PERSECUTION OF THE EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCH

• persecution


  unfair or cruel treatment
• martyrdom


  suffering of death or affliction for a cause or faith
• Christianity


  the religion derived from Jesus Christ, based on the Bible as sacred scripture
• In the first three centuries, the Roman Empire was a hostile place for the early Christian Church
• Christianity was punishable by death during this era
• Pardon


  the action of forgiving
• renounced


  to give up
• Pardon was given to those who renounced their faith by offering sacrifice to the emperor or Roman gods
• Honoring gods and goddesses was considered a civic obligation
• Christians who refused to abandon their faith were convicted guilty of treason
• Forms of persecution

  • Imprisonment
  • Beating
  • Crucifixion
  • Beheading
  • Burning at stake
  • Feeding to wild beasts
  • Skinning them alive
  • Cooking them to death
• Emperors and description of persecution

  • Nero (67 CE) - Brutal, torture, imprisonment, burned alive as human torches in Nero's gardens
  • Domitian (87 CE) - Arrests, confiscation of property, executions of those who refused to worship him as god
  • Trajan (108 CE) - Punished those who refused to renounce their faith and offer sacrifices to Roman gods