CONVERSION AND REACTION: CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM CIRCA THIRD CENTURY CE Francis Gregory Fletcher B.A., California State University, Sacramento 1995 M.A., California State University, Sacramento 1998 THESIS Submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in LIBERAL ARTS at CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, SACRAMENTO FALL 2009 CONVERSION AND REACTION: CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM CIRCA THIRD CENTURY CE A Thesis by Francis Gregory Fletcher Approved by: __________________________________, Committee Chair Dr. Jeffrey Brodd __________________________________, Second Reader Dr. David Bell __________________________________ Date ii Student: Francis Gregory Fletcher I certify that this student has met the requirements for format contained in the University format manual, and that this thesis is suitable for shelving in the Library and credit is to be awarded for the thesis. __________________________, Graduate Coordinator Dr. Jeffrey Brodd ___________________ Date Department of Liberal Arts iii Abstract of CONVERSION AND REACTION: CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM CIRCA THIRD CENTURY CE by Francis Gregory Fletcher Statement of Problem Christianity initially was met with critical scrutiny and hostile response yet endured and withstood this reaction and, even more, attracted many converts and increased its popularity and influence. Sources of Data Numerous primary and secondary works, particularly focused on the social conditions of the early part of Late Antiquity, were used. Conclusions Reached Christianity established itself in the Roman Empire by challenging its critics and, even more, by meeting the material and spiritual needs of the inhabitants of the Empire. _______________________, Committee Chair _______________ Dr. Jeffrey Brodd Date iv DEDICATION To Janay, for your patience and support To Belen, for the flags O Gods dethroned and deceased, cast forth, wiped out in a day! – A.C. Swinburne I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: "O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous." And God granted it. – Voltaire v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Dedication v OVERVIEW 1 Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION 4 2. ROMAN REACTIONS 7 Roman Religion and Superstitio 7 Roman Perceptions 12 Intellectual Critics 15 3. RIVALS TO CHRISTIANITY 20 Apollonius of Tyana 20 Neoplatonism 20 Savior-Cults 23 4. CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY 27 Background Conditions 27 Psychology and Reevaluation 28 Women 31 Urban Movement 35 Christianity’s Response to People’s Basic Needs 37 Health Care 37 Death 39 Miracle 41 Martyrdom 42 Christian Intellectuals and the Failure of Philosophy 43 Organization 48 5. CONCLUSION 49 Works Cited 52 vi 1 CONVERSION AND REACTION: CHRISTIANITY AND PAGANISM CIRCA THIRD CENTURY CE Overview Robin Lane Fox states, “The spread of Christianity, the conversions, the overachievement took place in an era of persecution” (419). Christians were persecuted as early as 64 CE in particular areas throughout the Roman Empire. Persecutions through the second century also were local affairs, not part of any empire-wide agenda. By the mid third century, however, the processes and penalties in dealing with Christians became an official concern and were applied across the Empire (Beard History 237-242). In late 249 CE, the emperor Trajan Decius, attempting to emphasize “the ties between the individual and the Roman Empire,” issued a decree meant to establish a universal religion for Rome, a standard that consequently identified “deviants” (such as Christians) and led to their punishment (Rives 152-153). Some Christians, for instance, Bishop Fabian of Rome and Babylas of Antioch, were persecuted for failing to sacrifice to the state gods (Frend 319). This persecution was followed by those initiated by the emperors Valerian (257 CE) and Diocletian (302/303 CE), with growing hostility specifically targeting Christians. Pierre Chuvin remarks that, by the time of Diocletian, Christians were too numerous to exterminate; at best, Diocletian hoped to undermine their foundation (18). Especially in the face of the hostility shown toward Christians, how did Christianity succeed in becoming Rome’s state religion relatively quickly? The most obvious answer is, of course, Constantine’s conversion. However, why was Christianity, in light of the recent persecutions, even an option for Constantine and for the Empire’s inhabitants in general? Supposedly, Constantine initially worshipped the sun god, Sol Invictus, but adopted Christianity as part of his religious beliefs after having a dream and seeing a sign in the sky – though the “Constantinian question” has yet to be resolved satisfactorily among scholars (Lenski 3-4). Given the diversity of gods and of religions