreams were very crucial for her and her passion. But they served not only herself but also the community of faith. Early Christians regarded the messages in Perpetua’s dreams as divine revelation. Hence, the nature of Perpetua’s dreams can be interpreted as one of God’s languages for transmitting divine messages to humanity.   

(a) Perpetua’s Dreams as a Divine Language Transmitting on Divine Messages

Perpetua’s first dream (Passio IV) appeared in response to her brother’s question about the necessity of her passion. Through this premonitory dream she received a divine message regarding the meaning of her martyrdom and result of the persecution which she was confronting. It was by this message that both she and her brother were able to stand firm without anxiety and able to put all their trust in the Lord and “ceased henceforth to have any hope in this world (Passio IV, 10-11).”

Moreover, one of the scenes in her first dream is: Perpetua went up to the heavenly garden through a golden ladder; the Lord welcomed her and gave her a little cheese to eat; she ate and all who were around said “Amen” (Passio IV). Many scholars have agreed that this scene is a reflection of ecclesiastical Eucharistic ritual.[23] Thomas Heffernan was aware of the importance of the divine message in this scene for Perpetua’s current situation. He argues that Perpetua was a catechumen who “has not yet fully entered into the fellowship (i.e. not having the Eucharist)” at that moment. It is reasonable to conceive of “this dream as an eschatological prophecy of her full reception into the community by virtue of her martyrdom.”[24] Namely, the divine message in this dream reassured Perpetua about her status of redemption and fellowship at the first step of her passion.     

Through her second dream (Passio VII, 5-26) Perpetua saw her dead young brother Dinocrates and knew that he was in suffering. After awaking, she prayed for him every day and believed that her prayer would bring help to his suffering. Few days later, she understood by the message in another dream (Passio VIII, 3-12) that Dinocrates was translated from the place of punishment to a joyous condition because of the efficacy of her intercession by prayer.

Noteworthily, it was through the divine messages in the second and third dream that Perpetua realized that she, as a martyr, had acquired a special patronal relationship with the Lord and was capable of making supplication to Him on behalf of others, even including the deceased, and thus bringing divine mercy to them by her intercession. She now understood that her suffering and sacrifice for faith would benefit not merely herself but also others.

Perpetua’s fourth dream (Passio X),which came on the day before her execution, foreshadowed that she was actually going to fight with the devil, rather than a beast, at the amphitheater, and someone (Pomponius) would be her helper, laboring with her. Also because of the divine message in this dream, she knew that she would have strength to withstand the forthcoming ordeal and to fight with the devil, as well as triumph over him and then receive the prize for her victory from the Lord.

The final dream in Passio (XI-XIII) was received by Saturus. The text, however, manifested evidently that because the majority, if not all, of messages in this dream were for Perpetua, this dream mainly came for Perpetua. By this dream, the Lord expressed His favor to Perpetua by showing that her leadership in heavenly realm surpassed the bishop as well as reminding her of His promise, by which Perpetua foresaw what would soon happen and where she was going after martyrdom. Everything was bright and clear now through this dream message. She was therefore fully prepared for martyrdom and ready to be with her Lord blissfully as well as eternally.

Moreover, this dream included messages targeted not merely for her but also for her community of faith. The message for the community reflected the Lord’s displeasure with the dissension between Perpetua’s bishop and presbyter (Passio XIII, 2-8) as well as with the scramble about factious matters within the community. Through the dream message the Lord commanded His people to forgive one another and bring peace into their assembly (Passio XIII, 9-13).    

We may now see the extreme significance of the divine messages in these five sacred dreams for Perpetua, her passion, and her community. Passio demonstrates that Perpetua regarded dreams as a language by which the Lord spoke with her and told her the thing she desired or needed to know. The more divine messages she received from dreams, the more positively and clearly she saw her faith and life from the divine perspective.

Furthermore, it is also through dream messages that the Lord alleviated Perpetua’s suffering efficiently, answered her questions clearly, showed her the divine promise definitely, and gave her strength powerfully. She, therefore, could face the ordeal and go through her passion with fortitude and joy and without confusion, anxiety, or fear. In this sense, we may say that it was the dreams and the messages in them that powerfully changed Perpetua’s life and eventually made her a model for the early Church.[25]   

Finally, Passio also exposes that divine messages in a personal dream may serve for the collective benefit. The Lord also uses dreams as His language to speak with the entire community and to deliver His command to His people even though those sacred dreams were received by an individual dreamer at the first place.

