Internal and External Causes of Apostasy

I. External Causes of Apostasy

A. Jewish persecution.

1. Since the early church was exclusively Jewish, Jews who rejected it boldly defended the law and bitterly opposed those who embraced Christianity. a. The Jews viewed Christianity as a rival. They also realized if it were true, they were guilty of the murder of the Messiah. b. “Looking at the great mass of the Jewish people, we find that the predominance of the worldly spirit, which would apprehend the divine under notions of sense, the rage for the wonderful described by St. Paul, confidence in the inalienable rights of their theocratic descent according to the flesh and in the outward show of legal righteousness, constituted the chief obstacles to the reception of the gospel.” (Augustus Neander, General History of the Christian Religion, Vol. I, p. 62)
2. Judaistic persecution had been predicted (Mark 13:9; Matt. 10:16-18), even before the Lord’s death (John 15:18-20). a. Its early stages. (Acts 5:17, 33; 6:8-15; 7:54-60) b. The death of James. (Acts 12:1-2) c. Persecutions of Paul prior to his conversion. (Acts 26:9-11) d. On Paul and the other apostles. (1 Cor. 4:9,11-13)

B. Roman persecution.

1. The Roman world. a. The Roman Empire was ruled by men placed at its head by the army. Most of the emperors were cruel, wicked and extravagant. b. The population consisted of three classes. 1) The wealthy, the slaves and the middle class of free-citizens. 2) “The poorer classes only lived for bread and circuses. The circuses were brutal, debasing and bloody;…The nation groaned under heavy taxation that went for such a waste and extravagance…The state came first, the home had little place in Paganism. Women were considered as chattel property; and little children were often cruelly mistreated; and if born deformed, or their parents did not want them, they were exposed to die, or killed.” (Homer Hailey, “The Church in the Ante-Nicene Period,” Abilene Christian College Lectures 1934, p. 18) c. “It was into such a morally degenerate, sensual, and cruel world that Christianity was thrust to conquer and raise to a fit place in which to live.” (Hailey, 19)
2. Persecutions against the early church. a. In the lifetime of the apostles, the two main waves of persecution that swept over the church were by Nero (65-68) and Domitian (89-96). b. “The first marked instance of heathen enmity on record was the persecution under Nero. It is described by the Roman historian Tacitus. From his account, we see that the Christians were then well known as a distinct sect. Nero, who was justly detested for his brutal tyranny, in order to avert from himself what was, perhaps, a groundless suspicion of having set Rome on fire, accused the Christians of having kindled the flames which had laid in ashes a great part of the city… (in quoting Tacitus – GT) a ‘vast multitude were convicted…And in their deaths, they were made the subjects of sport, for they were covered with hides of wild beasts and worried to death by dogs, or nailed to crosses, or set fire to, and when day declined were burned to serve for nocturnal lights.’” (George P. Fisher, History of the Christian Church, p. 31) c. The persecution under Domitian reached its height in about A.D. 95. 1) He is described by historians as a cruel, worthless ruler with a jealous temper. 2) He caused hundreds of believers to be put to death.
3. Some principal persecutors and prominent martyrs after the close of the New Testament period. a. Pliny, governor of Bithynia and Trajan, emperor of Rome. 1) About A.D. 111, he wrote letters to emperor Trajan calling his attention to the problem in his district created by the increasing number of Christians. He called Christianity a “superstition” and expressed concern because so many had become Christians that the temples of the heathen gods were almost forsaken. He wanted instructions as to how to treat these Christians. 2) Trajan replied the Christians were to be left alone unless they were prosecuted by accusers who would give their names. If convicted, they were to be given the opportunity to renounce their faith. If they refused, they were to be punished. While seemingly lenient, it led the way for wholesale persecutions by unscrupulous individuals who were willing to offer false accusations and testimony. 3) Ignatius of Antioch was one of the most prominent martyrs under the reign of Trajan. While being taken to Rome, he exhorted Christians on the way and prayed that he might have the honor of dying for Christ. He was thrown to the wild beasts in the Roman amphitheater about A.D. 108. b. Marcius Aurelius, emperor from A.D.161 to 180. 1) He is described as a just and virtuous ruler, yet, he poured out bitter persecutions on the followers of Christ.  2) He was determined to restore the ancient religious practices and the old Roman way of life so he sought to suppress innovators and he viewed Christians as innovators.

3) Polycarp was a prominent martyr during his reign. Brought before the governor and called upon to curse the name of Christ, he replied, “Six and eighty years have I served him, and he has done me nothing but good; and how could I curse him, my Lord and Savior.” (Fisher, 48) c. A period of peace from persecutions was introduced by Gallineus in A.D. 260.

1. It lasted for 40 years.
2. During this period, large expensive church buildings were erected, the church became rich and its members worldly and contentious.