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A review by kevin_shepherd
The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a Story of Martyrdom by Candida Moss
5.0
It’s probably important to note that the author, Candida Moss, is a graduate of both Oxford and Yale universities. She taught Christian History and the New Testament at Norte Dame and is currently a professor of theology at the University of Birmingham. She is herself a Christian and refers to Christians with pronouns like ‘we’ and ‘us.’
we /wē/ pronoun: we • used by a speaker to refer to himself or herself and one or more other people considered together.
“What if Christians weren’t continually persecuted by the Romans? ...would we be more compassionate? Would we be less self-righteous? How would we think of ourselves if that history were not true? ...without this posture and the polarized view of the world upon which it relies, we might - without compromising our religious or political convictions - be able to reach common ground and engage in productive government, and we might focus on real examples of actual suffering and actual oppression.”
Moss methodically and meticulously dismantles the myth of christian persecution by scrutinizing and analyzing church histories. Some are obvious plagiarisms of pre-Christian texts. Others are borrowed from Jewish and Pagan traditions. Most were written decades or even centuries after the fact, and those that purport to be firsthand accounts are often forgeries or complete fabrications.
It is undeniably true that, over the centuries, there were indeed Christians that were put to death, some in horribly hideous and painful ways, but never in the numbers purported by the church. And there was never any sustained, state sponsored persecution that specifically targeted Christians. None. Nada. Nope.
There is but one brief period of time that even comes close to the popularly held perceptions about Christian persecution. In the year 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian issued the first of a series of edicts making Christian gatherings, Christian places of worship, and Christian scriptures illegal. This period, known as “The Great Persecution” lasted until Diocletian retired in 305, a period of less than three years.
Making a clear distinction between ‘persecution’ and ‘prosecution,’ Moss puts Roman governance in perspective without minimizing or condoning Roman brutality:
“From an ancient perspective, the presence of a religiously noncompliant group in any community was a threat to that community.” Still further, “If the Roman emperors had a problem with Christians and Christianity, it was because they threatened the stability of the empire and appeared to make divisive political claims. Roman emperors did not take issue with nonthreatening things like baptism or hymns; they had problems with those aspects of Christianity that sounded like treason or revolution.”
The evidence Moss presents is overwhelming. The fashionable presumption of a sustained and relentless persecution of Christians, still taught in American Sunday schools and perpetuated at republican party rallies, is a fiction. It is nothing more than rhetorical propaganda, a tool used for political gain and to advance agendas. In worst cases, it becomes a call to arms for unnecessary violence and tragic bloodshed.
“No longer are reasoned argument, good judgement, or logic able to win the day... Framed by the myth that we are persecuted, dialogue is not only impossible, it is undesirable... Heaven help us if this worldview, which pervades political commentary and activism as well as religion, wins the day.” ~Candida Moss, 2013
*************************************
Notes:
“...most of the pagan opposition to Christians during the church’s first two centuries happened on the grassroots level rather than as a result of organized, official Roman persecution. Contrary to what many people appear to think, there was nothing “illegal” about Christianity, per se, in those early years. Christianity itself was not outlawed, and Christians for the most part did not need to go into hiding. The idea that they had to stay in the Roman catacombs in order to avoid persecution, greeted one another through secret signs such as the symbol of the fish, is nothing but the stuff of legend. It was not illegal to follow Jesus, it was not illegal to worship the Jewish God, it was not illegal to call Jesus God, it was not illegal (in most places) to hold separate meetings of fellowship and worship, it was not illegal to convince others of one’s faith in Christ as the Son of God.” ~Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus, 2005 (pg 196)
we /wē/ pronoun: we • used by a speaker to refer to himself or herself and one or more other people considered together.
“What if Christians weren’t continually persecuted by the Romans? ...would we be more compassionate? Would we be less self-righteous? How would we think of ourselves if that history were not true? ...without this posture and the polarized view of the world upon which it relies, we might - without compromising our religious or political convictions - be able to reach common ground and engage in productive government, and we might focus on real examples of actual suffering and actual oppression.”
Moss methodically and meticulously dismantles the myth of christian persecution by scrutinizing and analyzing church histories. Some are obvious plagiarisms of pre-Christian texts. Others are borrowed from Jewish and Pagan traditions. Most were written decades or even centuries after the fact, and those that purport to be firsthand accounts are often forgeries or complete fabrications.
It is undeniably true that, over the centuries, there were indeed Christians that were put to death, some in horribly hideous and painful ways, but never in the numbers purported by the church. And there was never any sustained, state sponsored persecution that specifically targeted Christians. None. Nada. Nope.
There is but one brief period of time that even comes close to the popularly held perceptions about Christian persecution. In the year 303, the Roman emperor Diocletian issued the first of a series of edicts making Christian gatherings, Christian places of worship, and Christian scriptures illegal. This period, known as “The Great Persecution” lasted until Diocletian retired in 305, a period of less than three years.
Making a clear distinction between ‘persecution’ and ‘prosecution,’ Moss puts Roman governance in perspective without minimizing or condoning Roman brutality:
“From an ancient perspective, the presence of a religiously noncompliant group in any community was a threat to that community.” Still further, “If the Roman emperors had a problem with Christians and Christianity, it was because they threatened the stability of the empire and appeared to make divisive political claims. Roman emperors did not take issue with nonthreatening things like baptism or hymns; they had problems with those aspects of Christianity that sounded like treason or revolution.”
The evidence Moss presents is overwhelming. The fashionable presumption of a sustained and relentless persecution of Christians, still taught in American Sunday schools and perpetuated at republican party rallies, is a fiction. It is nothing more than rhetorical propaganda, a tool used for political gain and to advance agendas. In worst cases, it becomes a call to arms for unnecessary violence and tragic bloodshed.
“No longer are reasoned argument, good judgement, or logic able to win the day... Framed by the myth that we are persecuted, dialogue is not only impossible, it is undesirable... Heaven help us if this worldview, which pervades political commentary and activism as well as religion, wins the day.” ~Candida Moss, 2013
*************************************
Notes:
“...most of the pagan opposition to Christians during the church’s first two centuries happened on the grassroots level rather than as a result of organized, official Roman persecution. Contrary to what many people appear to think, there was nothing “illegal” about Christianity, per se, in those early years. Christianity itself was not outlawed, and Christians for the most part did not need to go into hiding. The idea that they had to stay in the Roman catacombs in order to avoid persecution, greeted one another through secret signs such as the symbol of the fish, is nothing but the stuff of legend. It was not illegal to follow Jesus, it was not illegal to worship the Jewish God, it was not illegal to call Jesus God, it was not illegal (in most places) to hold separate meetings of fellowship and worship, it was not illegal to convince others of one’s faith in Christ as the Son of God.” ~Bart D. Ehrman, Misquoting Jesus, 2005 (pg 196)