Persecution in the Early Church

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that one of the factors that the early church grew was because of persecution. However, this was not the only factor. The faith of those who followed Jesus Christ transcended the state of Christianity and helped it grow exponentially in the first centuries. Introduction Christianity today has millions of followers. In the early stages of Christianity, this wasn't always the case. How and why did it spread? Nowadays, many convert to Christianity for various reasons. Following the death of Jesus Christ, the persecution of Christians in the early church did not hinder or eliminate the growth of Christianity, on the contrary, there is a direct correlation between the persecution and growth of Christianity in the early church. However, persecution was only one reason, of all the many reasons that helped the early church grow. It was the apostle Paul who said, â€Å"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for is the power of God unto salvation . . . to the Jew first and also to the Greek† (Rom. 1:16). There was no power or empire on earth that was going to stop the growth of Christianity. In as little as three centuries, Christianity became the religion of preference and eventually the official religion of the Roman Empire. According to K. S. Latourette, â€Å"The complete story of the spread of Christianity in the first couple of centuries cannot be entirely told, for there is not sufficient data to write it.† Moreover, what can be told is that within the first five centuries Christianity became the dominant religion. Christianity began in the Roman Empire and became one of the major systems of belief. The irony of the intolerance of Christianity was that most cultures of the time accepted all sorts of deities. When the Apostle Paul stood before the Aeropagus he makes mention that the people of Athens were religious people in the sense that they had many Gods. The author F. F. Bruce states, â€Å"Paul was brought and invited to expound his teaching.† The Apostle Paul said, â€Å"As I was walking through your city and observing your objects of worship I found an altar bearing the inscription: â€Å"to an Unknown God† (Act 17:23). The number of gods and objects that were worshiped was so vast, that the people of Athens even had an altar made to someone who was unknown, just to make sure they hadn't forgotten anyone. Even with the vastness of religions, somehow Christianity was an outcast in the middle of a plurality of religions. Century after century of persecution, which in some cases occurred in isolated areas, and other times was empire driven, the Roman Empire was bent on eradicating Christianity. How is it that Christianity continued to grow in spite of the onslaught of persecution that occurred? According to Phillip Schaff, there are at least ten major persecutions that stand out in the early church. Here are the ten Roman Emperors who initiated those persecutions:Nero (64-68) PersecutionDomitian (81-96)Trajan (112-117)Marcus Aurelius (161-180)Septimus Severus (202-210)Decius (250-251)Valerian (257-59).Maximinus (235-38)Aurelian (r. 270–275)Diocletian and Galerius (303-324)A Brief Summary of Some of the Notable Roman Emperor Driven Persecutions (Nero 64-68AD).According to Everett Ferguson, the apostles Paul, Peter, and James were all killed within five years of one another in the m id-sixties. James was killed by the Jerusalem authorities while Peter and Paul were executed in Rome under Nero (64-68 AD). After Nero's persecution of Christians (64 AD), Paul is never heard of again. James â€Å"the brother of the Lord†, as the leader of the Jerusalem church and was respected by his followers, however, in 62 AD, he was assassinated under the authority of the Jewish high priest. In the year 66, the Jews rebelled against the Roman authority and â€Å"refused to perform the daily sacrifice for the emperor.† Four years later, the Emperor Vespasian's forces, led by Titus, completely plundered and destroyed Jerusalem. At this point, the leadership of Christianity was seemingly wiped out. There would be no logical reason for Christianity to grow now that the leadership was dead. Millard J. Erickson writes that Christians knew, â€Å"one salient dimension of God's preservation is that the believer is not spared from danger or trial, but is preserved within it. There is no promise that suffering or persecution will not come, but rather that they would not prevail against them.† The Apostle Paul affirms this reasoning when he states, â€Å"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ† (Rom. 8:35). â€Å"Persecution† is assumed in his statement following this verse, and he ends with this summary, â€Å"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord† (Rom. 38-39). Approximately, five centuries before this, the same faithful stance resonated in Daniel's three friends before King Nebuchadnezzar in the face of a fiery furnace. It is here that one begins to grasp the starting point of why Christians would not compromise their faith even through persecution. Ekeke observes, â€Å"The persecution under Nero was confined to Rome, but this action set the tone for what would occur elsewhere in the Roman Empire.