Crypto-Christianity

Crypto-Christianity is the secret practice of Christianity, usually while attempting to camouflage it as another faith or observing the rituals of another religion publicly. In places and time periods where Christians were persecuted or Christianity was outlawed, instances of crypto-Christianity have surfaced. Various time periods and places have seen large crypto-Christian groups and underground movements. This was usually the reaction to either threats of violence or legal action. Secrecy is a motif which is found in the New Testament, particularly in Mark's Gospel. According to the Gospels, Jesus was concealing his mission or his messianic identity until a certain time, and he ordered his disciples to do the same, for e.g. in Mark 9:9, after the Transfiguration "Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen". This motif has been called "the messianic secret" and it has been interpreted in different ways. According to one interpretation, the historical Jesus wanted to avoid the immediate occurrence of a confrontation with Rome, because the Roman governor Pontius Pilate would not have tolerated the existence of a popular leader who would have referred to himself as the Messiah. There are also theological interpretations, of mixed historical and theological value. The New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman argues that Jesus was executed based on the claim that he was the "King of the Jews" a claim which probably had a religious meaning ("Messiah" was a title which was originally given to a person who had temporary power, power which is akin to the power of a king), theologically or politically, and the meaning of this title was possibly misunderstood by the Roman authorities. During the initial development of the Christian Church in the Roman Empire, its members were frequently forced to practice their faith in secrecy. The official policy under Trajan forced Christians to make a choice: they could choose to recant their faith, which meant that they would be allowed to live, or they could choose not to recant their faith, which meant that they would be executed as martyrs.