PERSECUTION IN THE EARLY CHURCH BEFORE
CONSTANTINE
TONNIE L. COLLINS
DR. DAVE PEDERSON
CHHI 520 B11 – LUO
CONTENTS
Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….....3
Persecution in the early church………………………………………………………………4-10
The growth of the Church ....................................................................................................10-14
Concludes……………………………………………………………………………………14-15
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….17-18
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper is to investigate why the Church was persecution; how the church increased devotion to their Savior Jesus Christ because of the persecution, and what cause the church to grow. Acts 8:1, at that time a great persecution
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Martyrdoms Peter and Paul. Persecution under Domitian (81-96). Persecution under Trajan (112-117). Christianity is outlawed but Christians are not sought out. Persecution under Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-180). Martyrdom of Polycarp Persecution under Septimus Severus (202-210). Martyrdom of Perpetua Persecution under Decius (250-251). Christians are actively sought out by requiring public sacrifice. Martyrdoms bishop of Rome, Jerusalem, and Antioch, persecution under Valerian (257-59) Martyrdoms of Cyprian of Carthage and Sixtus II of Rome; persecution under Maximinus the Thracian (235-38) Persecution under Aurelian (270–275). The worst persecution was under Diocletian and Galerius (303-324). Diocletian decrees in 303 churches are to be destroyed, all sacred texts and precious liturgical vessels confiscated, and meetings for worship forbidden. This is the beginning of the Great Persecution. Beginning with the persecution which scattered the church in Jerusalem and resulted in the death of Stephen; James, was killed when Herod Agrippa became governor of Judea, Philip who was crucified, Matthew who was kill by the sword, James, the brother of Jesus was beat with a club and stone to death, Matthias who was beheaded, Andrew the brother of Peter was crucified, Mark dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria, Peter was crucified upside down, at his own request, because he said he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord, Paul was
The book then addresses the Church and discipleship and looks at some basic questions, baptism, the body of Christ and the visible Church-Community. The book also covers Saints – members called by God. Included in this chapter is sanctification
During the middle of the 1st century Paul who was a Hellenized Jew became a missionary to Gentiles throughout the Roman empire. The Prosecution of a Roman Citizen tells the story of how Paul, who was one of the twelve apostles, was handled by the legal procedures of the empire as a Roman citizen.
From the third to the fourth century, the Roman Empire witnessed a widespread attempt to stop the spread of Christianity. Initially, leaders of the church were predominately targeted, but later anyone admitting to Christianity became a target. The persecutions hit a climax during Diocletian’s reign. These persecutions actually helped the spread of Christianity by glorifying Christians and beginning a tradition of martyrdom that shaped the Church, and the strength that Christians displayed shows that the persecutions could not have possible stopped the spread of Christianity.
Tertullian claimed that “the blood of the martyrs was the seed of faith”. How did the persecution strengthen Christianity?
Romans was written around 57 A.D. In those days the emperor was Nero. And Nero was a man who was considered to have no morals. It is speculated that Paul and Peter were both martyred during Nero’s reign. During that time the early church was growing at a very fast rate, but was also being persecuted at an all-time high. This put the early church in a very bad position, they would have to have their gatherings in secret to hide from the Romans who persecuted them. You would think this would intimidate the
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
Christians were persecuted in the early centuries after Christ. When we hear about the persecution of Christians, you hear about genocide or Christians being dragged out of their homes to be eaten by wild animals. Christians were seen as traitors and were also blamed for the cause of every public disaster. Around 115 C.E, there was an emperor named Trajan. Trajan stated that if Christians refused to make sacrifices to the Roman gods then they would be punished by death. On page 88 it also stated, “...Christians would not go along with the sacrifices necessary for the good of the empire, and so were traitors of the empire.” Another known emperor was Nero. Emperor Nero was also involved in the persecution of Christians. Nero had caused a great
Thesis: It is the intent of this paper to dig into the life of Peter and see just who this man that passionately followed Christ was. As we dig into the life of Peter we will examine his character strengths, his weaknesses, and overall how Peter was transformed by Christ. We will see how God took a man who more often than not acted without thinking and transformed him into a passionate follower who’s words we read today in God’s very words to us.
Hagner, D., Hengel, M. & Barrett, C. (1999). Conflicts and challenges in early Christianity. Harrisburg, Pa: Trinity Press International.
Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume I: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation. Second Edi. New York, NY: HarperCollins, 2010.
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.
In this article Harold Attridge examines Luke’s background, the scriptures Luke wrote, Jesus’s values, the context and purpose of Luke’s gospel and the treatment of Christians at the time of Luke’s writings. The article expresses that Luke’s Gospel was written before the destruction of Jerusalem and at a time when Christians were being persecuted for practicing their faith so consequently the purpose of his Gospel was to show an ethical example and imply that Christians could be good citizens. This source is relevant to the topic as it suggests the purpose of Luke's Gospel and the treatment of Christians before the fall of Jerusalem. A limitation of the website is that it has not been recently published, it’s publish date is April 1998 so it may not be up to date with the latest, accurate information. Nonetheless, this source is very beneficial and appropriate to the task as it provides facts and research on the chosen sacred text. This source will not be the cornerstone of my research but will add a good understanding to the purpose of the sacred text.
Martyrs tells us that the earliest persecution came under the rule of Nero in the year 67
Foa, E. B., Huppert, J. D., Leiberg, S., Langer, R., Kichic, R., Hajcak, G., Salkovskis, P. M. (2002). The obsessive–compulsive inventory: development and validation of a short version. Psychol Assess, 14, 485–496.