christian-philosophy

Arnobius of Sicca (c. AD 295–305): Writing Christianity in a Dangerous World

/ Jason Conrad / Leave a comment

When Arnobius of Sicca wrote Against the Nations near the end of the third century, Christianity was still an illegal religion within the Roman Empire. The church did not yet possess legal protection, public buildings, or imperial favor. What it possessed instead was memory. Christian communities remembered the systematic, empire-wide enforcement of sacrifice under Emperor Decius (r. AD 249–251), which lasted for roughly eighteen months and forced believers publicly to choose between compliance and punishment. They also remembered the targeted measures that followed under Emperor Valerian (r. AD 253–260), which struck at bishops and clergy and confirmed that Christianity remained vulnerable to state power.

Even in the years when no universal persecution edict was in force, Christianity was not a protected religion. Enforcement depended on local officials. Public identification with the Christian name could still result in interrogation, trial, imprisonment, or execution. The absence of an imperial decree did not mean peace. It meant unpredictability.

This was the historical climate in which Arnobius wrote, and it explains why his work exists at all.

Our only explicit ancient explanation for the origin of Against the Nations comes from Jerome (c. AD 347–420), writing in On Illustrious Men.

“Arnobius, a rhetorician of Africa, wrote books Against the Nations which are extant. He was at first a most bitter opponent of the Christian religion, but afterward, having been converted to the faith, he was compelled by the bishop to write books against the pagans, in order to prove the sincerity of his conversion.”
— Jerome, On Illustrious Men 79

Jerome’s statement is restrained and factual. Arnobius had opposed Christianity. His conversion was recent. His sincerity was questioned. The response required of him was not a private confession or a quiet period of probation, but a public literary defense of the Christian faith.

Arnobius himself confirms both his recent conversion and the defensive purpose of his work.

“We are newly come, it is true, to the belief of this religion, and we defend it not because we are compelled by fear, but because we are convinced by truth.”
— Arnobius, Against the Nations 1.1

This establishes the posture of the entire work. Arnobius does not write as a bishop, not as a representative of imperial favor, and not as a settled authority within the church. He writes as a newcomer whose allegiance is being examined and whose public identification with Christianity is unmistakable.

The Accusations He Answers

Arnobius structures Against the Nations as a sustained response to pagan accusations that were already familiar to Christian communities. He does not begin with Scripture or theological exposition. He begins with blame.

“We are accused of causing public calamities, because we do not worship your gods. Earthquakes, famines, pestilences, wars, and every misfortune are laid at our door.”
— Against the Nations 1.1

Arnobius answers this charge historically rather than devotionally. He asks his readers to consider the record of Roman history itself.

“If the gods are angry because of us, why did disasters afflict the human race before the Christian name was ever heard? Why did cities fall, kingdoms perish, and nations suffer when your temples stood full and your sacrifices were unceasing?”
— Against the Nations 1.3

This line of argument recurs throughout the work. Arnobius insists that Rome’s own experience undermines the claim that traditional worship preserves social stability or divine favor.

“You cannot show that your gods protected you when you honored them most. Calamities were never absent when their worship was at its height.”
— Against the Nations 4.36

Christianity, in Arnobius’ telling, cannot reasonably be blamed for disasters that long predate its existence.

The Gods of Rome Under Scrutiny

A substantial portion of Against the Nations is devoted to examining the moral character of the pagan gods as they are portrayed in traditional stories and cultic practices. Arnobius does not argue from Christian revelation. He works within pagan categories and sources.

“You assign to the gods passions which you punish in men. They commit adultery, practice deceit, rage with anger, and are driven by envy.”
— Against the Nations 3.3

He presses the logical difficulty this creates.

“If these actions are shameful in human beings, how can they be honorable in gods? Or if they are honorable in gods, why are they punished in men?”
— Against the Nations 3.5

Arnobius also rejects the accusation that Christians are atheists.

“We do not deny the existence of the divine. We deny that your statues, your stories, and your rites represent it.”
— Against the Nations 6.1

For Arnobius, the issue is not whether the divine exists, but whether pagan worship accurately understands or honors it.

