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The Role Of Persecution In The Early Christian Church

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During the first three centuries of the Early Christian Church, they were persecuted at the hands of the Roman Authorities. The persecution of the Early Church also sparked the cult of the saints, facilitated the rapid growth and spread of Christianity, prompted defenses and explanations of Christianity. The total number of Christians persecuted in the Early Christian Church is unknown, but some of “early” modern scholars believe that the number of Christians persecuted is not as big as you imagine it to be. There were 54 roman emperors who ruled between 30 and 311, and only a dozen of them actually went out of their way to persecute christians. It has been said that between the first persecution under Nero in 64 to the Edict of Milan in 313, Christians did experience 129 years of persecution and 120 years of toleration and peace. Christians were often directed against church property and The Scriptures only. There also has been an estimation that more christians have been persecuted in the last 50 years then in the church’s first 300 years. Since the fifth century, there has been ten major persecutions in the early church, a number that is the same as the ten plagues of Egypt. These ten persecutions are: Persecution under Nero (c. 64-68). Persecution under …show more content…

They were clad in the hides of beast and torn to death by dogs, crucifixion, and set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed. Nero had thrown open his grounds for the display, and put on a show (kind of like a circus now days, but with torturous acts), and he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or drove about in his chariot. Despite these cruelties, Nero 's persecution was local and did not last long. However, it was the first official persecution and marked the first time the government distinguished Christians from Jews. Many more christians were persecuted by different roman

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