Resilient Faith: How the Early Christian “Third Way” Changed the World

Gerald L. Sittser
Brazos Press, 240 pages

What does Christian history have to teach us about the faith we practice today? Plenty, according to Gerald Sittser. His overview of Christianity’s first four centuries shows how this religion grew from a small movement in Palestine to infiltrate the Roman Empire, despite opposition and persecution.

Christianity did so by being known as the “third way,” a phrase that appears in the second-century “So-Called Letter to Diognetus.” The Romans coined this phrase to contrast Christianity with other religious ways of life, notably Roman and Jewish. According to Sittser, the Roman way accommodated to culture, its rituals observed to ensure the empire’s prosperity. The Jewish way isolated itself from Roman culture. Christianity neither accommodated to or isolated from culture, but rather sought to live differently within the Roman Empire. Christians’ primary allegiance was to Jesus Christ, and this changed everything.

It was because of Christianity’s “third way” that the religion grew. By the fourth century, with the conversion of Roman emperor Constantine, it became an accepted religion. “Christendom” changed Christianity such that people assumed they were Christian, whether or not they practiced a rigorous form of discipleship. Sittser argues that the Western church now dwells in post-Christendom. Christians (at least white, straight, cisgendered males) no longer hold the cultural sway they did from the fourth century to the early 20th century. This is not necessarily a bad thing, according to Sittser. Rather, the current reality of the American church encourages us to look backwards to how Christians were formed in pre-Christendom.

How do we remain engaged in society’s culture without accommodating to it? This question is more deeply explored in the body of the book, highlighting everything from early Christian belief in the incarnation to the Christian practice of caring for the poor. Sittser is particularly compelled by the catechumenate — the early Christians’ long process of moving a person from conversion to baptism, from identifying with the Roman way of life to living the Christian way of life.

“Resilient Faith” is a well-written and accessible read. I recommend it to groups who want a short, focused overview of early Christian history. Sittser’s thesis is compelling: Christianity became known as the “third way” because Jesus ushered in a new way that changed the whole of life, everything from belief, authority, community, worship and behavior. I appreciate how he approaches post-Christendom not as an evil to be overcome, but a challenge to be creatively addressed by learning from the early church.

Sittser’s argument is strongest when he’s contrasting the Roman to the Christian way of religion and exploring why Christianity was such a threat to Rome. While acknowledging that Christianity has its roots in Judaism, he spends little time on why Judaism and Christianity became distinct religions. As far as I could tell, nearly all of his primary resources are Gentile (Greek and Roman pastors, apologists and opponents) rather than Jewish Christians or critics. It caused me to wonder about Jewish Christian witnesses beyond the first century, and how their perspective might have differed from their Gentile counterparts.

Overall, Sittser’s book is worth the read, whether one is a pastor or a congregant. Some find the study of history to be boring. This book is far from dry; it makes history come alive.

Rachel Young is the associate pastor of congregational health at Clear Lake Presbyterian Church in Houston.