Early Christian Views on Roman Law
Early Christians usually told believers to respect rulers, pay what is owed, and live peaceably when Roman law did not conflict with God. Justin Martyr, Theophilus, Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen all give that general pattern. They also criticized Roman injustice and pagan rule, so their teaching was not blind support. The main question was not whether law mattered, but whether any human law could stand above God’s command.
139 early-church witnesses · 223 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about roman Law?
Early Christians did not treat Roman law as the highest authority, but many of them said civil rulers and public order should be respected when those laws did not clash with God’s commands. Justin Martyr, Theophilus of Antioch, Polycarp, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen all connect Christian conduct with obedience, honor, tribute, or peaceful conduct toward rulers.
At the same time, writers like Tertullian, Origen, and Lactantius also criticize Roman justice, pagan worship, and unfair punishment, so their view is not simple praise. The evidence is broad on respect for lawful rule, but thinner on a single unified early Christian theory of Roman law itself. Some cards are only about the word “law” in Scripture or about Roman history, so they are treated as background rather than direct teaching.
Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christians commonly taught respect for rulers, taxes, and public order.
- They did not treat Roman law as higher than God’s commands.
- Several writers also criticized Roman injustice and pagan power.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians teach obedience to Roman rulers?
Yes. Early Christian writers often taught believers to honor rulers, submit to authority, pay what is owed, and pray for peace, as long as this did not force sin. Polycarp, Theophilus of Antioch, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, Gregory Thaumaturgus, the Apostolic Constitutions, and the Bible passages in Romans 13, Titus 3, and 1 Peter 2 all point in that direction.
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Polycarp, The Martyrdom of Polycarp Direct teaching
for we are taught to give all due honour (which entails no injury upon ourselves) to the powers and authorities which are ordained of God.
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Theophilus of Antioch, Connection to Romans 13:7 Direct teaching
And it [the divine word] teaches us to render all things to all, "honour to whom honour, fear to whom fear, tribute to whom tribute; to owe no man anything, but to love all."
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Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor (Paedagogus) Direct teaching
And of civil government: Render to Cæsar the things which are Cæsar's;
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Tertullian, On Idolatry Direct teaching
Therefore, as to what relates to the honours due to kings or emperors, we have a prescript sufficient, that it behooves us to be in all obedience, according to the apostle's precept, subject to magistrates, and princes, and powers;
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Gregory Thaumaturgus, Metaphrase of Ecclesiastes Direct teaching
It is also right to obey kings and rulers or potentates, and not to be bitter against them, nor to utter any offensive word against them.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
XIII. Be subject to all royal power and dominion in things which are pleasing to God, as to the ministers of God, and the punishers of the ungodly.
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Didache, Connection to 1 Peter 2:13 Direct teaching
Be ye Subject to all royal power and dominion in things which are pleasing to God, as to the ministers of God, and the punishers of the ungodly.
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Didache, Connection to 1 Timothy 2:2 Supporting witness
We further pray to Thee, O Lord, "for the king and all in authority,"
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Polycarp, Connection to 1 Timothy 2:2 Supporting witness
Pray for all the saints. Pray also for kings,
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Romans 13:1 Direct teaching
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
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Romans 13:2 Direct teaching
Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
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Romans 13:5 Supporting witness
Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
More related quotations from this section 5 shown
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Romans 13:7 Supporting witness
Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
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1 Peter 2:13 Supporting witness
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;
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Titus 3:1 Supporting witness
Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,
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1 Timothy 2:2 Supporting witness
for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
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1 Peter 2:14 Supporting witness
Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.
Did the early Christians think Roman law was higher than God’s law?
No. They treated God’s command as the higher rule and said human law could not override it. Athenagoras says Christian duty is not based on human laws, and Tertullian, Origen, and Archelaus all speak of a higher divine rule or a law of God that shapes Christian life.
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Athenagoras, A Plea for the Christians Direct teaching
For our account lies not with human laws, which a bad man can evade (at the outset I proved to you, sovereign lords, that our doctrine is from the teaching of God), but we have a law which makes the measure of rectitude to consist in dealing with our neighbour as ourselves.
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Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching
We Christians, then, who have come to the knowledge of the law which is by nature king of all things, and which is the same with the law of God, endeavour to regulate our lives by its prescriptions, having bidden a long farewell to those of an unholy kind.
