Persecution in the Early Church

Name of Student:

Class: CHHI 520

Instructor’s Name: Dr. Robert Olsen

 Persecution in the Early Church 2

Outline

Outline.............................................................................................................................................2

Introduction......................................................................................................................................4

Persecution of the Early Christians..................................................................................................4

The Extent of the Persecution..........................................................................................................6

Persecuting Emperors......................................................................................................................6

Claudius.......................................................................................................................................6

Nero..............................................................................................................................................7

Domitian.......................................................................................................................................7

Trajan...........................................................................................................................................8

Marcus Aurelius...........................................................................................................................9

Septimuis Severus......................................................................................................................10

Decius.........................................................................................................................................10

Valerian......................................................................................................................................11

Diocletian...................................................................................................................................12

Reasons for persecution.................................................................................................................12

Fratricidal Strife.........................................................................................................................13

Imperial policies.........................................................................................................................13

Precarious Toleration.................................................................................................................14

Rising Tensions..........................................................................................................................14

Halting a Degenerate Cult..........................................................................................................15

New meaning of superstition.....................................................................................................15

The time Christianity Triumphed..................................................................................................16

 Persecution in the Early Church 3

Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................17

Bibliography..................................................................................................................................18
 Persecution in the Early Church 4

Introduction

In the contemporary world, democracy has matured to a higher extent, such that the

respect for human rights is a top necessity. Even if one were to violate the rights of other people,

human rights activists will intervene as soon as the story gets to the media. The prevailing

conducive democratic climate means that freedom of worship has been enhanced. Most countries

in the world give her subjects the freedom to worship, and this has seen many religion expand in

terms of membership and spiritual enrichments.

Christianity is the one major religion that is enjoying unprecedented freedom after years

of persecution during its establishment. Since its inception, the Church has undergone various

persecutions that saw many faithful martyred, jailed, ridiculed, and disgraced in public among

many others sufferings. The early church was the worst affected and is the focus of this paper.

The persecution of the early church is a critical area that raises many questions. This paper

explores the persecutions in the early church, as well as the reasons behind the persecutions, as

well as the main perpetrators.

Persecution of the Early Christians

During the first century, the early church was established in Jerusalem after the death,

resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. During this time, the Church was under the Roman

Empire’s rule, and most activities were directed by the Romans. The early church was

established after the crucifixion of her master; Jesus Christ, and there was no way the same

people who crucified him could receive the followers with gladness. About 50 days after the

ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven, the 12 disciples, together with other followers of Jesus

Christ, gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, where they received the Holy Spirit. The

day of the Pentecost marked the beginning of the early church under the leadership of the 12
 Persecution in the Early Church 5

disciples. On the morning of the second day after the day of Pentecost, about 3000 people were

saved, and the early church membership continue to increase daily.

More people were empowered and they helped to spread the religion in various parts of

the Roman Empire.1 Persecution and rational intimidation against Christians started since the

days of the Apostles. During the First, Second, and Third century, the early church grew amidst

various persecutions from the Roman Empire, and Jewish leaders. However, there were Christian

apologetics who defended the Christian faith against persecution and intimidation. In the second

century, the likes of Theophilus, Tatian, Justin Martyr, and Athenagoras among others are

apologists that presented an attractive picture of the Christian life, belief and total dependence on

the word of God.

During those days, Christians were accused of being atheists as a results of their way of

worship, reverence and obeying an unseeing and unknown God. They are accused of

cannibalism (accusation developed from Christian act of worship, practices such as the Lord's

Supper); accused of sexual immoralities -incest (Christians coming together to fellowship and

such meetings were seen as unholy gathering that will promote sexually immoral); accused of

being a criminal (refusal to follow the Roman pagan gods made them one). Roman State belief

was to be a pagan is to be a Roman, believing in the gods of the land, honoring and obeying the

order of the land; a symbol of good citizenship.

