ERA 1 << Early Church (1): Persecutions (AD 30–300) >> SESSION 3
Reference: Gonzalez, volume 1, chapters 5-6,10,12
† 4.1.1 Causes of persecutions
· Periods: Before 250, persecution was mainly local, sporadic, and more often the result of mob action than the result of definite government policy. Starting with the persecutions of Decius [249–251], they were based on the policy of the Roman imperial government and were widespread and violent.
· Political:
o Illegal sect: As long as Christianity was regarded by the authorities as a part of Judaism, it was a legal sect. As soon as Christianity was distinguished from Judaism as a separate sect, it was classified as a secret society and came under the ban of the Roman state which did not allow any private religion.
o Secret meetings: The Christians held meeting at night and in secret. The Romans believed this was a conspiracy against the security of the state.
o Disloyalty accused: The demand for loyalty to God above loyalty to Caesar raised the suspicion of Romans that Christians were trying to set up a state within a state. The suspicion was confirmed with Christian’s refusal to participate in emperor worship. Most Christians would not serve as soldiers so they were accused as being disloyal to the government.
· Religious:
o Different religion: Roman religion was external. It had altars, idols, priests, and rites. Christianity was very different so Romans had grave misunderstandings.
o Atheism accused: When Christians stood and prayed, there was no visible object to which those prayers were addressed to, so Romans thought Christians were atheists.
o Immoraltiy accused: When Christians talked about “eating and drinking” the elements representing Christ’s body and blood, the rumour was that Christians killed and ate infants in sacrifice to their God. Word of “the kiss of peace” raised the suspicion of immoral religious practices.
· Social:
o Threat to aristocracy: Christianity had great appeal for lower classes and slaves so they were hated by the influential aristocratic leaders. Christianity upheld the equality of all men and this created a threat to the aristocracy who kept slaves.
o Purity: Christians’ purity of lives was a silent rebuke to the scandalous lives of the upper classes.
o Anti-social: Christians separated themselves from pagan gatherings at temples, theatres, and places of recreation. This non-conformity was a threat to the social structure. Pagans accused them as “haters of mankind”.
· Economic:
o Threat to economy: Priests, idol makers, soothsayers, painters, architects, and sculptors would hardly be enthusiastic about a religion that threatened their livelihood.
o Calamities: Around 250, there were plagues, famines, and civic unrest in the empire and Christians were blamed for those troubles because of their rejection of the Roman gods.
† 4.1.2 Persecution from the Jews
·
Jewish
Christians: The
earliest Christians were all Jews. They did not view Christianity as a new
religion, but as Judaism with a fulfilled promise.
Gentiles were invited not to a newly born religion, but to become children of
Abraham by faith. In OT times, Judaism had believed that all nations would be
brought to
·
Heretical
sect: In Jews’
eyes, Christianity was a heretical sect. They were against Christians because
the Christians were trying to lure other Jews to become a heretic. They were
also afraid that this would bring wrath from God.
·
Roman
government:
Thus, in the period after the church was founded [30–60], most persecution of
Christians were from Jews (Acts 18:14-15). Christians actually seek protection
from the Roman government. The government only intervened when disruption of
order occurred, like in a riot. The government noticed the difference between
Jews and Christians later when Jewish nationalism arose and led to rebellion,
while the Christians tried to stay away from such movement. For example, during
the Jewish revolt [66–70], Christians in
† 4.1.3 Persecution from the Romans
· Cycles: There were cycles of persecution under 10 Roman emperors: Nero [54–68], Domitian [81–96], Trajan [98–117], Hadrian [117–138], Antoninus Pius [138–161], Marcus Aurelius [161–180], Septimius Severus [193–211], Decius [249–251], Diocletian [303–305], Galerius [305–311].
·
Martyrdom: Many people thought that being a
martyr was a gift from God, as God provided the
strength for them to remain firm till the end. Spontaneous martyrs were
considered false martyrs (especially when many failed to remain firm till the
end). However, not all the Christians agreed to this point of view.
† 4.2.1 Persecution under Nero [54–68]
·
Fire
in
·
Against
Roman Christians:
Persecution was probably confined within
† 4.2.2 Persecution under Domitian [81–96]
·
Cultural
traditions:
Domitian was a lover of Roman traditions, which were rejected by Christians.
Jews were also in great conflict with the emperor after
·
Asia
Minor:
Persecution probably centred at
† 4.2.3 Persecution under Trajan [98–117], Hadrian [117–138], Antoninus Pius [138–161]
·
Based
on accusations:
In answering a letter from governor Pliny, Trajan ordered that Christians were not to be sought out
as criminals even if they were against emperor worship. This decision showed
that Christians’ activities were not harming the society or the state, so there
was no need to waste resources and seek them out. Yet if they were accused,
they would be ordered to recant. Then the refusal to recant should be punished
because they showed contempt to the court and their failure to worship the
emperor would be regarded as a denial to his right to rule.