Idols and the Logic of Worship

Arnobius devotes sustained attention to the practice of image worship. His critique is not aimed at craftsmanship but at coherence.

“You worship things which you yourselves have made. You shape them, you adorn them, you repair them. If they fall, you lift them up. If they decay, you restore them.”
— Against the Nations 6.6

He draws the implication directly.

“If they are gods, why do they need protection? If they are helpless, why are they worshiped?”
— Against the Nations 6.7

Worship, Arnobius insists, must correspond to the nature of the object worshiped. To treat dependent objects as divine is to misunderstand both divinity and devotion.

Sacrifice and the Nature of the Divine

Arnobius also challenges the assumption that the divine requires material offerings.

“What need has the divine nature of blood, smoke, or the slaughter of animals? Hunger belongs to bodies, not to gods.”
— Against the Nations 7.3

He argues that sacrifice diminishes rather than honors the divine.

“To suppose that the gods delight in the death of living creatures is not piety but insult.”
— Against the Nations 7.5

Christians and Civic Life

Arnobius addresses directly the claim that Christians are socially destructive.

“We are said to be enemies of the state, despisers of laws, and foes of public order.”
— Against the Nations 4.36

His response appeals to observable behavior.

“We obey the laws, honor magistrates, pay taxes, and pray for the emperors, even though we are hated by them.”
— Against the Nations 4.36

Christian refusal of sacrifice, in Arnobius’ account, is not rebellion. It is a boundary of worship.

Christianity and Coercion

Arnobius repeatedly insists that Christianity spreads without force.

“We do not conquer by arms, nor do we compel belief by threats. We persuade by speaking.”
— Against the Nations 2.64

He reinforces the point.

“No one is forced to join us. We invite. We persuade. If a man is unwilling, he is free to depart.”
— Against the Nations 2.65

In a world where Christians possessed no coercive power, this claim functioned as historical observation rather than idealized aspiration.

Moral Transformation as Public Evidence

Arnobius returns frequently to the moral effects of Christian belief.

“Men who were once savage have become gentle. Those who lived for plunder now give freely. Those who were ruled by lust now practice self-control.”
— Against the Nations 2.1

He contrasts this with philosophical instruction.

“Philosophers speak nobly of virtue, but they leave men unchanged. We do not merely speak. We live.”
— Against the Nations 2.15

These claims are empirical. Arnobius invites evaluation rather than blind assent.

A Theological Limitation in Arnobius’ Thought

While Against the Nations is historically invaluable, it is not theologically complete. Arnobius holds a view of the human soul that later Christian theology would reject.

Arnobius does not assume that the human soul is inherently immortal. Instead, he argues that immortality is something granted through Christ.

“The soul is not immortal by nature, but is capable of receiving immortality if it comes to know God.”
— Against the Nations 2.14

Elsewhere he states:

“Souls are not born with the power of living forever, but they may obtain it through the kindness of Christ.”
— Against the Nations 2.62

This view reflects Arnobius’ philosophical background more than settled Christian teaching. By the early fourth century, most Christian writers affirmed that the soul continues after death regardless of faith, while insisting that true life and blessed immortality belong to the redeemed.

Arnobius’ position is therefore best understood as a doctrinal weakness in an otherwise powerful apologetic. It also reinforces his status as a recent convert rather than a mature theologian.

Why Arnobius Matters

Arnobius writes before Emperor Constantine (r. AD 306–337) and before legal toleration. He writes as a recent convert. He writes because conversion required demonstration and because public allegiance still carried real consequences.

Against the Nations exists because Christianity was visible enough to be accused and resilient enough to answer.

Arnobius does not explain why Christianity would eventually triumph. He explains why it endured.

That makes his work one of the most revealing documents from the years just before the Great Persecution under Emperor Diocletian (r. AD 284–305).

