The Persecuted Church John Stevenson 2016 Persecuted Church

The Persecuted Church © John Stevenson, 2016

Persecuted Church 1 The Ancient Church 500 1000 The Medieval Church 1500 2000 The Reformed Church

Why don’t people like Christians?

Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust; your injustice is the proof that we are innocent. . . The more we are hewn down by you, the more numerous do we become. The blood of Christians is seed. (Tertullian, Apology 50: 13).

John 15: 20 Remember the word that I said to you, “A slave is not greater than his master. ” If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.

2 Timothy 3: 10 -12 Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, 11 persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me! 12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

What should be the attitude of Christians when we are attacked by an unbelieving world?

Jewish Persecutions • Reasons for Jewish Persecution – Perceived charge of blasphemy – The stumbling block of the cross – Jealousy for popularity of the people – Gamaliel’s reasoned defense • Initially limited to Judea and the surrounding regions

And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. (Acts 8: 1 b).

Jewish Persecutions • Reasons for Jewish Persecution – Perceived charge of blasphemy – The stumbling block of the cross – Jealousy for popularity of the people – Gamaliel’s reasoned defense • Initially limited to Judea and the surrounding regions • Capital punishment was initially unauthorized by Rome

Christianity versus Rome A Conflict of Culture • Roman schools taught pagan religion. • Roman cemeteries offered up prayers to false idols.

Christianity versus Rome A Conflict of Culture • Roman schools taught pagan religion. • Roman cemeteries offered up prayers to false idols. • Roman marketplaces sold food that had been offered to Roman gods. • The Roman military personnel were required to swear oaths to the emperor, worshiping him.

Christianity versus Rome A Conflict of Culture • Tertullian said that attendance at the Roman circus and theater was the equivalent to sacrificing to false gods. Roman Religious Tolerance Christianity’s Exclusive Claims

• Reflected in our calendar – July (Julius Caesar) – August (Octavius Augustus) • Background – Alexander the Great – Later Greek rulers For he [Lysander, general of Spartans c. 300 BC] was the first Greek, as Duris writes, to whom the cities erected altars and made sacrifices as to a god, the first also to whom songs of triumph were sung (Plutarch, Lys. 18. 3)

• Divine honors accorded Julius Caesar He [Julius Caesar] died in the fifty-sixth year of his age, and was ranked amongst the gods, not only by a formal decree, but in the belief of the vulgar. For during the first games which Augustus, his heir, consecrated to his memory, a comet blazed for seven days together, rising always about eleven o'clock; and it was supposed to be the soul of Caesar, now received into

• Divine honors accorded Julius Caesar – Custom of rulers in the east – Vote of the senate – Only given to honored dead • Vespasian – “I think I am turning into a god”

• Octavius Augustus – Latin: Divi Filius – Greek: Huios tou Theou – Temple in Asia Minor – Priene Inscription: “…the birthday of the god Augustus was the beginning of glad tidings [euangelion] for the world…”

Jesus Augustus But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ” (Luke 2: 10 -11). His birth was described as good news [euangelion] • Savior • Pax Romana • Lord of all

• Tiberius – Conservative in accepting divine honors (like Augustus) “The people of Myra [honors] the emperor Tiberius, the exalted god, son of exalted gods, lord of land sea, the benefactor, and savior of the entire world” (Klauck 2003: 302; IGEE III,

• Tiberius • Caligula He insisted on being treated as a god – sending for the most revered or artistically famous statues of the Greek deities including that of Jupiter at Olympia, and having their heads replaced by his own (Suetonius; Cal 22)

• Tiberius • Caligula He established a shrine to himself as God, with priests, the costliest possible victims, and a life-sized golden image, which was dressed every day in clothes identical with those he happened to be wearing. (Suetonius, Cal. 22).

• Tiberius • Caligula

• • • Tiberius Caligula Claudius – Uncle to Caligula – Ordered all Jews out of Rome – Issue was “Chrestus” – Temple in Britain – Deified by Senate after his death

Nero’s Persecutions • Great Fire of Rome: 64 A. D. • Christians charged with atheism • Forms of torture – Crucifixion – Torn by animals – Burning – Dragged to death

Nero’s Persecutions “Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind. ” ― Tacitus, Annals 15: 33

Nero’s Persecutions “They were clad in the hides of beasts and torn to death by dogs; others were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed. ” ― Tacitus, Annals 15: 33

“Twenty years later, when I was a young man, a mysterious individual came forward claiming to be Nero; and so magical was the sound of his name in the Parthian’s ears that they supported him to the best of their ability, and only handed him over with great reluctance” (Suetonius, Nero 57).

About this time Achaia and Asia Minor were terrified by a false report that Nero was at hand. Various rumors were current about his death; and so there were many who pretended and believed that he was still alive (Tacitus, Histories 2. 8. 1)

I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast; 4 they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him? ” (Revelation 13: 3 -4).

There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act forty-two months was given to him. 6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13: 5 -6).

It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. (Revelation 13: 7 -8).

And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, 17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. (Revelation 13: 16 -17).

Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six. (Revelation 13: 18).

But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand (Luke 21: 20).

• The Jewish revolt • Capture of Galilee – Josephus • Death of Nero

• The Jewish revolt • Capture of Galilee – Josephus • Death of Nero • Fall of Jerusalem

• The Jewish revolt • Capture of Galilee – Josephus • • • Death of Nero Fall of Jerusalem The Colosseum Taxes “I think I am becoming a god”

Domitian’s Persecutions Domitian, too, a man of Nero’s type in cruelty, tried his hand at persecution; but as he had something of the human in him, he soon put an end to what he had begun, even restoring again those whom he had banished (Tertullian, Apology 5).

