“The
link between religious performance and loyalty to the state was firm. Christians, by identifying themselves with
another community–the people of the New Covenant-and by their refusal to honor
either the gods who had blessed the Roman state and the agent they had
designated to preside over it, demonstrated that they were its mortal enemies.
[On Trajan-Pliny establishment of prima facie requirement for execution of
Christians.]”
Kee,
Howard.
Christianity A
Social and Cultural History.
New
York: McMillan. 1991. p. 76.
The Case Against Christians
“Tacitus
noted they [Christians] were 'loathed for their vices' . . . Romans charges Christians with several
crimes. . . From the Roman perspective, the Christians were 'atheists' because
they did not believe in the gods authorized by the state. Such daily irritation erupted into mob
violence whenever some catastrophe occurred.[citing Tertullian]”
Spickard,
Paul. The
Global History of Christians.
Michigan:
Baker Academic. 1994. p. 43-44
The Way of Things
What threat did the Philippians perceive in Paul and Silas’ ministry?
If the Roman cosmology is true, who controls the gods?
What does the Gospel of the Cross reveal of this
apparent control?
How do we exercise religion? Control?
Orthodoxy? Contingency? Who is in apparent control?
No Respecter of Persons
Why is Salvation of the Jews first then the Greeks?
How are the Jews like the vineyard workers who were
hired in the morning?
What did Jewish-Christians observe in Gentile-Christians that aroused their
jealousy?
Is the Spirit of the Lord at work in us a respecter of
persons?
What’s on Your Altar?
What was on Cane’s?
What was on Abel’s?
How deeply is the theme of the Trophy and the Sacrifice
woven through the Old Testament?
Was Christ's offering like Cain's or Abel's?
Was Christ's offering like Cain's or Abel's?
How does the Revelation of Jesus clarify this disparity?
It Crouches at the Door
What common motive fuels the jealousy of Cain, Ishmael,
Joseph's brothers, Pharaoh, the Hebrew slaves, Saul, The Babylonian Satraps,
and the Scribes and the Pharisees?
What do those who suffered such persecution have in
common?
Why does
a surrendered life ignite such animosity?
What made Jewish-Christians disavow their Greek
brothers?
What was so difficult for the Jew to surrender and
preventing them from receiving the Gospel?
Upon what
is the Church built?