The Roman State believed that Christians are worshipping unseeing God, also

Christianity is a new superstitious religion that deserves to be eradicated; it is not superior to the

Roman gods. Justin fought against the pagan intellectuals, the Roman State, the Jews and the

heretics. He, as the other Apologists, responds to the charges of incest, cannibalism, atheism, and

1
Stephen, Benko, Pagan Rome and the Early Christians, (Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 1986), 37.
 Persecution in the Early Church 6

being a subversive group.2 He presented Christians as the most stable and reliable citizens, he

argues that Christians are morally balanced.

The Extent of the Persecution

The exact number of early Christians persecuted is not known. Many historical texts do

not specify the exact number of people persecuted, but they claim that it was a large number or

simply a multitude. From 30 AD to 311 AD, a period in which 54 emperors ruled the Empire,

only about a dozen took the trouble to harass Christians.3 The first period of persecution started

under Nero and the last period of persecution was experienced under the reign of Diocletian.

Between the first and the last emperors, the Christians underwent 129 years of persecution. The

intensity of the persecution was strong depending on the political situation. The majority of the

persecution was experienced during the last 50 years of the first three centuries.4

Persecuting Emperors

During the first three centuries, fifty-four (54) emperors ruled the Roman emperor and

among them Ten (10) of them persecuted the Christians. They are discussed in this section.

Claudius

Claudius was the first emperor to persecute Christians. He was an ill-mannered, sickly,

and reclusive person. During the early years of his reign, he tolerated various religious practices

2
Ferguson, E. Church History Volume 1: From Christ to Pre-Reformation. Zondervan Grand Rapids, Michigan
2005 pg. 72
3
Galli Mark, Persecution in the Early Church: A Gallery of the Persecuting Emperors, derived from
https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/persecution-in-early-church-gallery/

4
Religion Facts, Persecution in the Early Church, 2013, derived from:
http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/history/persecution.htm
 Persecution in the Early Church 7

and sought to extend the Roman Empire. However, the Jews were constantly raising disturbances

by forward a certain man called Chrestus. Chrestus raised debates between Christians and the

Jews. Since Claudius did not want the Jews to cause havoc in the city, he expelled the Christians

from Rome because they were disturbing the peace.5

Nero

Nero is considered as a savage, and reigned from 54 to 68 AD. He ascended to power at

the age of 17 after conspiring with his mother to kill Claudius, his stepfather. His reign was

marred by various cases of inhuman activities. In 64 AD, there was a great fire in Rome that saw

many people lost properties and lives. Nero blamed the Christians for the fire tragedy and

therefore sought to persecute them. He marshaled his soldiers to round up Christians and make

them a dead body while still alive. He derived pleasure from seeing the Christians burn and

introduced various forms of punishments to Christians. He ordered his soldiers to hang Apostle

Peter and behead Paul later. He derived pleasure at seeing Christians suffer such that he used to

sing when they were being persecuted.6

Domitian

Domitian reigned from 81 to 96 AD and is depicted as hideous beast. Many Bible

interpreters consider him as the beast from hell that derives pleasure from sacking blood of the

Christians. During his reign, he proclaimed himself as “God the Lord” and demanded reverences

for all his subjects. However, the Jews and Christians did not accept to bow to him and thus he

sought to persecute them. He ordered his soldiers to kill those who claimed to be Christians and

5
Workman, Herbert Brook, Persecution in the Early Church: A Chapter in the History of Renunciation, (Jennings
& Graham: New York, 2007), 46.

6
William, Frend, Persecution in the Early Church, (Lutterworth Press: Cambridge, 2008), p. 47.
 Persecution in the Early Church 8

exiled others in various isolated places. Various notable Christians such as Flavian were

executed during the reign of Domitian while others such as Domitila were exiled.7

Trajan

This was a ruler of the Roman Empire who was in power between 98 and 117 AD. He

was a skilled leader and the policies that he established during his reign were aimed at treating

Christians. He ruled so well during his regime such that all other leaders coming after him were

expected to perform like him or even better. He began his rule with an intention of surpassing the

achievements of his hero known as Julius Caesar. He however did not succeed in the Dacia

conquest but this remained as the last major effort of conquest in the entire ancient Rome.

