The Origins of Christianity and the Decline of the Roman Empire 103Scripture—became the basis of later church doctrine.
Through his efforts and those of the other disciples, the
Christian church grew rapidly.
In the beginning, Christianity appealed largely to
women, slaves, and other people of modest social stand-
ing, for it was universal in the sense that it accepted con-
verts regardless of gender or background. Salvation was
open to all, though Paul objected strongly to women
preaching and church offices were apparently restricted
to men. Its high ethical standards appealed to a genera-
tion that seems to have been increasingly repelled by pa-
gan vice, and its ceremonies were neither as terrifying
nor expensive as those of the mystery cults. The most
important were baptism with water—not bull’s blood, as
in the rites of Mithra—and a love feast or agapein which
the entire congregation joined. After a common meal,
the Christians celebrated communion in bread and wine.
By 153 the love feast had been abandoned in favor of
communion alone, which was preceded by a service that
included preaching and the singing of hymns.
Though humble, the early church was remarkably
well organized. Each congregation was governed by a
committee of presbyters or elders, who were assisted by
deacons, readers, and exorcists. Bishops were elected by
their congregations to lead worship services and admin-
ister the community’s finances. The extent of their
power in earliest times has been the subject of much
debate, but its expansion was clearly assisted by the
doctrine of apostolic succession. This teaching, which
holds that episcopal authority derives from powers
given by Jesus to the disciple Peter, was generally ac-
cepted by the end of the second century.
Organization helped the young church to survive
persecution, for the Christians were hated. Persecution
came from two sources. Many Jews felt that Christian-
ity divided and weakened their communities and were
quick to denounce Christians to the authorities. The
authorities, whether Roman or provincial, had other
motives. Like the Jews, Christians refused to sacrifice to
the Roman gods. The Jews were exempt from this re-
quirement by their status as a separate nation whose
customs were honored by Roman law, but Christianity
was not. Many Romans feared that Christian exclusive-
ness masked a certain hostility to the state. Their suspi-
cions were fed by the low social status of the Christians
and, ironically, by the secrecy they had adopted for
their protection. To avoid detection, Christians met in
private houses or in the underground burial places
known as catacombs (see illustration 6.2). Rumors of
cannibalism, based upon a misunderstanding of com-
munion, only made matters worse.
Christians, in short, were unpopular and lacked the
protection of powerful individuals who might otherwise
have intervened on their behalf. They made ideal scape-
goats. Nero, for example, blamed them for the great fire
at Rome and launched the first wave of executions that
claimed the life of Paul in A.D. 64 (see document 6.1).
Persecutions by later emperors caused great loss of life
until well into the third century. They were chronicled
in horrific detail by Eusebius of Caesarea (c. 260–c. 340)
in his History of the Church,but to the annoyance of the
pagans, “the blood of martyrs” was, as Tertullian had put
it, “the seed of the church.” Too many Christians died
bravely. Their cheerful heroism, even as they were tornIllustration 6.2
The Catacomb of San Callisto,
Rome.Unlike pagans, who generally
cremated their dead, Christians insisted
on burial, often in underground vaults
known as catacombs. In times of perse-
cution, they held religious services in
these tombs to avoid detection. This
one, the so-called Chapel of the Popes,
is unusually elaborate and dates from
c. 250.