News updates

Written sources outside the Bible
Home
Tacitus Pliny
the Younger Suetonius The
Babylonian Talmud Josephus Back
to start

Special offer: Student at a University or Bible College in
the UK? Get 'Facing the Challenge' for half
price.

What's
New on the site?

Have 'Facing the Challenge' headlines delivered direct to your
desktop

Webmasters - feature 'Facing the Challenge' headlines on your
site, or link to this
site

The Roman governor Pliny the Younger

Pliny was the governor of the Roman province of Bithynia, in
present-day Turkey. In about 112 AD, he wrote (in Epistles X.96) to the emperor Trajan, asking
for advice on how to deal with the followers of Christ in his province,
because he was executing so many of them. Pliny wrote:

They were in the habit of meeting before dawn on a
fixed day. They would recite in alternate verse a hymn to Christ as to a
god, and would bind themselves by a solemn oath, not to do any criminal
act, but rather that they would not commit any fraud, theft or adultery,
nor betray any trust nor refuse to restore a deposit on demand. This done,
they would disperse, and then they would meet again later to eat together
(but the food was quite ordinary and harmless.)

Notice from what Pliny says that:

By the beginning of the second century, there was already a
Christian community in Bithynia large enough to come to the attention of
the Roman governor.

They worshipped Christ as a god.

Back to
'Written sources outside the Bible'

Download a 2-minute audio presentation introducing 'Facing the
Challenge'

Higher
quality

Faster
download

© 2004 Focus
Radio
54 The Avenue
Southampton
England SO17 1XQ

What's new on the site?

'The Passion of the Christ'

Mel Gibson's 'The Passion of the Christ' ignited strong feelings even
before it was released, with some Christian and Jewish groups accusing it
of anti-Semitism, while Churches block-booked tickets. Our review page has
links to a wide range of resources, both for those who see the film and
have questions, and for followers of Christ who want to make the most of
the opportunity this film represents. Read more...

Have scientists created life?

The belief that scientists have succeeded in creating life from
lifeless matter has become part of our current mythology. Yet the
Miller-Urey experiment, on which this belief is based, never proved as
much as was claimed for it, and is now regarded as seriously flawed. Read more...

home | why you need it | what it is | order
| resources | about us | contact