Christianity began as a minor sect of Judaism, at a time when great pressures were crowding upon the Jewish people, concomitant with the supremacy of Rome. The Jewish religion was strongly nationalistic but nevertheless enjoyed certain benefits under Roman law, a fact of some importance in the formative period of Christianity. At first the teachings of Christ, called the Word by believers, were given to Jews only, but it proved inevitable that the gentiles should be included in the missionary work and be converted. This inclusion was a heated question in the
middle of the first century C.E., resolved unsatisfactorily
in the minds of many “Jewish-Christians” by the greatest of the early missionaries, Saul or St. Paul.
Paul chose to preach to the gentiles without demand- ing that such new converts conform formally to Judaic law and religious practices. He found himself opposed by his fellow Jews on the subject, especially in Jerusalem. With its population of gentiles, the city offered fertile ground for Paul, and there he preached of the more universal nature of Christ’s message. James the Apostle headed the Chris-
tian Jews in Jerusalem at the time. He fought with Paul over the issue of conversions, but James died in 62, a mar- tyr of Christianity. Peter, the head of all Christians, had struck a middle ground, placating both parties.
The issue of whether Christianity should remain within the religious fold of Judaism or evangelize among the Gentile populations of the Roman Empire was resolved officially in 49 at the Council of Jerusalem. The first council convoked by the leaders of the church, the gathering was under the authority of Peter and was directed by the Apostles. Two parties within the church had formed. There were the so-called Judaizers, those Christians who argued that Jewish customs (e.g., circum- cision, dietary restrictions, and other rituals) should be retained as essential for all Christians. The other party favored a broader appeal and opposed any Jewish tradi- tions for new converts. The council decided against the Judaizers and declared that there should henceforth be no difference between Jew and Gentile in the eyes of the church. The council’s decisions were then sent to the other Christian communities in Cilicia and Syria, making
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the declaration essentially universal and the appeal of Christianity equally so.
After the Romans under General Titus conquered
and humiliated all Jewish lands in 70 C.E., Jewish Chris-
tianity would decline as the creed moved outward to Asia Minor and Greece. There the labors of Paul took hold.
But Christianity had already fallen under increasing attack by the Jews, who resented the religion’s growing popularity and its continued protection under Roman law. Magistrates and officials throughout the East were generally tolerant, continuing to understand that Chris- tians were within the Jewish fold.
It was only until the reign of NERO (c. 64 C.E.) that
Rome perceived Christianity as a unique entity, different from Judaism. Romans usually greeted with mixed emo- tions the arrival of new religions into their city. Most were tolerated, but many, Judaism and Christianity included, were connected in the Roman mind with the strange and occult religions of the East and followers
were accused of practicing peculiar rites (see CYBELE).
The historian Tacitus thus referred to Christians as adherents of a “detestable superstition,” who came even to Rome “where every horrible and shameful iniquity, from every quarter of the world, pours in and finds a wel- come.” In 64, following the great fire in Rome, Nero chose this new religion as his means of satisfying the anger of the mobs at losing large parts of the city. His decision to persecute the Christians was a natural means of escape. Christians did not preach revolution and taught in the finest Jewish tradition a higher moral and philosophical ideal by which to live on Earth. The cult of
Rome and the emperors (see IMPERIAL CULT) was abhor-
rent to them, as were most precepts of paganism, despite its tremendous claim to the classical world so admired by all thinking persons. These characteristics left Christian- ity open to attack.
Paul had provoked a riot in Ephesus when preaching against Artemis, giving Nero an impetus for his murder of the Christians. Such outbursts of violence were limited, however, and after the Neronian pogrom such methods were curtailed. The next years were spent attempting to deal with the Christians from a purely legal standpoint. Some definition had to be made of their status and rights, particularly because the Christians could no longer claim to be Jews, a title that the Jews themselves would not allow them. A clearer legal identification was made when it became a crime punishable by death to practice faith in Christ. The only way to escape such a fate was to sacrifice to the gods or to the emperor. There remained, however, wide avenues of discretion on the part of provincial gov- ernors; despite the ardent attempts of local bigots and detractors, Christians for the most part lived in compara- tive safety.
Individual martyrdoms took place, of course. Do- mitian exiled Domitilla and executed Flavius Clemens
in 95 C.E. for supposed involvement with the religion.
Popular Roman rumors depicted Christians as can- nibals, incestuous devils and murderers, alleged crimes
found to be untrue by the governor of Bithynia, PLINY
THE YOUNGER. He wrote to Emperor Trajan (c. 111–112
C.E.) that he could find no evidence to support the
wild accusations of the times but saw in the religion dangerous creeds capable of destroying Rome. Thus he ordered the deaths of unrepentant Christians when they were brought before him, a practice agreed upon by Trajan.
