also testifies to the practice of the early Church that only worthy, morally upright men should be appointed as bishops and deacons in the Church.
The Faith Spreads
The Faith spread rapidly within the Roman Empire for several reasons. The Empire itself provided a universal organized structure for the rapid spread of ideas. Although many groups of people lived within the confines of the Empire, each with their own culture and language, all shared the common tongue, Greek, which was the language for business, education, and everyday life (at this time, Latin was the official state language and used primarily for political purposes). Moreover, the initial decades of the Church were times of peace in the Empire, which afforded people the time to ask important life questions and seek answers. The Roman Empire was overall a religious society. Romans understood that there was a connection between religious faith and morality, and between conduct in life and one’s fate in the afterlife. Religion had a political dimension as well; participation in the state cults was viewed as a civic duty. All forms of religious cults existed in the Empire, from nature-worship to emperor-worship. The mystery religions that originated in Egypt and Persia were also popular and contained rites of initiation, sacred food, sacrifices, and a hierarchical structure, elements found also in the Faith, which assisted in conversions. Within the Roman religious environment, several groups were predisposed to accept the Gospel, such as the “proto-Christians,” known to Jews as “God-fearers.” These proto-Christians were Gentiles (Roman pagans) who, as a result of contact with Judaism, came to adore the one true God. They read the Old Testament and tried to live in accordance with the Ten Commandments.20 Additionally, Hellenized Jews had been part of the Jewish Diaspora and were considered half-pagan by Palestine Jews. Hellenized Jews took Greek names, spoke Latin and Greek, and dressed like the pagans. The several large communities of Hellenized Jews throughout the Empire provided rich evangelization opportunities for the missionaries of the early Church.
Pagans were attracted to the Faith by the witness of the early Christians, especially the martyrs. Romans were also astounded by how the Christians treated the poor with a dignity unknown to the pagan world.21 Christian charity toward pagans was a deeply effective form of evangelization. Pagans understood Christians caring for Christians, but when believers also cared for pagans during plagues and other times of need, the pagans were intrigued. Indeed, “the practical application of charity was probably the most potent single cause of Christian success.”22 Ultimately, what allowed the Faith to spread rapidly in its first few decades was the fact that the Gospel was inclusive — it was meant for everyone. Roman society was very class-oriented, and religious cults were organized similarly. In contrast, the Catholic Church accepted everyone regardless of race, class status, education, or profession. That openness was unique and intriguing to people in the first-century Roman Empire.
More Persecution
Vespasian, the Roman general who had quashed the Great Jewish Revolt, reigned as emperor for a decade (A.D. 69–79). Upon his death, his son Titus, commanding general of the Roman forces that had taken Jerusalem, succeeded to the imperial purple. Titus became the first Roman emperor to succeed his biological father, in what became known as the Flavian dynasty. Titus’s brief reign lasted only two years, but during those two years the Flavian amphitheater (also known as the Colosseum) in Rome was completed and Mount Vesuvius erupted. After Titus died of fever, his younger brother Domitian became emperor. Domitian struggled with his mental health while emperor and was an “unpredictable and treacherous, [and] a truly horrible man who delighted in cruelty.”23 He was the first Roman emperor to deify himself with the title “Lord and God” during his reign.24 Domitian was paranoid; he spent his last days in a specially constructed hall of polished surfaces that acted as mirrors so he could see anyone trying to sneak up on him. He also delighted in the sadistic task of catching flies and spearing them with a special needle. Domitian initiated a limited persecution of the Church by striking down members of the imperial family who had become Christians. It was during his fifteen-year reign that the beloved Saint John the Evangelist was exiled to the island of Patmos. Eventually, imperial officials grew angry at the whims of the mentally ill Domitian. He was assassinated in 96, and was succeeded by his adviser Nerva.
The Epistle of Saint Clement of Rome
Before the turn of the century, a man in Rome named Clement, who had known Peter and Paul, was selected to become the fourth bishop of the city.25 Clement was aware that his position was unique in the Church. It required diligent oversight of the other Christian communities scattered throughout the Empire, which is why he was greatly troubled by reports from the Christian community in Corinth (initially established by Saint Paul). Word had reached Rome that the Corinthians were openly rebelling against their priests. This uprising threatened not only to tear apart the Church in Corinth, but also to affect the Church’s evangelization mission, so Clement resolved to act quickly. He sent a firm and fatherly reprimand to the Corinthians that became known as the Epistle of Saint Clement of Rome. Clement focused his letter on the theme of order. Order, according to Clement, is the expression of the will of God and is good, whereas disorder is the expression of the will of the devil and is bad. The Corinthians were giving in to the temptations of the Evil One by their rebellion, which was weakening the unity of the Church and causing scandal among the pagans. Clement wrote, “Disgraceful, beloved, indeed, exceedingly disgraceful and unworthy of your training in Christ, is the report that the well-established and ancient Church of the Corinthians is … in revolt against the presbyters. And this report has reached not only us but also people that differ from us in religion.”26
Clement’s letter illustrates three fundamental Catholic doctrines. First, it affirms the apostolic teaching that the clergy derive their authority from God and not from the people. In other words, “the Church’s structure was sacramental not political.”27 Second, Clement reminds the Corinthians that the Church’s organization is apostolic. The apostles handed on their authority through ordination to other men in the communities they established. This is known as apostolic succession. Finally, Clement’s letter is the “first exercise of the Roman primacy after Saint Peter’s death” and proves the early Church believed in papal primacy and universal jurisdiction.28 Clement may have been writing on an internal matter of a particular church, but his letter clearly indicates he knew he had the authority to command the Corinthians to stop their rebellion. He wrote, “If some shall disobey the words which have been spoken by him [Christ] through us [Clement], let them know they will involve themselves in no small transgression and danger.”29 Saint John the Beloved was still alive at the time of the Corinthian uprising, but it was Clement, the bishop of Rome, rather than the living apostle, who wrote the admonition. The Corinthians acknowledged Clement’s epistle as authoritative; they ended their rebellion and restored the ousted priests upon receipt of the letter, which was still being read in the city a century later.30
What was the Church in the Roman Empire?
With the closing of the first century, we can clearly answer Catholic historian Hilaire Belloc’s question, “What was the Church in the Roman Empire?” Belloc first assessed what the Church was not. The Church was not an opinion, a fashion, a philosophy, or a theory; instead, she was a “clearly delineated body corporate based on numerous exact doctrines, extremely jealous of its unity and of its precise definitions, and filled, as was no other body of men at that time, with passionate conviction.”31 The Church was a distinct and unique organism within the Roman Empire. She was organized in a hierarchical structure centered on bishops, the chief of whom was the bishop of Rome. Most cults in the Empire were local and attached to specific places; however, the Church’s structure, doctrine, and worship were not dependent on geography but were the same throughout the Empire. At the end of the first century, there were fewer than 10,000 Christians, comprising only 0.0017 percent of the total imperial population of 60 million. By the end of the second century, the Church had grown to 200,000 members, though still less than 1 percent of the Roman population. At the time of
