PERSECUTION in the EARLY

CHURCH

PERSECUTION in the EARLY

CHURCH

“The blood of

the martyrs is the seed

of the Church”

-Tertullian

-Christians accused of cannibalism, perversion, and incest

-Christians used asscapegoats for every misfortune-Christians arrested,harassed, andpersecuted

Shortly After the Death of Christ

The Apostles• Simon Peter: crucified up-side down• Andrew: crucified—St. Andrew’s Cross• James the Greater: beheaded• John: boiled in oil then imprisoned on the island of

Patmos• Phillip: crucified• Bartholomew/Nathanael: beaten and crucified • Matthew/Levi: mortally wounded with a sword• Thomas: stabbed with a spear• James the Lesser: thrown from the Temple pinnacle

then beaten with a fuller's club • Simon the Zealot: crucified• Jude/Judas/Thaddeus: crucified• Judas Iscariot: suicide by hanging• Matthias (replaced Judas Iscariot): stoned then

beheaded

Other Early Christian Martyrs

Ignatius of Antioch

• Martyred in 107 in the arena

• Roman Authorities hoped to make an example of him and thus discourage Christianity from spreading.

• Instead, he met with and encouraged Christians who flocked to meet him all along his route, and he wrote letters to the churches.

Bishop of Antioch

Perpetua, her slave Felicity, and three men were

arrested for converting to Christianity.

Perpetua and Felicity (d. 202)

• Ampitheater in Carthage• Scourged

• Attacked by wild animals• Then put to the sword

Sts. Sergius and Bacchus were the leaders of a group of Roman soldiers under Emperor

Diocletian. When it became known that they were Christians, they were tortured

and killed.

The Roman Coliseum

Caesar NeroEmperor: 54-68

• First emperor to persecute Christians

• Fire in Rome in 64• Blamed the Christians (they

had a reputation for starting upheavals in Jewish synagogues)

• Nero executed the Christians publicly in his gardens and in the circus

• "Mockery of every sort accompanied their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired." -Tacitus

Caesar DeciusEmperor: 249-251

• Empire-wide persecution • Required libelli (certificates)• Options:

• Commit apostasy• Send a slave• Bribe someone for a libelli • Confess your faith

• Confessors imprisoned• Certificates created

Libelli & ConfessorsThe libelli were documents notarized by Roman authorities to certify that someone

had offered sacrifice to the gods. In times of persecution these documents were accepted as proof that someone was not a Christian.

Confessors were Christians who confessed their faith. They were imprisoned for their faith, where other Christians flocked for strength and guidance. Many Christians even sought them for forgiveness of their sins, which became controversial in the

Church.

Caesar DeciusEmperor: 249-251 “They seized first an old man and

commanded him to utter impious words. They beat him with clubs, tore his face

and eyes with sharp sticks, and dragged him out of the city to stone him. Then they carried to their temple a faithful woman. As she turned away in detestation, they bound her feet and dragged her through

the city over the stone-paved streets, dashed her against the millstones,

scourged her, and stoned her. Then they rushed to the homes of the pious to steal and plunder. Then they seized the most

admirable virgin and broke out her teeth. They threatened to burn her alive if she

would not utter impious cries. She leaped eagerly into the fire.

There was no street, nor public road, nor lane open to us, by night or day; for

always and everywhere, all of them cried out that if any one would not repeat their impious words, he should immediately be

dragged away and burned.”

• ½ of his congregation missing• Council in 254 in North Africa

– Really long penance for apostates– Long penance for bribers– Certificates are no good

• Novatism schism

• “No salvation outside the Church.”

Cyprian of Carthage (d. 258)

• 303 • 4 Edicts:

– Destroy Churches & Scriptures– Imprison clergy– Demand clergy to sacrifice to gods– Demand all to sacrifice to gods

Caesar DiocletianEmperor: 284-305

“…they think the Christians the cause of every public disaster, of every affliction with

which the people are visited. If the Tiber rises as high as the city walls, if the Nile does not

send its waters up over the fields, if the heavens give no rain, if there is an

earthquake, if there is famine or pestilence, straightway the cry is, ‘Away with the

Christians to the lion!’”- Tertullian (A.D. 197)

False Accusations

“They recognize each other by secret marks and signs, and they love one another almost before they become acquainted. Everywhere they mingle together in a kind of religion of lust,

indiscriminately calling each other brothers and sisters, with the result that ordinary debauchery…is converted into incest.”

“I hear that persuaded by some absurd idea, they consecrate and worship the head of an ass, the lowest of animals. A religion worthy of the sort of practices that gave it birth! Some say that they worship the genitals of their own leader and priest, revering the sexual parts of their own parent. I do

not know whether it is false, but certainly a suspicion is attached to secret rites performed at night.”

-Caecillius in a debate with the Christian Octavius (second or third century)

Quote continued:

“Now the story about the initiation of novices is as disgusting as it is well known. An infant

covered with flour…is placed before the one who is to be initiated into their rites. The novice…kills the infant with unseen and hidden wounds. The

infant's blood - oh horrible! - they lap up thirstily; its limbs they parcel out eagerly. By this victim they ally themselves with one another; by their

complicity in this crime they pledge themselves to mutual silence.”

-Caecillius in a debate with the Christian Octavius (second or third century)

Catacombs of Rome

• First carved in the second century. • Used for burial and memorial services of

Christian martyrs. • In 380, the practice of catacomb burial

declined. • In the 6th century, catacombs were used

only for martyrs’ memorial services. • By the 10th century catacombs were

abandoned, and holy relics were transferred to above-ground basilicas.

• They remained forgotten until they were accidentally rediscovered in 1578.

Burial niches were carved into walls: 16-24” high and 47-59” long

Some bodies were placed in chambers in

stone sarcophagi.

The Edict of Galerius in 311

“Let Christians have the right to exist again, and to set up their places of worship, provided always that they do not offend against public order.”

The Edict of Milan in 313

• Constantine (d. 338)– Battle at Saxa Rubra– Baptized a Christian in 337

• Religious liberty for Christians

Emperor Julian the Apostate

Theodosius I391 Edict against Paganism

Modern Persecution

Religious persecution continues around the world. Many argue that today’s

persecution is worse as it is more wide-spread and results in more martyrs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uekLQTA25tUStart at 3:45

Pope John Paul II wrote in his 1994 apostolic letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente (The

Coming Third Millennium), "The Church has once again become a Church of martyrs."

Christians today are the most persecuted religious group in the world. Torture, enslavement, rape, imprisonment,

killings...even crucifixions are among the atrocities perpetrated upon believers

around the world.

Around the World

Modern Persecution• An estimated 200 million Christians

worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ.

• 160,000 people die every year as a result of violence directed against Christianity.

• In the 20th century, more Catholics lost their lives as martyrs than in any previous century in the history of the Church.

Modern Martyrs

St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Franciscan priest who gave up

his life for that of a fellow prisoner in Auschwitz in 1942.

St. Edith Stein, a convert from Judaism to Catholicism who died at the hands of the Nazis in Auschwitz in 1942.

Modern Martyrs

The Archbishop of San Salvador was a champion of the poor who was assassinated while celebrating Mass in 1980.

Archbishop Oscar Romero

Born in southern Sudan, Josephine was kidnapped at the age of seven, sold into slavery and given the name Bakhita, which means fortunate. Her body was mutilated by those who enslaved her, but they could not touch her inner spirit. She was later baptized and became a Canossian sister.

Modern MartyrsSt. Josephine Bakhita

Are you willing to stand in the face of persecution?