The Relationship Between the Ancient Church and the State
The most important issue that faced the ancient church was its relationship with the state. According to John Roberson (2015), the ancient church tried not to draw close to the state; however, some tendencies led to it having close involvements with the government.\u00a0 Even though the Roman religion was tolerant to other religions, it viewed the Christianity as a superstition that was foreign and destructive.\u00a0 The ancient Christian church was treated with suspicion due to their frequent use of words like \u201cEating Christ\u2019s flesh\u201d which was translated as an act of cannibalism (Roberson, 2015).
The Strained Relationship
The relationship between the church and the state was further strained by the refusal of the Christians to participate in the emperor worship. According to the Christian faith, idolatry is not allowed, and this was at cross-purpose with Roman religion, which viewed the refusal to participate in the emperor worship as an act of treason that was punishable by death.
Persecution of Christians and Christian Responses
To resolve the issue, the Roman Empire began to persecute Christians who went against the demands of their emperor. For instance, Emperor Diocletian ordered that Christian buildings be burned their homes destroyed and their sacred books torched after they refused to participate in the emperor worship (Roberson, 2015). During this period, many Christians were arrested, tortured, mutilated, burned, starved and condemned to fight in gladiatorial contests that they could not win. This, therefore, shows that the Roman Emperor decided to resolve its strained relationship with the ancient church using violence and lethal force to make the Christians conform to their way of life. However, many Christians saw this as an honor as they would get a chance to die as Christ did.
Christian Apologies and Defense of the Faith
Like Christ and other martyrs before, Christians of the ancient church chose to die without denying their God. Other Christians resorted to writing apologies defending the Christian faith. Their main goal was to clarify and discard the misconceptions that many people had about Christianity during that time. This is because most of the Christian teachings were done in parables and phrases like \u201ceating the flesh of Christ\u201d were not supposed to be translated literally, as it was the case during this particular period.
A Possible Solution
The solution to this issue would have been for the Roman emperor to introduce a tax or a fine that Christians would have to pay as an alternative for not participating in such events. This is because most of the events and functions that Christians refused to participate in were designed to generate revenue for the Roman Empire. For instance, the Roman Emperors demanded that people offer sacrifices or gifts to them as if they were gods or attend games on the Sabbath, which they would have to pay an entry fee. Ideally, introducing such a measure would have ensured that each party emerged victorious. For one, the Roman Empire would have been able to earn the revenue it desired from such events, as Christians would be obligated to pay what others paid during the games.\u00a0 Christians, on the other hand, would not have to go against their doctrines and beliefs, as they would have been exempted from attending or engaging in activities that went against the teachings of Christ. In the end, such a solution would have prevented the loss of lives and property, which would have otherwise earned the Roman empire more revenue.
References
Roberson, J. (2015, September 1). Mini Lecture - The Patristic Period [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut-tycAsOBs"feature=youtu.be
