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The Kingdom that Turned the World Upside Down  /  Chapter 16, But is this historic Christianity  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 4
Tatian’s self-description—declining military command, rejecting wealth, fame, and “die to the world…live to God”—sounds like a deliberate withdrawal from typical upward mobility; what do you think early Christians believed God was offering that made those refusals seem rational, even attractive?
Another way to ask: Tatian turned down military power, money, and fame to “die to the world” and “live to God.” What did early Christians think God was offering that made choices like that seem worth it?

Direct Answer Based on the transcript, early Christians believed their true citizenship and “city” were elsewhere, so worldly status—military command, riches, fame—was not worth pursuing. What God offered was life “to God” within His kingdom, making earthly advancement look like “madness” to be renounced.

Support from Transcript:

  • Tatian speaks for Christians: “I do not wish to be a king…decline military command…free from a mad thirst for fame.”
  • He frames the world negatively: “Die to the world, repudiating the madness that is in it. Live to God.”
  • Bercot describes early Christians as “strangers and foreign residents” whose focus was “Jesus Christ and His kingdom.”
  • Clement summarizes the posture: “We have no country on earth. Therefore, we can disdain earthly possessions.”
  • Tertullian to Christians: “you are a foreigner in this world…Our citizenship…is in heaven.”
Discussion Follow-ups If you truly believed your “city is far away from this one,” which ambitions would shrink? What parts of upward mobility feel necessary, and which might be “mad thirst” in Christian clothing?

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