The Roman Empire tolerated and even protected Judaism because it was an ancient religion, but it persecuted Christianity because it was new — and its believers claimed a King above Rome.
Les Feldick explains that Rome, pagan as it was, respected any religion that went back into antiquity — and in Rome's eyes, Judaism was as ancient as a religion could be. Christianity, however, appeared as something relatively new, just making its appearance under the empire. Because of this, Rome protected Jewish temple offerings and let the Jews govern their own religious affairs, while it did everything it could to stamp out Christianity.
Acts 7:57-58 — Acts 7:57-58 is the only passage Les cites while answering this question — it records the Jewish religious community stoning Stephen, which Les points to as evidence of Rome's hands-off treatment of Judaism.
The Bible does not directly state why the Roman Empire persecuted Christians while tolerating Judaism. The closest the text comes to illustrating the situation is the account of Stephen's stoning in Acts chapter 7: "Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul" (Acts 7:57-58). The passage simply records the event; it does not explain Rome's policy toward either religion.
Les Feldick explains that the difference came down to antiquity. Rome, he says, was steeped in paganism and mythology and had respect for any religion that was ancient — a religion that went clear back into the antiquities, because it was there before Rome was. In Rome's eyes, Judaism was about as ancient as a religion could get, so Rome put up with it, condescended to it, and for the most part gave Jewish religious people their freedom. The evidence of that toleration was practical. During the seventy years between the crucifixion and the destruction of the temple, huge sums of money from far ends of the Roman Empire traveled to the temple as tithes and offerings, and Rome never intercepted a dime — it gave them safe protection. Rome even allowed the Jews to put their own people to death under their own religious system, something it would never have permitted for a Gentile. Christianity, by contrast, was not an ancient religion. Rome saw it as something relatively new, and on top of that, believers were claiming a King with power above Rome, which infuriated the Romans. Because Christianity lacked the antiquity Rome respected, the empire did everything it could to stamp it out — and that, Les says, is why Christians, unlike Jews, came under massive persecution.
Christianity was new. Les Feldick says that when Christianity made its appearance under the Roman Empire, it was not an ancient religion — it was something new, and so Rome tried every which way to stamp it out. On top of that, believers were claiming a King with power above Rome, which just infuriated the Romans. This is why Christians came under massive persecution while the Jews did not.
For the most part, no. Les Feldick points out that during the seventy years between the crucifixion and the destruction of the temple, huge sums of money from far ends of the empire were sent to the temple, and Rome never intercepted a dime — if anything, it gave the offerings safe protection. Rome also let the Jews handle their own religious system, permitting them to kill their own people in the name of their religion — as at the stoning of Stephen — something it would never have allowed for a Gentile.
Les Feldick acknowledges that the Jews gave Rome a lot of problems, and sometimes Rome came down on them harshly. But for the most part, the Roman Empire gave the Jewish religious people their freedom. Rome condescended to Judaism because it was an ancient religion — one that went back before Rome itself.
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they'll continue to bless hearts. Again, for those of you out in television, we just want to thank you so much for your letters and for your financial help. Because after all, we cannot do this without that old green stuff. We don't like to talk about it, but nevertheless, it's one of the facts of life. But how we do appreciate and all your prayers.
Rome Protected Jewish Temple Offerings
Les shows how far Rome's toleration of Judaism went — the empire gave safe protection to tithes and offerings traveling from across the empire to the temple — and explains that Christianity, being new and claiming a King above Rome, was the target of persecution.
Rome Stamped Out the New Religion
Les explains that Rome condescended to Judaism, even letting Jews execute their own people, but that Christianity — a new religion — was something Rome tried every way to stamp out, producing massive persecution.
Rome Respected Only Ancient Religions
Les answers the paradox directly: pagan Rome respected any ancient religion, Judaism was as ancient as possible in Roman eyes, while Christianity was new — so Rome did everything it could to crush it.
Jews Given Religious Freedom
Les notes that even though the Jews caused Rome problems, the empire for the most part left them free — while the empire was just beginning to turn on Christianity in Paul's day.
Jews Permitted to Execute Their Own
Les uses the stoning of Stephen to show that Rome let the Jews handle their own religious system — a toleration it would never have extended to a Gentile.
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All right, now again let's go back to Romans 11, where we were in our last program for just a second. Unfortunately, it didn't always remain that way. Unfortunately, it wasn't long after Christianity began to permeate the Roman Empire, that instead of causing the Jew to envy, it caused the Jew to hate him.
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Now, here comes Jesus of Nazareth, and he's making inroads into Judaism. And so for a religious fanatic, what does that mean? Got to stamp him out. He is ruining our culture. He's ruining our religion. And so Saul of Tarsus takes the lead in persecuting these Jewish believers who had recognized Christ as their Messiah. And he did everything he could to stamp them out. That's nothing new.
Acts 7:57: Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord,
Les cites this verse to show the Jewish mob action at Stephen's stoning — an execution Rome permitted under the Jews' own religious system.
Acts 7:58: And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
This completes the account Les points to as evidence that Rome allowed the Jews to handle their own religious affairs, in contrast to its persecution of Christianity.
Yes, according to Les Feldick. During the seventy years between the crucifixion and the destruction of the temple, huge sums of money flowed from far ends of the Roman Empire to the temple as tithes and offerings, and Rome never intercepted a dime — it gave them safe protection. This was part of Rome's toleration of Judaism as an ancient religion.
Yes. Les Feldick says Rome condescended to Judaism to the point of giving the Jews permission to put their own people to death — something Rome would never have allowed for a Gentile. The stoning of Stephen is the biblical example Les points to: the Jews were permitted to kill their own in the name of their religion, and Rome did nothing.
In Les Feldick's teaching, that is the core reason. Rome had respect for ancient religions, and Judaism was ancient; Christianity, however, was something new under the empire, and Romans were further infuriated that believers claimed a King above Rome. So the empire tried everything it could to stamp the new faith out.
Watch the Teaching: Why the Gospel Is Hidden From Some People — 2 Corinthians 4:1-4