In 112 AD, a certain Roman lawyer by the name of C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus - also called Pliny the Younger (61/62 AD - 113/115 AD) wrote a letter to the then Roman Emperor Trajan (53 AD – 117 AD). In this letter there is, among other things, the statement that the Christians of that time sang about Jesus “like a God”. This statement is considered by many scribes to be evidence that the early Christians worshiped Jesus as GOD. However, upon closer inspection, this claim turns out to be untenable.

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Latin

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"Adfirmabant autem hanc fuisse summam uel culpae suae uel erroris, quod essent soliti stato die ante lucem conuenire carmenque Christo  quasi deo  dicere secum in uicem seque sacramento non in scelus aliquod obstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne adulteria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati abnegarent."

 

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English

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"They (the Christians) further asserted that their whole fault or error consisted in the fact that they used to assemble on a certain day before sunrise, and offered a mixed song to Christ as to a god, and did not commit themselves by oath to any crime , but not to commit theft, robbery or adultery, not to break a promise, not to deny a debt that has been admonished."

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Pliny, who was not himself a Christian, was sent to Bithynia and Pontus around 111 AD in the position of imperial envoy. As a judge, he was confronted with the “Christian problem” in Rome. Pliny was overwhelmed in his authority to judge the Christians. For this reason, around 112 AD he sought advice from his emperor by means of a letter. In his letter, which has been preserved in Latin, Pliny speaks of the gods four times, meaning the pagan gods of the Romans. Unlike Christianity, the Romans worshiped different deities. At the time of the Roman emperors, it was common for the emperors themselves to be worshiped as divine. The worship of humans as divine beings was not unusual for Romans. According to the religious understanding of the Romans, there was no omnipotent and supreme creator God, as Christians believe.

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First of all, it should be noted that Pliny does not mention anything about a Trinity. Likewise, the letter does not say that the Christians literally sang about Jesus “as GOD”, but rather "as a god" (Latin: quasi deo). The word "quasi" expresses that singing about the Messiah reminded Pliny very much of paying homage to Roman gods or worshiping the emperor. This in turn was interpreted as blasphemy and possibly a breach of loyalty to the emperor, as he was considered the highest earthly authority. That is why Pliny writes in his letter that Christians should be forced to worship the image of the emperor in order to be acquitted. The fact that Christians sang songs in honor of Jesus as their Lord is not unbiblical, but at the same time it should not be confused with worship. In Revelation 5,9, the four creatures and the twenty-four elders sing a song to the glory of the Lamb, in which they sing of Jesus' redemptive work. The book of Psalms also contains several songs that were written to honor human kings; such as Psalm 21 + 45 + 72. Psalm 45 also has a prophetic meaning in connection with Jesus as the messianic king.

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