That Rome and its emperor were “problematic” in various ways would have been plain to any Jew or Christian (and not a few pagans) who gave it much thought. On the other hand, the imperial system seems not have served as an especially high-priority ideological or theological target, which is the real rub for many: it is embarrassing to contemporary sensibilities that expect vibrant critique, protest, and resistance to the political realm.

You have adopted the proper course, my dear Pliny, in examining into the cases of those who have been denounced to you as Christians, for no hard and fast rule can be laid down to meet a question of such wide extent. The Christians are not to be hunted out; if they are brought before you and the offence is proved, they are to be punished, but with this reservation – that if any one denies that he is a Christian and makes it clear that he is not, by offering prayers to our deities, then he is to be pardoned because of his recantation, however suspicious his past conduct may have been. But pamphlets published anonymously must not carry any weight whatever, no matter what the charge may be, for they are not only a precedent of the very worst type, but they are not in consonance with the spirit of our age.[1]
This correspondence of the emperor Trajan with Pliny the Younger, the sitting governor of Bithynia and Pontus, has been notorious in Christian circles for a long time. Even Tertullian was commenting on it about a century afterward. Most stunningly for moderns, Trajan advertises the Roman policy of religious repression in quasi-progressive terms: “Yes, my dear Pliny, punish, torture, and execute incorrigible Christians as they pop up, but let’s not have any witch-hunts now; this is the ninth century ab urbe condita, after all.”
Eyes may be rolled justifiably at Trajan’s self-congratulatory little tag—nec nostri saeculi est, such nonsense “doesn’t belong in our age,”—yet it and the rest of the letter tip the Roman hand, at least in this particular period, which comes near the apex of Roman power.
Namely, acute ideological, religious, or theological conformity did not necessarily constitute a political desideratum unto itself, certainly not as it has for many a modern regime. By the far the greater concern taking shape in the emperor’s mind is breakdown in the public social order. To be sure, Christians themselves might threaten that order in certain ways (e.g., their apparent egalitarianism for one, as per the female slaves apparently serving as officers for the community), though Pliny himself in the first letter seems at pains to stress that most of what they appear to be up to is fairly harmless on that front, albeit misguided.
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We all are already in the process of making our deathbeds and soon we will lie in them.  Thankfully, God will always carry Christians through the valley of the shadow of death.  For Proverbs 18:10 promises, The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.  And Psalm 18:2 emboldens us, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God [El], my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

It was 8 a.m. on a Saturday in Southern California while I was settling to watch my four-and-a-half-year-old son play basketball when I received a call from a sister in the Lord, Anne, dying in Minnesota.[1]
We never met, but similar difficult providences had connected us for counsel and we became fast friends.  She quickly embraced me and my family with a motherly care that felt like she had been waving with a smile from across our cul-de-sac for decades.
And now, Anne was reaching out for brotherly comfort while lying on her deathbed in hospice.  Her speech was slurred, slowing, and sleepy due to medications causing side effects of delusions and anxiety.  Not long before, she was only able to reply to my concerned cell phone texts by typing a few empty bubbles.
I was in the midst of studying one of God’s names for a sermon series: El, translated “God,” meaning “The Strong One.”  I took Anne to the Lord by this name through prayer and the Word, including Psalm 73:26: My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.  And she testified of being strengthened by her El.
We all are already in the process of making our deathbeds and soon we will lie in them.  Thankfully, God will always carry Christians through the valley of the shadow of death.  For Proverbs 18:10 promises, The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.  And Psalm 18:2 emboldens us, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God [El], my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. 
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Once inside the room, the two women who had hoped for this moment, Elaine Edwards and Karen Scheibe, recited the first 10 questions. The lady in charge watched and listened and suddenly seemed to be interested. I then asked if these women, who had worked so hard for this time, could recite the entire Catechism? It would take only about 30-40 minutes? She said “yes.” By this time, she was on our side and listened intently.

When I married into the Horton Family in 1969, I realized quite soon that Joyce’s parent’s were quite serious about The Westminster Standards. My father-in-law, Frank Horton, was a very successful defense attorney, a godly man, and one of the six original founders of Reformed Theological Seminary in 1966.  He told me once, “When you know and understand The Shorter Catechism, you know theology, PERIOD!” My mother-in-law, Joyce Horton, who was the greatest Christian I ever knew, wrote a book entitled, “How To Teach The Catechism To Children.”
As we raised our five daughters with this story, we told them that they had to learn, memorize and recite at one sitting The Children’s Catechism and The Shorter Catechism; of course, each at different times and ages. This was certainly not easy; and required that Joyce and I help and encourage them often. And one very motivating factor when they were teenagers was, “No driver’s license until you say the Catechism.” It worked and they all did it. There was a great celebration each time, as well as public recognition in our church’s worship services; there were even and some Christian periodicals that reported their accomplishment.
When I was an Associate Pastor with John Sartelle at Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis in the 1990s, there was an amazing time of growth for that church both spiritually and numerically. And during that time, Joyce started a study group for women on The Shorter Catechism. It became very popular and was greatly blessed by God during those years.
Out of that group and from her Senior English teaching time at Evangelical Christian School in Memphis, we began to lead tours to the United Kingdom from the mid-1990s through 2010. During an adult tour, while we were at Westminster Abbey, I discovered that two of the women in our group had recently memorized the Shorter Catechism. They asked me if it would be possible for them to recite the Catechism from memory in the room, of course, referring to the Jerusalem Chamber, where the Westminster Assembly met, wrote, and eventually adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Larger Catechism and the Shorter Catechism, in 1648.
Most people do not know the origin of that name, the Jerusalem Chamber. It dates from the 13th Century when Henry IV was King of England. He had been planning a trip to Jerusalem when he had a stroke in Westminster Abbey, nearly died and was semi-comatose. It was a very cold winter and the king was moved to a side room near the front of the building where there was a fireplace. He soon awakened and asked immediately if he was in Jerusalem? Since that day, the room has been known as The Jerusalem Chamber.
So early one morning after a brief tour of the Abbey, I inquired at the Visitors Desk if we could see the Jerusalem Chamber. I was told “NO” that it was not open to the public that day. I then said that we were a group of “16 Presbyterians on a Pilgrimage from America,” and that it would mean very much to us if we could step into that room for a few minutes where several of the most meaningful documents in our church history were written. After a long pause, the lady in charge said, “yes.” Once inside the room, the two women who had hoped for this moment, Elaine Edwards and Karen Scheibe, recited the first 10 questions. The lady in charge watched and listened and suddenly seemed to be interested. I then asked if these women, who had worked so hard for this time, could recite the entire Catechism? It would take only about 30-40 minutes? She said “yes.” By this time, she was on our side and listened intently. My wife Joyce, and another lady, Candy Denton, asked and listened to each answer. The rest of us watched in awe!
When they finished, the Abbey official stood and said in British fashion, “Brilliant! I have never seen anything like that before. We must celebrate! I will be back shortly.” When she returned, she brought a tray with about 18 little glasses and a bottle of Sherry. She then said, “We must all take a “nip” in celebration and congratulations.” And we all did! It was such a happy, joyous, and God-glorifying occasion.
I have always wondered if anyone else in history had recited entire Shorter Catechism at one sitting in the room where it was written and adopted?.
The Westminster Assembly was like none other in church history. Those men had  prayed, fasted and studied together for many days over several years (1643-1649), and produced unique materials that have served as an anchor for “true truth” through the centuries.
So remember: “If you know and understand The Shorter Catechism, you know theology, PERIOD!”
Wayne Herring is a retired Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America living in Raymond, Miss.
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