Why did the Romans object more to Christianity than to Judaism?

Answer 1

AnswerEdward Gibbon (he Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire) says that, since the Jews enjoyed the free exercise of their unsocial religion, although they rejected w ith abhorrence the deities of their sovereign, there must have existed some other cause which exposed the Christians to those severiities from which the Jews were exempt.

He says that the Jews flattered themselves that they alone were the heirs of the covenant, and they were apprehensive of diminishing the value of their inheritance by sharing it too easily with the strangers of the earth. Preaching to the Gentiles had never been an obligation of Jewish Law, nor a voluntary duty for the Jews. So, the Jews did not pose a serious threat to the old religions.

The Romans were particularly concerned that some Christians were more ready to obey their bishops than the secular leaders and civil authorities.Sometimes the New Testament epistles imply that Christians are subject to their own laws, not those of Rome. Thisis a stance likely to arouse suspicions of treason. Overall, the Christians were regarded as less trustworthy than the Jews.