(b) Theological Meaning of Sacred Dreams as a Divine Language Transmitting on Messages

Tertullian and Augustine all considered the dream messages which Perpetua received as divinely inspired words. Tertullian called Perpetua’s dream “the revelation” and cited the content of her dreams as divine messages to support his own arguments.[26] He also believed that dreams are a language of God for transmitting messages as well as a way for delivering the knowledge of God to humanity. He wrote, “[almost] the greater part of mankind get their knowledge of God from dreams.”[27] He also thought that “[it] would not be unreasonable for a man to receive admonition from the Divine Being...by a flash of lightning, or by a sudden stroke of death; only it would be much the more natural conclusion to believe that this process should be by a dream, because if it must be supposed to be, (as the hypothesis we are resisting assumes it to be,) not a dream, the occurrence ought rather to happen to a man whilst he is wide awake.”[28]  

Although Augustine had ever warned people that Passio was not canonical, for some reasons (e.g. people had highly regarded Passio as divine revelatory text) he frequently used the messages in this dream text almost as canonical text or revelation to support his theological position.[29] He, therefore, said that through the dream the Lord “[with] his hand he milked them [Perpetua and Felicitas] and spoke to them with fatherly comfort, with the heavenly promises that were prepared the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”[30]

Because of knowing that God had sent messages through dreams to believers, Augustine wrote down many dream records of Christians; the most famous ones among them were his mother’s and the bishop Ambrose’s dreams. The divine messages his mother received by dreams changed her attitude toward her son, Augustine, and thus transformed Augustine’s faith and life. The dream message given by God to Ambrose showed a miracle before many people and thus testified to the almightiness of God.[31]

In addition to Tertullian and Augustine, many church fathers also esteemed dreams as a normal way for God to transmit divine messages. They also believed that the revelation of God could be delivered through dreams. The messages in the God-sent dreams should be treated as God’s words.[32] Therefore, sacred dreams with their divine messages still retained, especially in Africa, “their authority in the Church as important of solving perplexities,” as Adolf Harnack noticed.[33] 

But why did God have to convey His messages to Perpetua through dreams, instead of through other sacred agents, such as the Bible or the clergy, which she already had with her?[34] This is because, as Passio may demonstrate, sacred dreams have at least two phenomenal characteristics and qualities that caused Perpetua to accept the the divine message successfully and efficiently and thus made sacred dreams an alternative way for God to send messages.

First, sacred dreams are targeted to an individual, which makes the divine messages they carry more appropriate for individuals. The messages in the Bible contain theological narratives, Christian beliefs and the principle of faith and practice. But it may be difficult for one to find answers from the Scripture to one’s personal problems. Likewise, the finite ability of the clergy is not sufficient to meet every individual need.

God, however, can give what an individual wants or needs to know through a dream message. The messages in sacred dreams always provide dreamers the clear guidance they need in particular situations or the answers to their personal problems.[35] For example, Passio VII mentioned the problem of Perpetua’s brother, Dinocrates, who was still suffering after death. The biblical texts and Perpetua’s deacons may not able to provide clear solutions to this problem. But God gave her the answer through the messages in her second and third dreams.

Second, sacred dreams have intensity, which makes the divine messages they hold more powerful and compelling. A sacred dream is always able to excite an intense feeling in the dreamer and to make an indelible impression on the dreamer. Some of our mental abilities— such as memorizing and reasoning— are inferior in sleep to those in wakefulness. Therefore, dreamers often remember very little about the contents of common dreams which derive from themselves. However, the bodily condition is altered when people receive dreams from the divine.

A sacred dream could be understood as an event in which divinity makes an intrusion into humanity with a strong power— a force that enables the divine to intrude into the boundary of an individual. Because of this power, dreamers may easily perceive that this kind of dream truly originates from the divine and thus may be compelled to receive the divine messages in sacred dreams without doubt or resistance. This divine power also makes dreamers understand and remember the divine message more easily. For instance, according to Perpetua’s response to each dream recorded at the end of every dream narrative (Passio IV, 11-13; VII, 22-26; VIII, 9-12; X, 9-13), she remembered and understood the dream messages clearly without any confusion or question. All dreams and their divine messages were lucid for her and excited within her intense feelings of powerful comfort.

Because of these phenomenal characteristics of sacred dreams, Christians, like Perpetua, may easily receive and then accept the divine messages through dreams. As a result, our lives could be completely converted due to our obtaining divine promises, encouragement, or guidance. In other words, the fact that the divine uses dreams as a language to express divine messages can be interpreted as an efficient way in which the divine intervenes in and alters our lives.

