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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.
基督教徒认为，罗马目前的困境和挣扎标志着末世要到来了，救世主将第二次降临，罗马帝国里的基督徒虽然受到迫害但是发挥着重要作用，他们中间有很多人都是优秀的罗马市民。
During the tough times of the crisis of the third century AD,
在三世纪危机中的困难时期，
Christian communities often gave charity to follow Christians who were down on their luck,
基督教社会经常救济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.
其他宗教团体却没有提供罗马任何东西，无论是从精神层面，知识层面来说，还是从社会层面来说。
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,
在三世纪危机期间，罗马政府都几乎没有注意到基督教会虽然也零星地爆发了迫害行动，基督教人数却不够壮大，不会威胁和挑战罗马的道德伦理，
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,
罗马社会等等。基督教徒不追求让其他罗马人改变信仰，皈依基督教，他们也不寻求在社会占据一席之地，
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.
他们唯一想要的就是谋生活命，自由的信仰，自己的宗教不受打扰，但是随着耶稣的第二次降临似乎越来越遥远，基督教会逐渐发展成为永恒的机构，建立了一套自己的系统，
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仪式，领导者涌现出来，越来越多的基督教徒开始在公共生活中起着越来越大的作用。
which required a balancing act between God and Caesar, if you will.
这就需要在上帝和皇帝之间做出平衡。
There was never any doubt though to the Christian mind that God came first, this bothered old-school Romans.
毫无疑问，对基督教徒来说，上帝排第一位，这让传统老派的罗马人不满。
As the Christian church became more entrenched it drew more attention from the Roman government, always unfavourable,
随着基督教会日益确立，罗马政府开始逐渐关注它，当然一直都是带着不满关注。
the bigger the threat to Roman security and stability, especially during the crisis of the third century AD.
随着它对罗马治安和稳定造成越来越大的威胁，特别是在三世纪危机期间。
