Upon this Trajan wrote back that Christians were by no means to be sought after; but if they were brought before him, they should be punished. O miserable deliverance—under the necessities of the case, a self-contradiction! It forbids them to be sought after as innocent, and it commands them to be punished as guilty.

This quote illustrates the way early Christians were treated by the Roman government. The person to whom Trajan, the Roman emperor from 98–117 CE, is writing in this excerpt is Pliny the Elder, the ruler of a province. Pliny had noted in his observations that Christians did not appear to be a threat to Roman society. Their services were gatherings where they would sing hymns to God, and their moral and ethical codes forbade such crimes as murder, adultery, and dishonesty, among others. One notices both parallels and contradictions between Trajan's instructions and the way in which Jesus was treated during his trial before Pontius Pilate. Jesus was apparently innocent of any crimes against Rome, but Pilate was compelled, seemingly against his will, by the Jews to condemn Christ.

But the special ground of dislike to the sect is, that it bears the name of its Founder. Is there anything new in a religious sect getting for its followers a designation from its master? Are not the philosophers called from the founders of their systems—Platonists, Epicureans, Pythagoreans? Are not the Stoics and Academics so called also from the places in which they assembled and stationed themselves? And are not physicians named from Erasistratus, grammarians from Aristarchus, cooks even from Apicius?

Here, Tertullian comments on the appearance of a blanket condemnation of any called "Christians." The term "Christian" was first used in Acts 11:26 ("For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians"). Given that Rome was trying to keep a diverse, geographically-vast empire under control, it is worth considering the implications of Christianity's spread. Christianity offered refuge to Jews and Gentiles alike. Indeed, through Christ's ministry and the ministry continued by his disciples after the crucifixion, all peoples were invited to join this new offshoot of Judaism. A coalition of such diverse peoples must have been seen as a threat to Rome. Therefore, any hint of unrest or disruption caused by a "Christian" likely led to automatic condemnation and persecution as a way to preserve stability in the empire.

You are always praising antiquity, and yet every day you have novelties in your way of living. From your having failed to maintain what you should, you make it clear, that, while you abandon the good ways of your fathers, you retain and guard the things you ought not.

In this excerpt, Tertullian comments on some of the extravagant, sometimes hedonistic, norms of Roman society. He implies that their treatment of Christians is hypocritical given their own lack of adherence to their historical, philosophical, and moral traditions. Some examples he notes are changing laws and behaviors related to marriage and divorce, the readmission of undesirable characters into Roman society, and even the abandonment of dress and food from their great ancestors. Christianity, on the other hand, preaches adherence to a consistent, ancient moral code, first written in the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament, then expounded upon in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The argument is a compelling one, as it highlights some of the excesses that eroded the glory and power of the empire.