Jones again, commenting on the different treatment of Jews and Christians by the Roman government: “The Jews were a race who practised the traditional worship of their ancestors, and had at an early date, while still a political unit, obtained from Rome legal recognition of their peculiar practices. With their great respect for ancestral custom and legal precedent, the Romans therefore tolerated and even privileged Jews. Christians, on the other hand, were innovators, starting a new cult which, on the face of it, being devoted to a criminal executed by a Roman governor, was undesirable. The governments disliked new cults in general as being liable to cause civil disturbances and only too often to introduce immoral practices, and this particular cult was always occasioning riots and lay under grave suspicion of immorality.”
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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