The Early Christians Introduced the Most Revolutionary Idea in History

The early Christian Church introduced the most revolutionary idea in the history of the world—the sanctity of life. The doctrine that all human life has infinite worth and value to Almighty God. It does not matter if you are poor, disabled, female, a slave, unborn, sickly—God considers all human beings to be of equal worth and value. This is the most powerful social idea in the history of the human race.

Christianity came into a world that was anything but pro-life. Slaves, children, women were all considered dispensable pieces of property to the men who were the citizens and leaders of the Roman Empire. Greek culture had been the same. Then along came the Christians asserting that every human being was created in the image of God. The idea came from the Old Testament, the first chapter of the Bible. Gen. 1:27 says, And so God created man in His image; male and female created he them.



It was a revolutionary idea, completely rejected by the culture of the day. But Christians went about spreading the idea everywhere, ultimately making it the foundation stone for Western culture. And what fascinates me is that modern men and women who live in the West accept this biblical doctrine without a second thought about its origin. I have told college professors and students—most of whom claim to reject Christianity and the Bible—that every important idea in their head comes from Christianity. And the idea of the sanctity of life is at the top of the list.

Now take a moment and consider the influence of this idea. It has changed everything.

Start with the elevation of women. The Bible acknowledges differences between men and women but insists that women have equal worth with men. No one ever believed that before God said it and even today people do not believe it unless they have come under the influence of the biblical teaching.

Next comes the value of children, all the way from the womb to adulthood. Before Christianity children were property, disposable, could be left out in the elements to die or aborted at will. Then Christianity invented childhood. Jesus said, do not hinder the little children but let them come to me. And children were elevated to full participants in human life—since they, too, were created in God’s image.

Later from the sanctity of life ethic comes human rights doctrines. The Preamble to the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights begins with this statement: “[We recognize] the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family…[this] is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world…

This is a patently biblical statement taken straight out of Christian theology. The U.N. writers of this declaration are demanding the spread of Christian doctrine around the world. They are saying it is incumbent upon all people to accept this biblical doctrine. I doubt they were even aware of its origin, since it is so much a part of modern thought.

Along with this comes every social justice movement. The Marxist commitment to equality, the Black Lives Matter movement, and all Left-wing social justice commitments find their origin in the Bible. It is a commitment begun by the first Christians and now is spreading to the far corners of the world. As you can see the early church is in the process of transforming humanity. What could be more revolutionary?

As early as the 400s the great Christian theologian, Gregory of Nyssa, was arguing that sanctity of life doctrine forbade one human being from owning another. The abolition movement was born. And although it would take many years to bear fruit this great step forward in human rights was born in the early Christian church.

In the 300s, Gregory and his brother Basil, along with their sister Macrina, founded the first hospital, because, since all human beings are created in the image of God, all are worthy of compassion and the best medical care they can receive. Today Christians establish hospitals all over the world to care for the sick and suffering no matter what their religious affiliation. This was all part of the revolution brought about by the early Christians.

The poor as well—since they too are created in the image of God—were given help and treated with compassion by the early Christians. This begins what today we take for granted—aid to the poor and needy. We care for the poor because God does. And we know that God does because He says so in His word.

The early Christians as we saw in a recent video, are simply trying to live out their Christian lives as best they could. They didn’t know it but they were revolutionizing the world.

Thank you for listening.  May our God bless you this day in a mighty way.

More resources: I deal with this issue at greater length in Seven ideas That Changed the World: https://www.amazon.com/Ideas-That-Changed-World-civilizations-ebook/dp/B085MM79ZB/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=seven+ideas+that+changed+the+world&qid=1584653313&sr=8-1

The recent video on the lives of the early Christians: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76RuaphETzY&list=PLkHlTST983SqhB2QbkAGQ3MGnR8T3Llpa&index=2&t=16s

The U.N. Declaration of Human Rights: https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

I strongly recommend Tom Holland’s brilliant book, Dominion, on the revolution brought about by Christianity. It can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Dominion-Christian-Revolution-Remade-World/dp/1541675592/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3MSX1N43ZE9FT&keywords=dominion+tom+holland&qid=1657380452&sprefix=dominion%2C+by+tom+Holland%2Caps%2C351&sr=8-1