Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84Plough Quarterly • Spring 2016 43 In what follows, I do not seek to paint a romantic, glorified picture of a flawless and heroic early Christianity. Even at that time, the church contained shocking wretchedness, woeful cowardice, and heavy guilt. Nevertheless, since nowadays it is Christian criminality that gets the most attention, we must speak about the other side: the early church’s faithfulness to the gospel. What’s more, we must examine not only what the Christians were, but also what they wanted to be. What matters for the questions before us is not only the degree of success in realizing Jesus’ teaching, but also the mode of consciousness that shapes behavior. Did the Sermon on the Mount form part of the early church’s consciousness? Was there a living awareness of Jesus’ demand for nonviolence? If we phrase the question in that way, we stumble on a fascinating phenomenon. The Book of Isaiah, chapter 2, describes how one day the Gentile nations would come to Mount Zion. 8 They would come to leave behind their desperation, their existential fear, and the horrors of their incessant wars. They would come to learn from Israel – above all, to learn how these devastating wars could be ended. For from Zion goes forth the decisive, enlightening word of God. This is the context for the famous words: “They [the Gentile nations] shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore” (Isa. 2:4). The theologians of the early church understood this prophetic word to refer to the Gentile church. 9 They said: Mount Zion is the church. From there the word of Jesus goes forth. We, as Gentile Christians, are making our way to the true God. When we were baptized, we learned to lay down our weapons; we turned our swords and spears into tools for peace. We are no longer learning war. Isaiah 2 has been fulfilled; the prophecy has become reality. We no longer use violence. It would be gratifying if what the theologians wrote was actually lived out in Christian communities. Here is where we can draw on the so-called apologists. 10 The apologists, several of whom had been pagan philosophers before becoming Christians, wrote defenses of the life of the Christians. Because Christians refused to participate in many pagan traditions and practices, they were accused of “hatred of humanity” and of all kinds of depravity. 11 In response, the apologists described the actual life of their fellow believers. Running throughout their writings is an enormous, unshakable confidence that Christian praxis has a persuasive power in and of itself. Repeatedly the apologists tell their pagan readers: not only do we have the true philosophy, but we also have the right practice, and both are closely connected. For example, Athenagoras of Athens writes in his Legatio (AD 177): Among us, you will find uneducated persons, and artisans, and old women, who, even if they cannot prove the benefit of [our faith] through words, through their 8 See M. P. Maier, Völkerwallfahrt im Jesaja-Buch (Walter de Gruyter, 2015). 9 Lohfink, Wem gilt die Bergpredigt?, 161–192. 10 Sources in G. Lohfink, Wie hat Jesus Gemeinde gewollt?, rev. ed. (Verlag Katholisches Bibelwerk, 2015), part 4. 11 E.g., Tacitus, Annals, XV 44:2–5. When we were baptized, we learned to lay down our weapons. The prophecy of Isaiah has become reality.