In this special series of articles, we’re answering some of the best questions we’ve received on our Undeceptions Q&A episodes.

If you’ve got a question you’d like to ask John, head here – we love receiving your questions!

Question

How did the early church react to an openly hostile non-Christian society? They obviously survived and eventually thrived! Many suspect we are entering into a similar period in Western Society, and Christians seem to be “up in arms” at the temerity of non-Christians who dismiss Christianity.

We all know that there were outbreaks of violent persecution against Christians in the Roman world.  But how did the Christians live their lives as members of an unapproved religion?

Answer

Yes, Christians certainly lived in a hostile environment. They experienced long periods of relative peace (where they were seen as idiots, rather than a threat), but these were punctuated by severe persecution.

For about a year in the 1st century, four or five years in the 1st century, a year or two in the late second century, and again in the mid-third century.

Then, there was a terrible burst of violence from 303-312, known as the “great persecution”.

We actually have Roman transcripts of the trials of the persecuted Christians from this period, and the evidence tells a pretty consistent story (check out an example here).

Some Christians did give up on the faith – but many faced hatred, torture, and death, with a kind of cheerfulness that reminds you of what Jesus urged in the famous sermon on the Mount; to rejoice when people are against you (Matthew 5:11).

Early Christians were rounded up and sometimes executed as “pre-show” entertainment in the Roman Colliseum

The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche thought that the early Christian ethos of humility and non-retaliation in the face of persecution was due to what he called a “slave morality”.

He believed that Christians were mostly beaten up slave-minded people, who adopted a servile posture.

However, the evidence seems to suggest the opposite.

The transcripts and letters of the time show what seems to have inspired this Christian endurance was the conviction they had already won.

They were the death and resurrection people; their Lord had been crucified but had been raised to glory and now that was their story.

Christians faced their hostile environment with a weird combination of supreme confidence and cheerful humility.

It wasn’t a confidence that led to a sense of entitlement or ‘punching back’; the first Christians had a confidence that God had everything in control. Their only task was to stand up in public and serve those around them.

Early Christians believed Christ had given them just four tools to do the work; prayer, persuasion, service, and suffering.

They believed these were the only tool necessary to do God’s work in the world. With those four things, they turned the world upside down.

Adapted by Alasdair Belling, from our Season 9 Q&A. Listen to the full episode here

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