The world’s greatest metropolis stood burning, ashen and shell shocked. The unthinkable happened; people with lesser technology, lesser training and lesser mastery of the world struck a swift, furious blow to the heart of an economic empire, causing the markets to quake in the aftermath. The metropolis was thought untouchable, but these barbarians touched the sacred city.
Some of the high profile citizens assigned blame for this national tragedy. Of course they blamed the barbarians, but they believed there must have been some higher, spiritual reason why evil was allowed to touch this Western, Christianized metropolis. God must be offended; after all, this metropolis had left their historical, traditional form of worship and religion, turning to a form of atheism. Maybe the city’s turn to a false “religion” was to blame, they speculated.
Thus was the reaction of the pagan, polytheists when Alaric sacked the Christianized Rome in 410 AD. They charged the new religion of the Empire, Christianity, with causing the gods to send the barbarians to punish them. The irony cannot be missed when comparing this historical situation with the comments made by a few prominent Christians after the events of 9/11. These American Christians assured themselves and the public that God was judging the immorality, apostasy and atheism of America, and they were certain that God would continue to “lift the veil of protection” if American did not repent, returning to their historic Christian roots.
The irony is that 21st century American evangelicals made the same argument the pagans made when Rome was sacked. The irony is deeper when considering the fact that the pagans of Rome made this argument as a polemic attack upon Christianity. Sadly, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell do not appear to have truly appropriated a biblical view of the world, their nation and the history of both.
Rome was not a Christian Empire; it was not taking the privileged national place of Israel. Rome did not merit or have any biblical expectation to receive God’s protection, preserving national interests for eternity. The same is true for America. American evangelicals need to learn to separate the interests and future of the city of man from the city of God. Augustine took on this project almost 1600 years ago when he wrote The City of God, and the implementation of his project needs to continue today
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