session 3 – persecution in the early church much of our information on the early church and...
TRANSCRIPT
Session 3 – Persecution in the Early Church
Much of our information on the early church and persecution comes from Eusebius
He wrote Ecclesiastical History
Eusebius was a close friend of Constantine (emperor) and got permission to collect and write
about the first 300 years of Church history
Matthew - killed by stabbing as ordered by King Hircanus
James, son of Alphaeous – Stoned and clubbed to death (Josephus)
James, brother of Jesus - thrown down from a height, stoned and then beaten to death at the hands of Ananias
(circa AD 66)
John - tortured by boiling oil, exiled to Patmos in AD 95
Mark - burned during Roman emperor Trajan's reign
Peter - crucified upside-down by the gardens of Nero on the Vatican hill circa AD 64
The Death and Martyrdom of Disciples
Andrew - crucified on an "X" shaped cross by Aegeas, governor of the Edessenes, around AD 80
Philip - stoned and crucified in Hierapolis, Phrygia
Simon - crucified in Egypt under Trajan's reign
Thomas - death by spear thrust in Calamina, India
Thaddaeous - killed by arrows
James, son of Zebedee - killed by sword in AD 44 by order of King Herod Agrippa I of Judea
Bartholomew - beaten, flayed alive, crucified upside down, then beheaded
Peter and Paul died under emperor Nero
How were the early Christians seen by others as the Church developed over
the first 2-300 years
We will look at three different perspectives:
How they were view by the Popular
How they were viewed Politically
How they were viewed Philosophically
Viewed by the popular
They were seen as unsocial because they would not involve themselves in festivals
and feasts of the pagans
They were seen and called atheists for denying all the Roman Gods
They participated in strange rituals(Like the Eucharist)
Only appealed to the poor and low classes
PoliticallyThey were seen as unpatriotic because they didn’t
worship to the God’s who protected Rome
Accused often of being revolutionaries
They worshipped Christ who was a Roman criminal
They were not in the military typically (until Constantine)
Philosophically (to the “educated”/educators)
Christian apologists in the early church address many of the objections by these people, and a lot
of what we know is from apologists quoting philosophers
Christianity appealed to the simple minded
They embraced immoral people
Embraced stories that were foolish to them (Virgin birth, Resurrection, OT stories, Incarnation)
There were ten major waves of persecution
They were not all empire wide, some were localized - And they varied on severity
We will be looking at a 250(ish) year period of persecution, starting with Nero in A.D. 64
Nero set fire to the city of Rome and then blamed it on the
Christians to justify his persecution
Peter and Paul both were martyred under emperor Nero as well as many other
Christians at that time
After Nero there is a 30(ish) year gap until the next persecution under emperor Domitian
Under Domitian, John was exiled to the Island of Patmos where he wrote revelation
The seven letters to the sever churches were written during the time of Domitian’s persecution
Persecution under Domitian was rather sporadic, and was not consistent throughout the empire
Domitian referred to himself as Lord and God, so you can image the problems that created
"DOMITIAN, having exercised his cruelty against many, and unjustly slain no small number of noble
and illustrious men at Rome, ... at length established himself as the successor of NERO, in his hatred and hostility to GOD. He was the second that raised a
persecution against us.” - Eusebius
The next persecution came under Emperor Trajan
We have a letter written from Trajan to Pliny (one of his Gov)
that speaks about Christians
He said not to seek them out, but if they are brought to you,
but if brought to Pliny he should get them to recant
Ignatius died under Trajan (Thrown to Beasts in Rome)
Hadrian was the next emperor who persecution came from
Under Hadrian, persecution was more localized
Justin Martyr quotes a script from that time that says how officials should deal with Christians
He said the official ruling was Christians had to be convicted of committing a crime in
order to be tried
If you brought false witness against a Christian that was punished
It was better than other times of persecution, but still had it’s problems
Polycarp was martyred under Hadrian’s rule
Polycarp went into hiding for a while (which was not a bad thing, the church tried everything
they could to keep the bishops alive so they could teach)
One night Polycarp is reported to have had a dream, in the dream his pillow caught fire and he
took it as a sign that he was to be martyred
After fleeing and hiding for a time, he was finally found and surrounded
He invited the soldiers in, fed them, asked for some time to pray, and then
said he was ready to go
“Then, when he had been brought in, the proconsul asked him if he was Polycarp. And when
he confessed, he would have persuaded him to deny, saying, Have respect unto thine age, and
other things like these, as is their custom to say: Swear by the fortunes of Caesar; Repent; Say, Away
with the Atheists. But Polycarp, when he had looked with a grave face at all the multitude of lawless heathen in the arena, having beckoned
unto them with his hand, sighed, and looking up unto heaven, said, Away with the Atheists!...
The Account of Polycarp’s martyrdom
“…And when the proconsul pressed him, and said, Swear, and I will release thee, revile Christ; Polycarp said, Eighty and six years have I served him, and in nothing hath he wronged me; and how, then, can I blaspheme my King, who saved me? But when he again persisted, and said, Swear by the fortune of
Caesar, he answered, If thou art vainly confident that I shall swear by the fortune of Caesar, as thou
suggestest, and pretendest to be ignorant of me who I am, hear distinctly, I am a Christian. But if thou
desirest to learn the scheme of Christianity, give me a day to speak, and hearken unto me…
“But the proconsul said unto him, I have wild beasts; I will deliver thee unto them, unless thou repentest.
