Comment by M. Burgin

Entered on: 5/14/2007 1:07:13 AM

In his book A History of Christianity, Professor K. S. Latourette writes: "One of the issues on which the early Christians were at variance with the Græco-Roman world was participation in war. For the first three centuries no Christian writing which has survived to our time condoned Christian participation in war." Edward Gibbon's work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire states: "It was impossible that the Christians, without renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume the character of soldiers, of magistrates, or of princes." Christians today similarly adopt a position of strict neutrality and follow the Bible principles outlined at Isaiah 2:2-4 and Matthew 26:52.

Citing the defense of the early Christians by second-century apologist Justin Martyr, Robert M. Grant wrote in his book Early Christianity and Society: "If Christians were revolutionists they would remain in hiding in order to reach their goal. . . . They are the emperor's best allies in the cause of peace and good order." Likewise, Christians today are known throughout the world to be peace-loving and orderly citizens. Governments, of whatever kind, know that they have nothing to fear from Christians.

A North American editorialist wrote: "It takes a bigoted and paranoid imagination to believe that Christians pose any kind of threat to any political regime; they are as non-subversive and peace-loving as a religious body can be." In his book L'objection de conscience (Conscientious Objection), Jean-Pierre Cattelain writes: "Christians are perfectly submissive to the authorities and generally obey laws; they pay their taxes and do not seek to question, change, or destroy governments, for they do not concern themselves with the affairs of this world." Cattelain goes on to add that only if the State claims their lives, which they have fully dedicated to God, do Christians refuse to obey. In this they closely resemble the early Christians.—Mark 12:17; Acts 5:29.

Christians misunderstood by the Ruling Classes

Most of the Roman emperors misunderstood the early Christians and persecuted them. Showing why, The Epistle to Diognetus, thought by some to date from the second century C.E., declares: "Christians dwell in the world, but are not part and parcel of the world." On the other hand, the Second Vatican Council, in its Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, stated that Catholics should "seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs" and "work for the sanctification of the world from within."

Historian E. G. Hardy states that the Roman emperors considered the early Christians to be "somewhat contemptible enthusiasts." French historian Étienne Trocmé speaks of "the contempt in which cultured Greeks and Roman officials held what they saw as a very strange Oriental sect [the Christians]." Correspondence between Pliny the Younger, Roman governor of Bithynia, and Emperor Trajan shows that the ruling classes were generally ignorant of the true nature of Christianity. Similarly today, Christians are often misunderstood and even despised by the ruling classes of the world. However, this neither surprises nor dismays the Christians.—Acts 4:13; 1 Peter 4:12, 13.

"Everywhere It Is Spoken Against"

Of the early Christians it was said: "As regards this sect it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against." (Acts 28:22) In the second century C.E., the pagan Celsus claimed that Christianity appealed only to the dregs of human society. Similarly it has been said of Christians that "for the most part, they are drawn from the deprived in our society." Church historian Augustus Neander reported that "the Christians were represented as men dead to the world, and useless for all affairs of life; . . . and it was asked, what would become of the business of life, if all were like them?" Because Christians refrain from participating in politics, they too are often accused of being deadwood in human society. But how could they be political activists and at the same time be advocates of God's Kingdom as mankind's only hope? Christians take to heart the apostle Paul's words: "Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier on service gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to satisfy the one who enlisted him."—2 Timothy 2:3, 4, Revised Standard Version, an Ecumenical Edition.

In his book A History of Christianity, Professor K. S. Latourette writes: "One of the issues on which the early Christians were at variance with the Græco-Roman world was participation in war. For the first three centuries no Christian writing which has survived to our time condoned Christian participation in war." Edward Gibbon's work The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire states: "It was impossible that the Christians, without renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume the character of soldiers, of magistrates, or of princes." Christians today similarly adopt a position of strict neutrality and follow the Bible principles outlined at Isaiah 2:2-4 and Matthew 26:52.