‘See’, they say, ‘how they love one another’, for they themselves are animated by mutual hatred. “But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. and with the sacred words we nourish our faith, we animate our hope, we make our confidence more steadfast and no less by inculcations of God’s precepts we confirm good habits…īecause they had surrendered so completely to God’s call on their lives, they began to live as the children of God. “ We assemble to read our sacred writings. They assembled not as the end goal, but as a way to equip themselves to be the people God intended them to be and do the work God intended them to do. Christians Were a Fearless and Animated People, Not a Passive ChurchĮarly Christians did not go to church, they were the church they did not attend church services, they impacted their culture as the people of God. And when a child is born to them, they praise God, and if again it chances to die in its infancy, they praise God mightily, as for one who has passed through the world without sins.”ģ. And if any righteous person of their number passes away from this world, they rejoice and give thanks to God and they follow his body as though he were moving from one place to another. “Every morning and all hours on account of the goodness of God toward them, they render praise and laud Him over their food and their drink they render Him thanks.

117-138AD) and described the uncommon joy of early believers: When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.”Īristides presented a letter to the Emperor Hadrian (c. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified they are reviled, and bless they are insulted, and repay the insult with honour they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. They are poor, yet make many rich they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all they are dishonoured, and yet in their very dishonour are glorified. They are unknown and condemned they are put to death, and restored to life. “They love all men, and are persecuted by all. Read these words from unknown author of the Epistle to Diognetes (written c. As a result, regardless of their personal circumstances, they were able to live with joy. In the midst of terrible persecution and hardship, these early believers were able to stay focused on God instead of their own situation. Christians Were Characterized by Uncommon Joy We pray, too, for the emperors, for their ministers and for all in authority, for the welfare of the world, for the prevalence of peace, for the delay of the final consummation.”Ģ. We meet together as an assembly and congregation, that, offering up prayer to God as with united force, we may wrestle with Him in our supplications. “We are a body knit together as such by a common religious profession, by unity of discipline, and by the bond of a common hope. 160-225AD) had to say as he described the young Christian believers: Look at what Tertullian (a church scholar who lived in North Africa c. This common truth and relationship to Christ became the unifying force behind the movement of God. Christians Were Bound and United By A Common TruthĮarly observers of the movement recognized the first believers were committed to an important objective truth claim: Jesus Christ is God Himself and the only way to enter into a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe. The group they formed was, in many ways, very different from what we know as the Church today. The first Christians were revolutionaries. Long before Christianity found a comfortable home in church buildings, it was an active body of passionate believers: Long before Christianity became a dominant political power, it was a divine movement of God. They simply opened their homes, spoke the truth fearlessly and trusted God for the results. And they did it without a single mega-church, television program or website. Christians emerged in the midst a tremendously diverse Roman melting pot of social and religious ideas, and through purely peaceful means completely changed the Empire and united it under the banner of Christianity. As a result, these early Christians brought about the most amazing and powerful transformation the world has ever known. According to the Book of Acts, they met in their homes and devoted themselves to God’s Word.

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