Christianity by the Century: Third Century CE (200-300)

Christianity is most globally recognized today by its focused attention on the suffering of Jesus on the cross. However, this association did not emerge fully formed in the first generation of followers; rather, it was during the third century CE that suffering became a defining marker of Christian identity—socially, politically, and theologically.

While the second century was characterized by a broad spectrum of theological, philosophical, and spiritual explorations—found in the beauty of texts as diverse as those from Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Marcion, Tertullian, Valentinus, and the Gospel of Mary—the third century saw a shift of emphasis among many Christ groups. The identification of ‘Christian’ began to take shape within the context of suffering. Suffering from Roman persecution, suffering in sickness, suffering as martyrs, and suffering in solidarity with Jesus.

The devastating losses of the late second century, particularly the failed Bar Kokhba War, served as the catalyst for this change. The destruction of Jerusalem and the displacement of Jewish followers of Jesus forced these communities to confront the failure of armed resistance and what seemed like a disconnect from the promises of God. In this context, suffering was transformed from an unavoidable tragedy into a meaningful badge of honor.

By the start of the third century, the term ‘Christian’ began to gather specific meaning, appearing most often in the context of martyrdom. To be called a Christian increasingly meant belonging to a sectarian group that opposed the Roman system.

The defiant choice: Perpetua’s commitment to martyrdom

The martyrdom of two young mothers, Perpetua and Felicity, who were executed in North Africa in 203 CE, provides a vivid illustration of the way that embracing suffering defied the power structures of the time. Most specifically, claiming empowerment through the suffering of death by wild animals lessens the power of the state, while defying her father’s pleas undermined the power of the pater familia patriarchy, and in doing so, showed how martyrdom and suffering could bring freedom or even their own form of victory to women, slaves, and lower classes.

When the Roman official Hilarinus demanded that Perpetua offer sacrifice to honor the emperor, she refused. Asked directly, “Are you a Christian?” she answered simply, “I am Christian.” That confession alone was enough to convey opposition to Roman authority. It was enough to condemn both Perpetua and her servant companion, Felicity, to death by wild beasts. Her father came to visit her in prison, begging her to give in. But she continued to deny him, undermining established Roman norms and power structures. In her dream recorded in her prison diary, she is victorious over “the slanderer”—the unclean spirit, or the devil itself.

Her diary tells of her arrest, her spiritual visions, and family conflicts. It reveals the psychological core of the third century:

• The power of the arena: By choosing a “noble death,” she seized a power that Rome could not deny.
• Cultural severance: Despite the grief she knowingly caused her father, she defied him and the entire Roman patriarchal system, thereby aligning herself with a community (‘substitute family’) of fellow sufferers.
• The joy of pain: Her story, and others like it in theActs of the Martyrs, portrayed pain and torture as empowering and victorious rather than humiliating.

She and her companions were not mere victims; they leaned into their suffering. They wanted to be martyred because it was the promise of a new kind of freedom, a new kind of victory.

Suffering Church Fathers

The major Church Fathers, whose importance emerged throughout the rest of the third century, navigated the clashes between the diverse ideas of earlier thinkers like Valentinus, Marcion, and Irenaeus and the emerging interest in creating a unified order of authority—all against the background of an identification with suffering.

Even the most brilliant minds of the era were consumed by this theme. Origen (d. 253 CE), perhaps the greatest scholar of the third century, was raised in an atmosphere of persecution. When his father was arrested for his faith, the young Origen famously wanted to join him in martyrdom. He was only prevented from doing so because his mother hid his clothes, forcing him to stay home. Though he spent his life pondering the intellectual depth of the faith, his foundational worldview remained rooted in the readiness to suffer.

Writing from North Africa, Tertullian (d. 217 CE) famously declared that the blood of martyrs was the ‘seed’ of the Church. Piety, for Tertullian, meant feeding the poor and burying them and caring for orphans and slaves. “Such work of love puts a mark upon us, in the eyes of some. Look, they say, how they love one another, and how they are ready to die for each other” (ch. 39, Apologeticus).

As the mid-century persecutions under Emperor Decius grew more systematic, Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258 CE) became the face of the ‘suffering self’ in leadership. Cyprian spent years navigating the fallout of persecution, famously dealing with those who had ‘lapsed’ under pressure. He ultimately solidified the Christian identity by sealing his testimony with his own blood. His own martyrdom reinforced the idea that the true leader of the Christ people was one who was “happy to suffer” in opposition to Rome.

The suffering mindset of the third century

Although brutal persecutions certainly did occur sporadically, scholars have now come to realize that the extent of martyrdom before the fourth century has been significantly exaggerated through popular and widely circulated stories. Identification with suffering gained popular attention.

The cultural discourse maintained a focus on the sick or suffering body, and suffering was depicted in numerous ways. One could be poor, sick, injured, imprisoned, enslaved, or martyred. The Novatians—one of the communities of Christians—argued that the ‘lapsed’ Christians who denied their faith during Roman persecutions could never be forgiven or readmitted to communion. It was right to suffer persecution.

Men also suffered from women (!) Tertullian was quite displeased with women because they tempted men with pleasure. God’s judgment on their sex would live on, and women were the “Devil’s gateway,” he proclaimed. His solution to the problem was that women ought to “go about in cheap clothes and strive for an appearance characterized by neglect. She would carry herself around like Eve, mourning and penitent…” (“On the Apparel of Women,” quoted from E. Clark, Women in the Early Church, 39). In other words, women ought to suffer too.

By the end of the third century, the ‘suffering self’ had become the predominant theme of the faith. While the earlier—now extracanonical—writings offered a different kind of force and value, they were largely eclipsed by this new, empowered identity. The Church Fathers succeeded in establishing the image of the righteous sufferer, creating an identity so firmly within the cultural and religious context that it outlasted the very Empire that tried to crush it. To be Christian had come to mean, “I am opposed to Rome, and I am happy to suffer in my commitment to the true God, and through my suffering I will demonstrate a higher power than worldly authority.”

Ironically, as we will see in the fourth century, the Christian church ultimately empowered itself from the culture of suffering. Bishops controlled the wealth and influence, as well as the supply of grain—all evidence of their being lovers of the poor, sick, and suffering.

This is the eighth in a series of Bible and Beyond blog posts, Christian History by the Century, focusing on the key developments that influenced Christianity, century by century. Beginning with the fifth century BCE, we have traced historical events and ideas that influenced future generations of those who came to identify themselves as Christian.