The Martyrs
For more than 2,000 years now, the Gospel of Jesus Christ has spread throughout the world. A lot of people don't know that millions of Christians have been martyrs of the faith. The New Testament is very clear that believers in God will suffer persecution. When I was a much young man, I knew about the stories of the Christian martyrs found in the book of John Foxe and Thieleman J. van Braught (of his Martyr's Mirror book from 1660). Back then, devoted followers of the Lord Jesus Christ didn't have a quiet life. There was no Internet or social media. Many of them ran from country to country seeking survival literally from authoritarian empires, from mobs of people, and from folks who had a religious bigotry against Christians. The irony now is that many of the same ones who claim to embrace tolerance for all (like many New Age types) have an obscene hatred of the followers of Yeshua. Some of these haters blaspheme God's name by calling him a "sky daddy" and seek to shame anyone who believes in God. The truth is that there is no shame in anyone believing in God who created the Heavens and the Earth. It's our responsibility to not only show the truth for future generations. We have to live by what we stand for in spiritual terms. That means we should promote peace, be sober-minded, control our tempers, seek justice, and follow a righteous life. The doctrines of the Holy Gospel are just as powerful now as it was thousands of years ago.
During the days of Tiberius Caesar and Pontius Pilate (the governor of Judea), Jesus Christ established miracles, debated scholars, and saved souls. The apostles and other disciples grew rapidly. Later, Yeshua was crucified, rose from the dead, and rose into Heaven. Jesus Christ said that he wanted his disciples to teach and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. One of the early converts to Christianity was a black man who was an Ethiopian (from Nubia) being baptized by Philip. The persecution started early and often. John the Baptist, son of Zacharias and Elizabeth was beheaded in the castle of Macharus at the command of the Edomite Herod Antipas in ca. 32 A.D. Stephen, one of the seven deacons of the church in Jerusalem was stoned to death. James, the son of Zebedee was put to death with the sword by Herod Agrippa in Jerusalem by 45 A.D. Paul and Mark including other early Christians were executed. While this was going on, the converts to the Christian faith increased from Great Britain to India (from the time of 30 A.D. to 300 A.D.). Petronilla is cited as the daughter of the Apostle Paul. We know that Peter was married because Jesus Christ healed his mother-in-law of a fever in Mark 1:29-31. Also, the 2nd-century writer Clement of Alexandria wrote the following in Stromata 3:52-53 that following information:
“Peter and (the Apostle) Philip fathered children and Philip gave his daughters in marriage,” and Ignatius, the disciple of the Apostle John, said: “For I pray that, being found worthy of God, I may be found at their feet in the kingdom; as at the feet of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; as of Joseph and Isaiah and the rest of the prophets; as of Peter and Paul and the rest of the apostles that were married men. For they entered into these marriages not for the sake of appetite, but out of regard for the propagation of mankind.” (On The Philadelphians 4.1:81).
The following stories aren't readily presented to the public by many in the mainstream corporate media, but we have the subsequent to describe these accounts to anyone. Therefore, we are inspired by the stories of these early believers to be bold, wise, and true to the faith.
The Martyrs of the Early Church
One of the first major persecutions of Christians happened during the time of the Roman Emperor Nero. Nero was one of the evilest Emperors in the history of the Roman Empire (by even having Britannicus poisoned). Nero was the great-great grandson of the former emperor Augustus (who lived during the birth of Jesus Christ). Nero saw the Great Fire of Rome that took place on the night of July 18 to 19th, 64 A.D. Many sources from Eusebius, Lactantius, Tertullian, and other sources mentioned that Nero persecuted Christians. The historian Tacitus wrote about Nero torturing and executing Christians after the fire of 64 A.D. Innocent Christians were falsely blamed for the fire in Rome when sources prove that it was most likely Nero who burned Rome heavily. According to Tacitus, many Christians were forced to be torn to pieces by dogs and wild animals. By this time, the Apostles of Simon Peter and Paul were preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles in Greece, Italy, etc. Peter lived to be 70 years old, and traditions said that Peter was killed by crucifixion being placed upside down. Paul was from the Hebrew tribe of Benjamin. Paul preached the Gospel in Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Syria, the Middle East, and possibly beyond (some believe that Paul preached as far as Spain, France, Germany, and Great Britain). Paul was beheaded in Rome by 69 A.D. on the road that goes into Ostia called Via Ostiensis. Many of Paul's friends were executed by ca. 70 A.D. who were Aristarchus, Epaphras, Prisca, Aquila, Andronicus, and Junia. Many of his friends were mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible.
