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chained_bear commented on the word turificati
"During the persecutions of the emperors Decius in 249-251 and Diocletian in 303-304, believers were identified and offered a chance to recant by sacrificing, offering a libation, or burning incense before an image of the emperor. On doing so, they were granted the appropriate certificate; if not, they were promptly executed (many Christians seem to have survived the persecutions by bribing corrupt officials). Those Christians who elected idolatry over martyrdom were sneeringly called the 'Turifurcati,' or incense burners. To Saint Jerome (ca. 347-419/420) the tag was a form of shorthand for the weak or vacillating Christian who was unwilling to die for his faith."
--Jack Turner, _Spice: The History of a Temptation_ (NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004), 247
December 6, 2016