In exploring church history as a “heritage report” of our ancestors in the Christian faith, we saw what happened to the 12 Apostles and some of the key leaders who were influenced by the apostles and helped lead the next generation of the church (the Apostolic Fathers). A potential danger in studying history, however, is focusing only on leaders — a “celebrity” approach to history, if you will. To help avoid that pitfall, I wanted next to turn attention from some of the leaders to some of the key characteristics of the early church. The examples and life of so-called “ordinary” Christians is, in many ways, what led to the great expansion of the church in the first few centuries after Christ.
Growth of the Faith in the Midst of Opposition
Something to remember before we look at some characteristics of early Christians is that Christianity was an illegal and persecuted faith. Jewish people viewed Christians as blasphemers who overturned the Jewish faith that many of the early Christianians grew up in. Philosophers ridiculed key beliefs. Romans saw them as threats to the political system and stability of the empire. It was not just leaders like Ignatius and Polycarp that were put to death, but also everyday believers. Those who did not die for their faith still faced consequences, some even losing their social status or connections. Yet, this faith that began in 40 AD with around 3,000 people has grown to an estimated 6 million 300 years later. Therefore, we can ask the question of why did so many people become Christians in these centuries when they knew they might face consequences?
In exploring that question, I want to make it clear that ultimately, this growth comes from the movement of the Holy Spirit in people’s lives, as God draws people to faith. That is the ultimate explanation, but there are likely secondary explanations that are worth exploring — the means through which the Holy Spirit worked in people’s lives. A number of scholars have recently shown that this growth did not happen through a particular strategy, but due to Christianity showing itself to be different in its content and conduct, with Christians faithfully proclaiming the gospel and living it out (see a bibliography of some of these resources at the end of the post).
Content
The content of the Christian faith — that Jesus Christ came to save us from our sins and that anyone who believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life — is the truth that our hearts are looking for and thus draws people to believe. As the early Christians proclaimed this message (which it seems they did wherever they went), people believed. It is important to note that those who heard this message were hearing something radically different from other religions of the time with Christianity emphasizing a loving God and the hope of resurrection for eternal life. These truths resonated with key human longings, and people believed.
It was not just what one believed, but who was able to believe it, that was also important about this message. A key element of this faith is that it removes social boundaries; it is open to all social classes and types. Therefore, the content of the Christian faith had a special appeal to marginalized people at the time, such as slaves and women; the Christian message gave them dignity and worth as well as agency, as they could choose to believe. While some of the cults and religions of the time required significant money or time to join, the Christian faith was open to all, even the poor. Some critics used the inclusion of lower class people at the time as an argument against Christianity, but this did not mean that it only appealed to these groups; the older view was that the poor, commoner was the most common Christian, but scholars are now arguing that the middle-class was where much of the success was.
The openness of the Christian faith to all also meant that it could transcend national lines (with most religions of the time tied to one’s ethnicity or nationality). The transnational nature of Christianity caused followers not to be isolated from the culture around them, but at the same time, to be different from the world, pointing to the fact that the Christian faith led to different conduct.
Conduct
The model and life of many early Christians proved to draw people to the faith. The church leader Justin Martyr said that the patience and integrity of Christians attracted people to the faith. Another leader named Tertullian noted that the way Christians courageously died for their faith spoke to the masses. Christians did not ridicule opponents or seek vengeance. It was not just what Christians didn’t do, but also what they did do that spoke to others — particularly their acts of charity, caring for the poor, widows, orphans, elderly, and slaves. The church’s teaching on marriage and sexuality were countercultural and in the process, raised the honor and dignity of women, giving them equality by rejecting double standards in marriage and sexual ethics. Another key mark was how Christians cared for unwanted children, as many children (more females than males) were left to die or killed in the womb, but Christians cared for these children. When there were plagues in the cities, the Christians did not flee, but cared for those who were sick, even those who were not fellow Christians. The church was concerned with the poor in their midst, but also cared for others; the Bishop of Rome in the middle of the third century mentions that the church was supporting 1,500 widows and poor people. This led to the Emperor Julian, who was not a fan of Christianity, remarking that the Christian “not only look for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.”
The Church of Yesterday and the Church From Today
Recognizing that Christianity grew even when it was illegal and unpopular due to its distinctive beliefs and countercultural conduct should encourage Christians living in America today, reminding us that there is power when a tight-knit community of love proclaims the unique message of Christianity to others (as noted in this this recent article by Tim Keller on the uniqueness of the early church). In addition, remembering that Christianity spread due to how ordinary Christians proclaimed and faithfully lived out the faith can encourage those of us who don’t have huge platforms and likely will never have our names mentioned in history books. The world and eternity can be changed through ordinary Christians.
Bibliography – Resources on This Topic
Larry Hurtado, Why on Earth Did Anyone Become a Christian in the First Centuries (2016) and Destroyer of the Gods: Early Christian Distinctives in the Roman World (2017)
Gerald Sittser, Resilient Faith (2019)
Rodney Stark, The Rise of Christianity (1996)
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