By the early 300's A.D, many early Christians suffered great persecutions too. Euplius was a great Christian who was beheaded in the city of Catana in Sicily because he wouldn't reject his faith in Jesus Christ. He was sent to a judge and a criminal court. Calvisianus, the Proconsul wanted Euplius to give up his faith, and he refused. Euplius had Gospel books with him. Euplius was later executed after being tortured for a time. A widow named Julitta of Iconia was beheaded by 304 A.D. in Tarsus, Cilicia (in Turkey). She was kidnapped by Alexander, the Proconsul. By 750 A.D., Albert of Gaul starved to death in prison because he opposed masses for the dead, purgatory, imposition of hands, making the sign of the cross, banning priests from being married, and other false doctrines. His friend Clement of Scotland was burned by the Catholic Church in the same year for opposing and rejecting Roman Catholic superstitions.
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The Middle Ages Period
It is important to note that many believers resisted the false superstitions and false doctrines rising up in religious circles back in the 300's and 400's A.D. There was Aerius of Pontius. He was a 4th century presbyter of Sebaste in Pontus. Aerius taught that there was no sacred character distinguishing bishop or priest from laymen, don't observe the feast of Easter, it's wrong to prescribe fasts or abstinences by law, and it's useless to pray for the dead (because people who are dead shouldn't intercede for us. That is necromancy). He opposed the episcopal polity. His followers were accused of being Arians which obviously I don't agree with the views of Arianism. There was Helvedius. He opposed the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary (as taught by Roman Catholics), and he opposed monasticism. He was viciously attacked by Jerome. Jovinian was a 4th-century theologian who challenged the ascetism in the 4th century. Jovinian challenged the exaltation of virginity, denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, and believed that there is no difference between abstaining from food and enjoying it with thanksgiving. Jovinian taught a perseverance doctrine similar to John Calvin, as he taught the truly regenerated will persevere to the end. Obviously, I don't agree with all of the doctrines of Calvin. Some also have argued Jovinian held grace-oriented salvation views, similar to the Reformation. Jovinian is sometimes praised as an early forerunner of the Reformation. Vigilantus (who lived in the 400's A.D.) was a presbyter in Spain, he wrote against ascetism, and the superstitions connected with it. Jerome criticized Vigilantius for forbidding the honor of the graves of the martyrs, rejection of Vigils, opposition to virginity and being against fasting for the saints.
Claudius of Turin (of the 800's A.D.) was the Bishop of Turin; because of his iconoclasm, he is often seen as a proto-Protestant. His commentary on the Epistle to Galatians shows some of his views prefigure those expressed by both the Waldensians and Protestants centuries later. Claudius in his writings, maintained that faith is the only requirement for salvation, denied the supremacy of Peter, saw praying for the dead to be useless, attacked practices of the church, and held the church to be fallible. Claudius of Turn was right in his theological views indeed. Ratramus was a theologian who died in 868. Ratramus believed that the Eucharist is merely symbolic, thus rejecting the real presence of the Eucharist. Ratramnus also believed in single predestination. The writings of Ratramus influenced Protestant theologians and contributed to the later Reformation. Berengar of Tours (c.1005-1088), was a forerunner of the Reformation. Berengar of Tours argued against transubstantiation, saying that it is against logic and the Bible, and taught that the body and blood were not "real" in the Eucharist. I agree with Berengar as communion is symbolic, not literal.
Peter of Bruys (also known as Pierre De Bruys or Peter de Bruis; fl. 1117 – c.1131) was a medieval French religious teacher. He opposed infant baptism, the erecting of churches and the veneration of crosses, the doctrine of transubstantiation and prayers for the dead. An angry Roman Catholic mob murdered him in or around 1131. Peter de Bruis sacrificed his life, so we could express our faith in our generation in late 2023. Marsilius of Padua: Marsilius (born in 1270 A.D.) is sometimes called a forerunner of the Reformation. Marsilius believed that the only source of truth for a Christian is the scriptures, and he rejected the ultimate authority of the Roman Catholic church. Marsilius believed that obedience to papal decrees was not necessary for salvation, and he believed the Papal system to be of human arrangement and not divine. He was right. The beliefs of Marsilius were largely in agreement with the Protestant reformers. Johannes von Goch asserted that the Bible is the supreme authority on doctrine, perhaps taught that faith alone is enough for salvation, and questioned monasticism.