Besides serving the individual, the divine message in sacred dreams also serves the community. Although the message in the final dream in Passio was given to Perpetua, an individual Christian, at the first place, it urged Perpetua (and the Passio’s editor as well) to pass the dream message to the community of faith; it thus required the community to hear and to obey the divine commands within it— such as to forgive one another and to be one in Christ (Passio XIII, 9-13).

Namely, the divine messages in a Christian’s dream may be intended for collective benefit and may bring a huge influence and blessings to the Christian community. In this regard, sacred dreams have the power to extend their impact from an individual dreamer to a party. One’s dream is normally viewed as a matter only related to one’s own concern, interest, and life, or as a most private and personal realm without correlation with others. A Christian’s sacred dream, however, may relate to other Christians and even may be able to “break down the dividing wall (Eph 2:14)” between individual believers, who essentially should be brothers and sisters united in the Lord’s family.

Indeed, both an individual Christian and a Christian community were able to benefit from a message given by the divine to a Christian through a dream. But without knowing the nature of sacred dreams, we may not view dreams as a language used by God to carry divine messages. We also may not pay attention to our dreams or may ignore divine messages in our dreams. Even worse, we may, therefore, never receive any message from God through dreams.[36] Likewise, without knowing the nature of sacred dreams, the Christian community may limit or even reject, intentionally or unintentionally, the divine message and thus reject the divine actions and blessings which God originally intended for the community’s good. Here, again, both sacred dreams and the understanding of them are equally significant to contemporary Christians.

By analyzing Perpetua’s dreams we may recognize that the nature of sacred dreams is a language by which God speaks with humanity and transmits the divine message to them. Because of its effectiveness in leading people to value divine words and in changing people’s lives, dreams have been frequently used by God to deliver messages to humanity from antiquity, through early Christianity, until the present. In some periods, it may have been the most common way for God to send messages. However, it has become a forgotten divine language in modern time. Many contemporary Christians even disparage the sacred value of this language.

God can use and is still using dreams as His language for communicating with people nowadays. When people understand and adhere to the early Christian view on the nature of sacred dreams and regard dreams as a divine language, then one day they may be able to receive crucial messages from God through dreams.

If we desire to receive divine messages, which can clearly show us the path of life or powerfully change our lives, then every day we should expect and prepare ourselves to hear the divine messages through dreams. At the same time, God may be waiting for us to fall to sleep in which we cannot control our minds and thinking. Therefore, God can easily speak with us and give us messages through dreams and thus intervene in our faith and lives.

3. Sacred Dreams as the Strength of Faith in Hope

Christians have faith in God and God’s promise. But we need hope to support our faith. God’s promise is normally able to provide us the vital hope to sustain our faith. However, our faith may be weakened when we confront difficult situation. We may feel hopeless in difficult situations. At this moment, we need divine signs or messages to sustain our faith in the hope for the divine promise. Without them, we may lose our hope, forsake our faith, or go astray from the way of God. Many biblical narratives have illustrated that before the fulfillment of the divine promise, God always speaks to His people in many and various ways in order to give them hope. The pillar of cloud, the pillar of fire, visions, sacred dreams, and miracles all serve for God’s people’s faith in hope.

When Perpetua awoke from sacred dreams in which she encountered the Lord and received divine messages, her hope was strengthened and her faith fortified, thus, she could face her suffering and martyrdom with hope faithfully and passionately. From here, the nature of Perpetua’s dreams can be seen as a dynamic agent by which God strengthens her faith in the hope for the divine promise.

(a) Perpetua’s Dreams as the Strength of Faith in Hope

Through her first dream and the divine message in it, Perpetua was able to hold onto her faith confidently in the midst of hardships without anxiety and able to put all her trust in the Lord; she then “ceased henceforth to have any hope in this world (Passio IV, 10-11).” As Augustine claimed, by the strength given through the dream message “they [Perpetua and Felicitas] forsake the threats and the promises of the world, they press forward to the things before.”[37]  

In the fourth dream (Passio X) Perpetua foresaw the one who she was going to fight with, the helper who would be with her at the amphitheater, and the presence of the Lord. She also foresaw that she would have strength to endure the impending ordeal and would triumph over the devil at the amphitheater. After awakening from the sacred dream, therefore, she said, “I knew that the victory was awaiting me (sciebam mihi esse uictoriam, Passio X, 10-11). By the final dream in Passio (XI-XIII) Perpetua received the divine promise that she would soon be rewarded with the things which the Lord had prepared for her in heaven. With the strength from these sacred dreams she was now fully prepared for martyrdom.

