|
Christianity
began as a small Messianic movement in Galilee during the middle 20's
of the first century (AD). Around Jesus there gathered a group of sociologically
low-status men. Thus for example, the Gospel records that the first disciples
called by Jesus (i.e. the Apostles Peter, Andrew, James and John) were
all fishermen before becoming "fishers of men" (Matt 4:18-22;
Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:1-11). None of the Twelve appears to have held an
influential of prestigious position in Greco-Roman Judean or Galilean
society; none was significantly wealthy; none had any special education.
Indeed among the Twelve, we even find a tax collector (the Apostle Matthew)
and a political revolutionary (Simon the Zealot). It should be noted that
tax collecting was one of the most despised professions among the Jews
of first-century Roman controlled Palestine. Clearly in the original context
the followers of the Founder of Christianity, were for the most part either
social outcasts, rebels or men of low social standing. These are not the
ingredients out of which popular success is guaranteed nor even permitted
to emerge.
Yet, here is the grand paradox of history. From such humble social
beginnings, within a period of about 350 years, Christianity would not
only manage to supplant the traditional Greco-Roman pagan pantheon, by
becoming the most popular religion of the Roman-Byzantine Empire, but
at the same time completely conquer the empire in terms of its influence
over it. The empire had now become a subject to the Christian Commonwealth.
When only sometime before bishops were being persecuted by the Roman state,
and even martyred for their allegiance to Christ, now, especially after
324 AD, bishops would be advising the emperor on imperial policy. Indeed
the establishment and inauguration of a new imperial capital city, New
Rome (Constantinople) by Constantine 1 in 330 AD, was in part a symbolic
gesture to build the empire on a new Christian and non-pagan religious
basis.
In addition to its phenomenal popularity among the citizens of
the Roman Empire, Christianity now became the religion of emperors, princes,
and princesses. Thus it was not surprising to find emperors sitting in
on episcopal theological discussions (e.g. Constantine 1 at the Council
of Nicea, 325 AD). From a persecuted Church to an all-conquering religious
movement, such was the power of Christianity. It had come a long way from
its birth when only a handful of uninfluential Galilean fishermen were
invited to inaugurate a new era of history. How then can we explain this
amazing growth and spread of Christianity in such a short time? How did
Christianity, a new religion, at first labelled as a "superstition"
by the Roman intelligentsia, manage to supplant the long established and
firmly entrenched Greco-Roman pagan religions? To what can we attribute
its popularity? What was it that caused a religious movement, which began
with fishermen to soon become a faith defended by purple-robed emperors?
Clearly, the answer is that such was God's will. Yet, we can ask
a further question - what "synergetic" instruments did Christ
use in this process of the conversion of the Roman Empire? These questions
have aroused much academic interest in modern times. Indeed many learned
books have been written and are still being written on the subject (e.g.
by A. Von Harnack, R. MacMullen, E.A. Judge, etc).
Obviously many reasons contributed towards the rapid conversion
of Europe:
1.
It cannot be denied that the missionary
zeal and impact of the Apostle Paul, outside Palestine, established
a pattern, already by the second half of the first century (AD) for
the conversion of the Gentiles.
2.
The deliberate choice to compose the earliest
Christian Gospels and letters in (Koine) Greek, the universal language
of the pagan Roman Empire, was a tactical master-stroke which also
facilitated the early spread of Christianity.
3.
Undoubtedly the public witness of fierce
courage and endurance shown by the early Christian martyrs, young
and old, male and female, deeply affected the Romans, and at times even
raised some sentiment of sympathy. In placing such a high value on courage
as a virtue, the Roman spectators must have been more than impressed.
Such examples of fortitude as St. Ignatius the Bishop of Antioch (early
2nd century) eager to encounter the wild beats prepared for him in Rome,
or the elderly St Polycarp peacefully facing a roaring pyre, or young
Christians unperturbedly meeting hungry and roaring lions, for the sake
of Christ, must have left an indelible mark upon the Roman psyche and
heart.
4.
Furthermore it is clear that the reasoned
and philosophical arguments of learned Christian apologists such as St
Justin Martyr (mid 2nd century), St Clement of Alexandria (latter 2nd
century) or Athenagoras (latter 2nd century), would have had some impact
in making Christianity appealing to sections of the Greco-Roman intelligentsia.
