History Of Christian Persecution
The Beginnings
Christians have been persecuted since the religion has existed. However, the dramatic start to the persecution of Christians began during the Roman Empire. After the Great Fire of Rome in A.D. 64, rumors claimed that emperor Nero himself was responsible. However, Nero blamed Christians and ordered that all Christians be killed. Christians were burnt alive and then torn apart by dogs.
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In the second century, persecution often consisted of beheading and being condemned to animals. Beheading was usually only used with highly-ranked citizens. Most everyone else was entitled to being attacked by ferocious animals. These include lions, boars, and leopards.
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In 303 AD, Roman emperor Diocletian believed Christianity was a threat to traditional Roman beliefs and ordered the “Great Persecution” of Christians. Churches were destroyed, Christian texts and property were burned, and many people died.
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According to https://www3.dbu.edu:
During the Roman Empire, by 325AD, an estimated
7 million
Christians were persecuted for their choice to follow Christ
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Reasons For Persecution
​- After 64 A.D., Christianity was declared illegal.
- There was much disagreement towards Christians refusal to worship other gods.
- Christians were often times poor and part of lower classes, making them an easy targets for those seeking power.
- Christians were accused of being atheists.
- Christians were accused of cannibalism, incest, and beastalism.
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-Analysis of Articles-
Both of these articles do a great job describing the history and beginnings of Christian Persecution. They provide a very detailed account of the why and how the Roman's persecuted Christians and provided specific examples of how Christians were discriminated against. These articles present an understanding of how violent Christian persecution has been since the Roman Empire, and provide a basis to why Christians are still being persecuted today.
According to opendoorusa.org:
In 2019,
245 million
Christians in the world experience high levels of persecution for their choice to follow Christ
There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of Christians being persecuted since the beginning of the Roman Empire
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From Class
In class, we covered the early persecution of Christians, specifically Diocletian’s Persecution.
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This was known as "The Great Persecution" and was the largest, bloodiest, persecution. Scriptures and church buildings were burned as Romans persecuted all Christians.
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Once Diocletian left the throne, the empire went into a civil war. Constantine led the Romans into a victory and legalized Christianity once he had a revelation that he was Christian. There was then a growth of churches and further development of Christianity.
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-Analysis of Article-
This article did a fantastic job drawing attention to the reasons for why Christians were persecuted during the Roman Empire. It addressed the ways that Christians fought back to persecution and illustrates the differences between justifying persecution centuries ago, and justifying persecution today.