APOLOGETICS BIBLE STUDY Q&A: "The Pliny Evidence: Ang External Proof Na Sinasamba Na Si Jesus Bilang Diyos Bago Pa Ang Council of Nicaea"
Welcome to another entry in our Apologetics Bible Study series! Today, we are going to dive deep into a fascinating piece of early church history that totally debunks modern claims about the origins of our faith.
Kung minsan, we hear skeptics or even local religious groups claiming that the early Christians did not worship Jesus as God, or that Sunday worship is a later pagan invention. But history tells a very different and powerful story. Let’s look at the secular records of the Roman Empire, specifically through the eyes of a Roman governor.
Epistulae (Letters), Book 10, Letter 96 (Often cited as Pliny, Epistles 10.96).
Epistulae (Letters), Book 10, Letter 96 (Often cited as Pliny, Epistles 10.96).
[3] In the meantime, this is the plan which I have adopted in the case of those Christians who have been brought before me. I ask them whether they are Christians; if they say yes, then I repeat the question a second and a third time, warning them of the penalties it entails, and if they still persist, I order them to be taken away to prison. For I do not doubt that, whatever the character of the crime may be which they confess, their pertinacity and inflexible obstinacy certainly ought to be punished.
[7] But they declared that the sum of their guilt or their error only amounted to this, that on a stated day they had been accustomed to meet before daybreak, and to recite a hymn among themselves to Christ, as though he were a god [Latin: carmenque Christo quasi deo dicere secum invicem], and that so far from binding themselves by oath to commit any crime, their oath was to abstain from theft, robbery, adultery, and from breach of faith, and not to deny trust money placed in their keeping when called upon to deliver it. When this was do
Q: Sino si Pliny the Younger, at ano ang kinalaman niya sa ating early Christian history?
A: Si Pliny the Younger ay isang Roman governor ng Bithynia-Pontus (modern-day Turkey) around AD 111–115. He wasn’t a friend of the church; in fact, he was actively interrogating and persecuting early Christians under the reign of Emperor Trajan. He wrote a letter to the Emperor (Epistles 10.96.7) asking for advice on how to handle them. The beauty of this letter is that it serves as hostile, secular, and extra-biblical evidence of what the early church actually looked like less than twenty years after the Apostle John died.
Q: Paano pinapatunayan ng sulat ni Pliny na ang mga unang Kristiyano ay naniniwala sa pagka-Diyos ni Jesus? This is a huge issue in our Filipino context, right?
A: Exactly. Dito sa Pilipinas, we have huge religious groups and cults that actively deny the deity of Christ, claiming that the idea of "Jesus as God" was only invented by Emperor Constantine at the Council of Nicaea in AD 325.
Pero in Pliny’s letter, he reported na ang mga Kristiyano ay nagtitipon para kumanta ng "hymns to Christ as to God" (Latin: carmenque Christo quasi deo). Recent historical and sociological research by scholars like Larry Hurtado shows that this "binitarian" devotion worshipping Jesus alongside the Father was an explosive, radical shift within a strictly monotheistic Jewish framework, and it happened almost immediately after the Resurrection. They weren't just singing songs of admiration; they were offering divine worship to Jesus. Pliny confirms that believing Jesus is God wasn't a 4th-century invention; it was the heartbeat of the 1st and 2nd-century church!
Q: Ano naman ang significance nung pag-gather nila "on a certain day before sunrise"? Bakit madaling araw, at anong araw ito?
A: Pliny noted that they gathered on a "fixed day" (stato die) before dawn. This is widely recognized by scholars as Sunday morning. Bakit "before sunrise"? In the Roman Empire, Sunday was a normal working day. Walang "weekend" concept ang mga Romans the way we do now. So, the early Christians had to meet very early in the morning, bago sila pumasok sa trabaho (as slaves, merchants, or soldiers), specifically to honor the time of Jesus' resurrection. It echoes our cultural familiarity with early dawn gatherings like Easter Salubong, but for the early believers, this was a weekly rhythm of life under the threat of death.
Q: How does this connect to our New Covenant theology regarding the Sabbath?
A: This is where the beauty of the New Covenant shines! Under the Old Covenant, the Israelites were commanded to observe the strict Saturday Sabbath, resting at the end of the week to commemorate the first creation and their deliverance from Egypt. But through the lens of New Covenant theology, the shadow has given way to the substance, which is Christ.
The early church shifted their primary gathering to Sunday the first day of the week, the Lord's Day. They did this not to "transfer" the Sabbath law to Sunday, but because Sunday was the day of the Resurrection. It is the day of the New Creation. Their gatherings and the very content of their songs were entirely Christ-centered. The law demands rest after labor, but the gospel of the New Covenant invites us to begin our week resting in the finished work of Christ's resurrection.
Real Talk Reflection
Colossians 3:16 (ESV)
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."
Imagine being a 2nd-century believer in Bithynia. You wake up while it's still dark, risking your life, your job, and your social standing, just to gather with your brothers and sisters in a secret room. And what do you do there? You sing your heart out to Jesus, worshipping Him as God, celebrating that the grave is empty. The focus wasn't on flashy programs or comfortable seating; it was singularly on the risen Christ.
Call to Action: This Sunday, pag-gising mo, I challenge you to check your heart's posture. Let’s not treat our Sunday gatherings as a mere religious routine or an Old Covenant checklist. As New Covenant believers empowered by the Spirit, let’s bring the same passion as the early church. Come to worship with a grateful heart, ready to sing hymns to Christ as God. Prepare your heart this weekend, invite a friend, and let the reality of His resurrection fuel your worship!
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