The faith incarnated by a persecuted, dark-skinned Jewish Rabbi named Yeshua—meaning “God saves”—executed by an empire, has been transformed into a religion that legitimizes Western supremacy, imperial power, and the very structures of domination that killed Him.
The English word “moral” comes from Latin mōrālis, from mōrēs—customs, manners, proper behavior.
The word originally meant how one ought to act within a community, shaped by social customs.
Understanding this shift explains how Christianity became the opposite of what it started as.
Two Different Languages
Roman senator Cicero coined mōrālis to translate Greek ēthikos. These frameworks were designed to work within existing power structures. Aristotle tutored Alexander the Great. The Stoics taught people how to be virtuous as Roman citizens and senators.
Roman virtue meant civic duty—how to conduct business honorably, how to serve the state. Even when criticizing bad rulers, Roman thinkers aimed to fix the system, not overthrow it.
These were ethics for making empire work better.
Biblical language works differently:
- Righteousness (tsedeq): Alignment with God’s justice, not cultural customs
- Holiness (qodesh): Being “set apart”—different from surrounding culture
- Justice (mishpat): Economic and social righteousness, protecting the vulnerable
The Hebrew prophets confronted entire systems:
“They sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals. They trample on the heads of the poor.” (Amos)
“Woe to those who make unjust laws, to deprive the poor of their rights.” (Isaiah)
Yeshua continued this, condemning religious leaders who “devour widows’ houses” while maintaining religious appearances.
This isn’t reform. This is confrontation.
What Christianity Started As
First-century followers of Yeshua didn’t try to be good citizens of Rome. They created an alternative to Rome.
They shared everything: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
They challenged social hierarchies: “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female”—even while navigating existing structures.
They refused to worship Caesar. When ordered to say “Caesar is Lord,” they said, “Jesus is Lord”—an act of treason.
Persecution was real, though sporadic. Nero used Christians as human torches. Some were thrown to animals. Being Christian often meant standing against empire, sometimes to the death.
Then came Constantine.
The Imperial Takeover
Year 313: Constantine’s Edict of Milan legalized Christianity.
Before a battle, Constantine claimed to see a cross with the words “In this sign, conquer.” He won. The cross became a symbol of military victory.
By 380, Emperor Theodosius made Christianity the official state religion. Christianity became wealthy, institutionalized, and entangled with imperial power.
But something deeper happened in Christian scholarship.
Church fathers synthesized biblical faith with Greek philosophy.
Augustine absorbed Plato, Stoic natural law, Cicero’s four cardinal virtues (prudence, justice, temperance, fortitude), and Aristotelian ethics. He “Christianized” these ideas.
Augustine still critiqued Rome—calling unjust empires “robber bands.” He transformed classical ethics with his emphasis on grace and divine love.
But the vocabulary he adopted opened a dangerous door:
When Christianity embraced Greco-Roman ethical language—designed to help empires function justly—it became easier to let “virtue” and “moral order” defend the status quo rather than challenge it.
Yeshua taught radical economic trust (don’t worry about tomorrow), enemy love (turn the other cheek), and nonviolent resistance to the point of crucifixion.
Over time, the church used “moral” language to defend power instead of confronting it.
The vocabulary was just a tool. But political incentives—wealth, status, imperial favor—drove how that tool got used.
The Pattern Repeats
The Crusades: “God wills it!” Muslims and Jews slaughtered in Christ’s name.
The Inquisition: Heretics tortured and burned. Yeshua, who refused to call down fire on unbelievers, invoked to justify burning them alive.
Conquest of the Americas: Catastrophic population collapse through violence, exploitation, forced labor, and disease—theologically justified as bringing Christian “civilization.”
The Slave Trade: African people enslaved with explicit theological justification. Churches owned slaves.
Apartheid: Racial segregation justified as divinely ordained.
Each atrocity wrapped in biblical language.
Prophetic voices never disappeared—Francis of Assisi, Bartolomé de las Casas, abolitionists, civil rights leaders kept the tradition alive.
But the dominant stream became blessing power instead of confronting it.
What “Moral” Means Now
Yeshua condemned selective morality:
“You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters—justice, mercy and faithfulness.”
Religious leaders tithed herbs while “devouring widows’ houses.”
Much of contemporary Christianity does the same.
Obsesses over sexual ethics while downplaying economic injustice.
Demands religious liberty for Christians while indifferent toward Muslims and immigrants.
Preaches sanctity of life regarding abortion while supporting policies that increase maternal mortality or perpetuate poverty.
Claims biblical authority while ignoring biblical commands about wealth, foreigners, enemies, and the poor.
This isn’t universal. Catholic social teaching advocates for workers and the poor. Progressive evangelicals prioritize justice. Liberation theology centers the oppressed.
But in much of American evangelical culture, selective morality dominates.
The Shift Complete
In much of Western Christianity today, “morality” means:
Conforming to established order.
Proper behavior within the system.
Virtue that serves power rather than challenges it.
Athens shaped Jerusalem. Empire wears a cross.
What began as qodesh—holiness, prophetic disruption—became mōrēs—conformity to cultural customs.
What began as tsedeq—righteousness inseparable from justice—became moralis—proper behavior within power structures.
What began as a crucified Prophet executed for opposing empire became an institution blessing empire.
When Christianity adopted Greco-Roman moral vocabulary, the words themselves didn’t doom the faith.
But the vocabulary made rationalization easier. It became more natural to hold power while claiming to follow a crucified God.
The choices happened over centuries—made by people who found it easier to baptize the status quo than challenge it. Political incentives drove the transformation: wealth, status, imperial favor.
When “moral” came to mean maintaining order instead of disrupting it, Christianity lost something essential.
It lost the Prophet.
And that is how we got here.