Filwaqt li nirrikonoxxu l-Bibbja bħala l-uniku sors ta’ tagħlim dwar Kristu u r-rieda tiegħU, huwa nteressanti li naqraw ċertu kitbiet ta’ nies li għexu fl-ewwel seklu, sabiex nifhmu li Kristu tabilħaqq kien jeżisti u li ma kienx ivvintat matul iż-żmien.
Din hija parti minn ittra li bagħat Plinju (li kien gvernatur fil-post li llum jissejjaħ Turkija) lill-Imperatur Ruman Trajanu, sabiex jgħidlu kif kien qed jittratta lill-Kristjani u jistaqsih parir dwar dan:
Pliny, Letters 10.96-97
Pliny to the Emperor Trajan (110–112 AD)
“It is my practice, dominus, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the name are to be punished.
Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐈 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝…
An anonymous document was published containing the names of many persons. 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐞, 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭–𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨–𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝.
Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ.
They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐟𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝–𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝..
Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition.
I therefore postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. For the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered…”