On the Name "Christian"

Roman Requirements for Religions

In the ancient world of the first century, the Roman government demanded that religions pay homage to the Roman gods and the Emperor, in order to ensure the pax deorum (peace of the gods). To the Romans, skipping these rituals wasn’t seen as a “personal lifestyle choice.” Because civic success, military victories, and weather for crops were thought to be directly granted by the gods, failure to participate in these rituals was viewed as treason and visual atheism.

The rituals looked like this:

1. The Imperial Cult: Pinching Incense for the Emperor

The most common and politically charged test of loyalty was offering a sacrifice to the Genius (the divine guiding spirit) of the living Emperor, or directly to a deceased, deified Emperor.

• The Practical Ritual: You would walk up to a small altar set up in a public square or government building, usually positioned in front of a statue of the Emperor. You would take a small pinch of incense, drop it onto the burning coals of the altar, and pour a small libation (a drink offering of wine).

• The Verbal Vow: As you dropped the incense, you would make a short proclamation, such as “Caesar is Lord” (Kaisar Kyrios in Greek).

• The Legal Certificate: During times of intense imperial persecution, Roman officials would actually issue you a signed paper certificate called a libellus. This paper proved to the local magistrates that you had complied with the law, sacrificed to the gods, and tasted the sacrificial meat.

2. Civic Festivals and Guild Sacrifices

Religion and the economy were completely intertwined. If you were a tradesman in the Roman Empire—a tentmaker, a metalworker, a mason—you belonged to a professional guild (collegium).

• The Guild Meetings: Every guild had a patron deity. Meetings were held in temples or public halls, and they always began with a sacrifice to that god.

• The Feast: After the animal was sacrificed, the meat was cooked and served as the main course of the banquet.

• The Dilemma for Believers: Refusing to attend meant losing your professional network and livelihood. Attending meant eating meat that had just been dedicated to an idol—a massive theological crisis that dominates Paul’s letters (like 1 Corinthians 8).

3. Household Shrines (Lararia)

Homage wasn’t just a massive public event; it started at home. Every traditional Roman household had a lararium, a small domestic shrine.

• Daily Rituals: The head of the household (paterfamilias) would lead the family and household servants in daily prayers and small offerings—like throwing a bit of cake, fruit, or wine into the family hearth.

• The Gods Invoked: These prayers were offered to the Lares (guardian spirits of the household), the Penates (gods of the storeroom), and the Genius of the head of the house. To refuse to participate as a family member or slave was seen as a direct act of rebellion against the family unit.

The Jewish Exception

The Jews, however, were uncompromisingly monotheistic, and refused to participate in the required Roman rituals, even to the point of rebellion, and even to death. The Romans, rather than constantly struggle with this “stubborn” faction of the people, granted an exception to Jews, so that they were not required to worship the Roman gods or the Emperor as long as they prayed for the Emperor to their own God.

Why the Christians Stood Out

Early in the Christ movement, when the believers were exclusively Jewish, the Roman authorities could just classify followers of The Way as Jews, and grant them the usual exception.

But when non-Jews started joining the Christ movement, the Romans could see these weren’t Jews. But they were also refusing to participate in the Roman rituals, instead, claiming that “Jesus is Lord”, subverting the required “Caesar is Lord”, and “refusing to bow before the image of the beast” (Rev 13:15).

Now the Romans had a group that wasn’t Jewish, but they were acting traitorously and atheisticly (in the eyes of Rome) by refusing to participate in the Roman requirements for national and religious loyalty to Rome and the Emperor. The Romans could see that this group was centered on “Christ”, so it made sense to identify them, not as Jews, not as loyal Roman subjects, but as Christianoi, “those of Christ”. This became the legal classification for this new religion.

When the Christianoi refused to pinch the incense, or skipped the guild feasts, or refused to honor the household gods, the Romans genuinely believed these “atheists” were risking the anger of the gods upon the whole city. The moment Gentiles joined “The Way”, they lost their legal cover, and their refusal to do these simple daily acts suddenly became a capital offense.

When Paul was questioned by King Agrippa II, the Jewish heir to the Jewish ruling dynasty, who had been raised in Rome and appointed as a puppet-king by the Romans, Agrippa did not ask, “Are you trying to persuade me to be a Messianic Jew”, or a “Messiah-person”, or a member of “the Way”. Instead, Agrippa used legal Roman court-room language: “Are you trying to persuade me to be of this cultic, traitorous, atheistic religion known as ‘Christian’?”

Peter encourages his readers who are trapped between walking according to The Way and simple survival in the Roman world:

Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters. But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey the Good News of God? “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?” Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator.

— 1 Peter 4:12-19