ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to outline some of the key features of Christianity in the period when it was still a minority religion, sometimes subject to persecution by the authorities. The opening passage presents some of the significant distinguishing features of church organisation and practices (2.1), while the second amplifies one of those features which helps to explain Christianity’s attractiveness, namely charitable work of a very practical kind (2.2). The issue of the number of Christians during the first half of the third century is raised (if not answered) by the next two items (2.3, 2.4), and that of the social profile of adherents is highlighted through the evidence presented in 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7. Gnostic teachings, an important facet of the Christian scene during the second century but exercising ongoing influence in the third, are illustrated in 2.8, before turning to pagan reactions to Christianity, first, in the form of philosophical critiques (and Christians responses) (2.9), and second, in the form of persecution. An instance of localised persecution in the 230s, and its intriguing consequences, is described in 2.10, followed by some of the evidence arising from the first empire-wide persecution during the reign of the emperor Decius in 250, including a detailed account of a martyrdom (2.11, 2.12). The chapter concludes with an important item relating to the persecution initiated by the emperor Valerian in the late 250s (2.13).
