Did Christians Deserve Roman Suspicion?

Intro

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female..."—Galatians.
Christianity transcended societal norms by preaching an attitude of equality and empathy.
Their monotheistic religion defied Judasism and the pagan religion of the Romans—their beliefs left them open to judgement.

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Arguable self-exclusion.
Didn't want to integrate with or particiate in quintessential parts of Roman culture.
Didn't attend arena fighting, sacrifices to gods, or theatre—immoral acts.
Didn't attend public spectacles that Romans valued—seen as insulting.
Objection of immoral acts—ill treatment of slaves was common and Christians disapproved.

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Christians refused to worship the Emperor—regarded as disloyal.
Only worshipped one God and believed betrayal of Christ was forbidden—source of great contention.
Christians were accused of being athiests because of their denial of other gods and refual to worship the Emperor—accused of treason to the state.
Refused to join army or do government work (teaching).
Wouldn't take the "Caesar is Lord" oath.
"Nothing in Paul’s writings showed that he had any acquaintance with rabbinical learning."—Kaufmann Kohler, Jewish scholar. Shows that Christians were seen as ignorant of other religions, so why should they be treated with respect?
Seen as irration in their beliefs—viewed as 'supersticious.'
"Deadly superstition"—Tacticus.

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Ignorance of pagan worship led to accusations of cannibalism—consumed the 'body and blood' of Christ.
Accused of incest.
Involved in rituals such as Thyestian feasts and Oedipean sex—the worst acts in Greco-Roman myth and literature.
They spent money on grand occasions and feasts.
Their general unpopularity made others distrust them and treat them with suspicion.

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Cannibal accuations came from false misunderstanding of Christian liturgy—may have taken the words of the Eucharist literally.
Christians emphasised faithful marriage—'Holy Kiss' wrongly seen as adulterous.
Perpetuated by the secrecy of early eucharistic services.
Immoral acts of Gnostic sects were mistaken for acts of Christians.
Justin Martyr said that if accusations against Christians were investigated, no wrongdoing would be found.

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Magnitude of heresy makes accustaions inviable.
Most accustaions were fabricated due to Roman suspicion—not the other way around.
Apologetics helped to combat both heresy and suspicion.

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Accusations left them marginalised—exclusion was not their choice.
Much of the entertainment in theatres was offensive to them.
Many were slaves and persecuted—no freedom to participate in society.
Showed willingness to participate in society despite differences: "we do not look upon the Emperor as God, but we do obey and pray for him."—early apologists.

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