Hadrian and Antoninus Pius left the pattern of legal action intact; the general prosperity of the era also allowed the Christians to propagate their faith. Marcus Aurelius, the philosopher emperor, allowed informers to be used against the Christians, and in his time Asia was the heart of anti-Christian sentiment. Philosophers, Mar- cus included, had strong intellectual disagreements with the Christian religion, even if they did not believe the gossip and spurious attacks.
The Christians were quick to take advantage of any lull in persecution, adapting themselves to various enter- prises and services in order to increase their membership. Bishop Polycarp of Smyrna and Bishop Melito of Sardis furthered the Christian cause while assuming honored positions in the eyes of their local governments. The church spread beyond Asia Minor, Palestine, and Rome into Gaul. Egypt and Africa were missionary fields where Christianity soon rivaled the major cults of Rome and the Roman state religion.
Emperor Severus placed a legal restriction on the
propagation of both Judaism and Christianity. In 212 C.E.,
Caracalla ensured further harassment by granting his
Constitutio Antoniniana, the edict by which all residents of
the empire were granted citizenship and could therefore be expected to offer sacrifices to the emperor. The result of such legislation could have been devastating to the
Coins from the Christian era of the empire (Courtesy
112 Christianity
Christians, but they weathered the storm and emerged from the period intact.
The next years (217–249 C.E.) were filled with alter-
nating bouts of quiet and persecution. Throughout, the organized church grew in temporal power and influence, especially in Africa, and the supremacy of the Christians, ready in the late second century to burst forth, seemed once again on the verge of exploding. Events were to prove otherwise, as the very survival of the Roman Empire seemed in doubt with the crises of the middle third century. Trajanus Decius seized the throne in the summer of 249. He saw Christianity as a symptom of the general decline of imperial culture. While he campaigned aggressively against the Goths along the Danube, orders were issued to begin a very serious effort against the church as well. Bishops were arrested and martyred, including Pope Fabian. Another edict cleverly ensnared Christians by demanding that sacrifices be made to the gods. Commissioners handed out certificates to prove that all proper rituals had been performed by individual citizens. Tremendous upheaval was caused by the edict, which forced the Christians to wrestle with their own consciences and the views of their fellow church mem- bers. Violent disagreements would plague the Christian community after the end of the purge in 251, when Decius died in battle. Many of the certificates issued at the time still survive.
After a brief respite, Valerian became emperor in 253, and he initiated another wave of persecution four years later, presumably to divert attention from his own prob- lems and to seize for himself part of the considerable wealth of the Christians. As with the other attacks, Vale- rian concentrated on executing the leaders and all Chris-
tians of note. Hence, thinkers and writers like CYPRIANof
Carthage were tried and slain, and many martyrs joined him over the period of 258–259. Valerian was equally concerned with wars in the East. He made war upon Sha- pur I of Persia, and in 260 lost a major battle, was cap- tured and eventually put to death by his foe. This event was providential, for his son Gallienus ended all anti- Christian declarations.
From 261 to 303, Christianity made more progress than at any other time. In Africa, the East, and in parts of the West, the pagan gods were slowly rooted out and replaced. Christianity became the religion not only of the great cities of Carthage, Antioch, and Alexandria but attracted the farmers and workers of the fields as well. Once the seeds planted in the provinces took root, there was no way the emperors could rid themselves and Rome of the faith. This fact, unfortunately, was understood only after a long struggle.
Diocletian became emperor in 284, setting himself the task of repairing the shattered framework of the Roman world. In time he would be aided by his tetrarchs
(see TETRARCHY), Maximian and Constantius I Chlorus in
the West, and Galerius with himself in the East. Galerius
was the most anti-Christian of all the rulers. Using all of his influence with Diocletian, he called for a wide and severe edict against the creed. Fearing perhaps the already considerable temporal power of Christianity, Dio- cletian agreed. On February 23, 303, all churches of the Christian religion were ordered destroyed. Clerics were arrested, and, in 304, general sacrifices by citizens were commanded; but the horrors of Decius and Valerian were not repeated at this time. No longer could the impe- rial might so easily crush the Christians. There were now too many of them in the empire, even among notables in the government.
Failure was admitted at last by Diocletian, who abdi- cated in 305, putting an end to the anti-Christian cam- paign in the West. Galerius would not surrender for another six years, and then only because he was about to drop dead of a terrible cancer, which was reported with gleeful detail by the hostile chronicler, Lactantius. Max- iminus, his successor, made a half-hearted attempt to continue the persecution, but he, too, failed. Meanwhile, Constantius had died in 306, and his son became the
great champion of Christianity. CONSTANTINE the Great
won the Western Empire from Maxentius in 312, and the
following year issued the EDICT OF MILAN with the co-
Emperor Licinius. In 325 he held the Council of NICAEA,
and Christianity was given legal status as a religion of the Roman Empire.