† Before killing the Christians, Nero would dress them in furs to be killed as animals while others were crucified. Christians were seen as mere animals in the eyes of Nero. The Letter of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons According to Ferguson, this letter is considered one of the most important letters of second-century martyr literature. â€Å"The persecution at Lyons is notable (1) for the first-hand account of the rage of the populace that resulted in exceedingly brutal experiences for Christians and (2) for a large number of martyrs, the Roman citizens beheaded and the rest condemned to the wild beast contests in the area.† Decius and Valerian The Roman empire fell on economic hard times, and in the fall of 249 A. D. Caius Messius Decius became head of the Roman Empire. Decius concluded that Roman gods had been neglected. He affirmed that the solution the Empire needed, was that all Roman temples should be reopened, and that all citizens needed to show their allegiance to the gods of Rome by worshiping at the shrines. The Christians refused to worship at the shrines, and their refusal was seen as an act of treason. Christianity, in the view of the emperor, had become a detriment to Roman society. When Valerian superseded Decius, within time it was clear that his agenda â€Å"was to destroy Christianity.† However, both Valerian and Decius true motives for wanting to get rid of Christianity were based seemingly on economic principles on the basis of trying to avoid further economic ruin. The suppression strengthened rather than weaken Christianity at the hands of Decius and Valerian. â€Å"For public opinion condemned the government's violence and applauded the passive resistance of the Christian.† Once again, the relentless efforts of the Emperors failed at destroying Christianity. At this time many Christians defied the Roman government and the bishops of Antioch, Jerusalem, and Rome were executed. Diocletian and Galerius (303-324)Diocletian is considered by historians to be one of the most brutal persecutors of Christians. Although he helped restore efficiency in government processes, such as but not limited to the economy, military, and administration, he also gave the order to eliminate Christianity from the Roman Empire (the irony of this is that his wife, Prisca, and his daughter, Valeria, were considered Christians), burn scriptures, ban Christian gatherings, and tear down church buildings. Diocletian also ordered the leaders of the church to be tortured, imprisoned and put to death. Galerius, the son-in-law of Diocletian (married to Valeria), and the Caesar who ruled the eastern part of the empire, was the one who convinced Diocletian to begin the persecution. By the year 311, Galerius came to finally realize the ineffectiveness of his attempt to wipe out Christianity. Although there were many Christians who recanted their faith in Christianity in the middle of facing martyrdom, thousands did not recant, and paid the ultimate price for the faith in Christ with their own blood. In effect, as persecution persisted, more and more Christians died for their faith. Diocletian's reign is considered one of the â€Å"last great persecution of the Christian church.† Some of the Reasons for PersecutionOne of the main reasons for hostility towards Christians was that the Christian ethic in itself was a criticism of pagan life. The Roman persecutions many times were in part, dependent on the political atmosphere. Moreover, â€Å"Out of the fifty-four emperors who ruled from 30 and 311, only about a twelve, persecuted Christians. . . It has been calculated that between the first persecution under Nero in 64 to the Edit of Milan in 313, Christians went through almost 130 years of persecution.† The Christian ethic went against all the pagan and immoral way of living propagated by the Roman Empire. Fundamental to the Christian lifestyle was the rejection of pagan gods. Both the Greeks and Romans had gods for all the natural and man-made elements. The denial of these elements â€Å"marked the followers of Jesus as â€Å"enemies of the human race.† Amongst other things, â€Å"Christians were accused of sexual sins and cannibalism.† Ferguson writes, â€Å"The presence of Christians had been the occasion of disturbance in Rome. Christian teaching threatened pagan society during the reign of Claudius. . . Under Nero, and in response to other blaming him for the great fire that destroyed much of Rome (64 AD), Nero blamed and punished Christians for the fire.† After Nero, Domitian was remembered in Christian writing as the next persecuting emperor. Correspondence between Pliny the Younger (governor of Bithynia the emperor, Trajan, states that Pliny executed those Christians who did not deny their Christian faith. In spite of all the efforts to eliminate and suppress Christianity, it remained a peaceful and powerful group in the Roman Empire. The author Alannis Nobbs states, â€Å"It is attested by the growing number of fragments of earlier Christian literary papyri, and it confirms the rapid spread of Christian activity.† One by one the persecutors of the Christians passed away, yet, Christianity kept growing. William Tabbernne writes of Eusebius, â€Å"God's restraining hand can always be replaced once God's purposes have been served, forcing evil tyrants, such as Maximinus II, to stop persecuting. More importantly, God can also raised up pro Christian Emperors, such as Constantine, who will protect, rather than persecute the church.