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Persecution Of Christians

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To understand Roman persecution of Christians, we must first understand the setting and context for which it was in. Romans ruled when Jesus was crucified. The persecutions took place in the first half-century after the crucifixion. At this point in time, the Roman government did not take action against Christians. They always looked at Christianity as an act of Judaism. Since they felt that it was in the same category as Judaism, they felt it was only fair for Christians to have the same religious privileges that the others had. In 64 AD, all of those feelings of toleration went downhill. The great Fire of Rome left half a million people without a home. Rumor had it that the tragedy happened due to a bomb or device that Emperor Nero had …show more content…

Diocletian came along and changed the tune of the story. He tolerated the churches for a little while, until he could not stand it any longer. He then waged what would be the final great persecution. The first stage of his war on Christians was for the Christian churches to be destroyed and for their holy text to be burned. Christians no longer had the rights and freedoms that the laws once gave them. Diocletian then ordered for all clergy members to face incarceration. Diocletian and Galerius teamed together to make things even worse for Christians. They demanded that the Christians give up all they had for universal sacrifice or they would face execution. Diocletian retired after this and Maximus Daia took over rule. He wanted the governors to force all individuals to oblige as a sacrifice to the gods. The Christians faced a brutal attack on their beliefs once more. Around 311 AD, Galerius was struck with a terrible sickness and decided to end the persecutions. He decided that once and for all, Christians would have their legal recognition granted to them. Roman persecution happened not because the Romans were not accepting of new people. It happened because Christianity imposed a threat on Roman’s imperial region. Many other religions made up roman culture during this time. Christians had a mission mindset and wanted to win everyone over for Christ. Pagans believed that Christians participated in magic and superstition. While we hear many reasons and events for Roman persecution, Lactantius, who ruled from 240-320 AD, claimed that the Christians using superstition and magic during Pagan ceremonies caused the beginning of the outbreaks and persecutions of Christians. Although the Romans tried to end Christianity, I believe these series of events only showed the religious strength and made it as powerful and widespread as it is

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