Emphasis Preaching Journal

The critics of the church have always had difficulty understanding what Christians believe and how they worship. In the first few centuries of the church's existence all kinds of wild charges were hurled against this growing community of faith. Among these criticisms were the following. Christians were charged with being atheists because they would not participate in the pagan ceremonies. Further, they were ridiculed as haters of the human race because they would not attend certain public amusements that they felt contradicted their ethical standards.