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Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Direct teaching
... to your view, is to be saved. For it is Christ Himself who has redeemed them from the curse of the law. As Paul also has given these further testimonies: that the letter kills and gives life to no one, and that the law is the ministry of death and the strength of sin. Archelaus said: You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of God. For many have also perished from the time of Christ's coming until the present time, and many are still perishing. I mean those who have not chosen to give themselves to works of righteousness. But only those who have received Him, and who still receive Him, have obtained power to become the sons of God. For the evangelist did not say that all have obtained that power. But on the other hand, he also did not set any limit on the time. This is what he says: "As many as received Him." Moreover, from the creation of the world He has always been with righteous people, and He has never stopped requiring their blood from the hands of the wicked, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias. And from where, then, did righteous Abel and all those worthy people after him, who are counted among the righteous, get their righteousne
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
Wherefore, if you will be a Christian, follow the law of the Lord: Loose every band of wickedness;
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Romans 2:15 Supporting witness
They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
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Romans 13:10 Supporting witness
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
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Romans 3:31 Supporting witness
Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.
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Romans 7:12 Supporting witness
Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
Did early Christians criticize Roman justice and punishment?
Yes. Tertullian, Origen, Minucius Felix, and Lactantius all criticize Roman justice, harsh punishment, false worship, or unfair treatment of Christians. They could respect public order while still saying Roman power often acted unjustly.
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Tertullian, Apology Direct teaching
...an obstinate refusal to offer sacrifices, he found in their religious services nothing but meetings early in the morning for singing hymns to Christ and God, and sealing their way of life by a united pledge to remain faithful to their religion, forbidding murder, adultery, dishonesty, and other crimes. In reply, Trajan wrote back that Christians were by no means to be sought out. But if they were brought before him, they should be punished. O miserable deliverance. Under the necessities of the case, it is a self-contradiction. It forbids them to be sought out, as innocent, and it commands them to be punished, as guilty. It is at once merciful and cruel. It passes by, and it punishes. Why do you play this game of evasion with yourself, O Judgment? If you condemn, why do you not also inquire? If you do not inquire, why do you not also absolve? Military stations are set throughout all the provinces for tracking robbers. Against traitors and public enemies every man is a soldier. Search is made even for their confederates and accessories. The Christian alone must not be sought, though he may be brought and accused before the judge, as if a search had any other end than that! And so
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Tertullian, Apology Supporting witness
And as he did not by public law remove from Christians their legal disabilities, yet in another way he put them openly aside, even adding a sentence of condemnation, and that of greater severity, against their accusers.
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
But how greatly utility differs from justice the Roman people themselves teach, who, by proclaiming war through the Fecials, and by inflicting injuries according to legal forms, by always desiring and carrying off the property of other, have gained for themselves the possession of the whole world.
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Minucius Felix, Octavius Direct teaching
...heless, you will say that this very superstition gave, increased, and established the empire of the Romans, since they prevailed not so much by their valor as by their religion and piety. No doubt the famous and noble justice of the Romans had its beginning from the very cradle of their growing empire. Did they not, in their beginning, when they were gathered together and fortified by crime, grow by the terror of their own fierceness? For the first people were assembled as to an asylum. Abandoned people, profligate people, incestuous people, murderers, and traitors had flocked together. And so that Romulus himself, their commander and ruler, might excel his people in guilt, he committed fratricide. These are the first auspices of the religious state! Soon afterward they carried off, violated, and ruined foreign virgins, already betrothed, already destined for husbands, and even some young women from their marriage vows, a thing unexampled. Then they made war with their parents, that is, with their fathers-in-law, and shed the blood of their own relatives. What could be more irreligious? What could be more audacious? What could be safer than the very confidence of crime? To drive
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Origen, Against Celsus Direct teaching
And for this reason, although the Romans desired to perpetrate many atrocities against the Christians, in order to ensure their extermination, they were unsuccessful;
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Origen, Against Celsus Supporting witness
As the question started is, What would happen if the Romans were persuaded to adopt the principles of the Christians, to despise the duties paid to the recognised gods and to men, and to worship the Most High?