5.
In addition, the conversion to Christianity
of the emperor Constantine 1, would unquestionably, in itself, have been
an important catalyst in the growth and acceptability of Christianity.
Nevertheless, the above factors do not fully explain the phenomenon
of the conversion of the Roman Empire. Christians did not possess a monopoly
over courage or martyrdom, no matter how impressive it was. Nor were the
Christian apologists' intellectual argumentation so widely read in the
empire as to stimulate mass conversions. Though they were effective, they
were so, largely, among the intellectual classes. Furthermore, Christianity
was only one among many religious or philosophical movements in late antiquity,
to write its sacred texts in (Koine) Greek. As such while there is no
question that the vehicle of Greek acted as an effective catalyst in the
growing acceptability of Christianity, it cannot be isolated as the most
significant factor. Finally, the conversion of an emperor to Christianity,
while an influential factor, cannot in itself satisfactorily explain the
mass conversion of the empire. Indeed during the period of the pagan revivalist
imperial principate (Julian 1, 361-363 AD), even the prestige of the imperial
throne could not redirect the empire back to paganism.
While there is no question that all these
above factors and events were instrumental towards the Christianisation
of the Roman Empire, particularly the example of the holy martyrs, as
we have seen, nevertheless they are not necessarily unique to Christianity.
In seeking to find the one reason, which above all convinced the Greco-Roman
world of the superiority of Christianity above paganism, we need to seek
for a unique feature of Christianity not found in the religions of the
pagan world. One such aspect of Christianity, which was unique, was offered
and displayed by early Christians, par excellence. This specific attribute
rendered Christianity magnetically appealing and perhaps even irresistible
to the late antique Roman world. The exclusive early Christian characteristic,
not found to the same degree in Greco-Roman religion or philosophical
systems, was the preaching and practice of the Gospel of love and charity.
In a very real sense, we may attribute the conversion of Europe to Christianity,
to a most significant degree, though not exclusively, as a function of
the practice and power of Christ's Gospel of love and philanthropy.
II. The Gospel of
love
It
is generally agreed by scholars and saints that the teaching of "love"
and charity represent one of the essential dimensions of the Gospel of
Jesus and the Gospel of Paul. Accordingly, from the extant words and parables
of Jesus many concern themselves with the message of love. For example
on the Sunday of Meat Fare, from the Gospel of Matthew, we hear Jesus
identifying Himself and in solidarity with the destitute, the suffering,
the rejected and the oppressed, calling for and rewarding altruistic philanthropy:
"...I
was hungry and you fed me, when I was thirsty you gave me drink, when
I was a stranger you took me in, when naked you clothed me, when I was
ill you came to my help, when in prison you visited me... I tell you this
anything you did for one of my brothers here, however humble, you did
it for me." (Matt 25:35-36, 40).
Such words and similar others had a profound impact upon the life
and thought of the early Church. Indeed as the Gospel reading on the Second
Sunday of Luke affirms, this exhortation to love receives its most unqualified
and sublime expression in the demand to:
"...love
your enemies, ...lend without expecting and return, ...Be compassionate
as your Father is compassionate. Pass no judgement... Do not condemn...
Forgive ...!" (Luke 6:35-37).
These high and noble demands expected from anyone who considered
himself a Christian, that is, the exhortation for mercy, philanthropy
and love, flowed naturally from Jesus' revelation that His Heavenly Father
Himself was merciful and compassionate (Luke 6:35-36). Or, as the first
Johannine epistle would later explain this pre-eminent theological truth
- "God Is Love." (1 John 4:16).
Indeed St. Paul's poetic praise of love
served further to re-enforce the already influential position of love
in early Christian thinking. For the Apostle Paul, love represented the
excellent gift of all - more exalted than the gift of prophecy or the
possession of knowledge; higher than the gift of healing and thaumaturgy;
nobler than the desire for martyrdom; more profitable than the capacity
for angelic language:
"I
may speak in tongues of men or angels, but if I am without love I am a
sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. I may have the gift of prophecy and
know every truth, I may have faith strong enough to move mountains, but
if I have no love I am nothing. I may dole out all I possess, or even
give my body to be burnt, but if I have no love I am none the better"
(1 Cor 13:1-4).
