Why on Earth Did Anyone Become a Christian in the First Three Centuries? (The Pere Marquette Lecture in Theology)

I am submitting an extraordinarily long review of this short book because of the very great importance of the topic discussed. For the past couple of months I have been continuously engaged in studying Professor Hurtado’s two closely connected 2016 books: “Why on earth did anyone become a Christian in the first three centuries?”, and ‘”Destroyer of the gods - Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World”. Both books deserve a wide readership. I have read both books several times over, as well as reading and re-reading Professor Hurtado's discussions and interviews with five or six other biblical scholars or historians or publisher groups or general news outlets - Tom Holland, Ben Witherington, Baylor University Press, Hurtaado's blog discussions, etc. etc..I happened to get a copy of “Why on earth did anyone become a Christian in the first three centuries?” first. So here is my review of that book..This small book is just a print-out of the 2016 ‘Pere Marquette Lecture in Theology’ delivered by Professor Hurtado. It consists of only 125 pages of actual text, and is an easy one-day read. It is not divided into numbered chapters, but nevertheless there are headings in bold type to indicate what are the main divisions (structurally equivalent to chapters), with further subsidiary headings for the sections within each ‘chapter’. I shall develop my review around this Chapter structure.This book gives an excellent overview of the significant facts about two related subjects: first, the nature and importance of the ‘pagan’ Roman/Greek/Egyptian/Near-Eastern religious world of the first three centuries, and secondly, the birth and spread of early Christianity from its Jewish roots, in that world.But unfortunately, what Professor Hurtado leaves unsaid seriously limits the value of his book. Surprisingly, in Chapter 5 and in his Conclusion (Chapter 6) the author himself admits in the plainest terms that his talk/book did not in fact fulfil the aim which he had equally plainly set out as his aim in chapter 1. I find this to be a serious weakness, as my review will now attempt to show.The book develops as follows.First comes a Foreword giving a brief summary of Professor Hurtado’s distinguished academic background and various university posts. Then come:Ch. 1: Book Title, and introductory remarks by Professor Hurtado. I quote his opening words: “The question I wish to explore in what follows is this: Why on earth did anyone become a Christian in the first three centuries? To phrase the question this way is to indicate at the outset that to become a Christian in that period was typically fraught with serious potential consequences”. He develops this on the next page (p.10): “… scholars have tended to consider early Christianity as a MOVEMENT, A GROUP [my emphasis], exploring what internal characteristics and external conditions may have facilitated its remarkable growth across the early centuries. But I want to focus here on the phenomenon of INDIVIDUALS becoming Christians” [my emphasis].But then, in the next three chapters, Hurtado ignores his stated purpose, and instead just concentrates, like the majority of scholars, on the more general (though very interesting), background provided by the Greco/Roman/Jewish world. Thus he explores:Ch. 2: EARLY CHRISTIAN DIVERSITY (p.15)There were, from earliest times, several groups claiming to be Christian, but differing among themselves. The New Testament (NT) itself, and a multitude of ‘non-canonical’ writings which still exist or were referred to in other writings, show that in addition to ‘proto-orthodox’, mainstream Christianity as witnessed to in the ‘canonical’ NT and in the writings of other ‘approved’ church writers, there existed other groups (Marcionites, Gnostics, Ebionites, etc.) who differed from mainstream Christianity and did not find final approbation from the orthodox Christian ‘church authorities’.Ch. 3: THE SPREAD OF EARLY CHRISTIANITY (p.19)3.1 GeographyHistorical records, Christian and non-Christian, show that Christian believers were soon found (from as early as the time of Paul about the year 35 AD) throughput the Roman empire - all over the Mediterranean shores of Europe, Africa and Asia, and beyond - as far as Britain!,3.2 NumbersRobin Lane Fox is quoted (p.29) as saying that “no other cult in the Empire grew at anything like the same speed … “. But Hurtado adds: “It is difficult, however, to posit actual numbers with any confidence”. Nevertheless many scholars have had a try! Hopkins (pp. 30,31) suggests “perhaps 100 churches (in as many towns) comprising ca. [‘about’] 7,000 believers by 100 CE, and some 200,000 Christians in 200 to 400 towns by 200 CE”.3.3 DemographicsBut then (pp. 32,33) Hurtado asks: what was the social and economic make-up of these churches Several references are ma0e (pp. 33,34,65 …. ) to Pliny’s letter to Emperor Trajan about 110 AD: in Pontus/Bithynia there were many Christians, men and women, young and old, and of various social and economic classes. Even Paul’s letters already hinted at this. Even some members of the ruling political elites seem to have been converted (p. 39). There were very few poor/slave converts; most were middle-class citizens and a few were upper-class – that seems to be generally the case (p. 43).3.4 SummaryMore of the same analysis as in chapter 3. Reference is made to Nero’s blaming Rome’s fire in 64 AD on ‘vast numbers’ of Christians in Rome then.Ch. 4 COSTS AND CONSEQUENCES (pp. 46 -108)This is a key topic for Hurtado, both here and in other writings of his, especially in his hot-off-the-presses companion volume, his 2016 book “Destroyer of the gods - Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World”. . Devotion to the multiple pagan gods was everywhere inbuilt into the worldview and practice of the Roman Empire. Conversion to Christianity would be far more likely to bring alienation from family, business, and political friends, than to bring any public-sector political or economic advantage. Converts could and did risk ostracism, punishment and even execution. We have already made references to Pliny’s letter to Emperor Trajan (about 110 AD), which asked: how should a Roman governor deal with (punish?) converts to Christianity?Hurtado shows that, in spite of some similarities between early Christianity and the surrounding Greco/Roman/Egyptian/Iranian ‘religions’, becoming a Christian was radically distinguishable from becoming an adherent of any