·
Emperor
worship: When
Christians were brought to trial, they would be asked to burn incense before
the image of the emperor, curse Christ and pray to the pagan gods. If they
refused, they would be killed. Even after the death of Trajan, this policy was
carried out by many cities within the empire and had lasted a long time in
2nd-c.
·
Martyrs: [1] Bishop Ignatius of
† 4.2.4 Persecution under Marcus Aurelius [161–180]
·
Roman
traditions: He
was an emperor with an enlightened mind, but at the same time superstitious. He
was a strong supporter of Roman traditions and
he disliked Christians’ obstinacy and stubbornness. He ascribed the natural and
man-made calamities during his reign to the growth of Christianity.
·
Martyr: Justin Martyr—He was perhaps the
best Christian scholar of the time. He founded a Christian school in
† 4.2.5 Persecution under Septimius Severus [193–211]
·
Syncretism: After Septimius Severus terminated
the civil wars, he turned his attention to enforcing religious harmony in the
empire. His policy was to promote syncretism
under the worship of the “Unconquered Sun” to which all religions and
philosophies subsume under [202]. All gods were to be accepted, provided that
one acknowledged the reign of the Sun above all. But Jews and Christians did
not yield. He then outlawed, under penalty of death, all conversions to
Christianity and Judaism. This was in addition to the existing policy of
Trajan.
·
Martyrs: [1] Irenaeus—some tradition
recorded his martyrdom though uncertain. [2]
Perpetua (181–203) & Felicitas—The rich
Perpetua and her servant Felicitas were among the 5 catechumens preparing for
baptism. The 5 were sent to the arena to face beasts.
·
A
period of peace:
For unknown reasons, persecutions abated after the death of Perpetua [203]. The
next 4 emperors did not continue the persecutions, except very brief
persecutions by Emperor Maximian [235–238] when the 2 bishops of Rome Pontianus
and Hippolytus (due to division in the church, Hippolytus being classified
later as an antipope) were sent to hard labour.
o
Hippolytus:
He was a noted theologian in
† 4.2.6 Persecution under Decius [249–251]
·
To restore
ancient religion:
Because of barbarian incursions and economic crisis, the glory of the empire
waned. People abandoned the ancient Roman gods and Decius believed that the
problems were because of the gods’ displeasure. He wanted to revive
·
Coercions: Those who refused to offer annual
sacrifice to the gods and to burn incense before a statue of Decius would be
considered outlaws. They were forced to abandon their faith through a
combination of promises, threats, and torture. The number who died was not
large but the persecutions were systematic and universal.
·
Confessors: One result was a new title of
honour—confessors, those who remained firm in their faith, even under cruel
torture. Those who yielded were the “lapsed”.
As the church had not been persecuted for 50 years, Christians were not
prepared for the challenge and many yielded. Fortunately, Decius died only
after 2 years.
† 4.2.7 Great Persecution under Diocletian [303–305] & Galerius [305–311]
·
Against
Christian soldiers:
Diocletian reorganized the empire into the east under himself and the west
under Maximian, both with the title “augustus”. Under them were two “caesars”.
Caesar Galerius under Diocletian regarded the Christian attitude of not joining
the army to be dangerous, for it was conceivable that at a critical moment, the
Christians in the army could refuse to obey orders. So he convinced Diocletian
to order that all Christians to be expelled from the army. Some Christians were
executed.
·
Harsh
persecution:
Galerius convinced Diocletian to issue a new edict
against Christians [303], removing them from positions of responsibility in the
empire, and destroying all Christian buildings and books. Persecutions started
and Christians were forced to give up their Scripture. Then Galerius blamed two
fires in the imperial palace on Christians. Diocletian then decreed that all Christians
must offer sacrifices to the gods. Christians were punished by the loss of
property, exile, imprisonment, torture, and they were killed in large groups by
the sword or wild beasts.
·
Rise
of
·
Edict
of Tolerance:
Galerius and his caesar Maximinus Daia continued to persecute Christians. When
Galerius fell sick with a painful disease, he
changed his policy and proclaimed the Edict of Tolerance [311] stopping
persecution of Christians.
† 4.3.1 Growth of Christianity
·
Blood
of the martyrs:
Tertullian said that the blood of the martyrs was the
seed of the gospel, for more it was spilled the greater the number of
Christians. The exemplary deaths of Christians had moved many who had witnessed
martyrdom, and led to their conversion. Another excellent analogy was that the
Word of God was the seed of the church, which was watered by the sweat, tears,
and blood of Christians. Not surprisingly, the NT never describes persecution
as a threat to the well-being of the church.
