The Martyrdom Of The Christian Believers

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 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

After the crucifixion of Jesus in AD 29, his followers kept spreading his message. During this time, the Pax Romana made traveling untroubling with the safer roads, and spreading ideas by common languages, Latin and Greek. One man who had an immense impact on spreading Christianity is the apostle Paul. Originally opposed to Christianity, Paul had a vision of Christ, and spent the rest of his life spreading and interpreting the teachings of Jesus. Christianity spread throughout the empire not only because of the work of Paul and the other apostles, but also because of how receptive people were to

Christianity during the early century was very difficult for many Christians. As many Christians were persecuted for not worshipping pagan gods.

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,

The earliest recorded text teaching Christianity has its roots buried deep within Judaism. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, as the Messiah, created a new ideology of worship. The Messiah is the savior for all people and of all sins. Paul carried the message of the Messiah to the Gentiles. His missionary journeys and establishment of churches enabled the spreading of the message throughout the Roman Empire. Christianity grew in acceptance; those that believed in the Messiah separated and began to worship on their own. This marked the beginning of the split of Judaism and Christianity.

While Nero’s persecution of Christians in 64 AD led to the death of innocent people, it had a positive impact on making Christianity public and helped to establish it as a superior religion. Since Christianity was based on the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ, Christians expected to be tried and faced a lot of suffering for their beliefs. The persecution only meant that those killed became martyrs, who only brought popularity to religion. Furthermore, the attention paid by Nero also sent the message that Christianity was not a religion like any other. 18.

Jon Krakauer born in 1954, Brookline, Massachusetts he writes a genre of nonfiction som of his major works include: Into the Wild (1996), Into Thin Air (1997), Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith (2003). Jon Krakauer is an American nonfiction writer, journalist, and mountaineer best known for his works about the outdoors and mountain climbing. His nonfiction works Into the Wild, Into Thin Air, and Under the Banner of Heaven have been best-sellers and received widespread critical attention. Aside from being nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, he has also been the recipient of the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and Book of the Year by Time

All through the middles ages, Christianity was a significant part of the society and political issues. Christianity was born when Jesus of Nazareth was crucified in the city of Jerusalem in the year 33 AD. After his fatality, Jesus' Apostles left Israel and started to get the message out of about God and the faith of Christianity. By the medieval times, Christianity was the major church in Europe. Two significant occasions which had a dominant effect on the improvement of Christianity was the conversion of Constantine and the Crusades.

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

by being crucified upside down (that position being requested by him supposedly because of a feeling of unworthiness to be crucified just as his Lord was). It is noteworthy that Christ did predict a martyr 's death for Peter (Jn. 21:18,19). It is thought that Paul was beheaded right outside Rome in 68 A.D. (II Tim. 4: 6-8,16-18). John supposedly lived and labored in Ephesus during his later years, being the only apostle allowed to die a natural death. The lives, ministries, and deaths of the rest of the apostles are far more unknown. These realities do not consider the enormous social differences are often existing in non-Jewish congregations. A person who sold goods only the wealthy bought and a Roman jailer in the same church (Acts 16:14-40)? A "dirt poor" person and the owner of an expensive home in the same church (James 2:1-4)? A slave and his or her owner in the same church--meeting in the owner 's home (Philemon)? A Jewish convert who refused to eat anything sacrificed to an idol and a pagan convert who ate anything in the same church (Galatians 2:11-14)? All those situations existed in the first century! The concepts that this course show me was when the church assembled in the first century, some spoke in tongues, some interpreted those tongues, some prophesied, some introduced a new song, some received a revelation and some performed miracles. To them, those experiences were typical events. That is my under from my studies that It is doubtful first century

Pope Urban II proclaimed the First Crusade to end violence within the Church and assure power in the Holy Lands. Once Islam became powerful, Muslims invaded these lands and took over the Byzantine Empire. They brutally oppressed, enslaved, deported, and even murdered the Christians living in those lands. In response, the Roman Catholic Church and “Christian” kings/emperors from Europe ordered the Crusades to reclaim and defend their lands. Urban had called on knights and any other who wanted to fight. Why has the Pope turned to such horror and violence against the Muslims, when he wanted to end this type of struggle within the Church? Pope Urban allowed these brutal things to occur, and not only was his view distorted, but the stubbornness shown by the Crusaders in these times left behind a legacy of bitterness and hate. The Crusades did not necessarily protect or help Christianity as Pope Urban’s principles were wrong, the Crusaders enforced the belief on people, and they committed such violent acts, even against innocents.

The early church was hated by the society and government of the Roman Empire for various reasons, such as the refusal of Christians to sacrifice to the gods. The Empire went through many phases of demanding that the Christians sacrifice which meant denying their faith or be killed. The earliest attacks claimed the lives of many of the apostles.This text is the story, from around 160 AD, of the martyrdom of Polycarp, the Bishop of the church in Smyrna, a city in Asia Minor (modern Izmir in Turkey) devoted to Roman worship. The account is in the form of a letter from eye-witnesses to other churches in the area. It is the earliest chronicle of a martyrdom outside the New Testament.Polycarp was an old man, at least 86, and probably the last surviving person to have known an apostle, having been a disciple of St. John. This was one reason he was greatly revered as a teacher and church leader. One interesting feature of the letter is that the writer is very conscious of how Polycarp’s death followed the pattern of Christ’s. As you read it, look for parallels between this story and the Easter story in the gospels. We are writing to you, brothers, with an account of the martyrs, especially the blessed Polycarp, whose death brought to the persecution to a close. Almost all the events that led up to it reveal it to be another martyrdom in the divine pattern that we see in the Gospel. For he waited for his betrayal, just like the Lord did, so that we might follow him, in looking out

Even though thousands of people died during the persecutions, only few of them remained in history. One of the first Christians to die for their beliefs was Stephen. Stephen was stoned in the year 34 in Jerusalem by, with help of Saul (later known as Paul) as a wittness, Jews. What makes Stephens stoning so remarkable is that Stephen, being filled with Holy Spirit, still prays for mercy for his persecutors as they are throwing stones at him. In the eyes of Christians, Stephens death was similar to death of Jesus; even when they are being attacked and in pain, they still pray for the almighty God to show mercy to the persecutors. This created kind of ’personal relationship’ between Stephen and Jesus. Death of Stephen is important as it started an era of persecution which strengthened the meaning of being christian. Almost every Christian from the church of Jerusalem had to leave their home after the death of Stephen. Saint Polycarp, who was 2nd-century bishop of Smyrna, stayed in history for divine events around his persecution. In the beginning, Polycarp was hiding from persecutors in small towns, until one night when he was sleeping he had a vision where his pillow caught on fire. This was a sign for Polycarp that he shall be burned alive. Later, Polycarp was tied up on a stake and the persecutor light him on fire but soon the persecutors realized that the fire failed to burn him:

Christians were persecuted, tortured, and enslaved by rulers for many years and it was not considered a religion to be followed by anyone until Constatine became a ruler. Many kept their religious preferences a secret until the Sarcophagus of Janius Bassus was created. At this time Christianity had become very established, and even the the upper class were converting to Christianity. Romans were more interested in one god than in several. One such member of the elite group was Janius bassus. His sarcophagus probably shows us how much the Christian style of art influenced the art works produced at this time.