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The Christians regarded Rome's struggles as a sign of the end of times and the second coming of Christ, yet at the same time Christians functioned well enough within the Roman Empire even despite the persecutions, in fact the Christians were very often excellent Roman citizens.
基督教徒認為，羅馬目前的困境和掙扎標志著末世要到來了，救世主將第二次降臨，羅馬帝國里的基督徒雖然受到迫害但是發揮著重要作用，他們中間有很多人都是優秀的羅馬市民。
During the tough times of the crisis of the third century AD,
在三世紀危機中的困難時期，
Christian communities often gave charity to follow Christians who were down on their luck,
基督教社會經常救濟其他遭遇不幸的基督教徒，
other religious belief groups had nothing similar to offer the Roman Empire's people, spiritually, intellectually or socially.
其他宗教團體卻沒有提供羅馬任何東西，無論是從精神層面，知識層面來說，還是從社會層面來說。
Up through the crisis of the third century the Roman government hardly noticed the Christian church save for isolated outburst of persecution the Christians were not yet numerous enough to challenge Roman morals,
在三世紀危機期間，羅馬政府都幾乎沒有注意到基督教會雖然也零星地爆發了迫害行動，基督教人數卻不夠壯大，不會威脅和挑戰羅馬的道德倫理，
Roman security or anything else. The Christians did not want to proselytise other Romans or convert them, they did not claim for their proper place in Roman society,
羅馬社會等等。基督教徒不追求讓其他羅馬人改變信仰，皈依基督教，他們也不尋求在社會占據一席之地，
more than anything else they wanted to earn a living and to be left alone to worship in their own way but as a second coming of Jesus Christ seemed less and less imminent the Christian church into evolved into a permanent institution with its own bureaucracy.
他們唯一想要的就是謀生活命，自由的信仰，自己的宗教不受打擾，但是隨著耶穌的第二次降臨似乎越來越遙遠，基督教會逐漸發展成為永恒的機構，建立了一套自己的系統，
Rituals became officially established, leaders emerged, increasingly Christians were compelled to play greater roles in public life,
并且正式建立了宗教儀式，領導者涌現出來，越來越多的基督教徒開始在公共生活中起著越來越大的作用。
which required a balancing act between God and Caesar, if you will.
這就需要在上帝和皇帝之間做出平衡。
There was never any doubt though to the Christian mind that God came first, this bothered old-school Romans.
毫無疑問，對基督教徒來說，上帝排第一位，這讓傳統老派的羅馬人不滿。
As the Christian church became more entrenched it drew more attention from the Roman government, always unfavourable,
隨著基督教會日益確立，羅馬政府開始逐漸關注它，當然一直都是帶著不滿關注。
the bigger the threat to Roman security and stability, especially during the crisis of the third century AD.
隨著它對羅馬治安和穩定造成越來越大的威脅，特別是在三世紀危機期間。
