Early Christians and counter cultural morality

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The early Christians lived in a world…a culture where all sorts of evil things were going on…the gladiator games and other “spectacles” as they called them which would be quite sinful…idolatry, immorality etc. So in the baptismal rite there is the rejection of the the Devil and his “pompa”…his “pomps” …which include all these things…so the Christians would not go to these sorts of entertainments…such is still part of our life too in essence …

Now this does not mean one can not engage in any modern entertainments…but I think it does mean there are entertainments and other things that are sinful…etc which others go in for but we as Christians do not…even in the New Testament it says they are surprised that we do not go in for the things we used to…or that they do…

(yes I know there are some mixed things…things that include things that do not lead me to sin…but which if we made them we would not have them there…etc I am not saying one can never engage in any such entertainments…(one would have to judge each accordingly) (nor would I want any to “scruple”) but I think it is important to see our moral life in terms of our baptism and our baptismal promises…and in the light of the early Christian rejection of the “pompa”…and some things must be rejected per se …etc)

I think too that if one thinks about it …there are other things too…which simply are not fitting for Christians…

The early Christians still had to live in their society…but there is here I think a great way for us…who live more and more in a society that in some ways resembles theirs…

Here read this slowly to the end:
vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2006/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20060108_battesimo_en.html

But I think this is a very wonderful way to look at things!

Also I suggest as a way to keep this in mind and heart…every day renewing your baptismal promises…even in a very simple way such as “Lord Jesus Christ I renew my Baptismal promises and will follow you as your disciple” (which would include of course the rejection of the Devil, and his pomps, and sin…)
 
Another way to think of things…which is related …is in terms of:

“Living according to ones* seal *of baptism”

I recall one early martyr who would not accept the lead “seal” of being a soldier…stating that he already had the seal of Christ!

(such involved idolatry etc…not that other Christians were not soldiers during the first centuries…but some found “ways around” certain aspects or had understanding commanders…but some did not find such compatible with Christian life…)

Here are a couple early Christian references to the seal.

Tertullian mentions it in the second century when arguing that Christians are to be faithful to their baptism and not go to the Roman “Spectacles”…noting that this is for reason of the “seal” (he even refers to baptism itself as the seal…so one can refer to baptism per se as a seal…or one can refer to the seal …in the sense of the indelible seal we are given in baptism…)…and note he also notes that rejection of the devil and his pomps…

“I shall turn to that highest authority of our “seal” itself. When entering the water, we make profession of the Christian faith in the words of its rule; we bear public testimony that we have renounced the devil, his pomp, and his angels.” (De Spectaculis 4…newadvent.org)

And St. Irenaeus, in Dem ap. 3: SCh 62, 32. …refers to the baptism as the “seal”…

The idea of the seal can be seen from its use in society …and the Church Fathers made use of these references…

The seal of ownership. Marking ones possessions…such as the the sheep being marked as belonging to the shepherd…the soldier having the seal of the emperor or the general…the slave having the mark of the master…

We as Christians are sealed with the seal of Christ! We are his sleep. We are to live according to our seal…

Faithful to our Good Shepherd! To whom we belong…

Like the early Christians…living a morality that is “counter cultural” .

I can not bear the seal of the world…for I carry the seal of Christ my God…like the early martyr put it…

The Catechism notes:

An indelible spiritual mark . . .

1272 Incorporated into Christ by Baptism, the person baptized is configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his belonging to Christ. No sin can erase this mark, even if sin prevents Baptism from bearing the fruits of salvation.82 Given once for all, Baptism cannot be repeated.

1273 Incorporated into the Church by Baptism, the faithful have received the sacramental character that consecrates them for Christian religious worship.83 The baptismal seal enables and commits Christians to serve God by a vital participation in the holy liturgy of the Church and to exercise their baptismal priesthood by the witness of holy lives and practical charity.84

1274 The Holy Spirit has marked us with the seal of the Lord (“Dominicus character”) "for the day of redemption."85 "Baptism indeed is the seal of eternal life."86 The faithful Christian who has “kept the seal” until the end, remaining faithful to the demands of his Baptism, will be able to depart this life "marked with the sign of faith,"87 with his baptismal faith, in expectation of the blessed vision of God - the consummation of faith - and in the hope of resurrection.

Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church -issue by Pope Benedict XVI
  1. What are the effects of Baptism?
1262-1274
1279-1280

Baptism takes away original sin, all personal sins and all punishment due to sin. It makes the baptized person a participant in the divine life of the Trinity through sanctifying grace, the grace of justification which incorporates one into Christ and into his Church. It gives one a share in the priesthood of Christ and provides the basis for communion with all Christians. It bestows the theological virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit. A baptized person belongs forever to Christ. He is marked with the indelible seal of Christ (character).
*Let us live according to the *seal
 
Bookcat said:
The early Christians lived in a world…a culture where all sorts of evil things were going on…the gladiator games and other “spectacles” as they called them which would be quite sinful…idolatry, immorality etc. So in the baptismal rite there is the rejection of the the Devil and his “pompa”…his “pomps” …which include all these things…so the Christians would not go to these sorts of entertainments…such is still part of our life too in essence …
Click to expand...
The games were finally ended as a result of a riot started by a monk. The monk was trying to stop the games, and jumped into the arena. The crowd went wild, and literally tore the monk limb from limb. The riot spread to the city and order was restored with difficulty. The emporer suspended the games. The colliseum was left standing as a monument to the hundreds of thousands of people who died within those walls during its several hundred year period of active use.

We are not at the Roman level of violence yet, but the drift is in that direction.

At this moment, the seduction is rather more sexual than actually violent. However, as people come to understand their impotence in running their lives, the violence will increase, because it will provide an outlet for the anger that results from slavery, or a condition of de facto slavery.
 
Warrenton said:
At this moment, the seduction is rather more sexual than actually violent. However, as people come to understand their impotence in running their lives, the violence will increase, because it will provide an outlet for the anger that results from slavery, or a condition of de facto slavery.
Click to expand...
the “spectacles” were not just the violent and bloody games…

The also meant the sexually immoral things…etc
 
Bookcat said:
the “spectacles” were not just the violent and bloody games…
The also meant the sexually immoral things…etc
Click to expand...
True, but violence was the hallmark of Roman popular entertainment.

Presumably, one needed at least an invitation to an orgy. I am thinking of “Dinner with Trimalchio,” by Petronius, which describes an orgy, which was rather more drunken, sordid and tentative than exciting - all the participants were well known to each other.

There were of nude mime acts and plays, but classical theaters though large, are smaller than the arenas. There were spectacles in which literally thousands of men were killed at a time. One of them - infamous even by the standards of the day, entailed a re-enactment of the naval battle of Actium. An entire replica army was slaughtered for that.
 
“Spectacles” meant what went on in the arenas and in other forms of entertainment…
 
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