I just read an interesting essay written by Dan King, describing the moral degradation that was present in Rome in the centuries following Christ’s life. Brother King’s point was that though we live in an ungodly society, it is nevertheless a much better circumstance than the experiences of early Christians.
Evidences supplied to support the thesis included historical references to wars of aggression; state sanctioned idolatry; the moral debauchery and excess of emperors such as Vitellius, Caligula, Nero, Domitian, Commodus and Elagabalus; the corruption of Roman society which included prostitution, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, divorce , abortion, infanticide and gambling; and a fierce and continual anti-Christian attitude that led to frequent persecution for the first 300 years of the church’s existence.
While things are bad in America, and getting worse, we at least have protections offered by our constitution, and an admittedly dwindling majority that to this day objects to egregious expressions of immorality on the part of our public leaders. As brother King concluded in his essay, “Let us thank God for our freedoms, and pray that our nation will always allow for the right of its citizens to believe what the Bible says and our consciences dictate, and permit us to express those convictions through uninhibited public preaching and teaching.” (Is America More Wicked Than Ancient Rome? Daniel H. King, Sr.)
