Sacramentally Speaking

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When we think of Christian persecution many people reflect on figures and events such as St. Thomas Moore, the persecution of Christianity by al-Qaeda, or the slaughter of hundreds of Christians at the hands of the Islamic State. However, to truly grasp the concept of martyrdom within the Christian faith we must retrace the religion back to its roots. This takes us to the book of Acts chapter 7:54-60 where we find the martyrdom of Stephen. Here, Stephen had just given a speech to the high priests explaining to them the prophecies foreshadowing the coming of Jesus in the Old Testament. They became enraged at this and stoned him. After the death of Jesus Christ in Rome, many Christians followed Stephen in giving their lives for the sake of their faith. 

As the 2nd-century author Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” After Stephen’s stoning, Christianity grew rapidly, spreading across Europe and the Roman Empire thanks to Paul, the Apostles, and countless unnamed believers who risked their lives to share the gospel. Christianity thrived after Jesus’ death until 64 B.C. when the Great Roman Fire devastated much of Rome, leaving many homeless. Emperor Nero Domitius, rumored to have sung about Troy’s fall during the fire, faced accusations of orchestrating the disaster to rebuild Rome as a grander city.

Despite the accusations against him, Nero placed the blame on Christians. In the years following the fire, Christians were killed, tortured, used in arena games, fed to animals, and threatened and tortured into submission to confess to starting the fire. There are accounts written by Richard Reece in his book Compendious Martyology that Nero would sew Christians into the skins of wild animals and send dogs to attack and kill them. Reece also writes that Nero would fit Christians with shirts soaked in wax and strap them to axletrees and light them on fire to light up his garden. Emperor Nero will forever be remembered as one of the cruelest rulers in history. His actions made way for future emperors to commit similar atrocities during their rules.

Those killed at the hands of Nero included three key biblical characters, Paul, Peter, and Erastus. A letter with an unknown author was sent from the church at Rome to the church at Corinth. In this letter the execution of Paul and Peter is briefly discussed. Before Paul was killed it was said that he told Nero he would be resurrected after his execution. In a work of literature called The Martyrdom of Paul, the Apostle Paul tells Nero that he will rise from the dead after he is executed. When he is beheaded, rather than blood spilling from his neck there is milk. Candida Moss writes this in his book; “Milk had been a symbol for instruction in Paul’s writings (1 Cor 3:2) and directs us to the pedagogical point: the death of Paul is exemplary.”  It is important to note that this account of Paul’s execution does not appear to be supported by any other historical accounts of the time and therefore should be taken with a grain of salt.

After Nero, came Emperor Domitian who ruled from 81-96 A.D. He had such a short temper that he murdered his brother and killed many Roman senators to just to seize their estates. On top of this, he ordered that the lineage of David be sought out and killed in hopes of bringing the Church crumbling down. To turn the people of Rome against Christians he made up many horrifying stories about what Christians do. He claimed that they would meet in isolation and kill their children and eat their remains. In addition to these false claims of child eating, Emperor Domitian told the people of Rome that whenever there was a natural disaster it was because of the impurity of the Christians within the empire. This led to many Roman citizens turning in their Christian neighbors, families, and friends to the Roman government. 

The punishments for Christianity under the rule of Domitian included seizure of property, being boiled alive, being thrown onto the horns of bulls, being dismembered by hot metal tools, and the list of atrocities go on and on. Many times, friends and families of those who had been killed were not allowed to take the body of their loved one, in hopes of giving them a proper burial. Domitian put into place a proclamation stating that no Christian, once brought before the tribunal, could be exempt from any punishment until the individual renounced Christianity. Many times, even after denying their faith, Christians would still be tortured and killed.

After the death of Emperor Domitian, Nerva came to power. This new Emperor did all he could in his old age to reverse all that Domitian had done, including reverse the persecution of Jews and Christians. He adopted a son by the name of Trajan to inherit the throne. When Nerva died suddenly in 98 A.D. Trajan took over as the Roman Emperor. Trajan didn’t necessarily go after or seek out Christians to persecute, but in a reply to Plinius Secundus who told Trajan not to persecute Christians he responded with this; “Christians ought not to be sought after, but when brought before the magistracy, they should be punished.” Despite this exchange, shortly after, Trajan ordered his officers in Jerusalem to kill off the Davidic lineage in an apparent effort to complete the work that his grandfather began..