But he said, Call them, for repentance from the better to the worse is impossible for us; but it is a good thing
to change from evil deeds to just ones. But he said again unto him, I will cause thee to be consumed by
fire if thou despisest the wild beasts, unless thou repentest. But Polycarp said, Thou threatenest me with fire that burneth but for a season, and is soon quenched. For thou art ignorant of the fire of the judgment to come, and of the eternal punishment
reserved for the wicked. But why delayest thou? Bring whatever thou wishest.”
The next persecution comes under Emperor Marcus Aurelius
Natural disasters were hitting Rome more than usual, and he blamed it on the Christians and
their black magic and not worshipping the Gods
Justin Martyr was beheaded in Rome
Many groups Christians were gathered and thrown to beasts while others were forced to
watch in attempts to get them to recant
Many stood fast and were martyred for their faith, but some recanted and denied Christ
Blandina was a famous female martyr
She had earlier been thrown to the beasts, but they wouldn’t touch her
She encouraged many Christians to not recant
On the last day of the shows she was brought with a teen who they tortured and killed
She was finally killed, tossed by a bull inside a sack
It was people like her who encouraged others to go
through with being martyred and not to recant their faith
It was said that no women ever suffered in persecution like she did
The Romans then burnt the remains of Christians
Next persecution came by Septimius Severus
Under him conversation to Christianity was forbidden and illegal
It’s strange because some people in his household were Christians
The worst persecution came to he North African Church at this time
A very popular martyrdom from this period is that of Perpetua and Felicitas
Perpetua was a 22 year old mother
She took her baby into prison with he for a time
Felicitas was a slave girl who was with Perpetua, she was pregnant and gave
birth while inside prison
She was also baptized in prison
Perpetua’ father visited her three times encouraging her to recant her faith,
but she didn’t
Decius (around 250 A.D.) becomes emperor and starts the first empire wide persecution
The catalyst for the persecution was the impending threat of the Goths, he said Rome may fall because they’ve abandoned sacrifice
to the Gods (mainly the Christians)
Under this massive persecution, many Christians were martyred, but sadly, many Christians
renounced their faith and gave in
Something called a Libellous was issued that signified that
you had made your annual sacrifice to the Gods. If you did
not have one, you were in trouble.
There were three camps of Christians in response:
Those who stood firm, those who sacrificed, and those who bribed officials for a libellous
Next was Emperor Valerian
Under his reign, Cyprian of Carthage and the Bishop at Alexandria were deported
Under this persecution Christians did not collapse like they had under Decius
Orders were given to execute church leads (bishops and deacons etc.) and to
seize church property
Later after being deported, Cyprian was brought back and Martyred in the arenas
The Governor tells Cyprian he is guilty of conspiracy and leading a group that
was against the state
At this time Origen was also tortured and soon after died as a result of it
Valerian was then captured by the Persians and died and 40 years (260-300 A.D.) of peace came
During these years, church buildings are built, Christianity continues to grow, and Christians
become involved in Government positions
This was the calm before the storm to come
The trick at this point for emperors who wanted to kill Christians was there were so many now
But that didn’t stop what was about to come
Next came emperor Diocletian
His wife was a Christian and was an influence him holding him back from
persecuting the Christians
But it only lasted so long before the great 10 year persecution began
The primary proponent wasn’t Diocletian though, at this time the Empire was split
between East and West
Diocletian and the persecution takes place in the East empire, which was further split up between
the Augustis (Political) and Caesars (Military)
Diocletian was the political (Augusti) over the Eastern Empire, and a fellow by the name of
Galerius was the Caesar (military leader)
In the West, Constantius (Constantine's father) was the emperor, and the persecution didn’t
happen in that region of Rome
Galerius’ mother pushed him to persecute the Christians because they wouldn’t sever the Gods
After a while, in 303, near the end of Diocletian's rain, Galerius has taken most of the control after
defeating the Persians in battle, and the persecution begins
The first decree give said for Churches to be torn down, Bibles to be collected and burnt, and
Christians couldn’t be in the Government etc.
The second decree came from Galerius that Christians must sacrifice to the Roman Gods, and
when they didn’t they were thrown in prison and many martyred
Prisons became so full they had to release some Christians to make room for others
They used every method around to kill the Christians at the time, beasts, burning, stabbing,
crucifixion, the rack, etc.
Thousands of Christians were martyred, it became so violent that the people of Rome
started to get upset and disturbed by how bad it was
After 310, Galerius starts to die and no more people are martyred. He eventually calls
for the Christians to pray for him and for Rome before he passes.
For all we know, the great persecutor may have found the truth in Jesus Christ at the end
One thing that was true through all persecutions, the Church did not fight back
When they could they fled, they went into hiding, but they never fought back
and killed the Romans
This is likely the reason why, despite so strong persecution, the church still grew fast
Christians were different, and everyone could tell
Memory Verse
2 Corinthians 12:10: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for
Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”