Martyrdom continued after the Roman Empire in the Western area of Europe ceased to exist. By the 600's A.D., we have the Pope Bonfiace III calling himself Papa or the supreme leader of the church when he was a Roman Bishop. The Roman Catholic Church was in its infancy by the 300's A.D., but it was fully modernized by 606 A.D. Boniface III made two significant changes to papal selections. The first was the enacting of a decree forbidding anyone during the lifetime of a pope to discuss the appointment of his successor under pain of excommunication. The second change established that no steps could be taken to provide for a papal successor until three days after a pope's burial. This suggests that he was serious in his desire to keep papal elections free.
Boniface's other notable act resulted from his close relationship with Emperor Phocas. He sought and obtained a decree from Phocas which restated that "the See of Blessed Peter the Apostle should be the head of all the Churches". This ensured that the title of "universal bishop" belonged exclusively to the bishop of Rome, and effectively ended the attempt by Patriarch Cyriacus of Constantinople to establish himself as "universal bishop." In other words, Pope Boniface started the change in the Roman Catholic Church to expand its power into the next level. Many Christians were persecuted back then for refusing to baptize infants. Baptizing infants has no scriptural basis. As time went onward, more superstitions and false doctrines were included in the Catholic Church like: the veneration of angels and dead saints, calling Mary an Ever Virgin and the Mother of God, kissing of the Pope's feet, mandatory celibacy of the priesthood, the usage of the Mass, the embrace of purgatory, the addition of the Apocryphal books via the Council of Trent, the embrace of Papal infallibility (which is blasphemy), etc.
John Wycliffe and More Leaders
By the 12th century, the Waldensians were persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church. Later, the Lollards existed by the 1300's and 1400's from John Wycliffe. John Wycliffe was a Bible translator and reformer who dissented from the Catholic church on many issues. He questioned the privileged status of the clergy and wanted radical poverty of the clergy. He questioned the veneration of saints, transubstantiation, monasticism, and the legacy of the role of the Papacy. He wanted the Bible to be translated into English or any other language where people lived. He also rejected the selling of indulgences. Many Catholic people hated Wycliffe so much that dug up his bones, burned his bones, and threw them into the sea. The Czech reformer Jan Hus was inspired by Wycliffe, and his movement was the Hussites. Hus rejected simony, the Eucharist, etc. Jan Hus was burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church because of his religious views on July 6th, 1415. Hus refused to compromise his views. He said before his burning that, "God is my witness that the things charged against me I never preached. In the same truth of the Gospel which I have written taught, and preached, drawing upon the sayings and positions of the holy doctors, I am ready to die today."
As time went on, we saw Anabaptists being persecuted by Catholics and even some Protestants for rejecting infant baptism. The Protestant Reformation changed Christianity forever as a major challenge to Roman Catholic false doctrines increased. Thomas van Imbroeck believed in the believer's baptism. There is the inspirational story of the great Anabaptist religious leader Balthasar Hubmaier. He was once a close friend of Zwingli in Switzerland. Hubmaier disagreed with many doctrines of the Roman Catholic church and later became an Anabaptist by rejecting infant baptism. He wrote literature in defense of a believer's baptism. He wrote a book against persecution called "Concerning Heretics and Those That Burn Them." The book mentioned that it was never part of the will of Jesus Christ to put men to death for their beliefs (or that the church is in the business of saving souls not burning them). Zurich Protestants threw him into prison by January 1526. Hubmaier continued to do the right thing to oppose infant baptism by saying, "Infant Baptism is not of God, and men must be baptized by faith in Christ!" On March 10, 1528, he was burned to death at the stake. He loved his wife who was drowned 8 days later. Hubmaier also said a powerful prayer about his life and destiny as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ:
"...O, immortal God, this is my faith. I confess it with heart and mouth, and have testified it publicly before the Church in baptism. I faithfully pray thee graciously keep me in it until my end, and should I be forced from it out of mortal fear and timidity, by tyranny, torture, sword, fire or water, I now appeal to thee. O, my compassionate Father, raise me up again by the grace of thy Holy Spirit, and suffer me not to depart without this faith. This, I pray thee. O, my compassionate Father, raise me up again by the grace of thy Holy Spirit and suffer me not to depart without this faith. This, I pray thee from the bottom of my heart, through Jesus Christ, thy most beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour. Father, in thee do I put my Trust, let me never be ashamed..."
Many Anabaptists and Baptists have been persecuted in America and Europe for rejecting infant baptism.
The Modern Times
Today in our time, Christian persecution is global in Asia, parts of Africa, the Americas, Europe, etc. Here are some examples. Over 100,000 Christians are violently killed in some relation to their faith every year according to many sources. The Center for Study of Global Christianity (CSGC) at the evangelical Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts public a statement that between 2005 and 2015, about 900,000 Christians were martyred worldwide. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 from America supports and encourages religious freedom for all. In Afghanistan, Christians face murder if they refuse to leave Christianity. In 2022, about 360 million Christians worldwide suffer great levels of persecution and discrimination because of their faith.
