Yesterday: The Church's Amazing Story [Y1]

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The 25^th topic of the A-Z of DiscipleSHIP, “Y”, is about the history of the Church. In 2018, Easter fell on April Fools’ day. 

And the comic in me marveled at the timing. 

And I started to imagine the following conversation among the Roman guards who were assigned the task of guarding Jesus’ tomb. (Matthew 28:1-15 [1])

They do their duty. Its (Holy) Saturday. To pass the time, they crack jokes. 

One of them says to the other. "The governor says the disciples might come and steal his body. Do you believe him or not?

The other replied. "Of course not. It’s because the boss is afraid that this Jesus guy might rise again on the third day. So, if that happens, he needs us to kill him again!"

“LOL”.

“These higher-ups are crazy. Easy for them to say, ‘just in case’. But it’s okay. Just one more day. After this, Primi said we can have 2 days off.”

We know the rest of the story. 

On Easter Sunday, Jesus says, “April Fools!”

Or if you prefer the biblical version.

"And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. (Matthew 28:2-4) 

Chapter one of the history of the Church began with a practical joke. 

And if we want to learn the first lesson from Church history, it would be this. 

We are Easter people and Alleluia is our song. If Jesus could laugh at death, we can also laugh at the absurdities and the tragedies of life. 

Because with, the Resurrection, Jesus demonstrates that He is the original “prankster”.

And studying Church history, learning how for the last 2000 years, the Holy Spirit remained with the Church as it evangelized the world, through all its ups and downs, gives us reasons for joy.

Let us pray.

Opening Prayer – Inspired by the Letter to Diognetus

God our Heavenly Father, you have willed that as Christians, we be indistinguishable from other men by nationality, language or customs. That we do not inhabit separate cities of our own, or speak a strange dialect, or follow some outlandish way of life. And that regarding dress, food and manners of life in general, we follow the customs of whatever city we happen to be living in.

Give us grace instead of standing out in ways that truly matters. That we live in our own countries as though we were only passing through. That we play our role as citizens. That any country can be our homeland. That we pass our days upon earth, while being citizens of heaven. That we be obedient to the laws, and live on a level that transcends the law. 

Finally, we pray that as Christians, we love all people, even if they may persecute us. Raise us to life again. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Recommended Opening Songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RD1LZVz1guz2c&v=1LZVz1guz2c

Introduction: 312 AD, Milvian Bridge: Christianity in the balance

If you think modern politicians would do anything to win a (close) Presidential election, you have not met ancient Roman ones. 

The candidates: Constantine vs Maxentius.

The prize: Undisputed Caesar of Rome. 

Maxentius had the advantage. He was based in Rome, the Capital city. His army outnumbered Constantine 5 to 1. He had consulted the pagan soothsayers. 

They had advised; keep the Roman gods happy. 

He liked their support. 

But he had a large Christian population in Rome. 

So he decided. 

The active persecution of Christians unleashed by his predecessor Diocletian would end. 

But the property that was confiscated by the state will not be returned. 

In this way, he keeps the pagans happy.

And the Christians must surely find this more tolerable. 

He also consulted with his generals who advised, “Why go out to meet Constantine at all? Let him march toward Rome—exhausted—and then crush him.”

Confident of his military cunning and divine help, Maxentius prepared for battle.

His rival Constantine marched towards Rome. 

His army smaller but fiercely loyal. 

Constantine’s father Constantius had been Caesar of the West. When Diocletian ordered the persecution of Christians, dad had put on a show of agreement, but in practice, left the Christians in his region largely alone. They were already 10 percent of his population and well organized. Too much trouble. 

Besides, he did admire them for their charity and religiosity, even if he considered them very odd.  His wife Helena was very sympathetic to them. And he was intrigued and fascinated by what he considered her mix of rigidity, integrity and strong headedness as she fell under their influence. 

This core constituency must have been on Constantine’s mind when he marched to Rome.

He got a nudge on what he ought to do. 

From the heavens.

