Отношение к христианам со стороны языческого населения

The pagan population en masse greeted the confessors of the new religion with distrust and even hatred. His hostile attitude towards Christians manifested itself in cities and provinces almost every time they learned about the appearance of a Christian community in the city. This is a completely reliable fact, confirmed by both secular and church sources. Even the Roman government condemned Christians mostly on charges from the people. Often government officials were ready to release Christians, but the mood of the people prompted them to pronounce death sentences against them. What were the motives for this hatred, which amazed Christians? There were a number of reasons which make it clear how public opinion took such a hostile direction towards Christians. In the first place it is necessary to put a unique structure of the religious life of pagan society. We are so accustomed to forming our opinion about the religious life of the population of the Greco-Roman Empire on the basis of the great classical writers that we imperceptibly identify their attitude towards popular religion with the attitude of the people themselves towards it; and yet it is difficult to imagine a more erroneous conclusion than this. But if we wish to correctly understand and appreciate the manifestations of religious faith in Greco-Roman history, we must once and for all exclude from consideration the thoughts of the great aristocrats and turn our attention to writers standing on a more authentic popular level. That the people held fast to polytheistic beliefs and, if necessary, were able to defend them with extreme fanaticism, is certainly true. The death of Socrates is sufficient proof of this. True, this happened in the 5th century. 310 to P. X. Subsequent times have been marked by continuous intellectual progress with a predominant skeptical tendency, so that it is difficult to expect to find the same general dominance of sincere faith after six centuries. During this long period, poets and philosophers continued to destroy and ridicule folk mythology. They addressed an ever-widening circle of listeners; they pointed directly to the fact that few of those in prominent positions professed a religious faith; they proved with amazing effect the impotence of the gods - hence the logical conclusion that a religion professing such gods should be recognized as a lie. However, it is certain that the people did not reach such an apparently natural conclusion. Skeptical philosophy could not satisfy the needs of even the educated classes and, with rare exceptions, never touched the lower classes of society. The mass of people have never been without belief in the supernatural. That a sincere conviction in the truth of the pagan religion continued to dominate among the pagan people until later times is evidenced by, for example, Tertullian and Augustine; otherwise these writers would not have fought it so vigorously. The foundations of this phenomenon lie in the universal attraction of the human spirit to religious faith. With a lack of sound faith, attachment remained to the often rejected legends of mythology as the only trace left by something standing above the crude reality of the visible world, as the only link that connected the spirit with the sublime and happy past. Peoples like the Gauls, who had no developed mythology, or like the Asiatic tribes, for whom force serves as a symbol of deity, no doubt accepted the apotheosis of Caesar as something more than a device of state policy. If they did not consider the emperor a real deity, then in any case they looked at him as a representative of heaven. And in the general decline of spiritual and moral life, this could seem to be the only barrier against pure materialism and was maintained with unreasonable and desperate efforts. For these and other reasons, by the end of the 1st century. The Christian era revealed clear signs of a religious reaction against the skepticism of philosophers and the intelligent classes. In the second century the pagan reaction intensified, and the age of the Antonines was the time of its greatest flowering. The construction of churches, the establishment of new states of priests, the multiplication of religious rites and festivals provide convincing evidence of this fact. For various reasons, the government took the revival of paganism under its protection. As a result, religious feeling among the masses became extremely and even painfully active. The physical explanation of mythology, which satisfied the people of science, did not attract the common people. But for him other ways of understanding mythology were found, namely, in reconciling it with religious feeling through the identification of the ancient gods with those intermediate spiritual beings who act as agents of the supreme God in the material world. These spiritual beings, who were given the name demons (δαίμονας), possessed to some extent a corporeal nature and almost all areas of human life were given over to their dominance. They could be worshiped under the ancient familiar names of the gods, and the human spirit found satisfaction in its desire for union with the invisible world. This teaching responded so deeply to the needs of the age that it was accepted by a significant part of humanity. And belief in demons, in their omnipresence, in their constant influence on the world, history and man, is one of the characteristic and strikingly peculiar aspects of the Hellenic worldview, among which primitive Christianity revolved. Not only pagan idolaters, but also Christian apologists adhered to this view. But while some discovered in this teaching a new source of religious satisfaction, to others it seemed like a terrible blindness, as a result of which the forces of evil were