Teenage Emperors and the Triumph of Christian Purity

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1. Introduction

After Macrinus’ fall, the empire turned to Elagabalus (AD 218–222), a teenage priest from Syria whose reign shocked Rome with depravity and religious upheaval. Ancient historians describe him as one of the most corrupt rulers in history. Yet in his chaos, Christians were not singled out for persecution.

When he was assassinated, his cousin Severus Alexander (AD 222–235) rose to power. Under his mother’s guidance, he tolerated and even respected Christianity, creating the first extended season of peace for the church since the reign of Claudius. In this calm, Christian thinkers—above all Origen—flourished, even as the imperial household promoted a rival pagan holy man, Apollonius of Tyana, beside Christ himself.

2. Elagabalus (AD 218–222): Depravity on the Throne

Elagabalus was only 14 years old when he was proclaimed emperor. Raised as a priest of the Syrian sun god, he imported his cult into Rome and shocked the empire with both religious upheaval and sexual depravity.

Cassius Dio records the emperor’s religious madness:

“He carried his madness to such a pitch that he attempted to set up his own god as greater than Jupiter, and even to transfer to that god the sacred fire, the Palladium, the shields, and all that the Romans held sacred from the beginning.”
—Cassius Dio, Roman History 80.11 (c. AD 222–230, Loeb)

On his private conduct, Dio spares no detail:

“He married many women, and even a Vestal Virgin, whom he dragged from her sanctuary, declaring that he was marrying a priestess and so a match worthy of himself.

He carried his lewdness to such a point that he asked doctors to contrive a woman’s vagina in his body by means of an incision, promising them large sums for doing so.”
—Cassius Dio, Roman History 80.13–14 (c. AD 222–230, Loeb)

Dio also makes clear:

“He established a room in the palace as a brothel and there committed his shameful acts, always collecting money as if for his embraces.”
—Cassius Dio, Roman History 80.13 (c. AD 222–230, Loeb)

Herodian echoes the same picture of degradation:

“He considered nothing disgraceful, but thought that by his own conduct he was giving pleasure to the gods. He went about in public in the company of actors and dancers, and he took male partners as husbands, calling himself their wife. He gave himself up to every form of depravity.”
—Herodian, Roman History 5.6 (c. AD 240, Loeb)

The Historia Augusta, though later, preserves the same traditions:

“He would choose out the man who was most celebrated for the size of his organ and couple with him most shamelessly… He set up a house of prostitution in his palace and there collected actors, dancers, and the most notorious of men, so that he might rival the foulest brothels in Rome.”
—Historia Augusta, Life of Elagabalus 5.3–4 (4th century, preserving earlier traditions)

Key Insight: The Roman emperor was expected to guard piety and moral order. Elagabalus instead flaunted sacrilege and lust, turning the imperial palace itself into a brothel and humiliating his office before the world.

3. Christian Sexual Ethics in Stark Contrast

While the emperor paraded immorality, Christians proclaimed chastity, fidelity, and holiness. Their ethic touched every sphere of life: marriage, personal purity, entertainment, and even the use of the senses.

1. Marriage and Family Life

Roman culture treated marriage largely as a social and economic contract. Husbands often kept mistresses, and wives were expected to tolerate it. Divorce was easy, and sexual double standards were everywhere. Against that backdrop, the Christian idea of marriage was revolutionary.

For early Christians, chastity in marriage didn’t mean abstaining from intimacy — it meant faithfulness, self-control, and holiness within the union. The sexual bond was exclusive, sacred, and tied to covenant love rather than lust or convenience.

Tertullian (Carthage, c. AD 197–200):

“We are not as your brothel-haunters, nor do we indulge in every form of licentiousness. Each man has his own wife, as the Word of God has allotted him. In the modesty of our marriage, chastity is the rule of life.”
—Apology 39

Here “chastity” means fidelity and restraint within marriage — a partnership marked by purity, not indulgence.