Amidst the military campaigns, he found time to be conservative and very effective. He also

made what a civilian administrator as well as works toward the protection of senate privileges.

He is also recognized for the impressive works he undertook for the public that had being named

after him. He is also displayed as having concern for people’s welfare in the provinces.8

Trajan’s concern for Christians was accompanied with suspicion as he was preoccupied

with state matters especially in the area of security. He was also concerned with the way the self-

governing cities interfered with the internal affairs of the empire. He therefore instructed that

Christians should be accused, convicted, and punished because of their faith. He added that

anyone claiming to be not a Christian and after being scrutinized, it is found to be true; such

people should be pardoned from punishment. Trajan was known to be relatively temperate but he

was the first emperor to persecute Christians in a very different way from the Jews. The Bishop

7
William, Frend, Persecution in the Early Church, (Lutterworth Press: Cambridge, 2008), p. 58.
8
Workman, Persecution in the Early Church: A Chapter in the History of Renunciation p. 53.
 Persecution in the Early Church 9

of Antioch known as Ignatius was the best-known person who suffered from such persecutions

even to the point of death.9

Marcus Aurelius

Marcus reigned from 161 to 180 AD and his reign fueled anti-Christians hostilities.

Marcus was a Stoic philosopher and was actively involved in a military campaign. At the

beginning of his reign, Marcus showed great concern to humanity because he wrote various

philosophies preaching on peaceful existence of humanity. During his reign, various Roman laws

were written to govern humanity. However, Marcus had several mentors who convinced him that

Christians were very bad people. He was convinced that Christians were preaching gross

immorality and thus needed to be eliminated from Rome. As a result, he allowed his soldiers to

persecute the Christians. At the same time, Marcus allowed antichristian literature for the first

time in the world. These literature were termed as “the true doctrines” even though they inverted

the truth about Christianity.

The antichristian literature claimed that Christianity was evil and needed to be done away

with. As a result, persecutions broke out and because people were convinced through the

literature that Christians were not good people. Various people were subsequently martyred in

117 AD. For instance, Justine, the first Christian philosopher was killed. This was followed by

violence in Lyons whereby a local bishop was killed and many other Christians killed too. Many

writers claimed that more blood was spilled during the reign of Aurelius than in any other reign

as a result of the antichristian literature.

9
Workman, Persecution in the Early Church: A Chapter in the History of Renunciation p. 58.
 Persecution in the Early Church 10

Septimuis Severus

Severus reigned from 193 to 211 AD. During his reign, various personalities, such as

Perpetua were killed. He was a soldier and loved Christians during the early reign. In fact, some

members of his family were believers. However, he issued a decree in 202 to bar any further

attempts to spread Christianity and Judaism. As a result, any person who attempted to spread

Christianity was persecuted. Persecution was widespread and was prevalent mostly in Egypt and

North Africa. Attempts by some apologists, such as Tertullian, to spread the true Gospel were

met by various resistance and persecutions. Perpetua and Felicittas, her servant, who were strong

Christians, were persecuted and later martyred. In addition, other important personalities such as

Clement of Alexandria and the father of Oregon were martyred for being Christians. After the

death of Severus, Christians enjoyed a period of peace for about 50 years.10

Decius

Decius reigned from 249 to 251 AD and he is reputed for being the leader of the empire

who advocated for persecution of Christians in all places. This means that unlike in former cases

where persecution was sporadic, Decius reign Christians being persecuted in all corners of the

Roman Empire. By the time Decius came to power, the Roman Empire was under constant

attacks from the Barbarians. The Barbarians were slaves and the people outside the Roman

regime. Decius perceived that Christians were responsible for the attacks because he saw the

attacks as spiritually instigated. As a result, he decreed that all Christians in the Roman Empire

be persecuted in an effort to halt the attacks from the Barbarians. He became the first to order an

empire-wide persecution of the Christians and this order saw many Christians suffer in all

corners of the Roman Empire. The persecutions under Decius were unparalleled and included

10
Workman, Persecution in the Early Church: A Chapter in the History of Renunciation p. 109.
 Persecution in the Early Church 11

mostly execution and forcing Christians to denounce Christianity and instead profess the local

pagan religion.