Passio tells us that each time Perpetua awoke from the sacred dreams, her faith, joy, confidence, and strength were all stronger. She was then able to situate herself or her faith, not in this world, but in her Christian hope of being with the Lord blissfully and eternally. She was able to live not for herself or her family, but for her faith and the Lord whom she had encountered in dreams. She, therefore, could walk into the amphitheater without fear but with joyous and brilliant countenance, as if she were going to paradise, rather than to execution (Passio VIII, 16-19).  

As Von Franz wrote, “[the] closer destruction comes in the outer sphere, the more do consoling images in [Perpetua’s] dreams become heightened.”[38] Peter Dronke observed, “The conclusions of the ladder dream, of the Dinocrates dreams, and of this combat dream, are all serene. In her dreaming, that is, Perpetua always triumphs in the agôn [struggle] she has set herself: to be brave enough to face death.”[39] J. Robertson also notes that “[the] martyrs were comforted by [Perpetua’s] dreams, which served to give them courage and strength to bear their suffering, by showing them visions of blessedness which was to follow.”[40]

From the preface of Passio (Passio I), we may notice that the author of the preface (or the editor of Passio) viewed the phenomena of Perpetua’s dreams as the fulfillment of the biblical passage in Joel 2:28-29 as well as the evidence that from ancient times to the present day, God has been using dreams, together with other signs, to strengthen the hope of God’s people and thus reinforce their faith in divine promise when there seems to be no hope.  

Moreover, because of the power and strength of sacred dreams, Perpetua “herself” seemed to be staying in the dream (or the dream world) at the moment that “her body” was attacked by a beast at the amphitheater. Therefore, Perpetua could experience ordeal at the arena without fear or losing composure, and even without pain. Passio XX describes: when another martyr told Perpetua that she was attacked by a fierce cow several times at the amphitheater. She did not believe what this martyr said “until she had perceived certain signs of injury in her body and in her dress.” This is because, at that moment, “she, as if aroused from sleep, so deeply had she been in the Spirit and in an ecstasy (et quasi a somno expergita adeo in Spiritu et in extasi fuerat, Passio XX 22-23).”

This description seems to indicate that what Perpetua did at the moment she was sent into the arena probably was not to consider the strategy for fight against the beast— which may only have increased her fear, but to recall her recent dreams and the messages in them (e.g. the helper, the presence of the Lord, her victory and reward) — this gave her strength to stand firm in face of martyrdom.

Yet, more likely and most importantly, this description indicates that she was able to go through the passion as if going through a dream— either going through the dream which she had already had (such as the fourth dream, in which she won in fighting with the Egyptian at the amphitheater) by or in the state of ecstasy, or going through a dream which just came to her at that moment from the divine in the state of ecstasy. Namely, the dreams not merely gave her strength to withstand her faith and hope, but helped her transcend the reality during her passion.

It seems that the divine used the transcendental power of dreams to make her body feel no pain or liberated her pain from the reality. In other words, the Lord transformed the feeling of pain to that of dreaming through the dreams for her. Here, the strength of the sacred dreams served Perpetua not for psychological purpose as a placebo, but indeed for practical purpose as an analgesic.

The reality, for Perpetua, may be that she was actually (from the perspective of Perpetua’s actual feeling) situated by the Lord in the sacred dream world while she was suffering “physically” but without pain at the amphitheater. Hence, when her body was experiencing severe trauma in this world, her mind, soul, and spirit were together staying with the Lord joyfully in the sacred dream world. Interpreting from the perspective of Perpetua’s (both spiritual and actual) feeling, the process of her passion may be more like the process of dreaming. The promise that Perpetua would triumph over her passion (given in the fourth dream) seems to be really fulfilled at this moment.

In this regard, we may say that it was by dreams, rather than by body, that Perpetua experiences her passion. Or, more precisely, Perpetua was actually undergoing her passion in dreams (just like what she saw in her fourth visionary dream), rather than at the amphitheater. In the last moment of Perpetua’s life in this world, it is through the dreams that the Lord mercifully led her last step of life toward the heavenly place where He had prepared a reward for her and where she had already seen and tasted the heavenly things joyfully in sacred dreams.

