Jacob Parappally MSFS

QUESTION: The early father of the church (Minutius Felix, Justine the Martyr etc) had to deal with an accusation: the Christians were considered atheists. They had no temples and altars, no idols and shrines, no priests and sacrifices. What was the significance? But today no one may make such an accusation, why?  – George Joseph

ANSWER: The Christians of the early three centuries of the Christian era were accused of being atheists and had to face persecution and death. The Fathers of the Church, especially the apologists, tried to defend their faith in one God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ his Son and his sanctifying Holy Spirit. This was not convincing to the Roman Emperors who continued to torture and kill those who professed their faith in Jesus Christ, which they considered as a superstitious belief. Belief in anything other than the gods of the Romans was atheism for them. How would they consider someone whom their governor condemned and crucified as Lord and God! As Paul says, it was, indeed, a folly to the Gentiles ( cfr. 1 Corinthians 1:23). For the Romans the gods of their culture and religion and as well as their emperors as gods were believed to provide socio-political and cultural harmony and peace! Any other belief would be atheistic and anti-imperium. Religion supported the political power and the political power determined what makes religion and irreligion, theism and atheism.

Christians were not considered the members of any established religion by the Romans because those Christians had no temples, sacrifices, priesthood and religious rituals they were familiar with. It appeared in Palestine, a Roman colony, as a subversive movement challenging the Jewish understanding of God who is a protector of Sabbath, temple, ritual purity and established order. It is a historical fact that the originator of this movement, Jesus of Nazareth, was persecuted and finally killed for the values of God’s reign he proclaimed and lived. Jesus announced to the world that God loves every human being without any discrimination and wills that humans live in harmony and peace by loving and caring for one another without any distinction of religion, class, gender, ethnicity or caste. He affirmed that humans can become truly humans only when they recognize and accept other humans as daughters and sons of the same God, the Father, who makes his sun shine and rain fall on both good and evil without any discrimination (Matthew 5:45). He formed a small community of his disciples which eventually evolved into a larger community which we call Church today.

Atheism of Romans and Atheism of Christians

For the Romans atheism was not defined as belief in the non-existence of God. It was not a question of belief or unbelief in God at all. For them atheism was the lack of “piety” or non-participation in worshipping gods with traditional rituals. Every aspect of Roman life was connected with gods and worshiping them was part of the socio-political and cultural life of the Romans as we find among the Hindus for centuries and continues even today.

The entire Roman Empire was thought to be founded on gods and goddesses such as goddess Roma. Every occupation had its particular deity and appropriate worship was offered to each. Pliny, the Younger, the governor of Bythinya (111-113 AD) writing to Emperor Trajan mentioned about Christianity as “a depraved and excessive superstition”. He wrote that he punished those who stubbornly refused to worship the Roman gods and the emperor with capital punishment. He asked Christians to repeat after him “an invocation to the gods” and demanded that they offer “adoration with wine and frankincense” to the emperor’s image which he had “ordered to be brought for that purpose, together with those of the gods” (Epistulae X:96). The refusal of the Christians to worship the gods of the Romans and their emperor as a god was considered “atheism” by the Romans and condemned Christians were condemned to a cruel death by burning them alive, crucifying them, throwing them to wild animals etc. Thus atheism of the Christians according to the Romans was a practical atheism of refusing to accept the pagan gods and the traditional status of gods including the emperor.

One of the early Christian apologists, Athenagoras wrote a Plea to emperors Marcus Aurelius and Commodus between 176 AD and 180 AD defending Christian faith and arguing that the Christians are not atheists but they believe in One God and they honour the emperors. He sought to show the emperors the true nature of “atheism” and affirms that Christians cannot be accused of this crime of atheism. In his Plea Athenagoras argues that Christians are not atheists in a theoretical sense (chapters 4-12) and shows why they cannot worship the gods of the cities (chapters 13-30) and their refusal to worship the gods cannot be considered as atheism.

When the Romans consider Christian faith as a superstition and atheism Christians consider the worship of gods and the emperor by the Romans as irrational and idolatry. In his book, Destroyer of the gods: Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World, Larry W. Hurtado, says: “Ironically, however, this early Christian atheism had a profoundly religious basis. It was a radical critique of traditional religion that was driven by powerful theological convictions. Christians who forsook the traditional gods turned to a different kind of deity. Their deity could not be represented in an image. This one deity was creator and ruler of all things and all peoples, and was alone worthy of worship. But Christians characterized this one all-powerful deity, perhaps above all, as motivated by an almighty love for the world and its inhabitants”. In his book Octavius Minucius Felix writes about the argument of the opponents of Christian faith accusing Christians that “whatever the Christians worship, they strive in every way to conceal: they have no altars, no temples, no acknowledged images. Their God, like that of the Jews, is said to be One whom, although they are neither able to see nor show, they think nevertheless to be”(chapter X).

