If the Tiber rises too high, or the Nile too low, the remedy is always feeding Christians to the lions.
These piercing words from the early Christian theologian Tertullian (c. 155-220 AD) expose a disturbing pattern that has echoed through history: when natural disasters strike, when economies fail, when societies face uncertainty, the first instinct is often to find someone to blame. In ancient Rome, that blame consistently fell upon Christians.
The Historical Reality of Scapegoating
Tertullian's observation wasn't hyperbole, it was brutal reality. In his Apology, he documented how Christians became the convenient explanation for every misfortune:
If the Tiber reaches the walls, if the Nile does not rise to the fields, if the sky doesn't move or the earth does, if there is famine, if there is plague, the cry is at once: 'The Christians to the lion!' (Tertullian, Apology)
This pattern reveals something darker about human nature: the desperate need to assign blame when facing the uncontrollable. Rather than acknowledging natural disasters as part of a fallen world, ancient Roman society chose to target those whose beliefs challenged the established order.
Christ's Prophetic Warning
Jesus Himself warned His disciples that such treatment was inevitable. In the upper room, He declared with stark clarity:
Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. (John 15:20)
He didn't sugarcoat the reality — He prepared them for it.
The Apostle Paul echoed this certainty:
In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12)
Note the word "everyone", this isn't a possibility but a promise. When we live according to God's standards in a world that rejects those standards, conflict is inevitable.
The Uncomfortable Truth About Persecution
Here's where the message becomes provocative: persecution often reveals more about the persecutors than the persecuted. When Christians were blamed for natural disasters, it exposed the spiritual bankruptcy of a society that had rejected the true God. When believers are scapegoated today, it often reveals similar spiritual poverty in our modern context.
Jesus taught us to expect this treatment and even to rejoice in it:
11 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12)
The Lion's Den: God's Power in Persecution
The imagery of Christians being thrown to lions carries deep biblical significance. When we think of lions in Scripture, we remember Daniel's courage in the lion's den:
My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm. (Daniel 6:22)
The very beasts meant to destroy God's people became instruments to display His power. Yet Scripture also presents Jesus as the "Lion of the tribe of Judah" (Revelation 5:5), the one who conquered sin and death. This dual imagery is profound: while earthly lions may threaten believers, the Lion of Judah has already secured ultimate victory.
The Refining Fire of Trials
The Bible presents persecution not as meaningless suffering but as divine refining.
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. (James 1:2-3)
Apostle Peter adds:
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)
The Modern Application
Today's believers may not face literal lions, but the principle remains unchanged. When societies struggle with problems they cannot solve, when moral confusion reigns, when natural disasters strike, the temptation to blame Christians — and Christian values — intensifies.
Contemporary believers face persecution that ranges from social exclusion and professional discrimination to violent opposition in many parts of the world. The forms may differ, but the underlying dynamics Tertullian described remain remarkably consistent.
A Call to Courage
The early Christians didn't cower when faced with persecution — they stood firm. Stephen, while being stoned, prayed for his persecutors (Acts 7:60). The apostles, after being beaten:
... left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. (Acts 5:41)
This response isn't masochistic — it's spiritually strategic. It demonstrates that the hope of Christians isn't dependent on earthly circumstances but on eternal realities. As the psalmist declared:
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)
The Provocative Question
Here's the challenging question for modern believers: Are we living in such a way that we might be blamed when society faces troubles? Not because we're causing problems, but because our faithfulness to God's standards exposes the inadequacy of worldly solutions?
If we're never experiencing any pushback for our faith, if we're never making anyone uncomfortable with our allegiance to Christ, if we're never blamed for standing against cultural trends that oppose God's truth — perhaps we need to examine whether we're truly following the One who warned us:
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
The Ultimate Victory
Tertullian's observation about Christians being blamed for natural disasters reveals both the spiritual blindness of unbelieving societies and the strategic importance of faithful believers. When Christians maintain their witness in the face of persecution, they demonstrate that there is indeed something greater than earthly powers, something worth suffering for.
The rivers will rise and fall. Natural disasters will come and go. Political systems will blame and scapegoat. But the church of Jesus Christ — built on the foundation of apostles and prophets with Christ as the cornerstone — will endure.
As our Lord and savior Jesus promised:
... I will build my church, and the gates of hell[b] shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)
The lions may roar, but the Lion of the tribe of Judah has already won.
The question isn't whether persecution will come — Christ guaranteed it would. The question is whether we'll be found faithful when it does, standing firm like Daniel in the lion's den, knowing that our God is able to deliver us and that, whether He chooses to or not, we will not bow to the idols of our age.
Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you. (Deuteronomy 31:6)
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