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AttalusPius

Do you know of any minor / incidental references to Christians in the 2nd-3rd Century?

During the "Ante-Nicene Period", it seems like Christians were such a small percentage of the population that they typically went unnoticed and were almost entirely absent from pagan literature.

I got curious about this, and started searching for any short, incidental references to Christians by pagan authors of the period. For instance:

"What a soul that is which is ready, if at any moment it must be separated from the body, and ready either to be extinguished or dispersed or continue to exist; but so that this readiness comes from a man's own judgement, not from mere obstinacy, as with the Christians, but considerately and with dignity and in a way to persuade another, without tragic show." - Meditations, Marcus Aurelius (c. 170 AD?)

Can anyone help me find other incidental references to Christians in pagan literature from the 2nd - 3rd Century?

Posted Jul 21, 2017, 9:48 PM UTC

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