Monday, May 09, 2005
Why were early Christians persecuted?
This is one of the mini-summaries I wrote to prepare for the Church
history exam. Some more detailed info may be present in other posts
(see the Topical Index).
Why were early Christians persecuted?
What is the peculiarity of Decius' persecution?
Decius decided that Christians were a real enemy of the Roman order, that they must be dealt with empire-wide, with all the police power that the emperor could bring to bear upon them. At the very least this means that around 250 Christianity had become widespread enough to be perceived as a global problem. Note that this backfires, generating anti-roman sentiments esp. in the remote regions of the empire, and contributes to the appearance of the cult of the martyrs and eventually to even futher diffusion of Christianity (cf. Tertullian, saying that "The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed").
On the other hand, remember that the Roman empire during the 3rd century was subject to several destabilizing forces, for example the pressure of the Goths in the Balkans and the Sassanian Persians in the East. There was, at the same time, the desire to return to the splendor of the old Rome. Also for these reasons, Decius tries to re-unite the empire asking everybody to demonstrate their loyalty to the state gods and his divine reign through public sacrifice. And the losses that Decius suffered in military campaigns also contributed to the progressive abandonment of the persecution.
That same reason was brought about by Galerius and Diocletian: for the unity of the Empire, Christians had to be exterminated. Interesting that Diocleatian's edict against Christians were issued almost twenty years after he got in power. One of the reasons for the persecution was allegedly Diocletian's piety; Lactantius says that Diocletian became offended when he discovered numerous Christian officials of the Court making the sign of the cross at pagan sacrifices, which Diocletian considered insolence. Galerius perhaps also convinced Diocletian that Christians were refusing military service. But there is still not very much agreement on the real reasons, and on the extent, of this persecution.
Why were early Christians persecuted?
- First of all, define "early".
- Then, define the generic statement "Christians were persecuted": were all Christians persecuted? Only some of them? How many? And by whom? Mention the difference between persecution by Rome, and persecution by the Jews; for the latter, take e.g. the killing of James circa 62 (Josephus), the so-called flee to Pella before the fall of Jerusalem in 70 (Eusebius and Epiphanius - note the later interpretation of the destruction of the Temple as a consequence of this exile), the anathema in the synagogue liturgy (before 85), the persecution during the Bar Kochba revolt (132-135 -Bar Kochba himself was proclaimed the Messiah by Rabbi Akiva).
- Then, make sure that we understand that not all persecutions are equal. What are "the main persecutions"? For example, do we understand Nero's to be "a persecution"? If not, why not? Remember the need for scapegoats (cf. Tertullian).
- The usual suspects: Celsius' objections, misconception about the nature of the Eucharist, the love feasts, the contrasts with attested social practices (including the association with secret societies), Oedipoean intercourse (Athenagoras), Christians disrupted the pax eorum, Christians are really atheists.
- Take Suetonius' text on the the expulsion of the Jews and comment first on the words "iudaeos expulit", then on "assidue tumultuantis".
- Financial issues related e.g. to problems to commerce arising from the need to avoid impure food, or to refusal to buy idol statues, etc.
- Problems with denying the authority of the Roman emperor (echoed also in Celsus), cf. the Passion of the Scilitan Martyrs.
What is the peculiarity of Decius' persecution?
Decius decided that Christians were a real enemy of the Roman order, that they must be dealt with empire-wide, with all the police power that the emperor could bring to bear upon them. At the very least this means that around 250 Christianity had become widespread enough to be perceived as a global problem. Note that this backfires, generating anti-roman sentiments esp. in the remote regions of the empire, and contributes to the appearance of the cult of the martyrs and eventually to even futher diffusion of Christianity (cf. Tertullian, saying that "The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed").
On the other hand, remember that the Roman empire during the 3rd century was subject to several destabilizing forces, for example the pressure of the Goths in the Balkans and the Sassanian Persians in the East. There was, at the same time, the desire to return to the splendor of the old Rome. Also for these reasons, Decius tries to re-unite the empire asking everybody to demonstrate their loyalty to the state gods and his divine reign through public sacrifice. And the losses that Decius suffered in military campaigns also contributed to the progressive abandonment of the persecution.
That same reason was brought about by Galerius and Diocletian: for the unity of the Empire, Christians had to be exterminated. Interesting that Diocleatian's edict against Christians were issued almost twenty years after he got in power. One of the reasons for the persecution was allegedly Diocletian's piety; Lactantius says that Diocletian became offended when he discovered numerous Christian officials of the Court making the sign of the cross at pagan sacrifices, which Diocletian considered insolence. Galerius perhaps also convinced Diocletian that Christians were refusing military service. But there is still not very much agreement on the real reasons, and on the extent, of this persecution.
