Transcript Chapter 15 - Routledge

Chapter 5
Persecution of Christians
Questions to be addressed in this
chapter
1. Why were Christians persecuted in the early centuries after
Christ?
2. How did Christians understand martyrdom?
3. How did the doctrine of the Church develop in response to
the problem of apostasy?
4. What happened to the apocalyptic tendencies of the early
Christians?
Persecution of Christians
• The Romans had a list of officially approved gods, and the
Christians would not acknowledge any of them.
• This made them atheists in the eyes of Romans, and thus they
were considered to be a direct threat to the unity of the state.
• Christians stood out in Roman culture and were hated
because of their beliefs, practices and values.
Martyrdom
• The attitude taken toward martyrdom by the Christians of the
first few centuries was a conscious continuation of the attitudes
of Jesus and Paul.
• Jesus said that he would acknowledge before God those who
acknowledge him before men, but disown those who disowned
him before men (Matthew 10:32-33).
• The Apostle Paul said, “We are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs
with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we
may also share in his glory” (Romans 8:17).
• After the Church had endured a couple of centuries of
persecution, Origen would call martyrdom the “cup of salvation”
and see it as the most perfect gift that a person could give back
to God for all that was done for him or her.
The Apostolic Fathers
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The Epistles of Clement of Rome
The Didache
The Epistles of Ignatius of Antioch
The Epistle of Polycarp
Writings of Papias of Hierapolis
The Epistle of Barnabas
The Shepherd of Hermias
The Epistle to Diognetus
Apostasy and the Church
• In many of the accounts we have of martyrs who stood firm in
their commitment to Christ and suffered the ultimate
punishment, it is also mentioned that there were Christians
who did not remain true to their faith.
• The “confessors” (those who did remain true) wrestled with
what to do with these “lapsed Christians.”
• This crisis reached its peak after the most systematic and
comprehensive persecution the Empire had seen during the
reign of Emperor Decius in 250 and 251.
• Decius pledged to restore Rome to its traditional values, and in
January of 250 issued an edict that required everyone in the
Empire to sacrifice to Jupiter and the other Roman gods for the
good of the Empire.
Eschatology
• It might be claimed that all of Christian thought in the first few
generations had at its basis the apocalyptic vision of a soon
returning messiah.
• The Montanists were just one group of early Christians whose
thought was organized explicitly around the expectation of
the imminent return of Christ.
• But as the years went on and the Parousia continued to be
delayed, the Church needed an organizational structure to
survive from generation to generation.
Summary of main points
1. Christian beliefs, practices, and values stood at odds with
Roman culture; this created significant tension and led to
persecution.
2. Martyrdom was believed by many to be the perfect imitation
of Christ.
3. Membership in the Church—not belief or faith—determined
one’s eligibility for salvation.
4. The “already, not yet” eschatological attitude developed in
response to the delayed Parousia.