Were the early Christians (Disciples) violent?

[TheoloJer]

I remember talking with a friend at lunch some time ago, and she suggested, while we were talking about the history of the early Christian church-- that the early Christians (the Disciples of Jesus) were divided and used violence while spreading the gospel in the time of the Roman Empire.

If she were referring to the Christians of the Dark Ages, then I would agree, but her proposition disturbs me. I don’t really recall hearing the early Christian using force to spread the gospel-- they practically were persecuted to no end to be silence by their enemies-- and I’m not sure the early sources outside the Bible talk about it.

Thoughts?

 

[Bookcat]

No.

 

[Mintaka]

Sometimes, when religious discussions got heated (or if you lived Alexandria, land of rioting mobs), you saw a fair amount of Christian vs. Christian violence. But this was after Christianity got prevalent in the general Roman population and was totally legal to practice – ie, after Constantine.

Now, there were sometimes riots that burned pagan temples. But you have to remember that pagan Roman temples were essentially Roman Imperial buildings, supported by taxes and staffed by priests who were also government employees (usually hereditary nobles who only worked there part time, but got a big stipend for it). If you had your government supporting the temples of a living-but-hostile or nearly-dead religion with your living tax money, you might get a bit riot-happy also.

Anyway… none of these actions were meant to convert people. Oppose and fight paganism, maybe. Convert people? No.

Conversion was a long process back then, and they certainly didn’t want to force anybody into it. Heck, you pretty much had to convince the priest that you were serious about wanting to be a Christian, especially since Christians were often being persecuted, and they couldn’t afford to have untrustworthy people join up just to get everybody else arrested. They also had to weed out people who wanted to join Christianity to meet women, to learn Christian magical powers, or to join the cool new religious fad. St. Cyril of Jerusalem’s pre-Easter catechumen classes were practically given the speech from The Paper Chase about getting thrown out if they’re not serious.

 

[robwar]

I remember talking with a friend at lunch some time ago, and she suggested, while we were talking about the history of the early Christian church-- that the early Christians (the Disciples of Jesus) were divided and used violence while spreading the gospel in the time of the Roman Empire.

If she were referring to the Christians of the Dark Ages, then I would agree, but her proposition disturbs me. I don’t really recall hearing the early Christian using force to spread the gospel-- they practically were persecuted to no end to be silence by their enemies-- and I’m not sure the early sources outside the Bible talk about it.

Thoughts?

there is absolutely no truth to this. the early Christians were the ones being killed until 312 when Emperor made it legal. This is a lie and may apply to another religion that was spread by the sword. It is sad that there are so many lies and myths out there. Tell your friend to site her sources or books on this. Because she was repeating something she may have heard does not make it true at all. You need to educate yourself on early Christian history and become informed. That is the best defense against these lies.

 

[ProdglArchitect]

I remember talking with a friend at lunch some time ago, and she suggested, while we were talking about the history of the early Christian church-- that the early Christians (the Disciples of Jesus) were divided and used violence while spreading the gospel in the time of the Roman Empire.

If she were referring to the Christians of the Dark Ages, then I would agree, but her proposition disturbs me. I don’t really recall hearing the early Christian using force to spread the gospel-- they practically were persecuted to no end to be silence by their enemies-- and I’m not sure the early sources outside the Bible talk about it.

Thoughts?

Your friend is confusing Christianity with Islam

 

[IronMIke]

If they were good and peaceful they were Catholic, if they were bad and violent they were Christians.

 

[FaithInTheSon]

^^^ really? Oh, sarcasm, got it.

Well if you were being persecuted from town to town… would you be violent? I would say cutting ears off could be considered violent by some. The world, in general, was very violent. Christians were definitely less violent we can surely say that.

 

[Semper_Zelare]

Just look at the 12 Apostles… 11 of them were brutally tortured and executed. John was the only one to die of natural causes- but he did have to run for his life from the Romans, and died in exile somewhere.

Really… I’ve never heard of this one before. Tell your friend that they should read the entire book of Acts and get back to you.

 

[Bookcat]

If they were good and peaceful they were Catholic, if they were bad and violent they were Christians.

Hum…

Of course in reality they were Catholic Christians (though some where of groups that had broken off from the Church at the time (montanists etc).

And again to the other persons question --no the early Christians were not known for violence…rather for allowing themselves to be martyred.

 

[Bookcat]

earlychristians.org/

earlychristians.org/testimonies_martyrs/scillitan_saints.html

earlychristians.org/testimonies_martyrs.html

 

[agnes_therese]

I remember talking with a friend at lunch some time ago, and she suggested, while we were talking about the history of the early Christian church-- that the early Christians (the Disciples of Jesus) were divided and used violence while spreading the gospel in the time of the Roman Empire.

If she were referring to the Christians of the Dark Ages, then I would agree, but her proposition disturbs me. I don’t really recall hearing the early Christian using force to spread the gospel-- they practically were persecuted to no end to be silence by their enemies-- and I’m not sure the early sources outside the Bible talk about it.

Thoughts?

I’d ask her for her sources.

 

[Julia_Mae]

I remember talking with a friend at lunch some time ago, and she suggested, while we were talking about the history of the early Christian church-- that the early Christians (the Disciples of Jesus) were divided and used violence while spreading the gospel in the time of the Roman Empire.