† The push of Christianity was so powerful that its converts included Roman Emperors. Reasons why Christianity Spread in the First Couple of Centuries after Christ's DeathAgainst all logic, the spread of Christianity should have been stopped by the immoral belief systems of many Roman Emperors and the waves of persecution that bombarded the early church. Phillip Schaff writes: The chief positive cause of the rapid spread and ultimate triumph of Christianity is to be found in its own absolute intrinsic worth, as the universal religion of salvation, and in the perfect teaching and example of its divine-human Founder, who proves himself to every believing heart a Savior from sin and a giver of eternal life. Christianity is adapted to all classes, conditions, and relations among men, to all nationalities and races, to all grades of culture, to every soul that longs for redemption from sin, and for holiness of life. Its value could be seen in the truth and self-evidencing power of its doctrines; in the purity and sublimity of its precepts; in its regenerating and sanctifying effects on heart and life; in the elevation of woman and of home life over which she presides; in the amelioration of the condition of the poor and suffering; in the faith, the brotherly love, the beneficence, and the triumphant death of its confessors. With or without persecution, Christianity would have continued to spread throughout the world. Persecution either affirmed the early church in what they stood for or it drove them away. The moral teachings and power of the gospel brought hope to an empire that was on a downward spiral into immorality and economic ruin. People in general grew weary of the evil that was associated with the pagan gods, their own personal struggles, and the decline and cruelties of the Roman Emperors. What Christianity had to offer back then, as it does now, is hope. Not hope, for hope's sake, but hope in the very person for whom they were being persecuted. A hope not just for this physical life but for the eternal life offered by Christ. Christianity condemned the immoral practices of the Roman culture. The Christian appeal was one of loving your neighbor and your enemy. This ethic stood in stern contrast to the ideal or philosophy of that time. It was one of preserving not only the unity of marriage but the unity of the family. Most of the apostolic leadership lost their lives for the type of life that Christ offered. However, being a follower of Christ came at a cost. The apostle Paul wrote, â€Å"everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted† (2 Tim. 3:12). The apostle John wrote that Jesus said, if they persecuted Him, they will also persecute His followers (John 15:20). The Roman empire was one bent on the pursuit of wealth, pleasure, sensuality, and self-gain and self-interest. If truth is said, modern society has not changed much. Jesus said, â€Å"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you† (John 15:18-19). It is these types of enduring words that were etched in the hearts of those who were persecuted in the early church. Christians subscribed to a different lifestyle than what Roman society offered. What did Roman society offer? The apostle Peter says, â€Å"For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do, living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you† (1 Pet. 4:3-4). Peter depicts the current state of affairs of Roman society, and the reasons why Christians were hated and persecuted. For these and many other reasons the early church grew and multiplied until Rome could no longer ignore, suppress, kill off, the faith of those who were followers of Christ. Conclusion The early church grew for many reasons. Although persecution was not a willfully invited reason but rather one that was forced upon them, it is clear that despite hostility and persecution, Christianity continued to grow exponentially across the Roman Empire. An almost unwilling fact and the irony of the persecution is that the more the early church was persecuted, it continues to multiply. Terullian, was on point in saying â€Å"the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.† This same seed is being planted today in many countries who are both tolerant and intolerant to Christianity. The modern church just like the early church can continue to grow if their faith is anchored in Christ. It was true of then as is today. Christians who are faithful did not and will not compromise their faith anyone or anything. The Roman Empire could not sustain its decline and offered no answers to the question of salvation. The intolerance of Christianity helped it spread more because every time Christians rejected what the pagan driven culture offered, they had the opportunity to proclaim their faith in the risen Savior. It is important to also not that most of the early Christian converts were not only Jews but mostly Gentiles. These Gentiles were tired of the pagan religions of Rome and did not want to convert to Judaism (mainly because of its male circumcision and various laws on personal diet). Unlike most religions, Christianity offered something most didn't at the time, and this was Salvation. Salvation was maintained through accepting and remaining faithful to Christ. The light of many shined through faithfulness and was highlighted even more during their persecution.