These twin brothers were stone masons who were comissioned to build a pagan temple. They did so – distributing the proceeds to the poor then, when the work was complete assembling the paupers again to tie ropes around the pagan statues and pull them down – converting the temple into a church.

You can guess what happens next no?

The assembly of the poor were burned alive. Florus & Lauros were tortured then dropped into a deep well where they eventually died. Years later their miracle working relics were recovered and expressed copius amounts of myrrh.

How often does the “source” of money create ethical dilemmas. Does using it for good “cleanse” the cash – in some way? Moreover, one has to ask if the brother’s actions were “ortho-praxis” – that is they took the money, they built the Pagan Temple but then . . . if it was their plan all along to pull it down – was that honourable?

Christianity through force is no Christianity at all – but conformity through fear. The backbone of the Patristic ideal – and later our OC/IC ideals was that Christianity progresses through persuasion and not fear. You cannot be “convicted” of the value of the teachings of Christ if you are constantly looking over your shoulder to conform to what others expect.