How to Live After Christendom
Choosing to Be Christian in a New World
After the Ascension of Jesus, the followers of “The Way” faced 300 years of persecution. That was normative, because the kingdom within which Christians lived and made their decisions—the Roman Empire—was built on a different paradigm from that of the kingdom of God. In his earthly ministry, Jesus was constantly redirecting his followers away from the Empire worldview because his kingdom was its polar opposite. He did not, and has not, changed his mind.
The Church was trying to make sense of what this new kingdom of God even was—when suddenly came the dramatic reversal: Constantine’s recognition and establishment of the system we call “Christianity.” Diocletian’s persecutions were barely fading in the rearview mirror when Constantine came in, only seven years later, with the Edict of Milan (313), and by 325, Christians were duking it out in the streets over various heresies, no longer afraid of being fed to the lions. But sadly—as wonderful as was the cessation of persecution—no sooner had The Way been legalized than the Church became infected with the parasite of power.
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Vesper Stamper is a novelist and illustrator whose stories tell of history’s rhymes. She hosts the Vesperisms Substack and teaches illustration at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. This article is adapted from a talk given at the 2024 Touchstone conference, Life and Death in the Negative World.
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