in ancient Rome, how did Christianity come to be significant enough for Constantine to recognize it and, consequently, to validate it, especially since pagans still constituted the majority of the Empire’s population at least through 325 CE (Cameron 69)? What specifically was appealing about Christianity? And what were the typical pagan reactions and responses? According to Peter Brown, the middle of the second century CE began “the ‘new mood’” that “drove fissures across” the surface of traditional religion (World 51). While not the anxiety, as described 2 by E.R. Dodds, resulting from the “spiritual man” feeling “himself an alien and an exile” (20), this “new mood” challenged the “subordinate gods of popular belief” and emphasized “the One God Himself, as a figure of latent, unexpressed power” (World 52). This “new mood,” however, challenged not only traditional beliefs about the divine but also traditional Roman values and practices, enabling Christianity to respond to people’s primary needs, both physical and spiritual. By the third century, Christianity was well established in the empire. And by the early fourth century, with Constantine’s influence, Christianity received official recognition and toleration, with traditional paganism by the middle of the fourth century having difficulty maintaining its popularity (Lee 168). In discussing Christianity’s expansion, Henry Chadwick states, “It appeared as a long story of strange coincidence in which human intentions played a subordinate role and where the eye of faith was entitled to discern the tranquil operation of a wiser providence” (54). Chadwick, of course, recognizes the complex unfolding of Christianity, detailing significant components contributing to Christianity’s growth. Despite the tendency for some scholars to want to emphasize one feature or another, the success of Christianity can only be understood adequately when we fully acknowledge the great variety of factors contributing to the increased popularity of Christianity around the third century CE. Christianity, while ultimately concerned with spiritual salvation, devoted much attention to the physical concerns of many people neglected by the Empire and, consequently, attracted more converts and, subsequently, increased its prominence. Overall, the Roman reactions to Christianity indicate a failure to recognize problems with the Empire in meeting people’s basic needs; at the same time, Christianity’s radical response challenged an impotent conservatism and led to Christianity’s eventual expansion. This rise, however, was met with resistance, often hostile, and not simply from the rich and powerful. Still, as Fox indicates, “Christians spread and increased: no other cult in the Empire grew at anything like the same speed” (271). This growth perhaps can better be understood if we examine: (1) the Roman reactions against Christianity, (2) the rivals with which Christianity competed for converts, and (3) the specific factors associated with Christianity’s increased appeal that garnered more converts. Considerations of the Roman reactions provides the social context in which Christians struggled to practice 3 their faith, emphasizing the opposition Christianity had to overcome to become a significant religious alternative by the time of Constantine. Additionally, recognition of the more relevant rivals to Christianity not only clarifies the challenges it had to confront but also highlights many of the benefits it had to offer. These benefits factored considerably in Christianity’s drawing converts across the Empire. Most significant in Christianity’s success in conversion include its inclusion of women, its response to basic physical needs, its validation by miracles, its defense by its skilled converts, its response to philosophy, and its stability through organization of the church – all of which attracted potential converts and, consequently, augmented Christianity’s base and widened its influence. 4 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION In 1788, indignant at the French upper classes for their neglect and maltreatment of the middle and lower classes, the abbé Emmanuel Joseph Sieyès in “What Is the Third Estate?” proclaimed that the Third Estate is everything “but an everything that is fettered and oppressed” (96). Sieyès’ attack directed toward the French aristocracy and clergy received approval and applause from his intended audience; quite possibly, his words could easily have garnered similar sympathies in the marketplaces of third century CE Rome during the emergence of Christianity. As Ramsay MacMullen states, “[T]he tendency of the empire’s socioeconomic development over five centuries [beginning around the time of Cicero’s birth] can be compressed into three words: fewer have more” (Social 38). Of course, this fact is not meant to imply that conditions in both periods were completely