Early Christians endured wave after wave of persecution in the first centuries after Jesus. All kinds of insults and accusations were thrown at them.
A document called Octavius by Minicius Felix, written in the late second century AD, deals with a debate between a Christian and a pagan in the port of Ostia in Rome. This document provides valuable insight into how Christians are hated and how they respond.
Minicius Felix was walking in Ostia with his two friends, Octavius who was a Christian and Caelius who was a pagan. When Caelius stops to pay homage to a pagan idol, Octavius protests. A long discussion takes place. Here is an adaptation of their discussion based on that document as well as other early church sources to give you a taste of the era.
We suggest that you carefully examine the accusations below and see how Christians today are similarly accused and how the details of the objections may have changed today.
فرست محتوا
Accusation: Cannibalism in early Christians
Caelius (pagan): You Christians are the worst race on earth. Whatever punishment is given to you, it is your right! Nobody loves you. It would have been better if you and your Jesus had never been born. We heard that you are also cannibals – you eat the flesh of your children in your religious meetings.
Octavius (Christian): This story is probably based on reports that we share a meal together commemorating the body and blood of Christ. It is true that we do this. But what we eat is not human flesh. We consecrate bread and wine to commemorate the death of our Lord.
Accusation: Gross immorality of early Christians
Caelius (polytheist): OK, accepted. Maybe it’s just a rumour, but we also heard that you meet secretly even before sunrise, and the horrible immorality they say goes on in those places is disgusting – especially the incest.
Octavius (Christian): If you come to one of our meetings, you will see that the love and intimacy that you imagine very soon is of a completely different nature. We see each other before sunrise because we are working people. We have things to do. We don’t always see each other secretly, but we don’t have a temple or a synagogue, so we use someone’s house that has enough space. We call each other brothers and sisters and we promise to love each other because this is what our Lord has ordered us to do. And we greet each other with a holy kiss and we bless each other, not out of lust but out of true love and affection for each other. Come and see for yourself that we demand the highest ethical standards from all who join us.
Accusation: poor and low class early Christians
Caelius (polytheist): Look at your congregations. What does it consist of? Most of the women are naive children, most of them are from the working class, they are not educated, most of them are poor and even slaves. I laugh when I think about how poor you are, you have so little that you have to live by force. If this God of yours is so great and kind, why are so many of you so poor? Either he is not so kind and doesn’t care that you are poor, or he is not so great that he doesn’t care. What a god! No wonder everyone thinks you’re stupid.
Octavius (Christian): If you had bothered and taken the time to understand, you would have known that there are many of the upper class among us, even some of Caesar’s staff. And famous scientists, who used to be polytheists, wrote materials to defend our faith so that more educated people would think about it. But let’s not argue. Many of us – most of us – are poor. But more important than that is how we see ourselves. We consider ourselves rich. We have that which is the most valuable and precious gift, something that cannot be lost. And FYI, some of us are rich. We do not despise wealth, we welcome it when it is legally acquired. But we are not greedy for it. And when we get more wealth, we just give more. Wealth can be a heavy burden. It drags you down with many worries and concerns. Traveling light has its own advantages – huge advantages!
Accusation: The selfishness of the early Christians
Caelius (pagan): Oh, you’re not very pure and good, are you? There is another thing that bothers me: you all think you are so righteous and better than the rest of us.
Octavius (Christian): First you accuse us of cannibalism and revelry, now you find it insulting because we want to live a holy life. Let me put your mind at ease, we do not consider ourselves holy. Every day we have worship, communion, and this is thanksgiving – thanksgiving because we are forgiven, not because we are holy, and if we are forgiven, then we should try to live like Christ.
Accusation: Atheism of early Christians
Caelius (pagan): What worries me is what you really are. This is the reason why you are hated in all the lands of this vast empire. Let’s get to the main problem. You are godless.
Octavius (Christian): Yes, we are atheists – if you mean that we do not pray to and believe in all the gods we are expected to worship. But these are not God. We worship the only true God, the Lord of all things.
Today in the article : What Are the Four Horsemen in the Apocalypse During the End Times? We reviewed useful information about the Bible and the way of Jesus. If you wish, you can view other articles of Ali Vahidi about Christianity