·
Eastern
church: In
1st-c, Christianity was mostly confined to the Eastern empire and the majority
of the believers were Jews. The main churches were in
·
Western
church: In
3rd-c, the gospel spread to the Latin-speaking Gentiles in the western empire.
The church in
† 4.3.2 Treatment of the lapsed
·
Restoration
of the lapsed:
The persecutions of Decius created a major problem for the church. Because he
used the strategy of coercion, some Christians yielded
under threats. They became the “lapsed”. When they later reaffirmed
their faith and asked to join the church, the question of how to treat the
lapsed caused arguments among Christians. One main factor was that not all had
fallen in the same degree. Some purchased fraudulent certificates of sacrifice,
but some actually offered sacrifices.
·
Authority
to restore: The
first question was: who could exercise the authority to restore, bishops or
confessors? Some follow the action of the prestigious
confessors who started restoring the lapsed. But some bishops believed
that only the church hierarchy had the authority to restore.
·
How to restore? The second question was: who among the lapsed could be restored, and
how? Some believed that the lapsed could be restored once they showed penance.
Others held that rebaptism would be required. The church was divided so a synod (gathering of the bishops in the region) was
called in
·
Cyprian (200–258): He was the bishop of
·
Two Roman
bishops: When
Cornelius was elected bishop of
·
Problem
of traditors: A
similar problem occurred after the persecutions of Diocletian. The question was
how to deal with the traditors, those who had given up
copies of the Scripture to persecutors. This led to Donatism in 4th-c.
·
Development
of the canon: If
the possession of apostolic letters might mean death, the Christians wanted to
be sure that the books that they would not give up on pain of death were really
canonical books. This contributed to the development of the NT canon.
|
[1] treasure our heritage |
The
church was built on the blood of martyrs and confessors. |
|
[2] appreciate God’s providence |
Persecutions
did not wipe out the church. The worst persecutions were stopped by Decius’
short reign and Galerius’ sickness. |
|
[3] avoid past errors |
Arguments
on non-essential issues such as the lapsed and the traditors should not lead
to disunity. |
|
[4] apply our knowledge |
It
is important to seek church-wide agreement on rules of discipline. |
|
[5] follow past saints |
Thousands
of martyrs died for their faith during persecutions. |
●
Why
did the Roman government persecute Christians?
o Christians did not participate in pagan worship and emperor worship so they were accused as rebelling against the government.
o They were accused of hating mankind.
o Conflicts between Jews and Christians caused riots.
●
Should
Christians rebel or join a revolution if the ruler is a tyrant?
o
Christians are commanded to obey the government
(Romans 13) because it provides social order and punishes the criminals. The
teaching from Paul was given when the government was the
●
How
should Christian respond when persecutions come from other groups/religions?
What about persecution from the government?
o Christian responses to persecutions:
◦ find out the reasons for the persecutions
◦ clarify misunderstanding by explanation
◦ encourage mutual communication to reduce misunderstanding
◦ if problems persist, then seek legal redress from the courts
o If it is the government and is a democracy, we could seek to replace the government in an election.
●
Are
there different forms of persecution in today’s society?
o Besides direct violence, there were discrimination, threat of prosecution, defamation, and marginalization. In some Muslim or communist countries, building of churches were prohibited.
●
Why
did God allow 3 centuries of Roman persecutions?
o
Persecutions led to the purification of the
church so that only genuine Christians remained. The same effect can be
observed in
o Persecutions allowed non-Christians to see how Christians react to persecutions. Many were brought to Christ simply after watching the death of martyrs. Tertullian said that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the gospel, for more it was spilled the greater the number of Christians.
o Persecutions forced early Christians to quickly establish the canon, doctrines, and creeds so that they knew what they were fighting for.
●
How
were the lapsed Christians dealt with? Are these treatments proper? Should the
treatment be similar for today? Why and why not?
o The lapsed Christians were dealt with differently by bishops and confessors. For some, the requirements were light while for others, they were readmitted only on their deathbeds.
o The treatments were rightly different for different offenses and dependent on circumstances. However, there should be general guidelines.
o Today, a church should have clear written standards for beliefs and behaviour of members. A member should be disciplined for violation for those standards because only then can a church be kept pure. However, with the existence of different denominations, it is practically impossible to enforce discipline as anyone can leave a church and join another one down the street. Because of this, a church should clarify the background of new applicants before they are admitted.
●
How
do we see God’s providence at work in the victory of
o a broken empire with different claims of authority
o
the successful escape of
o
relative peace to strengthen his army in
o Diocletian’s retirement
o Galerius’ sickness and death
o
unwise decision by Maxentius in the battle of