Apologists like to cite the willingness of early Christians to endure persecution as necessitating some sort of supernatural explanation for the spread of Christianity, but it seems to me that this willingness must be viewed in context. Although the persecution of early Christians was occasionally severe under the Roman Empire, it was sporadic and ad hoc. Many early Christian communities were probably undisturbed. Moreover, life for peasants and slaves within the Roman Empire was no bowl of cherries in the first place. Life expectancies were low, social mobility was unlikely, and the possibility of a brutal death was a fact of life. It is easy to see the attraction of a supportive community that taught that man could transcend a world filled with pain.
In fact, when you compare the choices available to nineteenth century Mormons with those available to first century Christians, I think that the sacrifices of the Mormons look pretty impressive. The people who followed Brigham Young out to Utah could have settled on fertile farmland in either Iowa or Illinois where the Indians had been largely subdued. Instead they chose to make a long trek to a much less promising region where the threat from hostile natives was much greater. Despite having seen their leader murdered, they chose hardship when there were many other attractive opportunities.
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Apologists like to cite the willingness of early Christians to endure persecution as necessitating some sort of supernatural explanation for the spread of Christianity, but it seems to me that this willingness must be viewed in context.
ReplyDeleteIn traditional Apologetics it is not just the willingness to endure, but the actual survival after so many diverse tortures under Nero, Domitian, up to Decius and Diocletian, plus lots of minor ones in between (Trajan and Hadrian made some and Marcus Aurelius made one persecution too) all going on for 280 years and still Christian Church grows like a mustard seed of 12 + 72 + a few hundre + 5000 men, the latter mostly with women and children to that better half of the Roman Nation which we find under Constantine the Great.
Moreover, life for peasants and slaves within the Roman Empire was no bowl of cherries in the first place.
ReplyDeletePeasants were a lot better off than slaves. And you have Roman Aristocracy facing persecution from the start. So many Christian names are martyred virgins with family names in the feminine making the social status not only free but praeclarus.
Camilla, Lucia, Sabina, Barbara, Caecilia ... whereas Agnes and Agatha are of course Greek enough to be original personal names.
I do not recall very many slaves as martyred, except together with converted masters: Serapia was put to death for her faith and later, in the same year, Sabina suffered martyrdom..
St Nino was a special case, as outside Roman Empire.
Life expectancies were low, social mobility was unlikely, and the possibility of a brutal death was a fact of life.
ReplyDeleteFirst fact is a factoid, other two are on and by the large still so.
It is easy to see the attraction of a supportive community that taught that man could transcend a world filled with pain.
As for second point: why the most persecuted one? Why not - in the end - stoics or gnostics or platonists or something?
As for the first, being poor and supported by the Church is one thing, but being rich, risking persecution, and being in the meantime expected to support the poor with alms?
I have seen Christians shun that obligation, when it comes home to them. And older martyr ages were times when standing up publicly in soup kitchens was not a great option for almsgiving.
Not that I do not enjoy the soup kitchens that are there now, more or less depending on the other guys who are there. But that way of giving alms is recent among Christians.
Mormons: one generation persecuted with Joseph Smith, next generation makes a Trek to avoid persecution.
ReplyDeleteFacing hostile Indians was done already by Pilgrim Fathers, and dying in battle gives little time to think over things as Martyrs under Rome, Soviet Union or Azaña and Negrín rule spending some time in prison before dying. Not comfortable either.