“Our women, the more they are distinguished, the more they walk about as if they were unknown. They know nothing of the immodesties which are practiced in public; their beauty is not for the public eye, but for their husbands alone.”
—Apology 46

Hippolytus (Rome, c. AD 220–230):

“Christians marry, as do others, but they marry only once; for their marriage is according to God, not for passion but for childbearing. Their women are chaste, their men temperate, their life in the flesh is conducted with holiness.”
—Refutation of All Heresies 9.12

Letter to Diognetus (late 2nd century, still read in the 3rd):

“They marry, as do all; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh.”
—5.6–7

Key Insight: Early Christian marriage emphasized equality before God, mutual faithfulness, and moral discipline. Chastity was not the absence of intimacy but the sanctification of it — turning something physical into an act of covenant love. In a world where sexual pleasure was often detached from virtue, Christian couples viewed their bodies as part of their worship, belonging to one another under the authority of Christ.

2. Personal Purity and Virginity

Tertullian (Carthage, c. AD 200):

“Chastity is the bodyguard of faith, the partner of holiness, the preserver of purity. Without it, no one shall see the Lord.”
—On the Apparel of Women 2.9

In this passage, Tertullian is speaking broadly of chastity (castitas) as the moral safeguard of all believers—married or single. It is the virtue that protects faith and holiness by disciplining desire and modesty alike. For the married, it meant faithfulness; for the unmarried, self-restraint and purity of heart.

Origen (Alexandria/Caesarea, c. AD 220–230):

“It is not possible to accept Christ unless we crucify our flesh with its passions and lusts. For the soul that would please God must first be purified of every defilement, especially the defilements of lust.”
—Homilies on Leviticus 7.4

“Virginity is practiced among us, not out of contempt for marriage, but for the sake of God. For the virgin looks to the things of the Lord, how she may please Him. We thus train the soul to mastery over the body, that it may rise to contemplate divine things.”
—On First Principles 3.1.9

Key Insight: Early Christians saw the body as the instrument of the soul’s worship, not its prison. To “crucify the flesh” meant learning self-control, not despising creation. Virginity, for those called to it, was viewed as a voluntary offering—an imitation of Christ’s single-hearted devotion. For married and unmarried alike, purity was about mastery rather than repression, ordering human desire toward love of God and neighbor.

3. Spectacles and Entertainment

Roman “spectacles” included the circus, the theater, and the gladiatorial arena. But one of the most popular forms of entertainment was pantomime — a stage performance where a solo dancer acted out mythological stories of seduction, rape, and adultery, accompanied by music and chorus. Every gesture was sexually charged.

These shows were notorious for their erotic suggestiveness. Roman satirists like Juvenal mocked women who lusted after pantomime actors. The line between art and pornography was blurred. And emperors like Elagabalus filled their palaces with pantomime dancers and actors.

Tertullian condemned the shows fiercely:

“The show of the theatre stirs up lust. For where the subject is love, there can be no modesty. The language is unchaste, the gesturing unchaste; nothing is more lascivious than the playhouse, nothing more destructive to modesty.”
—On the Shows 17

“What of the pantomime, that disgraceful imitation of all things, where every gesture is a corruption, every movement a provocation to lust? Why should we who renounce even the modest pleasures of the eye and ear endure such provocations?”
—On the Shows 22

“What is not lawful to say or to do, it is not lawful to see or hear. Why should things that defile a man when spoken defile him less when seen?”
—On the Shows 17

4. Guarding the Senses

Origen extended the warning beyond theaters and brothels, to the inner life of the believer:

“If we abstain from fornication and adultery but still fill our eyes with shameful sights and our ears with shameful sounds, how are we different from those who commit them in deed? For what enters through the senses lodges in the heart and produces its fruit in action.”
—Homilies on Proverbs 5.1 (c. AD 230)

“It is not only the act of sin that defiles a man, but also the will and intention. For when the eyes are defiled, the whole body is full of darkness. And so the Christian must be chaste not only in body but also in look, word, and thought.”
—Commentary on Matthew 14.23 (c. AD 245)

“The eyes and ears are the doors of the soul. If what enters is holy, the soul is illuminated; if what enters is shameful, the soul is darkened. Therefore the Christian must close his eyes and ears against what is evil, as he closes his mouth against unclean food.”
—Homilies on Leviticus 7.4

Key Insight: The emperor of Rome turned his palace into a brothel and surrounded himself with pantomime dancers and actors. Christians, by contrast, were told that even watching or listening to such things was defiling. Tertullian condemned the external spectacles; Origen pressed the point inward, warning against corrupting the eyes, ears, and thoughts. Together, they show how Christianity offered a radically different ethic — purity not only in deed, but in sight, sound, and imagination.

