A Lesson from Two Emperors
By Caleb Chow
From the year 303 to 311, the emperor Diocletian, Augustus of the Eastern Roman Empire, instituted a policy of intense Christian persecution. This would be known as the Great Persecution, when Christians were removed from government positions, forced to sacrifice to the emperor upon pain of death, and had their churches destroyed. Eusebius of Caesarea writes in his account, “All were ordered to sacrifice; those who refused were to be put to death.” (Eusebius, Martyrs of Palestine 3.1).
This kind of persecution is rightly feared, and since those days of the Great Persecution under Diocletian it would seem that Christians have always maintained a sense of fear that loss of dominance would lead to another wave of persecution, such as under Fatimid caliph al-Hakim[1] or even under Christian rulers of hostile denominations.
The Threat of Diocletian
In the United States the Christian right has expressed a fair amount of this type of concern. Archbishop Jose Gomez, for example, says, “Some of Biden’s policies... would advance moral evils and threaten human life and dignity, most seriously in the areas of abortion, contraception, marriage, and gender. Of deep concern is the liberty of the Church and the freedom of believers to live according to their consciences.”[2] Yet how appropriate is it to say that we are headed toward a Diocletian-level of persecution if Trump does not stem the tide?
First, for all its horror, Diocletian’s persecution did not succeed in stomping out Christianity. To the contrary, it soared to its highest point of power in the following century due to its legalization under Constantine I and its ascendance to the official imperial faith under Theodosius I in 381 AD.
Second, in the United States, very few Christians are being targeted and killed simply for their faith; the concerns for now are, as Archbishop Gomez mentioned above, a matter of infringement of rights and freedoms of Christians.
Third, the United States remains a constitutional democracy with its first amendment protections in place - it is not the Roman Empire.
The Threat of Julian the Apostate
This means that for the time being, Christians in the United States must admit that the state of affairs is still very far from a Diocletian-type persecution. This was made somewhat more apparent in court cases such as Masterpiece Cakeshop vs Colorado (2018) where two liberal justices ruled in favor of the Christian baker due to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission treating the baker’s case in a manner “Inconsistent with the State’s duty of neutrality toward religion.”[3] Instead, a more fitting analog to today’s situation and the progressive stance on social issues is the reign of Julian the Apostate.
Himself raised as a Christian, he attempted to use “soft power” to weaken Christianity in favor of the traditional Roman faith. In his own words, he says, “Let no one destroy or defile the temples... We will restore the worship of the gods not with violence, but by example.”[4] His methods involved removing Christians from political office, barring Christians from teaching Greek philosophy in schools, and most notably promoting some version of “religious pluralism.” Of course, his purpose was clear: the weakening of Christian influence. Even his religious pluralism was aimed at weakening Christians by virtue of allowing heresies to divide the Church.[5]
Ultimately his plans failed, partially due to his death only two years into his reign. But it is fair to say that his strategy may seem familiar to right-leaning Christians in the US today: giving voice and power to alternative beliefs under pretense of religious pluralism to weaken Christian dominance.
Christian power resurged almost immediately after Julian’s death. Jovian reversed his predecessor’s policies, and then Theodosius I made Nicene Christianity the only legal faith in the empire through the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD. The persecution of all non-Nicene faiths in the empire was almost a page taken straight from earlier Roman persecutions of Christians. Pagan temples were ordered to be closed, idols were destroyed by Christian mobs, and public sacrifices were banned upon pain of death [6]. I invite the reader to consider if this is a good precedent for the future. Based on both Christian and enlightenment ideals of the inherent fallibility of man and the recognition of neutral justice among different faiths as a possible ideal, our founding fathers drafted the Constitution and the First Amendment to prevent both a Julian the Apostate equivalent and a Theodosius I equivalent from ever becoming a reality.
Where Are We Now?
The truth is, however, that the Obama and Biden administrations were a far cry from even Julian’s limited attempted suppression of Christian power. Reframing Christian positions on homosexuality and abortion as “hate speech” or misogyny is still notably different from Julian’s deliberate and public targeting of Christian officials. What this means is that there is no slippery slope to fear - even if the political left was hell-bent on destroying Christianity, it would be slowed and delayed by the Constitutional and democratic legal system it operates in, unless someone sets a precedent for destroying the foundations of said system. And therein lays the threat to Christianity from the opposite side of the aisle: the apparent hope for another Theodosius I to restore Christian power. The question for American Christians is: to what extent should Trump become another Theodosius I, and would setting this kind of precedent actually benefit Christ’s kingdom and His Church in the long term?
The unfortunate reality, then, is that currently both ends of the political platforms in the United States should be regarded as real threats to Christian integrity. The left by virtue of the post-Christian culture of its constituents gradually eroding Christian influence through culture and soft power, while the far-right is a less obvious threat but is possibly even more dangerous due to its populist nature and how it endangers the very system that protects religious minorities (of which Christianity is rapidly becoming). Thankfully the founding fathers had the foresight to institute term limits, if only we and our presidents continue to honor those limits.
The good news, however, is that once again - we are not living in the Roman Empire. Both the Church and the larger citizenry of the United States retain the power to hone and adjust both parties’ platforms. But what this means is that we must avoid the “meta-heresy” of drawing equivalence between a Christian’s faith and their vote. It is not unbiblical to vote or support one candidate or another, but it is unbiblical to anathematize other Christians when God alone has that right. On the civic duty of American Christians, then, I will simply echo the words of John Piper when he says:
I will not develop some calculus to determine which path of destruction I will support. That is not my duty. My calling is to lead people to see Jesus Christ, trust his forgiveness for sins, treasure him above everything in this world, live in a way that shows his all-satisfying value, and help them make it to heaven with love and holiness. That calling is contradicted by supporting either pathway to cultural corruption and eternal ruin.
You may believe that there are kinds of support for such pathways that do not involve such a contradiction — such an undermining of authentic Christian witness. You must act on what you see. I can’t see it. That is why I said my way need not be yours. [7]
Caleb Chow was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania but at the age of three his family brought him to Taiwan where he lived for 13 years. Upon returning to the United States for college he studied Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology at Penn State before pursuing masters degrees (MAR and ThM) at Westminster Theological Seminary. He then completed his PhD in Old Testament and Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology at Trinity International University while interning at Trinity Christian Church of Greater Philadelphia and teaching at Christian Witness Theological Seminary. Throughout his time in school he also participated in six archaeological excavations in Israel. Caleb currently serves as the English pastor at China Grace Christian Church and also teaches Old Testament and Church History at Lancaster Bible College as an adjunct professor. He and his wife Ashley have been married for ten years and have a son, Ethan.
Sources
1. Michael the Syrian, Chronicle of Michael the Syrian, Book XXI
3. Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 138 S. Ct. 1719, 1729 (2018)
4. Julian, Letter to Arsacius, High Priest of Galatia
5. See Ammianus Marcellinus, Res Gestae 22.5.3
6. See Codex Theodosianus XVI.10.4
7. https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/policies-persons-and-paths-to-ruin
One of the sad ironies about the way that church is done today: we are a relationship-based organization that is really bad at relationships… It’s a miserable revelation that many committed Christians have had to endure in these recent years of scandals and schisms–that a lot of our church friends are fair-weather friends, whose love and support depends on if you’re still in good standing…