mistaken for the forces of good. The majority of apologists recognize the reality of these mediating beings and do not doubt their influence on the minds of people, and no small part of their argument consists in proving the incontestable evidence of their evil nature and the intolerable slavery to which they lead the human race. This same popular reformation of paganism had a strong influence on purer and more pious minds. If we pay attention to the double conflict into which the Church entered: on the one hand - with crude paganism, on the other hand - with its more sublime esoteric forms, we will notice that in both cases the attitude of Christian apologists was different: in the first case it was decisive hostility, without any compromise, in the other - a more sympathetic attitude, when the goal towards which reformed paganism was aimed, but also negative when the means recommended by him for this are weighed, which seem to be an empty shadow of the real method of salvation. But there is no doubt that from both sources of renewed religious vitality there arose a sincere, if perverse, religious enthusiasm. Therefore, it would be unfair to popular paganism to see in it only a blind, unreasonable hatred of Christianity; it was a real force with which Christianity had to reckon, and the seemingly tedious lengthy discussions of the apologists about the folly and obscenity of the pagan religion with its mythology answered the urgent needs of modern life. But if we turn even to that usually large middle class, which does not share the religious enthusiasm of the people, possessing a certain degree of education, but is not completely imbued with philosophical skepticism, then here too we will encounter a mood with which Christianity had to take it very seriously. Conservative in their mood, such people firmly adhere to the religion in which they were born, not by choice, not by inclination, but out of decency, out of love for tranquility; They are not dreamers, not mystics - on the contrary, they even doubt a little, sometimes they laugh at something, but they are reluctant to allow attempts to shake them in traditional views and are easily inflamed with anger against those who seek to introduce innovations in religious matters. A representative of this class of people is Caecilius in the dialogue called Octavius, which Minucius Felix wrote in defense of Christianity. In Christianity, nothing arouses the wrath of Caecilius more than the fact that it proclaims itself the owner of exact truth. “It is worthy of indignation or condolences that some uneducated, ignorant, alien concepts of the simplest arts dare to talk about the essence of things and the Divine, about which philosophers of various schools have been arguing among themselves for so many centuries... The limitations of the human mind are so far from the knowledge of God that it is inaccessible to him either what is above them in the sky, or what is contained in the deep bowels of the earth; it is not given to him to know and comprehend this, and it is even wicked to try to penetrate these secrets.” But despite his skepticism, he strictly adheres to traditional beliefs. "When... Everywhere you encounter either a decisive case or a mysterious nature, is it not best and most honorable to follow the lessons of our ancestors as guarantees of truth, to adhere to a faithful religion, to honor the gods whom our parents taught us to fear before we knew them better? “Although the nature and origin of the gods are unknown to us, all nations agree and firmly believe in their existence, so I cannot endure such insolence, the wicked recklessness of those people who would reject or destroy a religion so ancient, so useful and saving” (Octav. 5; 6; 8). And Caecilius, who did not at all belong to the mob, nevertheless pronounces a merciless sentence on Christianity: “Since wickedness spreads rather through the corruption of morals that is becoming more and more intense every day, the terrible sanctuaries of this society are multiplied and filled throughout the world. It must be completely eradicated, destroyed” (Octav. 9). These were the religious foundations that determined society’s attitude towards Christians. Keeping them in mind, we will understand that the pagans could not put up with the negative attitude of Christians towards what in religious and social life constituted the pride and joy of the population: whoever became a Christian no longer revered the domestic gods, did not participate in the festivities, processions and games that were established in honor of them. Christians did not bow before the gods and did not burn incense before them - in general, these were people who broke with everything that the people revered and that they received from their fathers as a dear heritage. For the pagans, the spiritual worship of Christians was completely incomprehensible: without temples and images, without altars and sacrifices, not a single pagan could imagine a religious cult. If Christians did not have all this, then they did not have God. True, they spoke of an invisible, omnipresent God, but for the pagans this was incomprehensible. “What wonders, what strange things Christians invent! - says Caecilius. - They say that their God, Whom they cannot see or show to others, carefully monitors the morals of all people, the deeds, words and even secret thoughts of every person, penetrates everywhere and is present everywhere; Thus, they present Him as constantly restless, preoccupied and shamelessly curious, for He is present in all things, is in all places and therefore, occupied with the whole world, cannot embrace its parts or, distracted by the parts, pay attention to the whole” (Octav. 