The Catholic Church has just started a “year of faith” and launched a program for re-evangelising countries where the fire of Christianity seems to have burnt itself out. But is it possible to make a comeback? To assess the chances of reChristianising the West, MercatorNet interviewed Mike Aquilina, an expert in the early history of Christianity, about the challenges of its first three centuries.
Mercator Net: For believing Christians the re-evangelization of Europe looks like a tough job. How long did the first evangelization take?
Mike Aquilina: It’s not a tough job. It’s an impossible job. If you look at the odds against Christianity in the first, second, and third centuries, there was really no chance the Church would survive. Rome had brute power. And it controlled everything — the jobs you wanted, the media and entertainment, travel. And even if Rome had somehow managed to lose its grip, its enemies were no warmer toward Christianity. It’s not like the Church could have played the Persians against Rome.
The first evangelisation took place at a time when Christians really had no advantages. They were outcast by everyone. Their religion was a capital crime. They were denied a voice in the public square.
Yet Christianity prevailed, and the empires died. I suppose you could say it took just shy of three hundred years, if you’re counting from Pentecost to the Edict of Milan, the decree that made Christianity legal. But even then a large portion of the population still worshipped the old gods. The thorough evangelisation of Europe probably took about a thousand years. And some, like Sigmund Freud, said it never really took in the barbarian lands. So maybe this new evangelization is simply a renewal of those long-ago efforts.
Mercator Net: What were the obstacles faced by the first Christians in the world ruled by the Roman Empire?
Mike Aquilina: The criminalization of Christianity was a big deterrent. Remember, executions were public, and they were enhanced for entertainment value. If you’ve seen a few people tortured to death in the circus, you’ll probably think twice before doing the things they did. There were other obstacles as well. The chattering classes scorned Christianity as an ignorant superstition, suitable for women and the lower classes, perhaps, but not for respectable folk. And then there were the perennial obstacles: apathy, the attachment to an immoral life. Continue reading
Image: Mercator Net
MercatorNet interviewed Mike Aquilina, an expert in the early history of Christianity, about the challenges of its first three centuries.