THE SURPISING TESTIMONY OF RUFUS PUDENS

Recalling how Pudens behaved
Some marveled, when he got saved!
Then he lived a good life,
With his dear “savage” wife,
Now, in Scripture, his name is engraved!

COMMENTARY: This limerick refers to Rufus Pudens, who is mentioned, along with his wife Claudia, and her brother Linus, in 2nd Timothy 4:21 (and in Romans 16:13, by his nickname, Rufus). Pudens was said (by the Roman historian Martial) to have married a “savage” because Pudens married the British Celt Gladys, whose Latinized name is Claudia; her brother’s Celtic name is Llyn, which name is Latinized to Linus. Rufus Pudens, a Roman nobleman, became a Christian — so he married a Christian (Amos 3:3).   Martial thought that Pudens, once a wild “party animal”-type of man, had been “civilized” by his wife, Claudia, who was (ironically) a “savage” by Roman culture prejudices.  In fact, it was the Lord Jesus Christ Who “civilized” Pudens, working through His Spirit Who indwelt Pudens, as a Christian believer (see Ephesians 1:13-14 & Romans 8:9).  See Malcolm Bowden, TRUE SCIENCE AGREES WITH THE BIBLE (Bromley, Kent, England: Sovereign Publications, 1998), pages 124, 136-141, & 147, alluding to historical research by Dr. Bill Cooper [shown in photo, below, with JJSJ, by the River Thames, AD2006].