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Christian
Persecution
Dramatic
Evidence Supporting the Early Church
Christian
persecution started with Jesus
Himself. He was asked directly at
trial, “Are you the Christ, the
Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus
left no room for ambiguity – His
first two words were “I am.” The
religious elite in Jerusalem knew
what Jesus was saying – It was
very clear to them that He was
claiming to be God. As such, Jesus
was put to death on a Roman cross
for the crime of blasphemy, thus He
become the first martyr for what
would become the Christian Church.
Many
of the Early Disciples Died for
their Faith Christian
persecution was a dramatic part of
the early church history. For anyone
who holds that the life, death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ was a
man-made hoax conspired by a group
of disciples should check out the
legacy of their martyrdom. Eleven of
the 12 apostles, and many of the
other early disciples, died for
their adherence to this story. This
is dramatic, since they all
witnessed the alleged events of
Jesus Christ and still went to their
deaths defending their faith in Him.
Why is this dramatic, when many
throughout history have died
martyred deaths for a religious
belief? Because people don’t die
for their faith and belief in a lie.
Look at human nature throughout
history. No conspiracy can be
maintained when life or liberty is
at stake. Dying for a belief is one
thing, but numerous eye-witnesses
dying for a known lie is quite
another argument.
A
list of Early Martyrs Who Were
Witnesses to the Life of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Here
is an account of early Christian
persecution, as compiled from
numerous sources outside the Bible,
the most-famous of which is Foxes’
Christian Martyrs of the World:
Around 34 A.D., one year
after the crucifixion of Jesus
Christ, Stephen was thrown
out of Jerusalem and stoned to
death. Approximately 2,000
Christians suffered martyrdom in
Jerusalem during this same period of
time. About 44 A.D., James,
the son of Zebedee and the elder
brother of John, was killed when
Herod Agrippa arrived as governor of
Judea. Agrippa detested the
Christian sect of Jews, and many
early disciples were martyred under
his rule, including Timon and
Parmenas. Around 54 A.D., Philip,
a disciple from Bethsaida, in
Galilee, suffered martyrdom at
Heliopolis, in Phrygia. He was
scourged, thrown into prison, and
afterwards crucified. About six
years later, Matthew, the
tax-collector from Nazareth who
wrote his gospel in Hebrew, was
preaching in Ethiopia when he
suffered martyrdom by the sword. James,
the brother of Jesus Christ,
administered the early church in
Jerusalem and was the author of an
Epistle by his name. At age 94, he
was beat and stoned, and finally had
his brains bashed out with a
fuller's club. Matthias was
the apostle who filled the vacant
place of Judas. He was stoned at
Jerusalem and then beheaded. Andrew
was the brother of Peter who
preached the gospel throughout Asia.
On his arrival at Edessa, he was
arrested and crucified on a cross,
the two ends of which were fixed
transversely in the ground, this is
where we get the term, St. Andrew's
Cross. Mark was
converted to Christianity by Peter,
and then transcribed Peter’s
account of Jesus Christ in his
Gospel. Mark was dragged to pieces
by the people of Alexandria in front
of Serapis, their pagan idol. It
appears Peter was condemned
to death and crucified at Rome.
Jerome holds that Peter was
crucified upside down, at his own
request, because he said he was
unworthy to be crucified in the same
manner as his Lord. Paul
suffered in the first persecution
under Nero. Paul’s faith was so
dramatic in the face of martyrdom,
that the authorities removed him to
a private place for execution by the
sword. In about 72 A.D., Jude,
the brother of James who was
commonly called Thaddeus, was
crucified at Edessa. Bartholomew
preached in several countries and
translated the Gospel of Matthew
into the language of India. He was
cruelly beaten and then crucified by
idolaters there. Thomas,
called Didymus, preached the Gospel
in Parthia and India, where exciting
the rage of the pagan priests, he
was martyred by being thrust through
with a spear. Luke was the
author of the Gospel under his name.
He traveled with Paul the apostle
through various countries and is
supposed to have been hanged on an
olive tree by idolatrous priests in
Greece. Barnabas, of Cyprus,
was killed without many known facts
in about 73 A.D. Simon,
surnamed Zelotes, preached the
Gospel in Mauritania, Africa, and
even in Britain, where he was
crucified in about 74 A.D. John,
the "beloved disciple,"
was the brother of James. From
Ephesus he was ordered to Rome,
where it is affirmed he was cast
into a cauldron of boiling oil. He
escaped by miracle, without injury.
Domitian afterwards banished him to
the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote
the Book of Revelation. He was the
only apostle who escaped a violent
death.
The
Church Grew Dramatically Despite
these Horrible Deaths Christian
persecution didn’t slow the growth
of the Christian faith during the
first few centuries after Christ
arose from the dead, and ascended
into heaven. Even as its early
leaders died horrible deaths,
Christianity flourished throughout
the Roman Empire. How can this
historical record of martyrdom be
viewed as anything but dramatic
evidence for the absolute truth of
the Christian
faith – a faith, unlike any
other, founded on historical events
and eye-witness testimony.
We
thank
All
About Following Jesus
for
the basic contents of the above
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