10 November 2020
Memorial of Saint Leo the Great, Pope and Doctor of the Church
Yesterday’s feast of the dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran points to an historical reality: The spread of Christianity. Historians have discussed the spread of Christianity as a movement that started as an obscure modification of Judaism to become the primary religion in the Mediterranean region. Christians can give the reason for this expansion as the providential action of God through Jesus in union with the Holy Spirit continuing to sanctify humanity and providing the means by the church formed by Christ to continue his saving action. This just will not sell at a history conference. Although, a religious reason for the success of the church (as supernatural and providential won’t sell textbooks), is that the reality of the expansion is inescapable. So what reasons are given by those who seek different causes. In part, the answer to the expansion of Christianity rests in today’s first letter of Paul to Titus. In this letter Paul admonishes young and old to lead good moral lives. No doubt a Christian, with his emphasis on charity and morality, stood out in a higher relief than some of his fellow Roman citizens. One of the themes we read in the letters of Paul is his insistence that the life of Christ demands an exterior manifestation of certain actions and avoidance of others. The word martyr in Greek means witness and Paul maintained that all persons were called to Christian martyrdom, meaning, that a real faith required being a witness to others. In some cases, this meant a witness to death, in most cases in meant living a life that represented God’s original intention for humanity. In brief, historians hold that Christianity spread because Christians were good people. Although the idea of moral goodness is not the fullness of the Christian message, it would not be the worst thing if the same accusation was leveled against Christians today.