Indeed, God understood that Perpetua needed hope as well as strength to support hope. God used dreams as a vessel to give Perpetua divine hope and strength. We then find the powerful comfort and strength which were brought to Perpetua by the sacred dreams throughout the path of her passion, as explicitly presented by narrative of Passio. If it is the strength of the sacred dreams and its effect that helped Perpetua achieve a martyr’s role which “had been overwhelmingly restricted to males” in her times,[41]then it is also sacred dreams that made both Perpetua and her testimony outstanding and perpetual. At this point, the significance of sacred dreams to Perpetua and their close correlation to her faith, hope and life are clearly revealed.

(b) Theological Meaning of Sacred Dreams as the Strength of Faith in Hope

Because of Perpetua’s courage and fortitude which were supported by the strength from sacred dreams, Tertullian, a contemporary of hers, promoted Perpetua as “the most heroic martyr” who had the privilege of entering paradise immediately after death.[42] Augustine regarded Perpetua and Felicitas as “the chiefest of all.”[43] Poiters also admired Polycarp together with Perpetua as two noble martyrs in the early Church.[44]  

Perpetua’s dreams, again, did not serve for her alone— that is, not only for strengthening her personal faith and benefiting her own life. Augustine proclaimed that he himself and his congregation “are the fruits of their [Perpetua’s and Felicitas’s] labour.”[45] Joel Harrington asserts that the strength of Perpetua and other martyrs, “perhaps even more than charismatic preaching and healing,” inspired many bystanders to embrace Christianity themselves.[46]

If Augustine and Harrington are right, then we may say that the strength which God gave Perpetua through dreams in order to fortify her faith did not serve merely for her and her community but also for subsequent Christians and non-believers. The power of the dreams deepened Perpetua’s faith and shaped her testimony in the first place. It then (re-)formed the faith’s aura of the Christian community through her testimony. When subsequent Christians witnessed their faith like Perpetua, the Roman religious status and atmosphere would be converted soon or later. In this sense, the fruit of numerous pagans, perhaps the Roman Empire too, converting to Christianity, may ultimately find its root in Perpetua’s sacred dreams, rather than in Perpetua’s life or in her testimony— both of which were essentially the first fruit of the dreams.

Indeed, If God’s promise is the hope of Christians, and if that hope is the strength of our faith, then sacred dreams can be the dynamics that roots our faith deep in the ground of hope. Here, sacred dreams manifest the kratophany (the divine presents divine power to humanity through a non-person form)[47]by which God strengthens our faith in hope.

Moreover, sacred dreams are the place where the future promise of God can be tasted in the present time. If Christians are able to experience the future promise through dreams now, we may never doubt whether that promise will be realized or not. Here we see the close correlation between sacred dreams and Christian hope. However, it is not to say that the nature of sacred dreams is hope or that sacred dreams become Christian hope (because the only hope in Christian faith is the divine and divine promises). Rather, sacred dreams make Christian faith stronger and make Christians more faithful to live in hope, like what Perpetua experienced and did.  

When Christians awake from sacred dreams in which we receive divine messages, our faith or hope is not changed, but is enhanced. The strength of empowering our faith in hope derives from our encounter with the divine and/or receiving divine messages in sacred dreams. In this regard, sacred dreams― like the word in the Bible, sermons preached by clergy, Sunday worship, prayers, or other sacred activities― are the wellspring by which Christians gain the strength of faith.

Furthermore, the strong faith or the encounter with the divine always results in devoted action. Because of the dynamics of faith brought by sacred dreams and the possibility of the divine intervention in our lives through dreams at any moment when we sleep, we are not only willing to open ourselves to God and to the new (im)possibilities of all things in our lives but also eager to be involved in some kinds of dedicated actions. Here, sacred dreams become an activator for driving both our Christian faith and lives to grow.

When we adhere to this view on the nature of sacred dreams, one day our faith in the hope for God’s promise may be strengthened by sacred dreams. Then, we find ourselves capable of living in this world with hope faithfully and passionately even though there seems to be no hope. However, without knowing the nature of sacred dreams, we may limit the possibilities of all things in our lives and the growth of our faith. We may also live without strength and hope.

Finally, if we desire to receive the strength of faith in hope by which our Christian lives could be completely different, then every day we should expect and prepare ourselves to receive sacred dreams. At the same time, God may be waiting for us to fall to sleep. Therefore, God can come into our dreams and transmit the divine messages to us through dreams in order to strengthen our faith and enable us to live faithfully in the profane world with hope.

