What Was The Effect Of Christian Persecution And Martyrdoms

The persecutions of the martyrs strengthened Christianity because the martyrs if they were willing to be killed for their faith then it must be very significant to them. The martyr’s suffering mirrored Jesus’ suffering and reinforced faith among Christians. “They looking upon her in her conflict, beheld with their eyes, through their sister, Him who had suffered for them in order to persuade those who trust in Him

In the source “The Martyrdom of Perpetua and Felicitas,” the narrative of a few early Christians who died for their beliefs is told. The two martyred women, named Perpetua and Felicitas, along with a few other followers of the religion were imprisoned because they identified themselves as Christians and refused to offer sacrifice to the Roman Emperor. The Christians were sentenced to death by beast for this. The source illustrate the problems Christians had in navigating the cultural realities of life in the Roman empire. This can be observed along with the struggles involved in class, family, and gender.

In the early Church, martyrdom was considered a "baptism in blood," similar in itself to the baptism in water. The baptism of martyrdom was at the origin of the conversion of many. To be a true disciple is to die as a martyr. The rationale of costly discipleship is witnessing to non-Christians. This shows that martyrdom can communicate much more deeply than any other discourse. It is difficult to evaluate the intensity and scale of persecution against Christians of the first three centuries; nevertheless what we have are some documents that shed light on the frequency of these afflictions. During the first century, there were occasional persecutions under Nero’s reign, especially the fire of Rome in 64 CE, which Christians were accused of having

According to an article published in 2009, it is believed that there were a numerous effects of crusades:

Since the tragic events that occurred on September 11, 2001, Muslims throughout the United States have been mistreated, discriminated against, and have been placed into false stereotypes. As most Muslims are simple, harmless citizens, this has caused a hysteria in which many people have a prejudice against them under the pretense that all Muslims are terrorists. EXPLAIN TEXT Because of this, there is currently an age of witch hunts against them, similar to the Salem Witch Trials. Despite most Muslim citizens being innocent people, a few select individuals have caused atrocious incidents; therefore, a witch hunt against all Muslims has ensued that parallels the Salem witch trials and should be brought to immediate end.

During the persecutions, churches and scripture were destroyed. Many were killed and tortured. Despite this, many remained brave and unafraid according to accounts. The idea of redemption and a magnificent afterlife led many Christians to almost fervently pursue martyrdom. These martyrs were glorified, and miracles were reported to have occurred in their presence. They refused to reject Christ and, in turn, were subjected to torture and humiliation. Eusebius describes the proceedings during the Great Persecution: “…the rules in question brought a certain man into a public place and commanded him to sacrifice. When he refused,

• Writes about Christ suffering extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of Pontius Pilatus. Refers to an immense multitude of Christ followers willing to die for their beliefs. Pg. 82

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

In contrast to the persecution experienced by early Christian followers, Christianity today does not experience the level of outward persecution. Christianity is practiced in an atmosphere nearly void of violence. It was not until the reign of Constantine when Christians were authorized to practice their chosen faith. The “Ediet of Milan”(313 A.D.), gave official recognition to the Christian faith, thus ending persecution within the Roman Empire. Before Constantine’s rule, there were many rulers eager to drive out the Christians. The Emperor Trajan (98-117 A.D.) established the first official policy relating to Christians and how they should be dealt with. Diocletion and the Apologists were the last of the persecutors in this era before Constantine. This marked the end of open persecution

During the first decades preceding Christ's death, Christians were tolerated but not really liked by the general population of the Roman empire due to their refusal to acknowledge the emperor as a living god. This act of defiance was considered heresy by the state .The real mass persecution of the Christian people came during the reign of the emperor Nero who needed a scapegoat on whom to blame the great fire during his reign.

As Christianity was spread throughout Rome, people began to question the teachings of Jesus. Out of fear, officials arrested and killed a multitude of Christians as a result. The everyday plebeian became impressed with these people dying for a belief. Although persecutions became more common, the number of Christians stayed the same and maybe even grew because of the influx of polytheistic Romans converting to the monotheistic religion of Christianity. People were converting quicker than they were being killed off because of the likeable teachings of love, the bravery of these people dying because of what they believed in, and their appealing message to those not in the affluent classes.

With its insistence on exclusive monotheistic worship of the Christian God it won where paganism could only fail, in demanding solitary allegiance to its movement (pp. 201-204). In demanding such commitment, those won to Christianity were far more allied to its goals and purposes than adherents to pagan movements that were non-exclusive. Further, the possibility of publicly suffering for their faith offered Christians the hope of enormous communal esteem. For those already firmly committed, the benefits of esteem and other-worldly reward far out-weighed whatever cost in suffering martyrdom might bring. Paganism had nothing analogous to win such enthusiastic commitment. Whereas, Christianity promised life after death in heaven while in the Roman religion, only gods went to heaven; emperors were considered gods, everyone else went to the underworld.

Over the years in history, there have been many formidable executions that were caused by the aspect of different faiths and races. Period after period there have been many leaders who lashed out onto others because of what they believed in. All of these incidents have never been forgotten; one very infamous one would be the Spanish Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition was started to “cleanse” the Church of heretics and purify Spain. They executed Jews, Muslims, and other minorities not of Christian faith. Ferdinand and Isabella were in crown of Spain and appointed the Church to start the Spanish Inquisition. These cases will be discussed in the fallowing paper.

It can be very difficult to be religious in the modern world as people have such strong opinions these days and you can be excluded from communities just for your beliefs. However, in history you could be killed for your religion. Although this still happens, it is a lot scarcer and is illegal.

Christian persecution, are so barbaric that Eusebius can only surmise that the perpetrators are being