Integrity of Early Christians Put to the Test
JESUS stated a truth that has been demonstrated daily when he said: “If you were part of the world, the world would be fond of what is its own. Now because you are no part of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, on this account the world hates you.” (John 15:19) While many professing Christians do not appreciate the significance of those words, true Christians right down to our day do. (2 Tim. 3:12) They have never shared the materialistic philosophy that governs not only the social and political but also the religious life of the world. Instead of putting their confidence in men, they look to “the city having real foundations and the builder and creator of which is God.” The worship they render to God does not depend on the possession of man-made aids to devotion, but they “worship the Father with spirit and truth.”—Heb. 11:10; John 4:23.
Early Christianity spread rapidly and, as it did, persecution arose, just as Jesus had foretold. “There were many reasons which led the populace to hate Christians, whom, first of all, they regarded as being unpatriotic. While among Romans it was considered the highest honor to possess the privileges of Roman citizenship, the Christians announced that they were citizens of heaven. They shrank from public office and military service,”1 maintaining their integrity as soldiers of Christ. (2 Tim. 2:3) Further, their opposers labeled them ‘haters of mankind’ and anarchists because they would not participate in the social and political activities of the community.2 They knew that for their worship to be acceptable to God they must ‘keep themselves without spot from the world.’—Jas. 1:27.
At first the outbursts of opposition were instigated by the local religious shepherds who feared loss of influence and income. “Christians were hated by the idolaters, and suffered innumerable wrongs and outrages from the hands of the populace, even when there was no governmental persecution. . . . The mere fact that one was a Christian, no matter how pure his character, how exemplary his life, exposed him to every conceivable indignity from the idol-worshipping populace. The local magistrates, yielding to the clamors of the mob, would afford no protection to those who were accused of being the disciples of Jesus.”3 And as pointed out in Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical History, it was usually the religious leaders who kept the kettle of persecution at the boiling point. “It had become a common custom to persecute the Christians, and even to put them to death, as often as the pagan priests, or the populace under the instigation of the priests, demanded their destruction.”4
It was not hard for the leaders to stir up people whose minds were saturated with superstition. The book Christianity and the Roman Empire reports on their belief: “If he neglected the worship of the local deities, and—much more—if he was disrespectful to them in act or word, the god would be angry, and his curse would strike not only the immediate offender, but also those who tolerated him. Again each member of the State was bound to promote its welfare by religious observance. He had no more right to abstain from the performance of his religious duties than to decline paying taxes.”5 Such was the thinking of the Romans. They superstitiously believed that it was vital to force conformity in religious matters or to destroy the offenders. “If the empire had been afflicted by any recent calamity, by a plague, a famine, or an unsuccessful war; if the Tiber had, or the Nile had not, risen beyond its banks, if the earth had shaken, or if the temperate order of the seasons had been interrupted, the superstitious Pagans were convinced that the crimes and the impiety of the Christians, who were spared by the excessive lenity of the government, had at length provoked the divine justice.”6 So popular clamor caused many magistrates to yield to the demand: “Christians to the lions!”
OFFICIALS JOIN IN PERSECUTION
When Jesus said: “Pay back, therefore, Caesar’s things to Caesar, but God’s things to God,” he clearly set out the principle that would govern Christians’ relationship to the civil authorities. They are neutrals. They do not rise in rebellion against the governments, even when unjustly persecuted. Active support, however, they give to the heavenly kingdom of God. Consequently, when Jesus explained to Pilate: “My kingdom is no part of this world,” Pilate could find no fault with him.—Matt. 22:21; John 18:36.
In spite of the fact that Christians were law-abiding people, the time came when even the emperor joined the others in heaping abuse on the Christians. The rumor had spread that Nero was responsible for the burning of Rome. Diabolically employing the popular dislike of the Christians, he made them the scapegoats to divert attention from himself. Tacitus is quoted as telling what followed: “Various forms of mockery were added to enhance their dying agonies. Covered with the skins of wild beasts, they were doomed to die by the mangling of dogs, or by being nailed to crosses, or to be set on fire and burned after twilight by way of nightly illumination. Nero offered his own garden for this show, . . . a feeling of compassion toward them began to rise, as men felt that they were being immolated not for any advantage to the Commonwealth, but to glut the savagery of a single man.”1
During the reigns of Vespasian and Titus official opposition subsided, only to be renewed at the instigation of Domitian toward the end of the first century.7 Reports are said to have reached him about the Christian belief in the return of Christ in Kingdom power. Much as Herod at the birth of Christ, he considered it a threat, fearing someone might claim to be heir to the throne, and so he conducted inquiries on the matter. While some were martyred, no general edict was issued.3,5
However, within a few years the rapid growth of Christianity in Asia Minor attracted more official attention. Pliny the Younger, proconsul in that area, reported on the matter to Emperor Trajan. This brought forth official legislation in the form of Trajan’s letter A.D. 112, which said of the Christians: “They are not to be searched for. If, indeed, they are accused and convicted, they must be punished, with this restriction, however, that when the party denies himself to be a Christian, and shall make it evident that he is not, by invoking our gods, let him . . . be pardoned upon his repentance. Anonymous accusations ought not to be received in prosecutions of any sort.”7
Judges often offered prisoners their freedom with the seemingly simple requirement that they “cast a few grains of incense upon the altar.” Christians, following the example of Christ, who would not do an act of worship to the Devil for personal advantage, firmly maintained their integrity. When this effort of the court was ineffective they used bribery, and then the victim was put to torture in which “every art of cruelty was employed to subdue such inflexible, and, as it appeared to the Pagans, criminal obstinacy.”6 While this official procedure continued in operation for many years, it should not be supposed that all cases were now handled by the courts and that a complete restraint had been placed on the priests who wished to oppress the Christians. To the contrary, at the public games they still succeeded in exciting the crowds to demand the death of Christians. Further, “it was in the power of the presidents to persecute the Christians with impunity whenever they pleased.”4
Faithful Christians firmly maintained their integrity, neutral as regards the affairs of the world, obeying all proper laws, but reserving their worship exclusively for Jehovah God. Rome pushed the issue to the fore by demanding that the state be placed above God. “Christians were liable to the penalties of sacrilege and high treason, of sacrilege for refusing to worship the gods of the state, of high treason for refusing to worship the genius of the Emperor in whom the majesty of the state was embodied, with the customary offerings of wine and incense.”5 But Christians, with full confidence in Jehovah God who holds the power of life, firmly declared: “We must obey God as ruler rather than men.” (Acts 5:29) Because they are no part of the world, true Christians are hated by the world. But because they maintain integrity to the Living God, he will show his love for them by granting them an eternity of life in which to serve him.
REFERENCES
1 The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. III, F. P. G. Guizot, page 246; F. W. Farrar, page 142.
2 On the Road to Civilization, A World History, 1937, Heckel and Sigman, pages 237, 238.
3 The History of Christianity, by J. S. C. Abbott, pages 238, 239, 255, 256.
4 Mosheim’s Institutes of Ecclesiastical History, Twelfth Edition, pages 55-57.
5 Christianity and the Roman Empire, by W. E. Addis, pages 54, 55, 59, 69.
6 History of Christianity, by Edward Gibbon, pages 233-235.
7 Library of Biblical and Theological Literature, History of the Christian Church, by G. Crooks and J. Hurst, pages 165-168.