Rome often persecuted Christians after disasters such as the Great Fire in Nero's reign.?

Question

What was their rationale for doing this? Why did Roman leaders feel so threatened by Christianity and its followers?

Answer 1

Well, the persecution following the Fire of Rome in AD 60 or thereabouts was because Nero needed a scapegoat for the catastrophe.

There are many theories surrounding the fire's origins that range from spontaneous combustion in a grain supply to fanatical Christians actually starting it to hurry up the Second Coming of Christ (by the way, I don't buy into that second theory) to a plot on the part of Nero to clear ground for new building (I don't think it was that either--besides, Nero wasn't in town when it broke out). Any road, they got the blame because they were a convenient out group, believed to hate humanity, and, being a minority made up mostly of foreigners and slaves (according to the common conception of the average Roman), had no one in high places to defend them.

Your second question is a bit more complex. Other Roman emperors issued edicts against the Christians, too, and it was usually tied to the state cult of worship. The Romans had largely, by the first and second centuries, lost their faith in the old gods of their forefathers, with the exception of the family spirits (the lares and penates, peculiar to each individual family) and, oddly enough, the cult of Vesta (goddess of the hearth, whose priestesses were the Vestal Virgins). The cult of emperor worship pretty much superseded that of Jupiter, Juno, and the lot that had been essentially borowed from the Greek pantheon, although lip service was still paid to them. Moreover, there were a great many religions introduced from the Near East as well (not just Christianity)--cults such as that of Mithras (very popular with soldiers) and Cybele (a mother goddess).

The reason the Romans didn't persecute these other religions as they did the Christian faith is because Christianity emphasized that there was but one God above all, and that He alone was to be worshipped (of course, the Jews also believed this, but the Romans had long recognized the Jewish faith as what they called "religio licita," a legitimate religion--and at first Christianity was given this status because the Romans thought it was simply just another Jewish sect. It was only later that they recognized it as a separate religion and laeled it "religio illicita").

This precluded emperor worship--which not even the Romans really believed in themselves. For the most part it was, to them, just a meaningless act to burn incense to the Emperor's Genius, something that all "good" Romans did and then just went about their daily lives and believed whatever they chose to in private. They couldn't understand why Christians made what they considered to be so much of nothing.

I guess I said all that to say this: the Roman leaders felt very threatened by the Christians' stance because they refused to get with the governmental program. The irony of it is that, in persecuting Christianity, they actually made it grow, because many people saw in the conviction held by Cristians something that their own religions were failing to provide for their followers.

Hence, we have the old observation that "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church."

Answer 2

Because the Christians were atheists, in that they refused to worship the state gods.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that the same bigotry applies in America today. A lot of ignorant people try to deny that the republic was set up as secular, so they imagine that this is what they call a "Christian" (read: fundie) country, and they feel threatened by the existence of those who do not conform to their beliefs.

The Romans blamed the Christians for the Great Fire because they were not worshipping Jupiter and were pissing him off. Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell blame the homosexuals and the ACLU and the Humanists for 9/11. What's the difference?

When oh when, will be ever learn?

Answer 3

Most great empires do not want to blame the status quo for their problems so they blame outsiders because it is an easy tactic to use on a scapegoat. The Christians were considered foreign and were considered cannibals and incestuous because of the views of their faith ,They were also considered atheists or treasonous for they believed Christ was King and God and the Cult of the Divine Roman emperor was considered non existent.

Answer 4

For the same reason that many countries have national religions, and don't permit any other. Many of the Muslim countries are just that.
In a case like the Great Fire it was easy for very superstitious people to believe the Gods were angered by people worshiping a rival God. The rival God was Jesus, so they believed it was the Christians who angered Jupiter and brought on his destruction.

Answer 5

I think they felt threatened because the emperors view themselves as deities answerable to no one. The Christians asserted that everyone--including rulers--were subject to the power of God.