The reason for the efficacy and superiority of love, as St. Paul
explains, is that unlike other gifts, love is whole and everlasting:
"Love
will never come to an end. Are there prophets? Their work will be over
Are there tongues of ecstasy? They will cease. Is there knowledge? It
will vanish away. For... (they) are partial, and the partial vanishes
when wholeness comes" (1 Cor 13. 8-10).
Yet, even among those gifts that eternally abide, faith and hope,
for St Paul love is the supreme gift:
"...there
are three things that fast forever faith, hope and love, but the greatest
of them all is love" (11 Cor 13).
The Apostle Paul concludes his eulogy and oratory on love by the
simple yet most difficult imperative:
"Put love first!" (1 Cor
14:1).
III. The Gospel of
Love and the Christianisation of Europe
In
variant degrees, it appears from our extant historical evidence, that
the early Church genuinely attempted to apply this Gospel of love in its
life and witness. How then was it expressed in praxis during the first
four centuries of the Church's existence?
Christians undertook a great deal of almsgiving to the poor not
only to fellow believers but to pagans as well. So amazed was the anti-Christian
pagan emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363 AD), with the sheer benevolence
and excellence of Christian philanthropy that he was forced to admit in
wonder their superiority over paganism in matters of charity:
"These
godless Galileans (ie. Christians) feed not only their own poor but ours:
our poor lack our care" (Ep. Sozom. 5:16).
Widows and orphans in particular became the recipients of special
financial support and respect. This created a most favourable impression
upon the pagan world. The sick, the infirm and the disabled also became
an integral part, wherever possible, of the Church's obedience to Christ's
commandment to love (Matt 25:35-36). Indeed in times of contagious epidemics
raging through the cities of the Mediterranean world, ancient documentary
evidence suggests that Christians were more likely to stay on to care
and visit the stricken rather than attempt to flee as the pagans were
often inclined to d0. Indeed it is recorded that at the time of the great
plague which struck the empire during the reign of Maximinus (235-38 AD),
Christians practiced the Gospel of love perfectly by taking care
of pagans as well as Christians:
"...the
evidence of the Christians' zeal and piety was made clear to all the pagans.
For example, they alone in such a catastrophic state of affairs gave practical
evidence of their sympathy and philanthropy by works. All day long some
of them would dil igently persevere in performing the last offices for
the dying and burying them (for there were countless numbers, and no one
to look after them). While others (ie. Christians) gathered together in
a single assemblage all who were afflicted by famine throughout the whole
city, and would distribute bread to them all.
When this became known, people glorified the God of the Christians,
and, convinced by the deeds themselves, confessed the Christians
alone were truly pious and God-fearing" (Eusebius, Ecc. Hist.
9.8.13-14).
When burial could not be afforded by a poor Christian this was
undertaken by means of the common fund or private charity (Aristides Apologia,
15). Indeed one of the early functions of the diaconate was to secure
that the dead was properly buried. In addition, wherever possible the
Church sought to also give decent burial to pagans as well, whose families
could not afford it:
"We
cannot bear that the image and workmanship of God should be exposed as
a prey to wild animals and birds, but we restore it to the earth from
which it was taken, and do this... even to the body of a person who we
do not know, since in their room humanity must step in" (Lactantius,
Instit. 6.12).
This Christian attention to the needs of poor families unable to
bury their dead must have seemed very formidable in the eyes of the surrounding
pagan world. Indeed the pagan and anti-Christian emperor Julian writes:
"This
godlessness (ie. the church) is mainly furthered by its philanthropy towards
strangers and its careful attention to the bestowal of the dead"
(Soz. 5.15)
It is also true to say that the early Church's treatment of slaves
was undoubtedly one of, if not the most humanitarian within Hellenistic
and Greco-Roman society. A slave in pagan society had no rights, no sense
of human dignity. A slave was simply an implement of labour, his life
at the mercy of his master. Aristotle the philosopher expressed this ancient
attitude in the following blunt way:
"There can be no friendship nor justice towards
inanimate things; indeed not even towards a horse or an ox, nor yet
towards a slave as a slaver For master and stave have nothing in common;
a slave is a living tool just as a tool is an inanimate slave".