The emperor decreed everyone to obtain a certificate of the Sacrifice, also called Libellus,

and one was required to swear allegiance to the pagan religion after denouncing Christianity.

Those who refused to obtain certificate were persecuted in various ways, including being

martyred and jailed. Proclaiming Christianity was considered as a capital offense because it was

seen as an attempt to undermine the religion of the empire and by extension a disobedience to the

decree of the emperor. Nevertheless, some notable Christians, such as Pope Fabian stood their

ground and vowed never to bow to the pagan religion. Pope Fabian together with Christians with

the same determination was executed.

Valerian

Valerian ruled between 253 and 260 AD. During his reign, he believed that all woes, that

befall his empire, came from the Christians fraternity. His subjects saw him as a well-intentioned

and honest man, but it was thought that he was not well prepared for leadership the time he

inherited the empire. His leadership experienced civil strife and plagues at the provincial level.

Tribes from Germany had begun invading the Roman Empire in great numbers and the North’s

plans of attacking were underway. Valerian realized that he could not defend the entire attacks

single handedly and he extended the collegiate principle to his colleague Gallienus and to his

son. His colleague was well equipped to face the northern attacks.

In an attempt to shift attention from all the troubles that were overwhelming the Empire,

Valerian had begun accusing Christians as the cause of all what was happening. He went ahead,

intensified the policies of Decius, and ordered the clergy to make sacrifices to the state gods.

This continued for a year and the emperor ordered that the clergy should face capital punishment.
 Persecution in the Early Church 12

Following the emperor’s order, St. Lawrence and Pope Sixtus were burned to death in Rome. At

the same time, Cyprian was murdered at Carthage. Moreover, property of all Christian laity was

confiscated and tenants who were Christians in the imperial states were pushed to the mines. 11

Diocletian

Diocletian ruled between 284 and 305 AD. He is known as the best organizer of the great

persecution aimed at extinguishing Christianity. His wife, Prisca, was a Christian, but this did not

stop Diocletian from prosecuting Christians. His aim was to bring Christianity to a total

extinction. To achieve his plan, he prohibited all Christians from practicing their faith in

worshiping and he ordered for the destruction of all churches, as well as all Christian books.

Clergy were required to sacrifice to idols, failure to which they would be arrested. After falling

into a serious sickness, Diocletian abdicated the throne and the persecutions continued under a

new emperor called Galerius. He also felt sick and this triggered him together with his fellow

emperors to cancel all Christian persecutions. From this time onwards, Christians were never

harassed again by emperors.12

Reasons for persecution

Christianity began as a despised religion in the Roman Empire, but it endured hostility

and criticism as an illegal sect until it dominated the empire. Christians in the early church

expected suffering because they followed the steps of Jesus Christ who suffered and died by

being crucified on the cross. That is why it is written in 1Peter 4:16 that one should not be

11
Workman, Persecution in the Early Church: A Chapter in the History of Renunciation. p. 97.

12
William, Frend, Persecution in the Early Church, (Lutterworth Press: Cambridge, 2008), 97.
 Persecution in the Early Church 13

ashamed of suffering as a Christian, but one should rather praise God that they bear that name.

There are different reasons as to why Christians were persecuted as discussed in this section.

