Early Christian Teaching on Lawsuits
Early Christians taught believers not to drag each other into lawsuits and to seek peace and quick settlement instead. Clement of Alexandria, Athenagoras, and the Apostolic Constitutions all repeat that Christians should avoid brother-against-brother court fights. 1 Corinthians 6 is the key Bible passage behind this teaching, especially the call to suffer wrong rather than shame the church by suing each other.
125 early-church witnesses · 220 source quotations · compared with Scripture
What did early Christians believe about lawsuits?
Early Christians taught that believers should avoid dragging one another into lawsuits, especially before unbelievers, and should instead settle matters quickly and choose peace. Clement of Alexandria, Athenagoras, and the Apostolic Constitutions all push Christians away from legal fighting and toward brotherly reconciliation, while 1 Corinthians 6 is the main Bible text behind this teaching.
The strongest witnesses are broad and consistent across the 2nd and 3rd centuries, but a few cards only mention lawsuits in passing or use the word in a different setting. The evidence is strong for a general Christian duty to avoid brother-against-brother court conflicts, but thinner on detailed rules for every kind of civil case. Many more early Christian quotations, Bible passages, and source links are gathered below so you can study the evidence for yourself.
Key Takeaways
- Early Christian writers warned believers not to sue one another before unbelievers.
- They urged quick settlement, peace, and brotherly reconciliation instead of court fights.
- 1 Corinthians 6 is the main Bible passage for this teaching.
Questions Answered by the Sources
Did early Christians say believers should not sue one another?
The core sources say it is wrong for brothers to bring lawsuits against one another, especially before unbelievers. They urge Christians to suffer wrong, settle disputes within the church, and maintain peace.
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1 Corinthians 6:7 Direct teaching
To have lawsuits at all with one another is already a defeat for you. Why not rather suffer wrong? Why not rather be defrauded?
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Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Direct teaching
For in the first Epistle to the Corinthians the divine apostle says: Dare any of you, having a matter against the other, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints?
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
But if brethren have lawsuits one with another, which God forbid, you who are the rulers ought thence to learn that such as these do not do the work of brethren in the Lord, but rather of public enemies;
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1 Corinthians 6:6 Supporting witness
But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers.
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1 Corinthians 6:1 Supporting witness
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?
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1 Corinthians 6:4 Supporting witness
So if you have such cases, why do you lay them before those who have no standing in the church?
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1 Corinthians 6:5 Supporting witness
I say this to your shame. Can it be that there is no one among you wise enough to settle a dispute between the brothers,
How did early Christians think disputes should be handled instead of lawsuits?
These sources emphasize quick reconciliation, peacemaking, and resolving quarrels without escalating them. They portray peaceful settlement as the proper Christian response when conflict arises.
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Matthew 5:25 Direct teaching
Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.
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Luke 12:58 Direct teaching
When you go with your adversary to the magistrate, make every effort along the way to settle with him, lest he drag you to the judge, the judge deliver you to the officer, and the officer throw you into prison.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
...et no one have a quarrel with another. Let no one come in hypocrisy.” Then, if any dispute is found among any of you, they may be troubled in conscience, pray to God, and be reconciled to their brothers. For if, when we enter anyone’s house, we are to say, “Peace be to this house,” Matthew 10:12, like sons of peace giving peace to those who are worthy, as it is written, “He came and preached peace to you who are near and those who are far off,” whom the Lord knows to be His, how much more must those who enter the Church of God first of all pray for the peace of God. But if someone prays that others may have it, how much more should he himself be in that same peace, as a child of light. For he who does not have it within himself is not fit to give it to others. Therefore, before all things, it is our duty to be at peace in our own minds. For he who finds no disorder in himself will not quarrel with another, but will be peaceable, friendly, gathering the Lord’s people, and a fellow worker with Him, so that the number of those who will be saved may increase in unity. For those who stir up hatreds, strife, conflicts, and lawsuits are wicked and are strangers to God.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
... if you have judged unjustly, you will share in the same kind of judgment. Therefore we advise you, brothers, to deserve praise from God rather than rebukes. For the praise of God is eternal life to men, just as His rebuke is everlasting death. Therefore be righteous judges, peacemakers, and free from anger. For he who is angry with his brother without a cause is liable to judgment, Matthew 5:22. But if it happens that through someone's plotting you are angry with anyone, do not let the sun go down on your wrath, Ephesians 4:26. For David says, "Be angry, and do not sin." That is, be quickly reconciled, lest your anger continue so long that it turns into settled hatred and produces sin. For the souls of those who hold settled hatred are destined for death, says Solomon. But our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ says in the Gospels, "If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift to God," Matthew 5:23-24. Now the gift to God is each person's prayer and thanksgiving. If, therefore, you have anything against
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Origen, Commentary on Matthew Supporting witness
“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault between you and him alone.” Matthew 18:15 Whoever pays close attention to this statement, as proof of the surpassing kindness of Jesus, will say this: since the words do not suggest any difference among sins, people act in a strange way and against the goodness of Jesus when they add the idea that these words should be understood as limited only to lesser sins. But another person, also paying close attention to the statement, and not wishing to bring in these outside ideas, yet not admitting that it speaks about every sin, will say that the man who commits those great sins is not a brother, even if he is called a brother. As the Apostle says, “If anyone who is named a brother is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater,” and so on, “with such a one, do not even eat.” 1 Corinthians 5:11 For no one who is an idolater, or sexually immoral, or covetous, is a brother. For if someone who seems to bear the name of Christ, though he is called a brother, has some of the marks of these sins, he would not rightly be called a brother. So then, the one who says that these words are spoken about every sin, whether the sin is murde
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Matthew 18:15 Supporting witness
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
Why did early Christian writers treat lawsuits as a serious problem?
