📝 Summary
In 111–113 AD, Pliny the Younger, governor of Bithynia and Pontus, wrote to Emperor Trajan asking for guidance on how to handle trials of individuals accused of being Christians. The preserved correspondence provides valuable insight into the legal status of Christians, their worship practices, and the imperial policy toward them in the early 2nd century. While the letter doesn’t mention Jesus directly, it offers important historical confirmation that Christianity had spread widely, was taken seriously by Roman officials, and could result in capital punishment for those who refused to renounce their faith.
🧭 Introduction
Pliny the Younger was a Roman lawyer, author, and imperial administrator. His Letters, especially Book 10, Letters 96–97, are one of the most important non-Christian sources on early Christianity. In this correspondence with Emperor Trajan, Pliny describes the growing Christian population in Bithynia and details how he conducted investigations, interrogations, and executions based on Christian identity alone.
This exchange stands out because it’s a neutral administrative document—not polemic or theological—and thus offers objective Roman evidence of how early Christians were viewed and treated by the state.
📩 Pliny to Trajan:
“Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed… For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished…” — Pliny, Letters 10.96
This statement confirms that a significant number of early Christians were willing to face death rather than deny their faith in Christ, providing early, non-Christian documentation that believers were willing to suffer martyrdom for their faith in Christ as early as the beginning of the 2nd century.
🏛️ Trajan’s Response:
“They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished… But whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it—that is, by worshiping our gods—shall obtain pardon through repentance…” — Pliny, Letters 10.97
🔍 What Can We Learn from This?
- Early Christians Were Clearly Recognized
By the early 2nd century, Christianity was already well enough known—and controversial enough—to warrant official legal action. Pliny refers to Christianity as a “superstition”, reflecting the Roman view of non-traditional religions. - Refusal to Worship Roman Gods Was Grounds for Execution
The issue wasn’t belief in Christ per se, but refusal to participate in Roman religious rituals. This demonstrates that early persecution was more about loyalty to the empire than theology. - Christian Worship Practices Are Confirmed
Pliny reports that Christians met on certain days before dawn, sang hymns to Christ “as to a god,” and committed themselves to ethical living. This confirms early Christian worship of Jesus as divine, independent of the New Testament. - Persecution Was Real, but Not Systematic
Trajan’s response shows a measured imperial policy: Christians were not to be hunted down, but if accused and found guilty, they were to be punished. Apostates could be pardoned.
In conclusion, this letter provides powerful circumstantial evidence for the existence, spread, and worship of Jesus by early Christians—and the extreme persecution they faced for their faith.
📚 References
- Pliny the Younger.Epistles, Book 10, Letter 96. Written c. 112 AD.
- Full text accessible via: Perseus Digital Library – Pliny, Epistle 10.96
- Trajan. Response to Pliny, Epistles 10.97.
- Accessible via the same source: Perseus – Pliny, Epistle 10.97
- Pliny the Younger.Letter to Trajan regarding Christians.
- Educational summary and public translation: PBS Frontline
- Habermas, Gary R. The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ. College Press, 1996.
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