New book project on the political legacy of second century Christianity.

Many books have been obsessed with the “origins” of Christianity in the first century, yet the second century was actually the more formative moment for the new faith. To understand this period is essential to truly grasp the shape of what Christianity becomes. What happened in these years laid a crucial foundation that guides the religion even now.

Unfortunately, the details of the Christian second century are largely unknown to the modern reader. The names, topics, and historical issues are unfamiliar. At most, people have some concept of the basic outline of the story—that Christians were a persecuted minority in the beginning but eventually rose to take over the Roman Empire under Constantine in the fourth century. In fact, the stories of Christian persecution continue to animate modern Christian Nationalist myths in which Christians are once again persecuted.

This proposed book project calls into question this popular narrative of Christian persecution, not by suggesting that it didn’t happen (though it was less extensive than often imagined). Rather, what is rarely understood about early Christianity is how this persecution incentivized early Christians to exercise unjust power themselves—long before they laid claim to the Roman throne.

This research exposes a tendency among early Christians to adopt the values of their persecutors rather than become empathetic to others subjected to power. Christians were fierce critics of Roman injustice toward themselves. Yet, early Christians believed that they were the rightful wielders of such immense authority. Christian resistance to Roman power was drenched with a desire for it.