There is massive Christian persecution worldwide that many people either don't know about or ignore intentionally. In India, many mobs have destroyed 300 churches in India. According to tradition, the apostle Thomas traveled to India. This is going on in a remote part of northeast India. The BJP party has made lax comments about this in India. In Manipur, India, many Christian women have been raped. This isn't representative of every follower of Hinduism, but it is done by radical people who have religious bigotry against Christian human beings in India. In China, crackdowns on independent Christian churches continue, even in 2023.The demolition of this towering Protestant cathedral on the outskirts of the coastal Chinese city of Wenzhou on April 28, 2014. Many people have mentioned that the government of China has promoted Bible Burnings, surveillance of Christians, and other tactics of harassment. In Nigeria and Vietnam, there is persecution of Christians too. We are not silent. Religious persecution of any form is wrong period. We are in solidarity with those who promote their religious liberty rights and their freedom of conscience.
Closing
The heart of Christianity started with God. God, in his infinite Wisdom and Power, knew that Christians would exist to bring light and hope to the world. For example, many Christians helped to end the Maafa and the slave trade in many places of the world, many Christians led the Civil Rights Movement, many Christians worked in the labor rights movement, and Christians today have worked hard in evangelism and other positive endeavors worldwide. The common lie promoted by many is that Christians collectively should be blamed for anti-Semitism, for the Maafa, for the Shoah, and for all oppression in the world. The reality is that many people exploit religion to do evil, but not all religious people should be blamed for those evils. One example is that the atheists Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot murdered over 100,000,000 human beings in the 20th century, but not all atheists should be blamed for the atrocities of Stalin, Mao, and Pol Pot. In life, there is sacrifice. Among humanity, there was a constant struggle between good and evil. In the end, good will always triumph over evil. We know of the stories of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. Many people of the Old Testament saved lives, stood up against the imperialism of various kingdoms (from Assyria to Babylon), and inspired moral living. Many of them also predicted the coming of the Messiah whom God has promised. There are dozens of prophecies of the Messiah found in the Old Testament being fulfilled by Jesus Christ (Yeshua Ha Mashiach). Jesus Christ preached the Gospel, was falsely arrested, was crucified on the cross, died, and rose from the dead. He was seen by tons of people before his ascension to Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. In the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit inspired believers in the early Church to preach the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven, repentance, and faith in the Gospel. The Gospel is about people to repent and believe in the only begotten Son of the living God for salvation.
The church of God persisted and suffered massive persecution (as predicted by Jesus Christ and the Apostles in the New Testament of the Bible). Most of the Apostles were murdered. William Tyndale was murdered. The Second Temple was destroyed, demolished, and burned by Titus Vespasian as predicted by Jesus Christ in the book of Matthew too. The early Christians believed in the Apostles' Creed (as I do) and were murdered by the pagan Roman Empire. It is important to note that we live in a New Covenant or a new law, not every part of the Mosaic Law. For example, Mosaic Law has animal sacrifice. In the New Covenant, that is gone as Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for the redemption of human souls as found in Hebrews 9:11-12: "...But Christ being a high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us..." Christ is the sole mediator between God and human beings. We all should reject false doctrines and false teachers. Jesus Christ predicted that during the last day, false teachers would rise up. We know various examples. Joseph Smith invented Mormonism. He not only was a Freemason, but sources say that he was a practitioner of the Kabbalah. Smith has 12 apostles with him. His closest allies were Orson Hyde and Alexander Neibaur. According to Lance Owens, Neibaur knew of the Kabbalah too. Mormonism teaches that God the Father was once a man, that humans can one day become Gods, and believes that Jesus started his atonement in the garden of Gethsemane (instead of crucifixion was the start of Jesus starting his atonement). Charles Taze Russell formed the Watchtower Group, and Russell promoted false doctrines and false prophecies. L. Ron Hubbard invented Scientology, and he is a known anti-Christian bigot, a supporter of Aleister Crowley's views, a racist, and a person who had tons of financial scandals.
This persecution of Christians didn't cease after the Western Roman Empire ended in 476 A.D. Christians have been persecuted to this day in 2023 in India, Africa, Mexico, Iraq, Iran, China, Indonesia, and other areas of the world. Therefore, we must be clear to defend truth, stand on our spiritual convictions, and advocate for justice for all.
By Timothy
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