The Church historian Eusebius describes it as follows: 

“… a most extraordinary sign appeared to him from heaven. About noon, when the day was already beginning to decline, he saw with his own eyes the sign of a cross of light in the heavens, above the sun, and bearing the inscription, “By this symbol you will conquer.” He was struck with amazement by the sight, and his whole army witnessed the miracle. He said that he was unsure what this apparition could mean, but that while he continued to ponder, night suddenly came on. In his sleep, the Christ of God appeared to him with the same sign which he had seen in the heavens, and commanded him to make a likeness of that sign which he had seen in the heavens, and to use it as a safeguard in all engagements with his enemies [2].

The rest, as they say, is history. 

"The Vision of Constantine" by Bernini, at St Peter's Basilica

Maxentius was thrown off his horse and drowned. 

Constantine’s armies marched victorious. 

And the Christians in Rome rejoiced. 

He did not disappoint them. 

In 313 AD, Constantine issued the edict of Milan, officially legalizing Christianity. 

Constantine had divine help.

But he was also a shrewd politician. He wanted to add to his coalition of pagans. 

And getting a fervent 10 percent core constituency of Christians would do his political career no harm.

This dynamic religion had grown from a miniscule 0.0017 percent in the year AD 40.

And doubled every 20 years.

And by the time he confronts Maxentius, they could not be ignored.

Which begged the question. 

How did a religion, which claimed that a man that had been crucified had rose from the dead, and was the Savior of the world, grow so rapidly without state support, and occasional persecution?

Part one: The gods grew tired

One way of making sense of this is to look at the “competition”. 

The Romans were an intensely religious people. There were gods everywhere. Ceres for your crops. Venus for love. Mars if you want to win a war. And of course, Jupiter the high god and father of all the gods. Nothing major was done without consulting them and winning their favour. 

To win their favour, the proper rituals were needed. And ROMAN precision.

As the pagan Roman author Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) explains: 

“A sacrifice without a prayer is thought to have no effect… someone dictates the formula from a written text to ensure that no word is omitted or spoken in the wrong order; someone else is assigned as an overseer to check what is spoken [3].”

If not precise, dire consequences result. Starting over, should one stumble over a phrase or omit a word is the least of it. Entire decisions of the Senate or assembly could be rendered null and void, if it was discovered that the ritual was not performed correctly.

Influenced by Greek philosophy, the highly educated among them begin to question if this was rational. 

Cicero (106-43 BC), one of Rome’s greatest pagan statesmen and intellectuals, expressed his skepticism in his book De Natura Deoum (On the Nature of the Gods).

His friend Cotta was a pagan priest. He was asked the question whether the gods he was ministering too actually existed or not. 

And he replied in a startling fashion:

“It is difficult to deny their existence in public… but in private conversation, and in a company like the present it is perfectly easy.”

In other words, for the sake of the (un)educated public, of course the gods exist. 

But in a “safe space” among his educated friends, he is not too sure.

For Cotta, he sees it as his civic duty not to let his doubts appear public even as he admits in private that “many disturbing reflections occur to my mind, which sometimes make me think that there are no gods at all [4]”.

Elsewhere, Cicero would also express his scepticism of divination by stating that: 

“I wonder, ‘[if] a soothsayer doesn't laugh when he sees another soothsayer.’ For how many things predicted by them really come true? If any do come true, then what reason can be advanced why the agreement of the event with the prophecy was not due to chance [5]?”

Such skepticism was considered respectable in elite educated circles as long as it stays there. The fiction of the Roman gods must be maintained for public order and civic tradition.

The result was a kind of polite, philosophical double life.

But for some thinkers, this polite hypocrisy — believing one thing in private while performing rituals in public — became unbearable.

One of them was Justin. Not yet “Saint Justin Martyr.” Just Justin: a philosopher searching for the truth.

In his first apology he gave reasons why due to his education in philosophy, he became a Christian.