A notable mention when discussing Christian persecution under Roman rule is two stories of martyrdom during the rule of Antoninus Pius (138-161 A.D.). One of the many Christians persecuted by Emperor Antoninus Pius was a young man named Germanicus. He was killed by wild animals while a crowd watched him be viciously eaten alive. The spectators looked upon the horrifying scene and were amazed at the bravery that was shown by young Germanicus. They were so moved, in fact, that because of what they saw, they embraced the Christian faith. Upon hearing this, the Roman government sent for the bishop of Smyrna (Polycarp) so that he could make an example out of him by executing him. 

When the Romans finally captured Polycarp, they recognized the calm and collectedness he had about him and plead earnestly that he reject Christ and in return they would spare him his life. Polycarp refused their offer, saying that he “Could never forsake a master, who had showed him nothing but kindness.” It was decided that he would be burned alive in the market place. The Romans put together a stake to which he would be strapped; and they piled twigs and sticks to fuel the fire. When they lit the fire, he began singing praises to God and praying that his persecutors would repent. He lasted for such a long time while engulfed in flams that the soldiers stuck him with a spear. The blood that emerged from his body was of such great volume that it extinguished the fire. When the fire went out his body was ash.

[Note from the author: “I had intended to write a few short paragraphs describing alleged Christian persecution under Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius (161-180 A.D.). However, upon a deep dive, I have discovered scholarly sources that contradict some later Christian accounts of persecution under this emperor. Therefore I have chosen to not even speculate possible persecution from Aurelius in the spirit of charity. When doing history, one must always be open to challenging their preconceived ideas about an individual, time, or place.”]

In the year 172 A.D., Emperor Severus came to power in Rome. Severus was fond of Christians because he was healed by a Christian physician and his son was nursed by a Christian woman. The Christians in Rome lived peacefully under Severus’ rule. That is, until the heathens living in Rome became worried over the rapped growth of the Christian people in the land. As a result of this civil unrest, Christians were imprisoned and killed by the Roman government. John Fox adds in his book, Fox’s Book of Martyrs, the people of Rome would uncover the graves of deceased Christians and mutilate their bodies.

Emperor Maximus became emperor of the wester Roman Empire in 235 A.D. Under his rule he did all he could to exterminate Christians in Roman Britain and other providences he was ruling. What drove Maximus’ hatred for Christians was the emperor he succeeded, Alexander. The members of the Alexander household were largely Christian, therefore Maximus wanted all of them out of Rome. During his rule he created mass graves for followers of the faith. These graves would fit up to 60 bodies at a time, and many of the faithful who would fill these graves would be put there without a trial..

In 245 A.D. Emperor Decius came to power. Decius implemented the first empire-wide organized persecution of Christians. Before this, persecution of Christians was inconsistent in Rome. It was on again-off again tyranny brought on by emperors and local government. The way that Decius carried out this persecution was by issuing an edict ordering all citizens to preform a sacrifice to the Roman (or Roman-approved) gods. Naturally, many Christians did not do this and as a result they were tortured, killed, or imprisoned. Many pagans in Rome saw it as their patriotic duty to exterminate Christians. Despite this response from pagans, the majority of citizens disagreed with their government and sided with the Christians. Because of this, the edict was eradicated a few months prior to the death of Decius. 

The eighth persecution came at the hands of Emperor Valerian when in 258 A.D. when he wrote a letter to the Roman senate asking them to force Christians to make sacrifices to the Roman gods lest they be punished. Sometime past after he wrote, and then he sent a second letter. In this letter he told the senate to begin a holocaust of Christians; specifically clergy.

The Christian persecution in Rome finally came to an end in 306 A.D. when Constantine the Great became Emperor of Rome. At the time of his conversion, he was waging war against his brother-in-law and co-emperor, Maxentius. Constantine received a vision from the Christian God. This vision was a symbol of a cross of light that said, “in hoc signo vinces” which translates to “In this sign you will conquer”. Constantine went on to defeat Maxentius and he ordered that the symbol be used to represent his army for the duration of his reign. He went on to help Christians within the Roman Empire in a multitude of ways.

Since the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, many have lost their lives for the Christian faith. This is exactly what Christ prophesied in Matthew 10:16-18. “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.” As it turns out Jesus was spot-on with this claim. Throughout history Christians have been facing persecution, and they still do. It is not just their persecution that is inspiring, but also their attitude and confidence when staring evil in the face. The bravery of Stephen and martyr’s past, present, and future continue to influence the Christian faith.