If she were referring to the Christians of the Dark Ages, then I would agree, but her proposition disturbs me.

Why? Because if Christians are sinners what Jesus said isn’t true and what He did was meaningless?

People are not good. Not one. People are easily persuaded to violence and sin. People in groups who believe they are right are dangerous to those who disagree.

Do you think because the “Jews” killed Jesus that all the Jews of the time were bad? Did you think that people who would follow would all be good? Remember Judas?

The point is that this is irrelevant. What is relevant is Jesus. What is relevant to you is you and Jesus. The Church maintains the integrity of the Gospel. And the corrupt nature of humans, all humans, doesn’t change that one bit.

 

[JerryZ]

I remember talking with a friend at lunch some time ago, and she suggested, while we were talking about the history of the early Christian church-- that the early Christians (the Disciples of Jesus) were divided and used violence while spreading the gospel in the time of the Roman Empire.

If she were referring to the Christians of the Dark Ages, then I would agree, but her proposition disturbs me. I don’t really recall hearing the early Christian using force to spread the gospel-- they practically were persecuted to no end to be silence by their enemies-- and I’m not sure the early sources outside the Bible talk about it.

Thoughts?

When someone asks you this again just respond to them “Jee yeah they were real violent they were given as feed stock to the lions and they did not try to defend themselves”
The roman spectators complained because it was not fun seeing the early christians just stoically wait for the beasts to kill them off and feed of them.

So they were actually the first non violent community of this planet.

 

[FaithInTheSon]

When someone asks you this again just respond to them “Jee yeah they were real violent they were given as feed stock to the lions and they did not try to defend themselves”
The roman spectators complained because it was not fun seeing the early christians just stoically wait for the beasts to kill them off and feed of them.

So they were actually the first non violent community of this planet.

I like this post. The only thing I don’t like about it is it made me laugh about something that is not funny. How barbaric people are without His guidance is humorous though I can’t help it.

 

[ConstantineTG]

I remember talking with a friend at lunch some time ago, and she suggested, while we were talking about the history of the early Christian church-- that the early Christians (the Disciples of Jesus) were divided and used violence while spreading the gospel in the time of the Roman Empire.

If she were referring to the Christians of the Dark Ages, then I would agree, but her proposition disturbs me. I don’t really recall hearing the early Christian using force to spread the gospel-- they practically were persecuted to no end to be silence by their enemies-- and I’m not sure the early sources outside the Bible talk about it.

Thoughts?

It is not entirely impossible that there were already rogue elements within the group of Christians in the early days. From the epistles of the Apostles we already read of warnings about false teachers and wolves in sheeps clothing. But the true followers of Christ are non-violent.

 

[Julia_Mae]

It is not entirely impossible that there were already rogue elements within the group of Christians in the early days. From the epistles of the Apostles we already read of warnings about false teachers and wolves in sheeps clothing. But the true followers of Christ are non-violent.

Except when they invade Iraq?

 

[Bookcat]

earlychristians.org/

earlychristians.org/testimonies_martyrs/scillitan_saints.html

earlychristians.org/testimonies_martyrs.html

 

[FaithInTheSon]

It is not entirely impossible that there were already rogue elements within the group of Christians in the early days. From the epistles of the Apostles we already read of warnings about false teachers and wolves in sheeps clothing. But the true followers of Christ are non-violent.

I would have to say that violence tends to follow certain Christians. I would rephrase that by saying “would prefer to be non-violent”.

Also, there are soldiers and police that are true Christians and pray only for His will to be done. They may be more of a rarity in this age, but that does not make them fake by any means.

Edit: I am not saying you are saying any different than me. I am just looking to clarify.

 

[robwar]

I would have to say that violence tends to follow certain Christians. I would rephrase that by saying “would prefer to be non-violent”.

Also, there are soldiers and police that are true Christians and pray only for His will to be done. They may be more of a rarity in this age, but that does not make them fake by any means.

Edit: I am not saying you are saying any different than me. I am just looking to clarify.

The op posted a question from someone saying that early Christians spread the gospel by violence. Nothing could be further from the truth. Whether, some were soldiers or not (a number of Roman soldiers did convert) is not the same as the early Christians taking up arms and spreading the faith by violence. This is a lie and whoever is saying or spreading this is confusing us with Islam which did spread by the sword starting with Mohammed’s own Arab tribe which rejected him at first. This has nothing to do with saying we are sinners and not perfect people. Most of the early Christians were killed. As someone pointed out 11 of the 12 apostles were violently killed. It is sad that false rumors like this get brought up and that most are so unclear about the very basics of our own history that it can’t be refuted on the spot and have lies like this stopped in it’s tracks. Even Protestants which can have skewed view of Christian history do not teach this as a part of early Christianity. They would agree along with us that early Christians were killed NOT the killers.

 

[thesmiter1]

Except when they invade Iraq?

Oh, my. I hope that was in jest. Whether talking about the Crusades (which were just), or the current War in Iraq (seems unjust, though Afghanistan is another case), soldiers going off to fight are not condemned for doing so. Christians in uniform are not less Christian for fighting a war which was started by an act of Congress and in which they are not commanded to commit war crimes.

On topic:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_martyrs

Do the persecutions of the Early Church before Constantine ring a bell? There was violence during the times of the Early Church, alright, and it was NOT perpetrated by the Christians. It was committed AGAINST Christians.