(This is a continuation of the guest post series by Jacob Head, Christians in the Legions.)

I’ve come across some rather interesting statements from early Christians:

Tatian:

I do not want to rule, I do not wish to be rich, I reject military command, I have hated fornication. (Oration 11)

Tertullian:

But now inquiry is made about this point, whether a believer is able to turn himself to military service, and whether the soldier may be admitted unto the faith, even the ordinary soldier of the lower ranks, to whom there is no necessity for taking part in sacrifices or capital punishments?

There is no agreement between the divine and the human oath, the standard of Christ and the standard of the devil [in reference to the Bellorum Deos and Rome], the camp of light and the camp of darkness. One soul cannot be under obligation to two, God and Caesar… But how will a Christian war, indeed how will he serve even in peace without a sword, which the Lord has taken away?… The Lord, in disarming Peter, unbelted every soldier. (On Idolatry 19)

Hippolytus:

A soldier of the government must be told not to execute men; if he should be ordered to do it, he shall not do it. He must be told not to take the military oath. If he will not agree, let him be rejected [from baptism]. A military governor or magistrate of a city who wears the purple, either let him desist or let him be rejected. If a catechumen or a baptized Christian wishes to become a soldier, let him be cast out. For he has despised God. (Apostolic Tradition 16.17-19)

It is not till the second century that we can read of any Christian participation in the Legions.

Even then, Christian involvement is inconclusive and vague (i.e. the “Thundering Legion” incident). The contemporary apologetic writing Against Celsus inherently makes a strong case for the incident’s over dramatization and isolation.

Origen’s arguments against Christian participation here are impressive and it would still take another century before warmongering, or even political involvement, was tentatively accepted; a time in which many of Christianity’s core values had long been corrupted beyond recognition.

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