Decian Persecution

Background

In the mid-third century the Roman Empire was undergoing the so-called "Crisis of the Third Century," a combination of foreign invasions, frequent changes of emperor, and economic instability. Decius, who became emperor in 249, is understood to have believed that reviving sacrifice to the traditional Roman gods would bring stability to the empire. His aim was to restore the "peace of the gods" (pax deorum), a state in which the gods had not been provoked to anger. Before this time, the persecutions suffered by the early church had generally been local and sporadic.

Course of Events

• Late 249 or early 250: Decius issued an edict requiring all inhabitants of the empire to sacrifice to the gods. The text of the edict has not survived. Inhabitants were required to offer sacrifice or burn incense before local commissioners and then receive a certificate (Latin libellus) attesting that they had done so. In Egypt, several dozen such certificates dated to around 250 have been discovered among papyrus documents.
• January 250: Fabian, bishop of Rome, was martyred. Babylas, bishop of Antioch, and Alexander, bishop of Jerusalem, are also reported to have died in prison. The theologian Origen was imprisoned and tortured; he died a few years later.
• Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, and Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, went into hiding and guided their churches by letter.
• 251: Decius was killed in battle against the Goths, and the persecution effectively came to an end.

Consequences and Influence

The Problem of the Lapsed

Those who refused to sacrifice and were imprisoned or tortured were honored as "confessors." Many Christians, however, complied with the order to sacrifice. The church called them "the fallen" (Latin lapsi), that is, apostates. A distinction was sometimes drawn between those who had actually sacrificed and those who had merely obtained certificates through bribery or personal connections.

Once the persecution ended, a major question arose: whether the lapsed should be readmitted to Communion, and if so, on what conditions. Some confessors issued "letters of peace" on behalf of the lapsed and demanded that they be received back immediately. Cyprian regarded this as undermining episcopal authority and church order. In 251 a council at Carthage led by Cyprian decided that the lapsed should be readmitted after a period of public penance proportionate to the gravity of their sin. Around this time Cyprian wrote On the Lapsed and On the Unity of the Catholic Church.

The Novatianist Schism

That same year Cornelius was elected bishop of Rome. He favored readmitting the lapsed who had done penance. Novatian, a presbyter of the Roman church, opposed this, holding that the church could not readmit the lapsed. He was consecrated as a rival bishop and formed a separate church, which is reported to have survived for several centuries.

Assessment

Historians generally regard this event as the first organized persecution to extend throughout the entire empire. Opinions differ, however, as to whether the edict was aimed at Christians from the outset or was intended to confirm the religious loyalty of all inhabitants. Either way, there is broad agreement that Christians, whose monotheistic faith left them no choice but to refuse sacrifice, were hit hardest. Another frequently noted feature is that the number of martyrs was relatively small, while the number of the lapsed was large.

In church history, this persecution is regarded as having hastened discussion of church discipline and the penitential system, episcopal authority, and church unity. Similar issues resurfaced during the subsequent Valerian persecution (257–258; Cyprian was martyred in 258) and again after the Great Persecution of the early fourth century. The Catholic Church venerates Fabian, Cornelius, and Cyprian as saints. In Protestantism they are regarded as Church Fathers and martyrs of the early church. In Korean churches, this event is sometimes cited as a point of comparison in discussions of the compulsory Shinto shrine worship under Japanese colonial rule and the post-liberation controversy over the repentance and restoration of those who had taken part in it.