Lecture 8: Forms of Witness—martyrdom and

apologetic

Forms of Witness—Martyrdom and Apologetic

Lecture 8

I

n the last lecture, we discussed the persecutions experienced by

Christians at the hands of both Jews and Gentiles in the first 280 years

of the religion’s existence. The oppression of believers included social

ostracism, the expropriation of property, economic marginalization, exile,

and death. This lecture takes up the forms of witness that evolved in response

to persecution: the tradition of martyrdom and the writing of apologetic

literature. Each in its way was of extraordinary importance in shaping the

Christian vision of the world in the 2nd and 3rd centuries and even beyond.

A Context of Tribulation

•    From the perspective of Christianity’s eventual triumph, it is

difficult to imagine just how problematic, even dangerous,

conditions of life were for Christians in the first 280 years of the

religion’s existence.

•    As an intentional community that drew members from both Jews

and Gentiles, it was also at odds with both Jews and Gentiles, while

enjoying no natural institutional source of support.

o Christians withdrew from participation in the cultic life

(festivals, processions, meals) that was regarded as essential

for citizenship in the “city of gods and men.” They thereby

marked themselves as aliens to the larger culture that demanded

complete participation in such civic religion.

o After the Jewish War of 67–70, in which Christians refused

to participate, and after the Birkat Ha-minim, which excluded

Christians from the synagogue, the Christian community no

longer enjoyed the protective umbrella of Judaism.

o It lacked legitimacy, approval, or any status. In the eyes of

the philosopher Celsus, who wrote a devastating attack on