Even the pagan physician Galen, writing c. AD 170, admitted:

“For discipline and self-control in sexual matters, Christians are in no way inferior to true philosophers.”
—On the Passions and Errors of the Soul (fragment, c. AD 170)

4. Severus Alexander (AD 222–235): A Season of Peace

Severus Alexander was just 13 years old when he became emperor after Elagabalus’ assassination. Unlike his cousin, he was closely guided by his mother, Julia Mamaea, who sought out instruction even from Christian teachers like Origen.

Eusebius records:

“Mamaea, who was especially celebrated for her devotion to religion, sent for Origen and received instruction from him, and honored him greatly.”
—Church History 6.21 (c. AD 325, citing events of c. AD 230, Loeb)

And of Alexander himself:

“It is said that Alexander had in his private chapel statues of Abraham, Orpheus, Apollonius, and Christ.”
—Church History 6.28 (c. AD 325, citing tradition from Alexander’s reign, Loeb)

Key Insight: This was the first extended peace since Claudius (AD 41–54). Just as Paul had once carried out his missionary journeys under Claudius, Christians now found space for theological and moral development under Alexander.

5. Apollonius Beside Christ: The Witness Question

The inclusion of Apollonius in Alexander’s shrine shows how the empire was beginning to put Christ alongside other sages. Around this time, Philostratus wrote the Life of Apollonius of Tyana (c. AD 217–238), commissioned by Julia Domna. He claimed to use the memoirs of a disciple named Damis — but we do not possess them, and no one else ever mentions them. Whatever Damis may have written has vanished. What survives is Philostratus’ polished literary creation, composed 150 years after Apollonius lived.

Apollonius:

  • Based on one shadowy “witness.”
  • Written long after, by a sophist in the imperial court.
  • Offered nothing new, only a revival of ancient Pythagorean philosophy.
  • Left no enduring movement or transformation of the empire.

Christ:

  • The Gospels (AD 60–90): written within one lifetime, still in living memory.
  • Paul’s letters (AD 50s): written 20–25 years after, already citing earlier traditions.
  • Paul’s autobiography (Gal 1; 1 Cor 15:8): his conversion occurred within a year or two of the crucifixion.
  • The earliest creeds: especially the Resurrection Creed (1 Corinthians 15:3–5) and the Christ Hymn (Philippians 2:6–11), both pre-Pauline and already in circulation within months of the cross.

Together, these creeds show that the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen, and His worship as Lord, began immediately after Easter — not generations later.

Origen, facing critics who compared Christ to Apollonius, drove the point home:

“What has Apollonius left behind as a testimony to his divine mission? Where are those who have been persuaded by him to change their lives? But Jesus has persuaded not only men then living, but also men of all nations today, to accept His doctrine and to live as those who have been transformed by Him.”
—Contra Celsum 3.34 (c. AD 248, Loeb)

Key Insight: Even pagans could be fascinated by Apollonius’ story, but fascination is not transformation. Jesus left behind not just tales, but witnesses, creeds, and a movement that reshaped the Roman world.

6. Origen’s Voice in the Calm

This peaceful window allowed Origen to produce the earliest Christian systematics and massive commentaries. His On First Principles (De Principiis) was the first attempt at a comprehensive Christian theology, weaving together Scripture, philosophy, and moral reflection.