Some two centuries later, Varro the Roman literary expert on agriculture
nonchalantly re-formulated the Aristotelian attitude towards slaves, categorising
them as one of the three groups of agricultural tools.
Within this harsh climate of opinion, Christians driven and motivated
by the Gospel of love, treated converted slaves as full members of the
Christian community. Male slaves could become deacons, presbyters and
even bishops... Christian masters were also exhorted to treat their pagan
slaves humanely. Such attitudes to the institution of slavery were a clearly
remarkable and most impressive witness of the Christian message of "philanthropia"
to the Roman pagan world.
Beside hospitality shown to strangers, a further demonstration
of Christian love was the visitation and consolation of fellow Christians
who might find themselves in prison, arising out of persecution. Thus
it is said by the fourth-century church historian, Eusebius, that the
young Origen, that:
"...he
was present not only with the holy martyrs who were in prison, and until
their final condemnation, but also when they were being led away to their
death he boldly accompanied them into danger" (Ecc. Hist. 6.3. 3-4).
Whether imprisoned for their faith or even on civil counts, whether
of high repute or simply an unknown, Christian prisoners in their lonely
predicament found themselves consoled by the gifts of food and company
provided by members of the local Church: particularly deacons, since it
was their duty to perform this charitable mission. So impressive was this
gesture of charity, to the eyes of pagan Romans, that, according to Eusebius,
the anti-Christian emperor Licinius issued a special edict prohibiting
such visitations:
"...no one was to show kindness to
sufferers in prison by supplying them with food, and that no one was to
show mercy to those who were starving in prison..."
IV. Triumph of the
Gospel of Love
As
we have seen, scholars have set forth several factors as explication for
the sensationally rapid conversion of Europe to Christianity - the use
of the Greek language, the Apostle Paul's Gentile mission, the
intellectual labours of apologists such as St Justin Martyr, the most
courageous example of the holy martyrs, or he conversion of the Emperor
Constantine 1. Yet as we have argued previously, these elements were not
necessarily unique to Christianity and hence while being instrumental
catalysts in the process of the rapid Christianisation of the Roman Empire,
cannot totally explain the singular attraction of the pagan psyche towards
Christianity.
What we have sought to isolate is a unique feature within the Christian
kerygma and praxis, a distinctive characteristic unshared by any other
religion, cult or philosophical school in the Greco-Roman world, which
might best account for the unique attraction of Christianity to pagan
eyes. We conclude with the suggestion that it is precisely in the early
Christian affirmation and application of Christ's (and St. Paul's) Gospel
of love, that such a distinctively unique Christian characteristic may
be located. While God is of course the ultimate author of the Christianisation
process, it appears that He chose to use the vehicle of love in synergy
with the Christian Church, more fully, though not exclusively, than any
other means.
In an age where no constitutional guarantees of human rights existed;
where by and large the lot of widows, orphans, prisoners, the sick or
slaves looked pessimistic; where the opportunity for a poor family to
bury their dead with dignity seemed bleak; where hospitality for strangers
in large metropolitan centres was rare; or where no elaborate system of
social welfare was operative, so impressive did the early Church's philanthropic
system and sense of benevolence seem to the Romans, that it must have
given the simultaneous impression of a revolutionary newness (in a world
which only esteemed ancient tradition) yet like a necessary breath of
fresh air. Accordingly, we find that the most consistent praise, amazement
and admiration for Christianity emanating from pagan circles, was precisely
over the Christian application of their Gospel of love. This appears to
have been the early Church's most appealing and distinctive feature. Indeed
the pagan emperor Julian the Apostate attempted to even institute an exact
replication of it within a pagan framework. Surely, imitation is the most
sincere form of admiration.
It is evidently the magnificent obedience which the early Christians demonstrated
to the Gospel of love, more than anything else, that finally convinced
the pagan Roman world of Christianity's superiority over their own paganism.
As Tertullian explains, the pagans were quick to recognize this unique
Christian feature, a feature which pre-eminently and in combination with
the other factors referred to above, eventually brought about the downfall
of paganism and the triumph of Christianity:
"...how
they love one another! ... Look how they are prepared to die for one another"
(Apol. 39).
from Voice of Orthodoxy, October and November
1988, vol 9/10-11
the official publication of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia
|
