epistles, to "pray for kings and all that are in high places,"[1] and to be "subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well"—to "fear God, honor the king."[2] This law-abiding spirit of the early Christians is further evidenced not only by similar appeals of Clement of Rome[3] and of Polycarp,[4] but also by the well-known incident reported by Pliny[5] to Trajan of their giving up their religious common meal in order not to appear guilty of breaking the imperial law against sodalities.
But by the time of Justin Martyr[6] we find the Christian expressions concerning the kingdom of God less carefully guarded, and a misconception of their teachings growing easy. Probably these misconceptions were not altogether unfounded. For it would be but natural if the persecutions through which the church passed should lead it to emphasize the coming kingdom. To Tertullian the conversion of the Caesars seemed as unlikely as the elevation of a Christian to the imperial throne,[7] while Origen replies to the sneer of Celsus that Christians had best undertake the management of the state, "In whatever city we are, we have another country, which is founded by the word of God."[8] From this time on the more ascetic bodies of Christians seem to have withdrawn themselves as far as possible from civil duties, while the more moderate party was content to endure the state as a necessary evil.
- ↑ 1 Tim. 2:2.
- ↑ 1 Peter 2:13, 17.
- ↑ Epistle to Corinthians, chs. 60, 61.
- ↑ Epistle to Philippians ch. 12. Other instances are given in Sanday and Headlam, Romans p. 372.
- ↑ Pliny, Epistles, bk. x., ch. 97. See also Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire, ch. x. The absence of revolutionary tendencies is also evidenced by the tradition preserved by Hegesippus and Eusebius (iii., 19, 20) that Domitian sent to Palestine for the relatives of Jesus on the ground that they were planning a revolt, but finding them innocent peasants he sent them back.
- ↑ For instance,Apology, ii., 58.
- ↑ Apology, ch. 21.
- ↑ See Neander, History of the Christian Religion and Church, I., 272.
25:10) as well as in his use of his Roman citizenship as a means of escaping the designs of the Jews (Acts 16:37; 22:25).