Fratricidal Strife

The Roman authorities were not the pioneers of Christian strife, but the New Testament

records of an early strife between Christians and Jews. It is argued that Christians challenged the

Jews with a claim of being “the New Israel.” This is why the writer of the book of Luke and Acts

reassures the Roman citizens of the general value and loyalty of Christians and how the Jews are

hostile toward them. The motives of the persecutors were altered in 64 AD. In July of the same

year, fire engulfed a greater part of Rome in such a way that out of the fourteen quarters only

four managed to escape the damage. Emperor Nero was filled with suspicion following this

damage and he began speculating whether these were plans to clear part of the city to create

room for new buildings and streets. He finally accused Christians of the damage, which caused

torture and death to most of them.

Imperial policies

Emperors had varying policies that led to prosecution. Some policies pointed towards

various issues that affected the Roman Empire in ways, and thus, they were meant to protect the

empire, but led to Christian’s persecution. The first policies sought to eliminate superstition,

which is associated with Christians. Most emperors were suspicions of anything that looked

superstitious, and thus, they formulated some policies to eliminate such occurrences. For

instance, during the reign of Domitian, Christianity was seen as against the power of the gods,

and those professing Christians were jailed. However, the reign of Trajan saw the enactment of

various policies that contributed to the persecution of Christianity. Under the order of Pliny,

Trajan’s policies treated Christianity as an offence that was considered as an offense beyond
 Persecution in the Early Church 14

treason. During the time of Decius, Christians were the worst affected by Decius’ empire-wide

persecutions policies. These policies saw hundreds of Christians being persecuted in the entire

Roman Empire.13

Precarious Toleration

In the period between 125 and 160, Christians enjoyed a period called precarious

toleration. During this period, there were minimal cases of Christian persecutions. However,

when emperor Aurelius came to power, things changed drastically against Christians. During the

period of precarious toleration, various events had been witnessed in the Roman Empire,

including black magic, unnatural happenings, and immorality among many. Emperor Aurelius

blamed Christians for all negative happenings in the Roman Empire and he regretted why the

empire had tolerated these activities between 125 and 160. Such toleration was seen as

precarious, and emperor Aurelius and those that followed did not want to leave such a legacy. As

a result, they formulated various accusations against Christians, and persecutions of Christians

followed the period of precarious toleration.14

Rising Tensions

Towards the end of the 2nd century, the church had grown stronger than in the earlier

century. Christians had a strong structure to govern them. They also had strong writings and

logistics to help them carry out their activities. However, the tension between them and the

atheists was growing each day. The atheists saw the rise in Christianity as a threat to them and it

13
Frend, William, Persecution in the Early Church, Christian History vol. 11, no. 3, 2001, 6.
14
Hopkins, Keith, Christian Number and Its Implications, Journal of Early Christian Studies vol. 6, no. 2, 1998,
186.
 Persecution in the Early Church 15

was not long before the tension resulted in full-fledged persecution against Christians between

249 and 251 that was called the empire wide persecution.15

Halting a Degenerate Cult

Christianity was seen as a cult that kept regenerating every time. Efforts to bring to an

end all the practices of Christianity were thus not a onetime event. Pliny, one of the officials

during the time of persecution, branded Christianity as a degenerate cult. Its practices were seen

as superstitious and needed a continuous attention to ease its effects on the society. As a result,

various key officials and emperors sought to protect the empire from the effects of Christianity.

This implies that inasmuch as Christians were persecuted, the evils considered superstitious in

the society remained. The perpetual existence of evil was blamed on Christianity. At the same

time, Christians were not yielding to persecution pressures, and thus the persecution continued.16

New Meaning of Superstition

During the first century, superstition was rampant. Practices of black magic, foretelling of

future events, and use of various incantations were part of superstition. The practices of

superstition were accompanied by negative effects, such as deaths and various miseries on

unsuspecting victims. Some magic, such as foretelling of the future and divination was the chief

source of income for the magicians. However, Christianity preached against these practices. As a

result, it was considered as the new form of superstition, more dangerous than the real

superstition.17 In addition, Christianity was a threat to the survival of the magicians and thus had

to be halted. For instance, Paul and Silus were beaten and jailed for rebuking a spirit of

15
Benko, Stephen, Pagan Rome and the Early Christian, (Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 1986), 56.

16
Frend, William. "Persecution in the Early Church." Christian History 11, no. 3 (2001): 1-7.

17
Benko, Stephen, Pagan Rome and the Early Christian, (Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 1986), pg. 73.
 Persecution in the Early Church 16

divination from a slave girl. The girl’s parents perceived that they could not obtain further

financial assistance because the girl could no longer foretell the future.18 This implies that

Christianity was a new form of superstition that needed to be halted through persecution.

The Time Christianity Triumphed

The process of spreading and expanding Christianity above the empire of the pagans

caused problems. Despite the problems, Constantine’s imperial patronage assured Christians of

victory. The emperor called for the first meeting of Christians. The imperial presence was

however, unhappy following what had been happening to Christians. This is because earlier

persecutions had caused much harm to the Christian fraternity, especially under Diocletian.

These persecutions triggered divisions, and the North African church was most affected. The

majority of the members of this church rejected Caecilian who had been made the bishop of

Carthage. The members argued that he was insensitive about the confessors who were in prison.

In addition, it was argued that he was wrongly consecrated. Unfortunately, their efforts of

objection were not successful because Caecilian was supported by Emperor Constantine. This

caused a permanent and deep division within the North African Church.19 Moreover, this church

lost its position as a powerhouse until a century later during the time of St. Augustine. Soon

afterwards, the church began persecuting the remnants of paganism that held different positions.

When the fourth century was coming to an end and the Catholic Christianity had become well

established, state aid was invoked by Augustine against donors. This opened a way of

persecuting minority religions that ruined the history of the church even up to date. Despite all

18
Acts 16:16-38
19
Hopkins, Keith. "Christian Number and Its Implications." Journal of Early Christian Studies 6, no. 2

(1998): pg. 186

 Persecution in the Early Church 17

odds, the way in which the church survived during the first three centuries remains as an historic

achievement.20

Conclusion

In the contemporary and biblical understanding, Christians are peaceful people with a

mission in securing the destiny of humanity; implying that they could not in any way be a threat

to any regime. However, this paper has identified that early Christians between the first and the

third century were persecuted in various ways. Between the first and the last of the 59 emperors,

Christians underwent 129 years of persecution, intensified depending on the political situation.

Persecutions were triggered by emperors’ policies, attributing Christianity to superstition, efforts

by to halt Christianity that had been considered as a degenerate cult, and raising tensions

between Christians and the pagans. In addition, a period of precarious toleration resulted into

full-blown empire wide persecutions. Nevertheless, Christianity triumphed and exists to date in

large number.

20
Workman, Herbert Brook. Persecution in the Early Church: A Chapter in the History of Renunciation.

New York: Jennings & Graham, 2007. pg 69.

 Persecution in the Early Church 18

Bibliography

Stephen, Benko, Pagan Rome and the Early Christians. Bloomington: Indiana University Press,

1986.

Ferguson, E. Church History Volume 1: From Christ to Pre-Reformation. Zondervan Grand

Rapids, Michigan 2005 pg. 72

Galli Mark, Persecution in the Early Church: A Gallery of the Persecuting Emperors, derived
from https://www.christianhistoryinstitute.org/magazine/article/persecution-in-early-church-
gallery/

Frend, William. "Persecution in the Early Church." Christian History 11, no. 3 (2001): 1-7.

Hopkins, Keith. "Christian Number and Its Implications." Journal of Early Christian Studies 6,

no. 2 (1998): 186–87.

Religion Facts . "Persecution in the Early Church." ReligionFacts . 2013. Accessed July 11,

2013). http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/history/persecution.htm

Wilkin, Robert. "The Piety of the Persecutors." Christian History 11, no. 3 (2001): 1-18.

William, Frend. Persecution in the Early Church. Cambridge: Lutterworth Press, 2008.

Workman, Herbert Brook. Persecution in the Early Church: A Chapter in the History of

Renunciation. New York: Jennings & Graham, 2007.