III. Conclusion

The large part of Passio consists of an account of five sacred visionary dreams. Most of the other part of the text illustrates Perpetua’s responses to the dreams and their powerful impact on her faith and life. The text has shown that Perpetua’s dreams correlated closely to her faith, life, and martyrdom. However, unlike other issues in Passio, Perpetua’s dreams and their nature have not been deeply probed by modern theologians.

After exploring Perpetua’s dreams, her understanding of them, her response to them, and their crucial influences, all together with Passio and the commentaries of early church fathers on the text and the dreams, we have found an early Christian view on the nature of Perpetua’s dreams, or sacred dreams. This view affirmed sacred dreams as a sacred space in which Christians may encounter our God and in which God intervenes in our lives. Sacred dreams are also one of the common languages by which the divine transmits messages to humanity. Finally, sacred dreams are a dynamic agent by which God strengthens our hope and thus fortifies our faith.

It is reasonable to reckon that this view should agree with the popular and orthodox understanding of sacred dreams held in the early Christian community, since Passio has been highly promoted as canonical text by subsequent Christians, who have preserved the dream text with care for centuries by the ritual reading of the text during the annual commemoration of Perpetua. This view may also have stimulated and inspired North Africa church fathers to construct a Christian oneirology (e.g. Tertullian) or to pay much attention to sacred dreams (e.g Augustine).

This early Christian view on sacred dreams may greatly differ from the modern one. It thus challenges contemporary Christian understanding of dreams and Christianity’s oneirology, if we really have one now that can be called a “Christian” theory of dreams. It is also able to make contribution to modern theology in terms of perceiving God’s action and concern for humanity in the realm of dreams, which has been ignored by theologians since the late Middle Ages. Most importantly, it may urge modern theologians to (re-)discover and (re-)construct a theological oneirology, especially in this age in which the Christian view of dreams has largely been distorted, contaminated, or even replaced by dominant oneiric theories, such as psychological or neurophysiologic ones.

By this view, contemporary Christians may realize that through sacred dreams we are not only able to receive the divine messages and encouragement but also able to experience the fulfillment of God’s promise, and to taste heaven while we are still in this world, just as Perpetua did. Those messages and experiences can strengthen our faith in hope continually and make us capable of withstanding difficult situations in our lives.

If contemporary Christians would adhere to this view, we would change our attitude toward and open ourselves to sacred dreams. Our attitude toward dreams may thus resemble the mood of Muslim pilgrims visiting Mecca: they go there with a devout heart; they are in a state of bliss and ecstasy while staying there; when they are on the way home, they still turn their heads again and again to behold the holy place; through this visit their faith is strengthened and their lives are renewed; eventually they find themselves totally different from before.

We would also expect to have sacred dreams one day soon. Before sleep, we would try to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles (Heb 12:1)” in order to prepare ourselves to meet our God in dreams. And we may pray, “Our God in heaven, hallowed be the dreams from you, your dreams come...”

As a result, we may soon encounter the divine in dreams and receive divine messages from dreams. Our lives may be dramatically altered through the encounters and messages. Moreover, because God may intervene in our lives and give us decisive messages through dreams at any moment when we sleep, we would open ourselves to the new (im)possibilities of all things in our lives. In short, our lives could be completely different if we change our view on the nature of sacred dreams.

If we do not know this view or the significance of sacred dreams to our faith and lives, however, our ignorance or lack of faith may preclude what God intends to do in our lives for good. We may miss divine blessings. We may never find a really sacred place in this sinful world. We may meet our Lord only in heaven after death. We may never receive the divine guidance or messages when we need ones regarding particular situations or personal problems. Our faith may be weakened when we confront difficult situation. In this regard, both sacred dreams and the understanding of them are equally significant to contemporary Christians.

In the very beginning of his three-volume opus, Das Prinzip der Hoffnung (The Principle of Hope), Ernst Bloch asks modern people five profound questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? What are we waiting for? And what awaits us?[48] After understanding the nature of sacred dreams, our answer to those questions could be: We are God’s people who are able to have dreams from the divine. We come from this world but we are going to the perfect world which is very much better than this world. Some delightful things from it can be experienced in this world only through dreams. Therefore, we are now waiting for the coming of the night to encounter the divine and receive divine messages in our dreams.

At the same time, our God is waiting for us. God is waiting for us to understand the nature of dreams. God is waiting for us to fall to sleep in which we cannot control our mind and thinking. Therefore, God can appear in our dreams without the interruption of mundane affairs, can easily intervene in our lives and deliver messages to us, and can guide us to taste the feeling of being in the new heaven and earth while we are still dwelling in this world.   

Bibliography

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