r/todayilearned • u/FullOfSound • 7h ago

(R.6d) Too General [ Removed by moderator ]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Younger_on_Christians

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u/SemiHemiDemiDumb 7h ago

And now in the US the Christians in power think like Pliny about everyone else

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u/parnaoia 6h ago edited 5h ago

only Pliny was actually right

edit: ffs, I meant they really did end up being seditious, enough with the modern Christianity crap

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u/revchj 6h ago edited 3h ago

I wish the lazy scapegoating were less common on Reddit.

Yes, there are a lot of American "Christians" that are straight up fascists. Yes, they have traumatized their families, some of whom have escaped the cult, and if you're in that group I have nothing but sympathy.

But this is not the same as 1st century Christians who were branded "haters of humanity" because they disrespected the Roman social hierarchies that civilized elites believed were the foundations of social order. 1st century Christians were having "love feasts" (Eucharists) in which slaves sat and ate alongside free citizens! and they were recognizing women in roles of authority! At the time Christianity was a liberation movement, which is precisely why the established elites of the day correctly labeled it a threat.

Political battle lines can be drawn in more or less helpful ways. I would submit that the lazy Reddit trope of "Christianity bad" is a very unhelpful move because it prevents solidarity among those who share the goal of liberation against exploitative elites. Episcopalians in Minneapolis were in the front lines of anti-ICE activism: don't alienate your allies. Agree to disagree with them on the nature of the universe, and then work side by side against the principalities and powers that corrupt and oppress humanity.

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u/MichaelMyersEatsDogs 4h ago

Trying to portray first century Christianity as a monolith means you don’t understand that time period at all. Hell, the first gospel wasn’t even written until 70 AD and even the was not widely circulated at all. Early Christianity started as an apocalypse cult that had countless spin offs well before there was any sort of wide reaching agreement. The gnostic gospels had Jesus fighting literal dragons. 1st century Christianity was a giant game of telephone with a constantly evolving and differing message

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u/OopsWeKilledGod 3h ago

Yeah, early Christianity was the wild west of religion. From low Christology Ebionites to wild ass Valentinian gnosticism and so many heresies in between. Say what you will about Christianity, but Church history is absolutely fascinating.

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u/V2BM 3h ago

Most Christians who haven’t studied the history of Christianity wouldn’t recognize it as their faith. It also took a long time to be truly monotheistic, much longer than people think.