An Analysis Of Paul's Persecution Of Christians

Philippians is a letter written by Paul when he was in jail. It is unknown where he was in jail at. The letter is written to the people of Philippi who have helped support Paul in his early journeys and church planting missions. Paul addresses suffering, unity, and having joy in Christ. Paul also includes a well know Christ hymn.

As modern Christians are repulsed by slavery, it is interesting to see this letter written about just that, because of Onesimus’ background. Paul had to persuade someone Philemon to accept Onesimus back. The major contribution Paul took was converting Onesimus to the Christian religion, knowing that Onesimus would not have a change singularly as a slave.

The Religious Freedom Institute has joined forces with the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University’s Religious Freedom Project to determine how Christians from all over the world respond to persecution and to raise awareness of their situation.

Jesus is the center of Christianity, but without Paul, Christianity would never exist. Paul organized Jesus’s disciples after Jesus’s death. Paul introduced Christianity to Non-Jewish people. He was extremely talented at converting others. The New Testament is largely based off Paul’s teachings. Paul also shaped the way Christianity thinks, he was the man who took a small cult and shaped it so that it would become a world religion; Paul was the most important figure to the growth of Christianity, even more than Jesus of Nazareth.

In early American history slave owners were mainly of the Christian faith and believed in the literal truth of the Bible. They felt that many quotes in the bible gave them a “right” to use slaves for prophet. One such quote comes from Colossians 3:22 “Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord.”

Paul holds a different view than the Old Testament’s view of slavery. In the Old Testament, the Israelites were slaves to the Egyptians for 400 years. The Lord prophesied this to Abram before it happened, and he allowed them to be enslaved. But he rescued them from this slavery when they cried out to him. The Old Testament law also encourages slavery and owning people as property. In Leviticus 25, the law encourages people to have slaves, “As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their clans that are with you, who have been born in your land, and they may be your property. You may bequeath

Prior to this class I viewed Paul as the iconic missionary. He acted with bold faith and truly relied on the Holy Spirit to work on his behalf. This faith is a rarity in the world or it is faith that I do not see among my peers at least. He acted with fearlessness, boldness, and acted with selflessness to elevate the Gospel. He cared more for the cause than himself and his comfort.

Even though Roman chastisements for religious continuous within three points of time and it was never congested throughout that period, the biographers worn to consign it into ten enormous chastisements occurred by ten Imperium Romanum, is going to mention in a while. Various apprentice related to this ten chastisements in the midst of the ten afflictions that occurred to Egyptians in the older tribute and the ten horns of the brute sirens in the sacred tome of eye-opener.

Interestingly, Paul does not deliver a discourse against slavery but instead teaches on how we are to relate to each other in Christ. Eventually, Paul was prepared to write to Philemon to explain what they needed to do to have an exceptional relationship with Onesimus. However, Onesimus’ conversion had made a genuine difference in his life that made him consider himself and others differently, including Philemon. Paul knew by having a different concept of slavery and how to treat others who are in authority is truly a blessing to for Onesimus and Philemon to know. As a result, “all such authority begins with God, for there is no authority except from God” (Rom 13:1).

Regardless of their societal subordination, slaves are still fully entitled to the benefits of a shared inheritance with Christ which includes freedom from the dominion and power of sin. Nothing about their social status negates them from fully enjoying the rights they have through Christ as God’s children, thus demonstrating how Paul does not believe

Christianity over the course of history has a vast influence on individuals, society and the way believers conduct themselves. It provides morals, practices and ethics that every Christian attempts to live by. Throughout the many denominations in the Christian church, Paul of Tarsus had a significant influence on the faith. His contribution to the development and expression of Christianity is immense and can be seen to stem from his writing and missionary journeys which have implemented his ideas and interpretations onto the development of Christianity. After Jesus, Paul was arguably the most significant figure in Christianity as his teachings form a significant part of the New Testament. Like may other Pharisees of that time in history, Paul sought to suppress the early Christian movement. He accused early Christians of blaspheming against God and breaking Mosaic Law. However, Paul had a life-changing experience when he had a vision of Jesus, and he spent the remainder of his life as a missionary for the early church. Centuries after his ministry, his teachings still influence Christian theology.

Paul was not fighting against the Law of Moses – he knew the law, and that obeying the commandments would lead to happiness. But he also knew that Christ had come to fulfil the law as messiah, and to reconcile the world to himself (2 Corinthians 5:19). He did not interpose rejection of the law, but was polemical of Jewish Christians excluding Gentiles on grounds such as circumcision. As he was later to say of the event, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

“Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters… Masters, treat your slaves justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven” (Colossians 3:22, 25 ESV). In Philemon it says that Paul sent Onesimus, an escaped slave, back to his master Philemon, “no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother” (Philemon 16 ESV). Matthew 7:12 (ESV) says, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Although these verses say clearly that slaves should not insurrect, it is also clear, especially in the last two verses, that slavery is bad and should not be part of society.

For Christians, the persecution of the early church is generally accepted as fact. So much so that we rarely seem to consider the possibility that this is not the case. The martyrdom of saints for their faith is taken for granted as historically accurate. Furthermore, we admire them, looking up to the strength of their faith during the most challenging of times. But are we believing in a false history? Are we taking the truth of Christian persecution for granted when it is, in fact, not true at all? And, finally, are we placing too much significance on early Christian martyrs, thinking that they demonstrate far more than they are able? According to Candida Moss, the answer to all three of these questions is, yes. In her book, The Myth of Persecution, she argues that the church has significantly overemphasized the extent to which early Christians were martyred. She also claims that Christians expect a good deal more from what Christian martyrdom establishes than we can actually gain.

In the first three centuries of the early Christian church. The church was being martyred and treated badly by the Roman population. There were many reasons that the Romans persecuted Christians. Although many people thought the reason was because the Christians refused to worship the Roman gods or take part in the sacrifices. But, that was only part the reason that the Romans actually persecuted Christians. The Romans just hated the Christians in general because of their teachings of the Lord.