The power of the Church was in its powerlessness. By its very nature as a communion or a community of love it proclaimed that Jesus as alive and witnessed to the fact their lives were transformed by Jesus Christ. Without any institutional structures and without war or violence but only with the revolution of love and justice they challenged the powerful emperors and political systems. They had no silver or gold as Peter told the man who was paralysed at the beautiful gate of the temple but they possessed Jesus and Jesus possessed them.

Temple of the Heart as the Heart of Religion

St Paul tells reminds the Church as a whole as well as individual members of Jesus Christ that they are the temples of the Holy Spirit. The indwelling, personal presence of the Spirit of God in them makes them the temples or the dwelling places of God. Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple (1 Corinthians 3:16-17 ). When God becomes the centre of a person’s life his/her attitude, behaviour, life-style and relationship are transformed. Such persons become manifestations of Christ. When believers in Christ come together to celebrate life experiencing the living presence of the risen Christ, their communion itself becomes a witness that Jesus is alive.

The early Church indeed had such temples of heart united “ Now the company of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had everything in common. And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the proceeds of what was sold and laid it at the apostles’ feet; and distribution was made to each as any had need. (Acts 4:32-35). The early community of the Church was of one heart and one soul. Communion was the heart of this movement which originated from Jesus and was empowered by Spirit and after the death and resurrection of Jesus who promised to be with the community till the end of time and the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). It is the Christian faith that God lives in them and they in God. Therefore, those who believe in God can experience God within their hearts. For them, the temple of God is within themselves and in the communion of all humans of good will.

God of Religions and God of Jesus

The God who was revealed in the history of the people of Israel through various historical events and through the prophets was not an impersonal force of nature or a capricious deity who demanded sacrifices of all kinds offered on altars erected in any temple. God says: “For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings”(Hosea 6:6). Though the Hebrews worshipped God with sacrifices and burnt offerings it was revealed to them that God desired that humans follow the values of love and justice becoming truly humans and thus be God’s glory. God walked with the Israelites in their journey of life showing them that he was their God involved in their history and the entire humankind rather than a deity to be worshipped in a temple for it’s own sake. God’s project was a subversion of human projects for God like building temples or places of worship, establishing cultic priesthood, offering of sacrifices, performing rituals, offering prayers, offering of money or material objects incense, bells etc. These are needed for a god of religion. But not for the God revealed through Jesus Christ. So for the followers of a god of religion, both the recognition and experience of Jesus Christ as the Lord and Master of life and following his values of the Kingdom is atheism. For the God of Jesus, humans are more important than temples, cult, ritual purity and all rules and regulations of an established religion.

Christianity as a Religion and as Jesus’ Movement

When the Romans accused Christians of atheism it was a movement that began with Jesus of Nazareth in Judea and after his death and resurrection spread to the Greek and Roman world of those times. Since 313 AD when Christianity was declared as a legitimate religion and in 380 AD when Christianity it was declared the state religion of the Roman Empire by the Edict of Thessalonica, the Jesus’ movement was transformed into a religion with its temples called churches , with rituals, with ornate and solemn liturgical dresses, sacred processions etc. adapted from the pagan culture of Rome. Christianity became another world religion with its sacred institutions, sacred hierarchy, and structures of governance like any other well-established secular organization. Probably, Any organization needs structures for proper functioning. But the tragedy of the Church was that it allowed itself to be controlled by the emperors of Rome since the conversion of emperor Constantine. Even some important councils were called by the Roman Emperors to settle doctrinal disputes which they feared would destroy the unity of the people living in the Roman empire.

It can be argued that the Christian community needed such alliance with the rulers of the nations in the course of history for its own survival and for fulfilling the mission entrusted to the Church by the Risen Lord. But uncritical acceptance of the pagan religious practices, however they were interpreted in the light of Christian faith, with the concentration of power in the higher offices of the Church including that of the Popes and the rest of the hierarchy corrupted the Church. Power corrupts! When the sacred ecclesial authority takes over secular powers, and overtly or covertly colludes with their policies for their own safety’s sake, what suffers is the mission of the Church for which it was founded. History is replete with narrations about the struggle for power between the Church leaders and the emperors! The collateral damage in the battle for power was the dampening of spirit of the Jesus’ movement or the destruction of it. When a movement becomes an institution, the purpose of its existence is interpreted to fit into the new situation of institutionalization. When a temple substitutes real communion among people, when rituals take the place of true intimacy with God, when power to dominate others by manipulation and instills fear among people instead of inspiring and guiding the believers through a transparent leadership, religion indirectly communicates atheism than theism, death rather than life. Only a self-critical Christianity and a constant conversion of its leaders and other believers from its institutional security by letting themselves to be renewed by the Spirit of God, can Christianity regain its authentic spirit as Jesus’ movement and transform the world. When religion divides, the Spirit of God unites. When the god of religion kills, Jesus, Lord and God, rises to give new life and establishes the new heaven and the new earth!