This is a powerful quote I shared in my sermon on Sunday.
This is a report given by a pagan official, Aristides, to Emperor Hadrian who was seeking justification to outlaw Christianity. It is from the early 2nd century.
“Christians love one another. They never fail to help widows; they save orphans from those who would hurt them. If someone has something, they give freely to the one who has nothing. If they see a stranger, Christians take them home and are happy, as though he were a real brother or sister. They don’t consider themselves siblings in the usual sense, but instead through the Spirit of God. And if they hear that one of them is in jail, or persecuted for professing the name of their redeemer, they give that person what they need. If it is possible, they bail them out. If one of them is poor and there isn’t enough food to go around, they fast several days to give them the food they need. This is really a new kind of person. There is something divine in them.”
