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Persecution in the Early Church: A Chapter in the History of Renunciation
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
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404 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1906
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November 7, 2014
Incredible book. Originally published in 1906. Especially interesting were the political and sociological factors leading to persecution. I suspect that our right to free assembly is somewhat of a response to Roman legal opposition to any small social/religious/labor societies.
"A Christianity which had ceased to be aggressive would speedily have ceased to exist. Christ came not to send peace on earth but a sword; against the restless and resistless force of the new religion the gates of hell should not prevail. But polytheism could not be dethroned without a struggle; nor mankind regenerated without a baptism of blood. Persecution, in fact, is the other side of aggression, the inevitable outcome of a truly missionary spirit; the two are linked together as action and reaction." Herbert Workman, Persecution in the Early Church, p. 39. RVC Blog 11/4/14.
"But Julius Caesar, on political grounds, suppressed all sodalities except those of ancient origin, while Augustus placed all religious societies under the strictest control." p. 51.
"Christ could not be one among many; His claims rested upon higher grounds than senatorial allowance." p. 58
"Nor must we forget that the toleration of Rome, such as it was, was nearer akin to contempt and indifference. Now, the toleration which springs from contempt is often intensely intolerant of one thing, namely, of enthusiasm, using the word in a sense better understood and disliked in the eighteenth century than today." p. 59.
"A wise recognition of local usages was one thing, provided always that the interests of teh State were duly conserved; a toleration founded upon the claims of conscience and the rights of the individual soul was a matter too absurd even for philosophers to discuss." p. 60.
"By correct instinct, paganisms of all sorts discerned in the infant Church their only rival. So, while the new Hercules was yet in the cradle, they sent their snakes to kill him. But Hercules lived to cleanse out the Augean stalls." p. 66.
"The Christians, they said, reduce our deities to devils. 'They despise the temples as dead houses, they scorn the gods, they mock sacred things.' To this charge there was no possible answer, inasmuch as it was true; the glory and danger of the Christian faith." p. 69.
"And there is nothing so fated in the long run to all higher instincts and aspirations as the idolatry of success, whether in the form of a second-century emperor or a twentieth-century millionaire." p. 75.
"Even stalwarts must live, and to some extent conform to the usages of society. Where to draw the line was a matter of debate, upon which the Church was hopelessly divided. Then, as now, there were two parties; the one, which for lack of a better term we may call Puritan, making up for the fewness of its numbers by dogmatism and devotion; the other, probably more cultured, certainly more influential, but hampered by the lack of logic and utterance so generally characteristic of the via media." p. 126.
"We may dismiss at once the extremists of both types; those on the one hand whose laxity of conviction or conduct defended even attendance at the degrading public spectacles, quoting scripture to their purpose, and those who from extreme parousian standpoints made life of any sort practically impossible." p. 128.
"Purposeless renunciation, the renunciation of the dervish or fakir, can never appeal to the Western world. But the renunciation of the martyrs was neither purposeless nor self-centered. As their name shows, they were 'witnesses'; as the needle turns to the Pole, so they must point, not to themselves, but to another." pp 258-9.
"We need once more to catch the martyr-spirit, a belief in the absoluteness of the Christian faith translated into facts which shall make the Church 'a peculiar people,' whose strength does not lie in any blending of light and darkness, but in her renunciation of and aloofness from 'the world.'" p.161.
"A Christianity which had ceased to be aggressive would speedily have ceased to exist. Christ came not to send peace on earth but a sword; against the restless and resistless force of the new religion the gates of hell should not prevail. But polytheism could not be dethroned without a struggle; nor mankind regenerated without a baptism of blood. Persecution, in fact, is the other side of aggression, the inevitable outcome of a truly missionary spirit; the two are linked together as action and reaction." Herbert Workman, Persecution in the Early Church, p. 39. RVC Blog 11/4/14.
"But Julius Caesar, on political grounds, suppressed all sodalities except those of ancient origin, while Augustus placed all religious societies under the strictest control." p. 51.
"Christ could not be one among many; His claims rested upon higher grounds than senatorial allowance." p. 58
"Nor must we forget that the toleration of Rome, such as it was, was nearer akin to contempt and indifference. Now, the toleration which springs from contempt is often intensely intolerant of one thing, namely, of enthusiasm, using the word in a sense better understood and disliked in the eighteenth century than today." p. 59.
"A wise recognition of local usages was one thing, provided always that the interests of teh State were duly conserved; a toleration founded upon the claims of conscience and the rights of the individual soul was a matter too absurd even for philosophers to discuss." p. 60.
"By correct instinct, paganisms of all sorts discerned in the infant Church their only rival. So, while the new Hercules was yet in the cradle, they sent their snakes to kill him. But Hercules lived to cleanse out the Augean stalls." p. 66.
"The Christians, they said, reduce our deities to devils. 'They despise the temples as dead houses, they scorn the gods, they mock sacred things.' To this charge there was no possible answer, inasmuch as it was true; the glory and danger of the Christian faith." p. 69.
"And there is nothing so fated in the long run to all higher instincts and aspirations as the idolatry of success, whether in the form of a second-century emperor or a twentieth-century millionaire." p. 75.
"Even stalwarts must live, and to some extent conform to the usages of society. Where to draw the line was a matter of debate, upon which the Church was hopelessly divided. Then, as now, there were two parties; the one, which for lack of a better term we may call Puritan, making up for the fewness of its numbers by dogmatism and devotion; the other, probably more cultured, certainly more influential, but hampered by the lack of logic and utterance so generally characteristic of the via media." p. 126.
"We may dismiss at once the extremists of both types; those on the one hand whose laxity of conviction or conduct defended even attendance at the degrading public spectacles, quoting scripture to their purpose, and those who from extreme parousian standpoints made life of any sort practically impossible." p. 128.
"Purposeless renunciation, the renunciation of the dervish or fakir, can never appeal to the Western world. But the renunciation of the martyrs was neither purposeless nor self-centered. As their name shows, they were 'witnesses'; as the needle turns to the Pole, so they must point, not to themselves, but to another." pp 258-9.
"We need once more to catch the martyr-spirit, a belief in the absoluteness of the Christian faith translated into facts which shall make the Church 'a peculiar people,' whose strength does not lie in any blending of light and darkness, but in her renunciation of and aloofness from 'the world.'" p.161.
April 8, 2015
A great window into the life of the early church, especially the politics of persecution.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews