The Great Persecution
Frank Di Pietro, The Fire That Once Was, Chapter Two: Curse Christ! Never! For eighty-six years I have been His servant, and He has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King Who saved me? Listen carefully: I am a Christian…You threaten a fire that burns for a time and is quickly extinguished…Yet a fire that you know nothing about awaits the wicked in the judgment to come…What are you waiting for? Do what you will.” – Polycarp at his martyrdom, 168 A.D.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. – Jim Elliot, Missionary Martyr
Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. – Paul of Tarsus, 2 Timothy 3:12
In 64 A.D., just three years after the final events described by Luke in the Book of Acts, the first worldwide persecution broke out against the Christians. This was the first of ten general persecutions of the Church that involved the entire Roman Empire. It began when a fire broke out in the city of Rome and destroyed a large part of the city. The Emperor Nero, considered by many historians as insane, ordered the city of Rome burned and blamed it on the Christians so as to turn the wrath of Rome’s citizens away from himself. He declared Christians enemies of the state, and a terrible persecution broke out that lasted the rest of Nero’s reign. Nero was the first of the emperors to be declared “Enemy of the Most High God. ” To this the Roman historian Tacitus wrote:
“…To overcome this rumor [Nero setting Rome on fire], Nero punished with the most ingenious cruelty….Christians…A vast multitude were convicted…not only put to death but…either dressed up in the skins of wild beasts and perished by the cruel mangling of dogs, or else dipped in wax and oil and put on crosses to be set on fire…to be burned and used for lights by night….”
The third persecution under Emperors Trajan and Adrian was from 98-117 A.D. The Church father Ignatius was one of the thousands put to death:
“Now I begin to be a disciple….Let fire and the cross, let the companies of wild beasts, let the breaking of bones and the tearing of limbs, let the grinding of the whole body, and all the malice of the devil, come upon me; be it so, only may I win Christ Jesus.”
About 10,000 Christians were martyred during this time. With one persecution after the other, the enemy tried to wipe out the seed of the Church of Jesus Christ, each time instead making it stronger. Ernest Trice Thompson tells us what inspired such hatred of the Church during those awful years:
“More and more as time went on the empire itself became concerned to stamp out the stubborn resistance of the Christians. This rigorous policy of state, differing from its usual tolerant attitude toward various religious bodies, was justified by the charge of disloyalty leveled at the early Christians, based in large measure on their refusal to join in the worship of the emperor as divine.“
When you see the growth of the Church through these dark and deadly persecutions, you understand the power and the majesty of the Spirit of God. Instead of being totally annihilated, the Church always was victorious, even to the point of absorbing its adversary into the Christian way of life. Persecutions have continued over the centuries, only making the Church stronger. More Christians were martyred in the past 100 years than in all the past centuries combined. And yet according to Scripture, persecution of some sort will always be part of a true Christian’s life. Are you prepared? Are you ready? For Jesus has said, “…He who endures to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 24:31