He begins by calling out those who would criticize Christians for promoting atheism and civil disobedience by pointing out that Christians, when they were publicly critiquing the absurdity of the Roman gods, were simply doing what the educated literati were doing in private:

“And of these [literati] some taught atheism; and the poets who have flourished among you raise a laugh out of the uncleanness of Jupiter with his own children. And those who now adopt such instruction are not restrained by you; but, on the contrary, you bestow prizes and honours upon those who insult the gods [6].”

Justin declares that he does not want public acclamation but simply the truth. As far as he is concerned, these were not gods but demons masquerading as such. And for the truth, he was willing to go the path of Socrates, his pagan intellectual hero. 

Justin says: 

“… when Socrates endeavoured, by true reason and examination, to bring these things to light, and deliver men from the demons, the demons themselves, by means of men who rejoiced in iniquity, compassed his death, as an atheist and a profane person, on the charge that he was introducing new divinities; and in our case they display a similar activity [7].”

In the rest of his writing, Justin will go on to argue for the truth of Christianity, blending philosophical justification, arguments from prophecy, as well as the ethical excellence of Christians. 

Justin was finally arrested and put on trial for treason. To save his life, Rusticus the prefect made him an offer. 

“Let us, then, now come to the matter in hand, offer sacrifice with one accord to the gods.”

Justin’s reply was instructive.

“No right-thinking person falls away from piety to impiety [8].”

In other words, as a true philosopher, doing this would be beneath him intellectually and morally. 

Justin’s example was but one illustration of a trend among the educated elite of Roman society. 

They were all skeptical of the Roman gods. They can keep their skepticism private; construct elaborate intellectual systems to simultaneously justify their skepticism and still promote so called “traditional” worship.

But they can also do what Justin did; reject this charade of preferring “custom to truth [9].”

Part two: You have conquered O Galilean 

But Christianity did not triumph only because paganism grew tired. It triumphed because Christ offered what paganism never could: love.

Justin’s rejection of the absurdity of believing in the Roman gods was not on intellectual grounds alone. Even at face value, the Roman gods were failing to satisfy emotionally.

As Rodney Stark explained:

“The chief emotional ingredient lacking in the traditional Roman faiths was love. Romans thought the gods might come to their aid, but they did not believe that the gods loved them – indeed, Zeus was depicted as quite unfriendly to humans. Consequently, pagan Romans often feared the gods, admired some of them, and envied them all, but they did not love them [10].”

Jesus was of course different.

Imagine for a moment the impact of John’s account of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples on a formerly pagan Roman, now convinced that this person is the son of God.

“Do you know what I have done to you?  You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you [11].”

For a Roman, the idea of a god kneeling to wash human feet would be not only strange but unthinkable, because slaves performed such tasks. But in this case, the son of God was willing to do this because he no longer called his followers his servants, but friends. Unlike the Roman gods, he loved them personally. And he challenges his followers to do the same for each other.

What happens when the followers of Jesus do this?

A spiritual revolution takes place with direct societal consequences.

Nowhere was this contrast shown when the plague struck the Roman empire in the 251 AD and raged on for almost two decades. 

Rodney Stark describes the situation: 

“The pagan response was panic and retreat. Those who could, fled to refuge in the countryside – even Galen, the most famous physician of classical times, left Rome and stayed in his country estate until the danger passed, as did most rich people, political leaders and even the pagan priests. Ordinary Greeks and Romans who could not flee attempted to avoid all contact with victims. Hence, when their first symptom appeared, victims were thrown into the streets by their own families to join the piles of dead and dying [12].”

This is actually unsurprising. As Jonathan Kennedy explains:

“Greco-Roman deities were capricious and indifferent to suffering. When Apollo was angry, he would stride down Mount Olympus firing arrows of plague indiscriminately at the mortals below. 

“Paganism offered little comfort to those struck down by disease. The old gods did not reward good deeds, Death was an unappealing prospect, as it meant an uncertain existence in the underworld.”

Christians on the other hand, were loved by the Son of God whose message offered hope. As Kennedy continues:

“Suffering on Earth was a test that helped believers enter heaven after death. Everlasting life in paradise is quite the prize, but Christianity provided another more tangible benefit, too.

“Christians were expected to show their love for God through acts of kindness to the sick and needy. Or as Jesus put it: whatever you do for the least of my brothers and sisters, you do for me.”

In a first-hand account of how Christians in the Roman empire responded, Bishop Cyprian of Carthage urged the Christians in his city not to flee, but to reach out to their fellow human beings, including their pagan neighbours. He reminds his Christian congregation that: 

“There is nothing wonderful in our cherishing our own people with love. To become perfect, we would do something more for the heathen, who overcoming evil with good, and practicing a clemency which was like the divine clemency, loved even his enemies [13].”

This exhortation is all the more remarkable when just a year earlier, the Christians of Carthage had been subjected to a persecution resulting in many deaths. Yet for Cyprian, he urged his flock to take Paul’s exhortation literally: 

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him drink. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good [14].”

This turned out also to be sound medical advice. As Stark explains:

“Modern epidemiologists suggest that simply by providing food and especially water, to plague victims, huge numbers of deaths can be averted. The fact that large numbers of Christians survived did not go unnoticed, lending immense credibility to Christian miracle working [15].”

In the eyes of many Romans, this combination of courage, compassion, and survival seemed almost supernatural.

The gods of Rome had fled; the God of the Christians stayed with His people — and through them, stayed with the dying.

Reconstruction of a valetudinarium, a Roman millitary hospital. This was meant for the military, gladiators, or slaves, not open to the public. Medical care was largely a private affair delivered in homes or temples. “Hospitals in the strict sense of charitable institutions for the sick appeared only in the Christian era [20].”

Conclusion: And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it – John 1:5 

Julian, the nephew of Constantine, took the throne in 361 AD. Once secured, he announced his spectacular renunciation of Christianity and began a state sponsored pagan revival. 

Julian had studied under the best tutors. And summoning his formidable intellectual gifts, he wrote Against the Galileans, a manual designed to dismantle Christianity. His book was unique. “For the first time, Christians were faced with a critic who had arisen within, someone who knew the Scriptures well and was able to heap up testimonies from the Bible against the faith [16].”

But Julian knew that he also needed to win the hearts of the Roman people. He called for a renewal of the pagan priesthood. They are to outflank the Christians in their charity.  He complained: 

“I think that when the poor happened to be neglected and overlooked by the priests, the impious Galileans observed this and devoted themselves to benevolence, support not only their poor, but ours as well, everyone can see that our people lack aid from us [17].”

Using the instruments of coercion available to him and combining it with his formidable intellectual prowess, Julian would prove a wily opponent. But in this area of charity, he ran aground. As Stark explains:

“… his challenge to the temples, to match Christian benevolence, asked the impossible. Paganism was utterly incapable of generating the commitment needed to motivate such behaviour. Not only were many of its gods and goddesses of dubious character, they offered nothing that could motivate humans to go beyond self-interested acts of propitiation [18].”

In AD 363, he was struck by a spear in battle. His wound became fatal. His last words were reported to be “thou has conquered O pale Galilean, the world has grown weary from thy breath.” 

Whether or not he actually said these words, they capture the truth of the moment: paganism had lost the spiritual imagination of the empire.

By 380 AD, his successor Theodosius I would make Christianity the official religion of Rome. 

The triumph of Christ over Caesar can be summed up in 3 words, Reason, Courage and Charity. 

Reason, because Christians did not cede the ground to custom or tradition but made the case for Christ at the bar of reason. 

Courage, because Christians were willing to pay the price for their convictions, for the truth is its own reward. 

Charity, because they wanted to imitate their Master who first loved them.

In his forward to the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan, Cardinal William Goh urged Singapore Catholics to remember that 

“As the disciples of our resurrected Lord today, we must walk in faith, and always with the Risen Lord. As a resurrected people, we must walk with each other as a community so that we can recognise and encounter His presence in our lives [19].”

The history of the Church in a nutshell is the story of Christian disciples putting this into practice throughout space and time. 

As we move towards our final destination Zion the New Jerusalem, (and also the final podcast of this series), may the example of the early Christians continue to be our source of inspiration.

"The Triumph of Christianity over Paganism" (1868) by Gustave Doré

Concluding Prayer – inspired by Hebrews 13:12-16

Lord, Jesus, you suffered outside the gate to sanctify the people through your blood. Inspired by your example, we will go forth, outside our camps, and bear abuse for you. Grant us to recognize that on earth, we have no lasting city, and seek the city which is to come. Through your name, may we continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, so that all people may come to acknowledge your Holy name. Amen.

* Is there anything in this session which struck you or any thoughts, experiences or ideas which come to your mind? Please leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you.

** Thank you for joining us on the A-Z of DiscipleSHIP. We look forward to having you with us again next month, as we study the letter “Z”, on Zion (The Four Last Things).

Recommended Closing Songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJpt1hSYf2o

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDPPpGphzScjA&v=PPpGphzScjA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDo2O7MtOxikI&v=o2O7MtOxikI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDQPb5lpO874Q&v=QPb5lpO874Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RD730_Smc5nT0&v=730_Smc5nT0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=RDl6sX4Vw8mx0&v=l6sX4Vw8mx0

Recommended Reading / Resources

1. Robert Louis Wilken, The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press 2013)

   
   

2. Carl Sommer, We Look for a Kingdom: The Everyday Lives of Early Christians (San Francisco: Ignatius Press 2007)

   
   

3. Tom Holland, Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World (New York: Basic Books, 2019)

Reflection and Sharing Questions

“Y” – Yesterday, the Church’s Amazing Story

This month’s podcast considers the amazing story of the early Church. In the light of this, the following are possible reflection/sharing questions.

• St. Justin saw his intellectual pursuit leading him to Christianity. Do our own intellectual pursuits lead us to a deepening of our faith? Or do they lead us away? Discuss.

• Recall an act of heroic charity that you have experienced personally or which you read or watched which moved you deeply. Why did that experience impact you so profoundly? Discuss.

• Why do you think people who were once Christian (like Emperor Julian) fall away from the faith? Is there anything the Christian community can do better?

• There are attempts today, similar to what Emperor Julian attempted, to construct a worldview where we keep Christian morals but do away with the particularities of Christian doctrine. Is this attempt possible or is it doomed to fail? Discuss.

© Presented by the Catholic Theology Network (writers / contributors / sound): Nick Chui (MTS, JPII Institute for Marriage and Family, AU), Dominic Chan (M.A., Theology, Augustine Institute), Keenan Tan (M.A., Theology, Augustine Institute), Debra Dass (Diploma in Theology, CTIS), Marcia Vanderstraaten (Diploma in Theology, CTIS); publicity & design: Chandra Nugraha (Certificate in Catholic Theology, Augustine Institute), Koh Azariah Augustine. 

Footnotes

1. Unless otherwise stated, all Scripture references are taken from the RSV 2^nd CE.

2. Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine 1.28

3. Quoted in Rodney Stark, Discovering God: The Origins of the Great Religions and the Evolution of Belief (New York: Harper Collins, 2007) p.114

4. Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Natura Deorum 1.61

5. Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Divinatione 2.51

6. Justin Martyr, The First Apology 4

7. Justin Martyr, The First Apology 5

8. The Martyrdom of Justin 4

9. Justin Martyr, The First Apology 12

10. Stark, Discovering God, at p.128

11. John 13:14-17

12. Stark, Discovering God, at p.319.

13. Carl Sommer, We Look for a Kingdom: The Everyday Lives of Early Christians (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007), p.262.

14. Romans 12:20-21.

15. Stark, Discovering God, at p.319.

16. Robert Louis Wilken, The First thousand years: A Global History of Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2013), at p.120. 

17. Stark, Discovering God, at p.320.

18. Stark, Discovering God, at p.319.

19. Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan, Communion in Mission

20. Risse, Guenter B., Mending Bodies, Saving Souls: A History of Hospitals (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 56.