Several writers describe litigation as unmerciful, covetous, or the behavior of public enemies rather than brothers. The concern is not only legal procedure but the moral damage lawsuits cause inside the Christian community.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching
For those who contrive enmities, and strifes, and contests, and lawsuits, are wicked, and aliens from God.
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
...sturbance. So choose instead to suffer harm, and to pursue the things that make for peace, not only among the brothers, but also among the unbelievers. For by suffering loss in the affairs of this life, you will be sure not to suffer loss in the concerns of piety, and you will live in a godly way and according to the command of Christ. But if brothers have lawsuits with one another, which God forbid, you who are the rulers ought to learn from there that such men are not doing the work of brothers in the Lord, but rather the work of public enemies. One of the two will be found to be mild, gentle, and a child of light; but the other will be unmerciful, insolent, and covetous. Therefore, let the one who is condemned be rebuked. Let him be separated. Let him undergo the punishment for his hatred toward his brother. Afterward, when he repents, let him be received again. And so, when they have learned prudence, they will lighten your judgments. It is also a duty to forgive each other's trespasses. This is not the duty of those who judge, but of those who have quarrels. This is what the Lord decided when Peter asked Him, "How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up
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Cyprian, Epistles Supporting witness
... or that the jealousy of some richer neighbor may turn against them and trouble them with malicious lawsuits. Such a person has no peace, either in eating or in sleeping. In the middle of a feast he sighs, although he drinks from a jeweled cup. And when his luxurious bed has wrapped his body, weak from feasting, in its soft embrace, he lies awake in the middle of the down. Poor wretch, he does not realize that these things are only gilded torments, that he is kept in bondage by his gold, and that he is the slave of his luxury and wealth rather than their master. And oh, the hateful blindness of understanding, and the deep darkness of foolish greed! Although he could lighten his burden and throw off the load, he instead keeps brooding over his troublesome wealth. He stubbornly clings to his tormenting hoards. From him there is no generosity to those dependent on him, and no sharing with the poor. And yet such people call that money their own, which they guard with jealous labor, shut up at home as if it belonged to someone else, and from which they get no benefit for their friends, their children, or, in short, themselves. Their possession comes to this alone: they can keep other
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Malchion, Epistle Against Paul of Samosata Supporting witness
...d it by the ways in which he robs and extorts the brothers. He treats the injured unfairly in their lawsuits, and promises to help them for a price, yet all the while deceives them to their loss. He takes advantage of the eagerness of those in trouble to give money in order to be freed from what troubles them, and so he thinks that gain is godliness, 1 Timothy 6:5. Neither do I need to say anything about his pride and the arrogance with which he took on worldly honors, and how he wanted to be called procurator rather than bishop. Nor need I speak of his strutting through the marketplaces, reading letters and reciting them as he walked in public, and being escorted by crowds of people going before him and following after him. In this way he brought ill will and hatred on the faith by his proud behavior and the arrogance of his heart. Nor will I say anything about the showmanship he practices in the church assemblies, as he seeks popularity and puts on a great display, astonishing the minds of the less educated by such tricks. Nor will I speak of his setting up for himself a high judgment seat and throne, very unlike a disciple of Christ; nor of his having a secret chamber and cal
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Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Supporting witness
but the other unmerciful, insolent, and covetous. Let him, therefore, who is condemned be rebuked, let him be separated, let him undergo the punishment of his hatred to his brother.
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Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness
...r possessions and, even if they made whole provinces into one estate, still wear out the forum with lawsuits over one tree, over one furrow? Were they to hate their friends and brothers with bitter resentment?
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Arnobius, Against the Heathen Supporting witness
...es of nouns, the intervals between the sounds of different tones, that we may speak persuasively in lawsuits, and that we may measure the boundaries of the earth? Now if the soul had brought these arts with it from the heavenly regions, and if it were impossible not to know them, then all people throughout the world would long before now have been occupied with them, and no race of men would be found that was not equally and similarly instructed in them all. But as it is, how few musicians, logicians, and geometers are there in the world! How few orators, poets, and critics! From this it is clear, as has been said quite often, that these things were discovered under the pressure of time and circumstances, and that the soul did not fly here divinely taught. For not all are educated, nor can all learn; and among them are very many who are somewhat lacking in sharpness, and are dull, and are forced to apply themselves to learning only by fear of beatings. But if it were true that the things we learn are only recollections, as has been maintained in the systems of the ancients, then, since we begin from the same truth, we would all have learned alike and remembered alike, instead of
Common Questions
Did early Christians think believers should sue each other?
Usually no. They taught believers to settle disputes, avoid shameful public fights, and not go to law against one another.
What Bible passage did they use for this?
1 Corinthians 6:1-8 is the main passage, along with sayings like Matthew 5:25 about settling quickly.
Did they ban all court cases?
These cards mainly warn against Christians suing other Christians and taking disputes before unbelievers. They do not give a full ban on every civil case.
Source Index for Lawsuits
The guided sections above show the strongest quotations. This compact index highlights 160 ranked source links from 220 compiled sources for deeper study.
Source index 160 ranked links shown
Early Christian Writings 80 shown of 125
Primary-source quotations from early Christian writers and church documents.
Bible Passages 80 shown of 95
Related Bible passages saved for comparison with the early Christian quotations.
