The Christianity Of Persecution Of The Early Church

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

Christianity is one of the biggest religions that is still currently practiced today in society. However in the Middle Ages, it was perhaps the biggest religion in the world. So much so that they would go on crusades to either kill their enemies or converting them into Christianity. Ironically, it has been stated that Christians should love and respect everybody, including their enemies. Nonetheless, there has been works that portray Christians as battle-ready warriors and there are other works that tries to explain the understanding and purpose to Christianity. As such, depending on the books and/or poems, there can be many perspectives of Christianity. Even within 500 years from the Early Middle Ages to the Late Middle Ages, the viewpoints

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,

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

From being a persecuted religion, Christianity rose up to be an official religion of Rome with the support of the Emperor Constantine and Theodosius I in the fourth century. By the early Middle Ages, the Church had become extremely powerful and was one of the two dominant forces that controlled the entire Europe, with the other being the State. Although the popes and the kings were ought to be supportive of each other, there usually existed between them a constant struggle for ultimate authority over the kingdoms. More than often, these conflicts created tension between the State and the Church eventually resulted in the people's sufferings.

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

“Under Caesar’ Sword,” a report funded by the Templeton Religion Trust, is the very first systematic global study of Christians’ response to persecution. For three years, 14 scholars studied religious persecution and the responses to abuse of religious freedom in more than 30 countries, the Catholic News Agency details.

Since the fifth century we have been able to count ten of the major persecutions in the early Christian church which are:

In the middle ages, Christianity was at the heart of politics and thus acceptance of the Christian faith was indeed a political matter in many respects. For many political leaders in the early period, acceptance of the Christian faith was used as a means to shape political image, as was clearly shown most famously by Clovis I. Further, acceptance of Christianity was also political in that it created ties with Rome which helped set the precedent of an incredibly influential papacy throughout the medieval period. It also notable that the conversion of ‘barbarian nations’ such as Denmark, signified cultural development and advancement for many people in Europe at the time and helped form the early form of a unified Europe by the early Middle Ages.

This is what theologian Horbury surmised about early Christian persecutions, and I largely agree with this view. The Jews sometimes persecuted the early Christians because their beliefs clashed and this caused friction between the two religions. As well as this ‘incompatibility’ between the two faiths, Donatism also developed as a separate sect of Christianity within the orthodox church and a lot of persecution and hate was directed towards the early Christians. However, without this I do not believe that Christianity would have developed and formed the monotheistic, dogmatic religion that we associate ourselves with today.

The willingness of the apostles to suffer and go to their deaths for this testimony is a strong credit to their belief. The resurrection narrative is consistent not only throughout scripture, but the early church fathers as well. Persecution for believers is something that is understood and expect throughout scripture, from the words of Jesus through the historical and instructive accounts of the New Testament. Recordings of such persecution in outside sources can be found as early as the 60’s AD, referencing direct actions taken against Christians in Rome. While many of these do not reference specific martyrs, they set a precedent for these actions throughout the Roman world, and for believers in the Church’s early

In Christianity today it states that Christians face religious persecutions in more countries than any other religious group, according to the recent study by Pew Research Center. These persecutions have resulted in a decline of the Christian population in the Middle East according to the New York Times. The New York Times also states that in Iraq, less than half a million Christians are left since many of them have been targeted by extremist for more than a decade. The problem became worse with the rise of the Islamic State as it intensified the Muslim persecution of Christians as a part of its campaign of terror in the region. Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat in the US House of Representatives and an advocate of Eastern Christians, states

Throughout history, Christianity always had a reputation, or a “name” following it. Different perspectives approached the reputation that was attached to Christianity in different manners. Justin Martyr and Porphyry had objectives when defining whether this “name” really defined Christianity and the past. They wondered whether the past really represented Christianity. Additionally they honed in on the question of was the past that people represented as Christianity really the roots of Christianity? All around Porphyry and Justin was perceptions of what Christianity rooted from and stood for.

Moore argues that certain patterns of persecution in the tenth through twelfth centuries were not the result of shifts in the opinions of masses or a reaction against real and growing threats from specific groups, as had been assumed, but were the direct result of "the decisions of princes and prelates." (Moore 123) In so doing he takes aim at ideas like the assumption that persecution is, of course, to be expected of a barbarous society, and the objects of persecution suffered their fate because they were an overwhelmingly threatening force. However, persecution does not only happen in barbarous societies, the proof of this lies within today's’ society.

Martyrs tells us that the earliest persecution came under the rule of Nero in the year 67