Accused of Atheism: Why Early Christians Were Seen as Dangerous in Rome | Dr. Larry Hurtado скачать в хорошем качестве

Accused of Atheism: Why Early Christians Were Seen as Dangerous in Rome | Dr. Larry Hurtado

In this lecture, Larry Hurtado, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language, Literature & Theology at the University of Edinburgh, examines one of the most controversial features of early Christianity: its refusal to participate in the religious pluralism of the Roman world. Hurtado situates Christianity within an empire saturated with gods, temples, and cultic practices. Roman religion was fundamentally additive — new gods and cults could be embraced without rejecting old ones. Even popular mystery religions such as Mithras or Isis fit comfortably within this system. What made Christianity different was its cultic exclusivity. Early Christians worshiped only the “true and living God” and His Son, Jesus, refusing to honor any other deities. As a result, they were labeled impious and even atheists — not because they denied the divine, but because they rejected the gods that underpinned Roman social and political life. This refusal was interpreted not merely as a theological disagreement, but as a threat to social cohesion and public order. Hurtado highlights an important contrast with Judaism. Jewish monotheism, though exclusive, was largely tolerated because it was understood as an ethnic and ancestral tradition. Christianity, however, spread rapidly among non-Jews. When Gentiles rejected the gods of their families, cities, and empire, it was perceived as a form of social deviance, destabilizing long-standing religious norms. Drawing on insights from his influential book Destroyer of the Gods, Hurtado argues that this uncompromising exclusivity was not a peripheral feature of early Christianity — it was central to its identity. This lecture sheds light on why Christians were persecuted, misunderstood, and feared, and how their radical definition of worship ultimately reshaped what “religion” itself would come to mean in the Western world. Full Video: Lecture - Larry Hurtado - Early Christian Distinctiveness in the Roman World    • Lecture - Larry Hurtado - Early Christian ...