The Persecution Of The Church

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

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.

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

Christian life during the third century was a constant mix of small local persecution and continually being held as the scapegoats for any problem that occurred within the society.

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

Throughout the first three centuries, Christianity faced persecution from the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful and influential empires in history. Nations under the control of the Rome, associated themselves with Roman traditions. Even during the split of the Roman Empire under, persecution remained and old traditions still dominated the areas of the Roman Empire. Constantine, one of the Caesar’s sons from the Tetrarchy, would go on to become emperor of Rome and challenge old beliefs.

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

While the church was busy trying to maintain its biblical principles while also trying to be evangelistic and counter the culture; it was undergoing persecution within the Roman Empire. In the earlier years of Christianity, as mentioned before, they were not distinguishable from the Jewish religion. Because of the Jewish religion stirring up trouble and the Christian preaching, which sounded to the Roman mindset like the act of rebellion, the church faced

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

During the reign of Diocletian, Christians were severely persecuted because of their unwillingness to give up religion. Emperor Diocletian issued “The Edicts of Persecution” which were a series of laws that took away the rights of Christians and demanded them to comply with traditional Roman religious practices. The first edict ordered that churches be destroyed, Holy Scriptures burned and dishonored those who continued to work in a Christian profession and denied them freedom2. He later commanded that all the rulers of the churches in every place should be “first put in prison and afterwards compelled by every device to offer sacrifice”3.

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.

“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.

Nero was the fifth and final Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. His full name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, but when he was adopted by his great uncle Claudius and became his heir to be the next Roman Emperor hi name changed to Nero Claudius Ceasar Augustus Germanicus. He succeeded to the throne on 13 October, 54, after Claudius’s death. “During his rule from 54 to 68 Nero focused much of his attention on diplomacy, trade, and increasing cultural-capital of the empire.” His rule as Emperor was often associated with tyranny and extravagance. He was obsessed with retaining his title as Emperor, and would not hesitate to execute or ruthlessly kill anyone who he saw as a threat or opposition against him. He stamped out all

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

Catholic religion is one of the oldest religions, highly practiced in the United States. It is a religion with a set of beliefs such as practicing celibacy among the priests and nuns. Each and every state in America has several parishes and a bishop that oversees the operations of the churches in those said regions. For instance, in the State of Phoenix, there is a bishop with several priests in every parish handling the operations of the churches. The Catholics follow a set of beliefs and traditions that mirror the morality in the society. However, these beliefs are being eroded by the some of the followers in various parts of the world. In fact, the Catholic Church has become a subject of serious allegations of child sexual abuse at the hands of the clergy. Several cases have occurred globally even the most high profile cases occurring in Europe and America. Majority of the people ha come forward and reported the incidents of clerical sexual misconducts. They have done so under investigative reporting talking about years of abuse on the part of the priests together with cover-ups and patterns of secrecy by church officials that aided in allowing these accused priests in continuing to their ministries in the various parishes and this involved interaction with mirrors. Canonical, civil, and criminal sanctions have been directed to several bishops, priests, and even dioceses. However, there are those that have managed to escape the hands of justice and continue to engage in