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Christian Sacrifice To Pagan Gods

Decent Essays

The Christians refusal to sacrifice to the Pagan Gods, angered the Romans, as they believed by not doing so, their Gods would be enraged and bring disaster to them. With the Christians consistent refusal, things were starting to turn sour for them in the Empire, and the Christians boasting of their numbers, and those such as Celsus calling them frauds, trouble was brewing. According to Gaddis (2005) some disturbing news came to the Emperor’s attention regarding some soldier refusing to make sacrifices. He was so disturbed by this information, and the fact that the Christians influence had reached so far into the Empire and its ranks, that he had no other recourse than to put into action a plan that might rid the Empire of the Christians. In 303 C.E according to Gaddis (2005), Emperor Diocletian ordered that all the Christian churches and scriptures to be destroyed. Furthermore, any Christian that held a rank in the government were to be dismissed. Diocletian was hopeful that these actions that he was taking would put an end to the Christians. However, once the decree was posted, many Christians were angered by this and were not about to give up so easily. …show more content…

According to Gaddis (2005) some of the Christians were tortured as well as being burnt alive, while others were publicly executed. Furthermore, it would seem that the more the Romans persecuted them, the more their hatred grew for them, as they believed them to be disobedient and a danger to the Empire. As such they did everything in their power to rid themselves of the Christians. The only consequence for the Christians at this time was, they either obeyed the law by sacrificing to the Pagan Gods or face persecution. However, Gaddis (2005) suggests that some of the Christians looked at the Roman persecution as not so much a Roman persecution, but one from their own God, who was testing their faith so that they could repent for their

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