God and the Trinity

“God the Father, who holds the universe together, is superior to every being that exists, for He imparts to each one from His own existence that which each one is. The Son, being less than the Father, is superior to rational creatures alone, for He is second to the Father. The Holy Spirit is still less, and dwells within the saints alone.”
—On First Principles 1.3.5

Christ as Eternal Wisdom

“There never was a time when He did not exist. For He is called the Wisdom of God; and it is impossible that God should ever have been without wisdom. Thus we must believe that the Savior always existed.”
—On First Principles 1.2.2

Sovereignty, Foreknowledge, and Predestination

“God knows all things before they exist, and He knows not only the past and present but also the future. Nothing can happen contrary to what He knows will be. Yet His foreknowledge does not impose necessity upon what is to come; rather each one acts by the freedom of his own will.”
—On First Principles 3.1.15

“The saints are said to be predestined by God not according to an arbitrary decree but according to His foreknowledge. For He knew before the foundation of the world who would be conformed to the image of His Son, and for this reason He predestined them to be called and justified.”
—On First Principles 3.5.7

“Nothing takes place in the world without God. All is arranged by Him in wonderful order, even what seems contrary is ordered by Him toward the salvation and advantage of the whole universe.”
—On First Principles 2.1.1

Free Will

“The liberty of the will is preserved, and the freedom of choice remains, because God has set before every soul life and death, the good and the evil, in order that we may choose life and walk in the way of righteousness, keeping the commandments of God.”
—On First Principles 3.1.6

Suffering and Apparent Unfairness

“When we see infants afflicted with grievous sufferings, or souls that seem to be punished beyond their deserts, we must not suppose that chance rules the world, nor that there is injustice with God. There are causes hidden from us, older than the present life, which the divine judgment considers, so that to each is given according to what it has deserved.”
—On First Principles 2.9.7

“Even if one cannot at once perceive the reason why the good are afflicted or the innocent seem to suffer, we must believe that God orders all things with justice. For some are corrected in the present, others are reserved for correction in the future; but all are arranged by the providence of Him who alone knows what each one requires.”
—On First Principles 3.1.18

“What appears unequal and unjust will be set right in the restitution of all things, when every soul shall be brought to that end which is worthy of God. Then all who suffered undeservedly will find reward, and those who prospered in wickedness will be brought to judgment.”
—On First Principles 3.6.6

Origen included his controversial belief in the pre-existence of souls to explain hidden causes of suffering. Later generations rejected that idea, but it shows how earnestly he wrestled with the scandal of pain while defending God’s justice.

The Purpose of Scripture

“The Scriptures were composed by the Spirit of God, and have not only that meaning which is obvious, but also another which is hidden, as it were, beneath the surface. The whole law is spiritual, but the spiritual meaning is not recognized by all, but only by those on whom the grace of the Holy Spirit is bestowed in the word of wisdom and knowledge.”
—On First Principles 4.2.4

Final Judgment and Restoration

“The end is always like the beginning. As then we began with God, so in the end we shall be with God, and all enemies being subdued and overcome, God shall be all in all. For we must believe that the goodness of God, through Christ, will recall all His creatures to one end, even His enemies being conquered and subdued.”
—On First Principles 1.6.1

Key Insight: On First Principles shows Origen building the first grand map of Christian thought: God and the Son’s eternal Wisdom; God’s sovereign ordering joined to true human freedom; Scripture’s layered meaning; and a final restoration where God’s justice and goodness answer every wrong.

7. Conclusion

  • Elagabalus: depravity and scandal, but no persecution. Crowned at just 14, he degraded the office with sacrilege and lust.
  • Severus Alexander: peace and curiosity, enthroned at 13, guided by his mother, who welcomed Origen.
  • Apollonius: a late literary creation, based on one shadowy source, reviving old ideas, leaving no impact.
  • Christ: proclaimed immediately in the earliest creeds, testified by many witnesses, and transforming the Roman world.

This was the first extended peace since Claudius, but it was fragile. Nero’s precedent still lingered. And within fifteen years of Alexander’s death, Decius would unleash empire-wide persecution.

Key Insight: This era shows the battle lines clearly. Pagan elites tried to honor Christ as just another sage, even inventing rivals like Apollonius. Christians answered with witnesses, creeds, and transformed lives — proclaiming that Christ was not one among many, but the eternal Son of God.