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Minucius Felix, Octavius Supporting witness
Carefully read over their Scriptures, or if you are better pleased with the Roman writings, inquire concerning the Jews in the books (to say nothing of ancient documents) of Flavius Josephus or Antoninus Julianus, and you shall know that by their wickedness they deserved this fortune, and that nothing happened which had not before been predicted to them, if they should persevere in their obstinacy.
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Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died Direct teaching
...everence for the Divinity deserved our first and greatest attention. We thought it proper that both Christians and all others should have the freedom to follow whatever religion each one thinks best, so that God, who dwells in heaven, might be kind and favorable to us and to everyone under our rule. Therefore, we judged that it was a healthy measure, and one fully in agreement with right reason, that no one should be refused permission to join himself to the rites of the Christians, or to whatever other religion his own mind leads him. In this way, the supreme Divinity, to whose worship we freely devote ourselves, might continue to grant us His favor and kindness. Accordingly, we make known to you that, without regard to any conditions in our former orders to you concerning the Christians, all who choose that religion must be allowed to continue in it freely and completely, and must not be troubled or harassed in any way. We thought it right to speak this clearly about the matters entrusted to your care, so that you might understand that the freedom we have granted to the Christians in matters of religion is full and unconditional. At the same time, you should understand that th
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Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching
...se he had placed a handsome boy on Jupiter's chariot to guard the clothing, and for this reason the Roman name was almost destroyed at Cannae. But if Juno feared a second Ganymede, why did the Roman young men suffer punishment? Or if the gods care only for the leaders and neglect the rest of the crowd, why did Varro alone escape, though he had done this, and why was Paulus, who was innocent, killed? Certainly, then, nothing happened to the Romans by the fate or will of hostile Juno, when Hannibal by skill and courage destroyed two armies of the Roman people. For Juno did not dare either to defend Carthage, where her arms and chariot were, or to harm the Romans. For
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Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died Supporting witness
Amongst our other regulations for the permanent advantage of the commonweal, we have hitherto studied to reduce all things to a conformity with the ancient laws and public discipline of the Romans.
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Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness
...es filled with images of all the gods, the crowds of criminals cannot be restrained even by so many laws and such terrible punishments, and their audacity cannot be overcome by any means? Wicked deeds, done again and again, increase all the more, even though laws and severe judgments try to reduce the number of cruel acts and suppress them by the restraint of punishments. But if images caused men any fear, then the making of laws would stop, and so many kinds of torture would not be established against the boldness of the guilty. But now, because it has been proved and established that the supposed fear said to come from the images is actually empty, people have turned to the ordinances of laws. By these, a fear of punishment could be fixed in men's minds as something most certain, and a sentence of condemnation established. Indeed, these very images owe it to those laws that they still stand safely, protected because some respect is still shown to them.
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Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died Supporting witness
...n and the other fruits of the earth? The officers, or rather the executioners, of all the different magistrates seized each person and would never let go. No one knew to whom he should pay first. No allowance was made for those who had nothing, and they were required, under threat of different kinds of torture, to pay at once, even though they were unable. Many guards were posted all around. No breathing room was given, and at no season of the year was there even the slightest break from these demands. Different magistrates, or the officers of different magistrates, often fought over the right to collect the tax from the same people. There was no threshing floor without a tax collector, no grape harvest without a guard, and nothing was left for the farmer's food. It was painful that food should be snatched from the mouths of those who had earned it by hard work. Still, the hope of later relief might have made that hardship bearable. But everyone who appeared at the anniversary festival had to provide robes of various kinds, and also gold and silver. And someone might have said, "How shall I provide these things for myself, O tyrant without understanding, if you carry off the who
More related quotations from this section 1 shown
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Lactantius, Of the Manner in Which the Persecutors Died Supporting witness
and then not only were inferior magistrates put to the torture by him, but also the chief men in cities, and persons of the most eminent rank, and this too in matters of little moment, and in civil questions.
Common Questions
Did early Christians say Roman authorities should be obeyed?
Yes, usually in matters of public order. They also said obedience had limits when rulers conflicted with God’s commands.
Did early Christians praise Roman law?
Some praised parts of Roman order or public discipline, but others sharply criticized Roman injustice and persecution.
Did early Christians think human law was above God’s law?
No. Their writings place God’s command above any human ruler or civil law.
Source Index for Roman Law
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 223 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 139
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
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Clement of Rome, Connection to Romans 1:32
Bible Passages 80 shown of 84
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.