10). The Invisible God was not God to the pagans. Therefore, Christians were atheists for them. “Down with the atheists!” - was a common cry of popular fury during persecution. Atheist Christians were to suffer the wrath of the gods; In relation to these wicked people, the celestial beings are perhaps too merciful and long-suffering, but because of them the innocent crowd of their pious worshipers is punished with severe trials. Further, the pagan could not grasp the very idea of ​​​​the possibility of a new religion. The dignity and truth of a religion is determined by its antiquity: “The sanctity of rites and sacred institutions is all the more elevated the more ancient they are” (Octav. 6). Christianity is a completely new religion, therefore, in the view of a pagan, false. How persistent this objection to Christianity was and how strong it seemed, is evidenced by the persistence with which apologists prove the antiquity of the Christian religion. The church and social life of Christians aroused even more bewilderment, suspicion and enmity among the pagans. The less they knew Christianity, the more strange and contrary to existing views it seemed to them, the easier all kinds of rumors arose, and the more contradictory they were, the easier they found access not only among the crowd, which is always gullible, but even in broad and ruling circles. The close connection between Christians, their brotherly love, their unity to death, they thought, can only be explained by the fact that they were bound in a secret criminal society by a terrible oath and terrible rituals. Here arose that spirit of mistrust, which served as good soil for the development of hostile prejudice and rumors, predisposing to believe everything bad and suspicious about hated people. They began to look at Christians as morally corrupt, light-fearing criminals. They drew attention to the fact that they stayed away from public life, from celebrations and amusements, where honest citizens who were friendly to each other gathered; that they were silent in public places, but met in secret and there they talked a lot with each other. This seemed extremely suspicious - were all sorts of crimes being planned there that were afraid of daylight? Further, Christians display an amazing passion for sinners, and anyone who leads even the most seductive life turns out to be desirable to them if only he joins them. The suppers of love and the partaking of the Body and Blood of Christ in the sacrament of the Eucharist in a suspiciously inclined imagination turned into Thyestes' suppers and Oedipal incest. In what form these accusations and slander were widespread in society, Minucius Felix speaks about this in particular detail, putting them into the mouth of the pagan Caecilius. “Shouldn’t we,” he says, “regret that people of a pitiful, forbidden, despicable sect boldly rebel against the gods, who recruit followers into their wicked society from the very filth of the people, from gullible women, deluded by the frivolity of their sex, people who in nightly meetings with their solemn fasts and inhuman dishes come together not for sacred rites, but for abominations. These are people hiding, running around the world, mute in society, talkative in their hiding places...” “These people recognize each other by special secret signs and have love for each other, without even knowing each other; Everywhere between them some kind of love connection is formed; they call each other indiscriminately brothers and sisters in order to turn ordinary fornication into incest through the sacred name: thus their empty and senseless superstition boasts of their vices. If there were no truth in this, then insightful rumors would not have attributed to them so many disgusting atrocities. It is heard that, out of I don’t know what absurd conviction, they venerate the head of the lowest animal, the head of a donkey: a religion worthy of the morals from which it arose! Others say that they honor the genitalia of their primate and priest and reverence, as it were, their actual parent. I don’t know, maybe all this is false, but the suspicion is very much justified by their secret nightly religious services. They also say that they honor a person punished for a crime with a terrible punishment, and the inglorious tree of the cross - this means that they have altars suitable for villains and robbers, and they honor what they themselves deserve. What they say about the ritual of accepting new members into their society is known to everyone and is no less terrible. They say that the initiate into their society is offered a baby, which, in order to deceive the unwary, is covered with flour, and he, deceived by the sight of flour, at the invitation to make seemingly innocent blows, inflicts deep wounds that kill the baby, and then - oh wickedness! - those present greedily drink his blood and share his members among themselves. This is the sacrifice that seals their union with each other, and the consciousness of such an atrocity obliges them to mutual silence. Such sacred rites are more terrible than any desecration of a shrine. And their suppers are known; Everyone is talking about this, this is evidenced by the speech of our Cirtinian orator (Cornelius Fronto). On the day of the sun they gather for a common supper with all children, sisters, mothers, without distinction of gender or age. When, after various dishes, the feast flares up and the wine ignites the heat of lust in them, then a piece of meat is thrown to a dog tied to a candlestick at a distance greater than the length of the rope with which it is tied: the dog, rushing and making a jump, overturns and extinguishes the lamp; in the darkness that knows no shame, such manifestations of lust begin with whomever happens, which cannot even be discussed. Thus, all of them, if not by deed itself, then in conscience, become incestuous, because they all participate by their desire in what may happen in the action of one or another. I am keeping silent about many things, because what has already been said is enough; and the truth of all, or at least the greater part of it, is demonstrated by the very mystery of this depraved religion. Indeed, why do they try in every possible way to hide and make secret for others what they honor, when praiseworthy deeds are usually performed openly and only criminal deeds are hidden? Why do they not have any churches, no altars, or generally accepted images? Why do they not dare to speak openly and hold their meetings freely, if not because what they honor and so carefully conceal is worthy of punishment or shameful?” (Octav. 