other of those other constitutive religious groups in the Empire. Thus:4.1 Political Consequences/Costs (pp.50-61)There was a wide variety of negative consequences if one accepted Paul’s preaching of one God, creator and ruler of all the world, with whom Jesus was intrinsically linked. Belief in this Christian God ‘destroyed’ all the gods of the ‘pagan’ world. Hitherto, veneration of a god or gods permeated every aspect of ‘pagan’ family, political and social life in the Empire. How could a Christian any longer attend public ceremonies or group activities or family social get-togethers , which involved worship of a pagan ‘god’? Political and business progress would be necessarily hampered. Even for his fellow-Jewish initial converts Paul proclaimed that belief in and worship of the Christian God was meant for all mankind, not just for the ethnic Jewish nation - a novel idea for ethnic Israel.4.2 Social Consequences/Costs (pp.61-69)These pages stress the social isolation of the Christian convert. In 1 Thess. and 1 Peter for example, Paul and Peter show that Christians had to wrestle with the problem of sharing, knowingly or unknowingly, in food tainted by a pagan religious association, for example by eating meat which had been first offered in sacrifice to the gods, and was then sold in the markets and served at family or public meals.4.3 Cultured Despisers (pp.69-73)More of the same. Some prominent Roman ‘pagan’ thinkers (e.g. Celsus). argued that Christianity was false philosophy, rather than ‘religion’.4.4 Reasons for the Hostility (pp. 73-94)The chief problem for the convert to Christianity was that Christianity’s belief in one God meant that it rejected all devotion to or any involvement with the multitude of pagan gods worshipped throughout every aspect of Roman life. Also, family break-up was a threat, where one spouse but not both, or children too, converted to Christianity. And what about treating Christian slaves with more respect? Also, Christianity stressed the importance of proper moral conduct in daily life, which was not a major concern of the pagan religions.4.5 Lapsed Christians (p. 94-103)This is not a frequently studied topic by today’s scholars, but early Christian writers (e.g. Eusebius, Cyprian) mention it. Hurtado distinguishes various degrees of ‘lapsing’, from difficulty with a given belief or practice to total abandonment of all Christian involvement.4.6 Summary (pp. 104-108)Four pages repeating the earlier sections of ‘chapter’ 4.---------------------------------------------------------------I now choose to link together Chapters 5 and 6.Chapter 5: WHY ON EARTH? (pages 108 to 129)5.1 The Christian God is a loving God, loving and caring for individuals and nations, not merely some abstract entity remote from the concerns of daily life - a new idea for pagans.5.2 Eternal Life - also a new concept for pagans.Ch. 6: CONCLUSIONS, (pages 128-133)Only in his ‘Chapter’ 5, does Hurtado explicitly attempt, at last, to answer the question he had set as the purpose of his book/talk (see his opening statement in Chapter 1 above). And on page 129 of Chapter 6 (Conclusions) he makes this astonishing statement: “It was not my aim to answer programmatically [what does that last word mean?] the question of why people chose to become Christians in the early centuries, and, in any case, I am well aware of not having done so”. Well, well, well.He continues immediately: “Instead, my major purpose has been to urge the importance of that question, framed particularly in view of the social and political consequences often involved in making that commitment”.I emphasize that that is exactly what Hurtado has been describing throughout his book, but it is not what he said he would be doing. He has been telling us HOW it was: externally, materially, socially, politically, geographically, numerically, that the Christian movement actually arose and spread. But that does not tell us WHY this happened. There is no discussion whatsoever by Hurtado, until just a few passing comments in chapter 5, that the convert could have been, indeed MUST have been, influenced by the CONTENT of Christian BELIEF [my emphasis]. He does finally say, on page 118, but only as an undeveloped comment, what should have been the whole purpose of the book: “[Paul} does seem to describe a kind of ‘cost-benefit’ analysis of his commitment [to Christianity] in Phil. 3.4-11, but the benefits he posits seem all to be essentially based on beliefs about, and his subjective experience of, Christ ‘my Lord’. .. [Paul’s conversion experience] “apparently produced a vibrant sense of being thereafter in what for Paul was a powerful relationship with Christ” (page 118, ref. Phil. 3.4-11 and Gal. 1.15-16).So the most that Hurtado is prepared to concede, after all, is that it would ‘seem’ that ‘apparently’ the crucial reason for accepting Christianity was belief in the CONTENT of the Christian message. [Only ‘seem’ and ‘apparently’?]. Hurtado never develops his own view of this. However, he does quote (p. 123) the plain verdict of John Barclay: “after all that can be said about social trends and sociological models , a decisive ingredient in the spread and IMPACT [italics in text] of early Christianity is in fact early Christian ideology (dare I say, theology?)” - [Barclay’s words].So this is my final plea, my ‘cri de coeur’: Why does Hurtado not EXPOUND this ‘THEOLOGY’, the fact of the Resurrection, and the message of the Risen Christ, God of all the world, bringing salvation to men? Belief in the truth of those historical events and acceptance of that message is the WHY for conversion, as Peter preached in the first chapters of Acts, and Paul preached before the Areopagus in Acts 17, and it is the main thrust of the whole New Testament. We do not find references in the New Testament to Hurtado’s preoccupation with the idea that a major concern of the first converts might have been that conversion might be a route to social climbing, or economic betterment, or whatever, benefits such as the pagan religions might offer. In fact, the New Testament witness is overpoweringly just the opposite: that the way to glory is not only the cross of Christ but the shared cross of each individual Christian life.A most enjoyable and informative read, but what I missed was a focus by Professor Hurtado on the detailed New Testament reply (also sketched out in other Christian writings from the first three centuries) to the specific question Professor Hurtado asked.Therefore a final 3-star rating overall, and not the otherwise-highly-deserved 5-star rating.