I know he did persecute christians and his motives for it. But why did he make an exception for the Jews?
Responses (1)
Roman authorities respected tradition in religion and the Jews were following the beliefs and practices of their ancestors.
In contrast, the Christians were a new phenomenon, and one that did not seem like a religion to Roman authorities at all; both the earliest extant Roman references to Christianity, Pliny the Younger and Tacitus in his Annals about 116, refer to Christianity as superstition, having an excessive religiosity that was socially disruptive.
They perceive that Christians had abandoned the religion of their forefathers, and were seeking to convert others, which seemed dangerous to the Romans;
Also refusal to sacrifice for the Emperor's well-being appeared seditious.
I do not recalll that the Romans acted our of fear of another Jewish revolt, however it is not far fetched to assue that the Jews continued to plolitically engender animosity towards Christians.
Historian K.S.Latourette stated theat Christian refused to participate in pagan ceremonies and thus were dubbed atheists.
Through their abstension from much of the community life such as festivals and public amusements they were derided as haters of the human race.
It was said that they met together at night and practised unspeakeable acts.
The fact that the "Memorial" (not to be confused with the birth) of Christ's death was celebrated only in the presence of believers fed the rumors that Christians regularly sacrificed someone and commited ,......
In addition, because the early Christians refused to practice emperor worship, they were accused of being enemies of the State.
It was mainly their refusal to practice emperor worship and idolatry, forsake their christian meetings, and stop preaching the gospel that brought the Roman persecution.
Decius is just one amongst a long list of Christian persecutors, (Nero, Domitian, Marcus Aurelius, Septimius Severus, and Diocletian are some others.
Thank you very much for your answer!
Thank you for your answer! So the main point is, that Jews 1. practiced their religion in traditional ways, just like the Romans did, so the Romans sort of identified with them 2. did not (actively) try to convert other people (is this a right conclusion, following your answer?)
So they did not annoy the Roman authorities as much as the christians. Is it also true emperor Decius was trying to avoid a feared rebellion of the Jews (like before)?
Sorry for any errors, as English is not my first language.