Why did Christianity seem threatenting to the roman government?

Answer 1

Jesus was not seen as a threat in His own lifetime, which is why Pilate, in knowing that Jesus was innocent of any crime, wanted to release Him. It was the clever politics of Jesus' opponents who backed Pilate into a corner.

The Jewish religious leaders had power over Pilate in two areas. Pilate had previously been in trouble with Caesar about his inflexible attitude and disrespect for Jewish religious customs. Contrary to the normal Roman tradition, he showed no respect for Jewish religious sensitivities. When they complained to Rome, the was a swift rebuke to Pilate and a warning not to repeat the offense. Further to this, Pilate was known to be friends with one Sejanus, who was implicated in a plot against Caesar. This is why, when the Jews said 'If you let this man go, you are not Caesar's friend', he understood the implications. He stood to lose his position and possibly his life if the Jews complained again.

Thus Jesus himself was no threat to Rome. In any case, as He plainly stated directly to Pilate, 'My kingdom is not of this world,' so Jesus' intentions were not focused on earthly political power.

If you refer to later times, the Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, were seen as being a sub-culture and as not honoring the state gods, and so were looked at with suspicion. This however came later.

Answer 2

He was a threat to King Herod in actually fact, because there was supposed rumours that Jesus would take his place as king, but the Romans were thought to be anti-semetic at the time and so as Jesus was Jewish and a Jewish leader, they persecuted him.

Answer 3

A:

There is no suggestion that the Romans ever considered the teachings of Jesus to be a threat to them. True, by the latter part of the third century, concerns were being raised about the loyalty of Christians to the empire, but Jesus had never taught disloyalty.

At first, the Romans tended to ignore the Christians. Although Nero, probably unfairly, blamed the Christians of Rome for the Great Fire, there was no general persecution of Christians outside Rome. Early in the second century, Emperor Trajan instructed Pliny that Christians were not to be sought out for punishment - hardly the instruction an emperor afraid of Christian teachings would give.

Answer 4

They didn't. At the time that Jesus lived the Romans had very little dealings with him. In fact they didn't even know who he was. That's why when it came time to arrest Jesus they had to have someone (Judas) point him out. It was only a certain group of Jewish authorities who perceived Jesus as a threat and so acted against him.

Answer 5

First, let it be understood that Jesus was not feared by the Romans. At the time of Jesus, Rome was the predominant political power in the west and feared nothing especially an itinerant Jewish preacher from Galilee. He was feared, however, by certain Jewish priests as they perceived his teachings to be a threat to their power and position.

Answer 6

If Jesus was seen as a genuine threat in Rome, we would find evidence of Roman interest in Jesus somewhere in the records. Yet, during the lifetime of Jesus, no official mention of him can be found. At most, he would have been seen as a Jewish problem, to be solved by the Jewish authorities. Even the governor of Judea would only have taken an interest, at a purely local level, if Jesus was seen as a threat to the security of Roman rule, something which New Testament tells us was not the case. So, Jesus was not seen as a threat in Rome.