Trajan & Christianity • Became emperor 98 A. D. • Letters from Pliny the Younger, governor of Pontus/Bithynia

Governor Pliny’s report to Trajan Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed.

Governor Pliny’s report to Trajan Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ--none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do--these I thought should be discharged.

Trajan’s Reply “They are not to be sought out; if they are denounced and proved guilty, they are to be punished, with this reservation, that whoever denies that he is a Christian and really proves it--that is, by worshiping our gods-even though he was under suspicion”

Hadrian (117 -138) • Those bringing false witness against Christians were themselves to be punished • Ordered a temple to Jupiter to be built in Jerusalem • Bar-Kochba Revolt

Polycarp 155 A. D. • Bishop of Smyrna • Arrested in home; invited soldiers to eat • Taken before Roman proconsul • Ordered to say, “Away with the atheists!”

Polycarp 155 A. D. “Eighty-six years have I been His servant, and He hath done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me? ”

100 - 165 • Gentile pagan who grew up in Shechem • Became a Christian • Started a school in Rome • Beheaded for refusal to sacrifice to Roman gods

“The holy martyrs glorifying God betook themselves to the customary place, where they were beheaded and consummated their martyrdom confessing their Savior. ” Savior

So we are called atheists. Well, we do indeed proclaim ourselves atheists in respect to those whom you call gods; but not in regard to the Most True God (First Apology)

…you are now incredulous because you have never seen a dead man rise again. But as at first you would not have believed it possible that such persons could be produced from the small drop, and yet now you see them thus produced, so also judge that it is not impossible that the bodies of men, after they have been dissolved, and like seeds resolved into earth, should in God's appointed time rise again and put on incorruption (First Apology 19).

• Quadratus: Wrote an apology to the Emperor Hadrian ”But the works of our Savior were always present, for they were genuine: — those that were healed, and those that were raised from the dead, who were seen not only when they were healed and when they were raised, but were also always present; and not merely while the Savior was on earth, but also after his death, they were alive for quite a while, so that some of them lived even to our day” (Eusebius 4: 3).

• Quadratus • Epistle to Diognetes For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity (4).

• Quadratus • Epistle to Diognetes They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven (4).

• Quadratus • Epistle to Diognetes They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life (4).

• Quadratus • Epistle to Diognetes Do you not see them exposed to wild beasts, that they may be persuaded to deny the Lord, and yet not overcome? Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the greater becomes the number of the rest? This does not seem to be the work of man: this is the power of God; these are the evidences of His manifestation (7).

• • • Quadratus Epistle to Diognetes Aristides: Apology to Antonius Pius And if there is among them a man that is poor or needy, and they have not an abundance of necessities, they fast two or three days that they may supply the needy with their necessary food (15).

• • Quadratus Epistle to Diognetes Aristides Tatian – Influenced by Justin Martyr – Address to the Greeks: Pointed out the antiquity of Christianity as coming from Moses and the Old Testament – The Diatessaron: A harmony of the gospels

• • • Quadratus Epistle to Diognetes Aristides Tatian Athenagoras: Writes an apology to Marcus Aurelius and Commodus – Answers charge of atheism – Points out problems of pagan views

Ruled 161 - 180 • Stoic philosopher/emperor • The 12 th Legion had a large number of Christians • Persecution ordered in Gaul • Instituted spy system to find Christians • Justin Martyr put to death

Felicitas & Perpetua 203 A. D. • Perpetua was a married mother with an infant • Felicitas was her pregnant slave • Carthage • Refused to apostatize • Put to death in the arena

Felicitas & Perpetua 203 A. D. “Perpetua had yet to taste more pain. She screamed as she was pierced between the ribs. And taking the trembling right-hand of the novice gladiator, she guided it to her throat. Possibly such a great woman, feared as she was by the unclean spirit, could not have otherwise been dispatched, unless she herself had willed it. ”

Felicitas & Perpetua 203 A. D. What do the martyrdoms of Polycarp, Perpetua, & Felicitas tell us about the early church?

170 - 235 • • • Presbyter in Rome Disciple of Irenaeus Wrote On Christ and the Antichrist: Saw fulfillment in persecutions in his day • Thought Christ would come back in the year 500

170 - 235 • Stories differ on his martyrdom – Banished to Sardinia to work to death in the mines – Dragged to death by horses

170 - 235 • Stories differ on his martyrdom – Banished to Sardinia to work to death in the mines – Dragged to death by horses – Pulled apart by horses

What was it about Christianity that Roman society found objectionable?

“Alexamenos worships his god”

(Ruled 249 -251) • His predecessor, Philip the Arabian, was friendly toward Christianity • Decius wanted to return Rome to her pagan roots • When plague broke out, the Christians were blamed • All citizens of Rome required to offer incense with oath that “Caesar is Lord”

Diocletian (284 -311) • Rose from ranks of military to become emperor • Appointed three co-regents to rule alongside him • Initially tolerated all religious groups • In 303 he instituted a persecution against Christianity

Diocletian (284 -311) • Churches destroyed and properties confiscated • All copies of Bible ordered to be destroyed • Civil rights of Christians suspended • Christians in public office deposed • Food in marketplaces sprinkled with wine that had been sacrificed to idols

Constantine Edict of Toleration

320 • Licinius was rival to Constantine • 40 Soldiers had converted • Condemned to freeze to death on frozen lake

Period of Roman Persecutions 1 50 100 Ignatius John Peter Paul Pliny 150 200 Marcus Aurelius Justin Martyr Polycarp 250 300 350 Decius Diocletian Constantine

What were the Results of the Persecutions? • The Church was Purified • The New Testament was Recognized • God was glorified