Persecutions. The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church

Transcription

1 Persecutions The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church

2 Persecutions In this presentation we will look at Why Romans persecuted Christians Why there were periods of peace Why the persecutions were so cruel Why women were subjected to persecution Why the persecutions stopped

3 Why Romans persecuted Christians Religion Rome respected anything that was old, it had stood the test of time. Judaism was old, Christianity was new Roman Religion was a religion of practice, not of belief

4 Why Romans persecuted Christians Nero and the legal precedence A fire destroyed much of the city of Rome and Nero was taking the blame. He then blamed the Christians. Rome followed the law closely, Nero had set a legal precedence for dealing with Christians

5 Why Romans persecuted Christians Cultural Mores played a large part in the reasons why Christians were persecuted by Romans The Romans saw themselves as very moral and were horrified by what they heard about Christians

6 Why Romans persecuted Christians Some of the rumors and accusations cast at early Christians were: They practiced Dark Magic (necromancy)--the power of the Christians comes from the dead. They were Cannibals--they eat flesh as part of their worship. They had Orgies--the love feasts are their act of worship. They committed Suicide--they love to die. They were Traitors--they refuse to support Rome by undermining the authority of the emperor. They were Atheists--they refuse to worship the gods of Rome.

7 Why there were periods of peace Marcus Aurelius Like any political system there are good and bad leaders. The good emperors looked to the stability of Rome, the bad emperors didn t care. It is the Good Emperors that persecuted Christians

8 Why there were periods of peace If there were no natural disasters, then the Romans thought that all was right with the world. A natural disaster happened when the gods were angry about not being honored, thus Christians had to honor them.

9 Why the persecutions were so cruel The Romans took torture to a whole new level. The tortures were not designed to get a person to stop what they were doing, but to make sure no one else followed this person. Do this, this happens to you!

10 Why the persecutions were so cruel Roman religion was not a religion of belief but a religion of practice. You did not have to believe in the gods of Rome (optional) but everyone had to offer sacrifice. Christianity grew in large part because of the martyrs. They witnessed that Christ was not simply a practice but a life lived. Jesus was worth living for and dying for. It was often the soldiers who killed the Christians who converted first to Christianity

11 Why women were subjected to persecution In the Roman world the Father had the power of life and death of his children. For the sons this meant until they became a man. For the daughters this meant even after marriage If a woman committed adultery, her husband could kill the man, but her father would decide if she should die or not

12 Why women were subjected to persecution A woman s place in a Roman family was based on the need for senators and soldiers. A woman was well respected as a mother. A family would usually only keep one daughter. The oldest daughter would have a feminine form of her father s name. If there were younger daughters, they would be called girl Many of the martyrs names sound like how they died. It was then they were named.

13 Why women were subjected to persecution In Roman Society a woman could add one more job to her resume, prostitute. Any woman who refused to marry was a threat to Roman life. Any woman who dedicated her virginity to Christ was attacking her father s authority and Roman society. An example had to be made of them.

14 Why the persecutions stopped By the time of Diocletian s persecution of Christians, Christians numbered between 20 to 33% of the population of the Empire. The religious zeal for the faith and the poor, combined with the fact that there was no welfare in Roman Society, gave the Christian witness a unique foothold in Rome.

15 Why the persecutions stopped The Edict of Tolerance in 311 and the Edict of Milan in 313 legalized all religions including Christianity. Christians came to hold an important place in Roman Society and a favored position due to Constantine.

16 Christianity as the State Religion Theodosius promoted Nicene Trinitarian Christianity within the Empire. On 27 February 380, he declared the Catholic Church the only legitimate Imperial religion, ending official state support for the traditional pagan religions and officially ending pagan sacrifice and religious rituals.

17 Summary The blood of the martyrs conquered the power of Rome and the weakness of the Crucified one became the strength that reshaped the world.