I recently ran across this historical reminder from theologian Jürgen Moltmann ^[1]’s classic The Crucified God ^[2], and it struck a chord in light of current events:

The early Christians had constantly to defend themselves against the charge of irreligiositas and sacrilegium. In so far as they refused to make the obligatory sacrifices to the gods of the Roman state they drew on themselves the charge of ‘atheism’. This was not meant merely as an abusive description of Christians, but was a formal accusation which resulted in exclusion from society as ‘enemies of the human race’. Justin ^[3] readily admitted his Christian atheism, which consisted of a denial of the gods of the state, and with regard to these ’so-called gods’ confessed himself to be an ‘atheist.’

The pseudo-criminal charge of atheism was part and parcel of the sporadic persecution of the early church in Roman society, resulting in martyrdom for even the “atheist” Justin Martyr.

Reading this passage resonated with me on two levels:

• It reveals the historical ironies in recent “atheist” attacks on a belief in God, à la Richard Dawkins The God Delusion. In political or sociological terms, Christians were in many ways the first atheists. This turns the tables on the whole debate in more ways than one. Historically speaking, it would seem atheism is in the mind of the beholder.
• The Roman charge of “atheism” was more about politics than theology. Christians weren’t buying into the imperialist cult of Caesar. As such, their religious beliefs were, to put it in contemporary terms, patently unpatriotic. They paid for their lack of patriotism with the vitriol of social marginalization and, in many cases, with blood.

Of course, Constantine changed all that. But it makes one wonder…. Were I not to necessarily believe in the same god as the god of “God Bless (or Damn) America,” should I, along with Justin Martyr, consider myself a “Christian atheist”?