8; 9–10). The most dangerous thing for Christians was that these accusations also had a political side or could easily be explained in a political sense. Since public life was entirely permeated with paganism, Christians had to evade it; but very unfavorable conclusions were drawn from this. It was clear to everyone that the interests of Christians lay, in any case, not in the Roman state, not in its greatness and glory, and that they did not live for the fatherland and the state, as befits citizens. While pagan religions are national, Christianity is a universal religion, a religion for all peoples; Therefore, Christianity appears to pagan society as anti-national, and their community, firmly united in faith and isolated from other people, is a dangerous faction in the state. Christians gave enough reasons and grounds for such political suspicions. Whether the emperor's birthday was celebrated, the houses of Christians in the illuminated city remained dark; whether feasts were held in honor of any victory - not a single Christian was present in the circus or amphitheater. For a Christian to burn incense in honor of the emperor, to reverently honor his image, to swear by the genius of Caesar was tantamount to falling into idolatry. The natural conclusion was that they were enemies of Caesar and guilty of lèse-majesté. From this point of view, in what light should the hopes of Christians regarding the immediate future of the pagans be presented, for whom the durable existence of Rome, the “eternal city,” was an immutable truth? What feelings should the people feel towards a secret, suspicious society that passionately longed for the imminent end of the world, prayed for it, wished for the coming of the day when fire from heaven would destroy the universe, triumphantly depicted how huge numbers of those who did not belong to them would then pass into painful, eternal torment? It called the proud building of the Roman kingdom, this majestic empire, in the cult of which many cities of the East competed, the work of Satan and predicted a terrible end for it. Naturally, some saw in these hopes a manifestation of ignorance and immense superstition, about which prudent people should not worry. But others here saw dangerous signs of a malicious mood, hatred of the human race. Do Christians not possess some secret magical knowledge with which they force hostile superhuman beings to serve them? Could they send dark demons to the world they hate? Their writings and speeches so often mention spirits, angels, demons and various superhuman beings. Finally, if this or that misfortune or amazing event is caused by the magic of Christians, then should we not expect even more serious disasters in the future? Of course, the opinion that Christians had regarding the pagans, their lives and aspirations could not remain unknown to the people. If Christians in their circle considered the pagans to be under the power of evil forces, doomed to inevitable destruction, then it is natural that corresponding views and expressions were generated on the other side. Finally, the spread of Christianity affected many personal interests, which is always a source of heightened feelings and intense relationships. Despite all the unfavorable conditions, Christianity attracted many people; Christian communities arose and grew quickly, and news of their teachings and morals was transmitted from city to city, seeking and finding adherents of the new teaching everywhere. Due to the negative attitude of Christians towards the world and everything connected with it, belonging to a new society necessarily destroyed many old ties. A member of a pagan family, having become a Christian, became alienated from his closest relatives. He drew a sharp line between himself and those around him so as not to stain himself with the cult of demons, which, according to the teachings of his new brotherhood, permeated all family life, all the customs that surrounded the sad and joyful days of family life. On many occasions the word of the Savior was fulfilled: “Do you think that I came to give peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but division; for from now on five in one house will be divided, three against two, and two against three; the father will be against the son, and the son against the father; mother against daughter, and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Luke 12:51–53). The spread of Christianity further damaged some branches of crafts. The cult of the gods provided a means of livelihood for many people, from high priests to humble incense merchants, and the propaganda of Christianity reduced the income of all of them. It goes without saying that all such people were filled with rage against the new godless sect of Christians and tried to arouse it in others. The combination of all these views and feelings of the people had the consequence that the population of the Greco-Roman Empire, giving from its midst numerous followers of the new religion, turned out to be the most cruel and stubborn enemy of Christianity. More precisely, at the beginning of the 4th century. (399). – Ed.