|
Author
|
Topic: the martyrs of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd centuries
|
Eden
unregistered
|
posted
As Italian Rome weakened through wars, depopulation, extravaganze, infanticide, lack of grain to import, and pressure from the barbarians on every side, the bishop of Rome, who also held the title of "pope" who apparently was the chief bishop elected by the other bishops, became the next bastion of stability.
As the morals and strength of the Roman empire was sapped, the morals and strength and integrity of the Christian church naturally became the next bastion of safety and strength and morality and honesty.
And indeed, ALL the Christian bishoprics in the Roman Empire, in Egypt and in Africa and in Syria and in every major city of the empire, including in Italy, began to become a surviving bastion of moral safety and strength and honesty and vigor and virility and growth.
By the third and fourth century A.D. (after Christ), more and more the barbarians overran the Roman empire from without and from within since , the Romans had had to import numerous slaves and barbarians to fill the depleted ranks of the natural-born Romans in the Roman army.
But the more the barbarians or non-Romans began to overrun and become the new Rome, the more the church had to become CATHOLIC, which merely means UNIVERSAL, or UNITED into one Christian network, both to flourish and to protect itself amid the barbarians.
That is, the NUMEROUS independent bishoprics, which through Christian hope and new-man virility and the Holy Spirit had become strong and even wealthy, all these bishoprics began to unite into one CATHOLIC or UNIVERSAL church consisting of numerous otherwise outlying bishoprics.
And the natural result of this was that the Roman bishopric, by general consent and consensus of the other bishoprics, assumed the lead role in this joining of the growing bishoprics, while all around them the Roman empire was disintegrating into provincialism, harassed from within and without by barbarism.
And it was this consolidating and uniting and sharing force, enhanced by many Christian missionaries spreading out over all the Roman roads to preach the gospel, that a catholic or universal church was born, of necessity, and as a natural consequence of a collapsing empire. As such, at this time there was absolutely NO sinister or distasteful aspect to the catholic church, but rather a marvelous movement of consolidation with which the church entered the Middle Ages, the NEXT phase of the church on earth.
love, Eden
IP: Logged | 
|
|
Eden
unregistered
|
posted
And it is well to remember that the tyrants and torturers were NOT the Catholic Church, although the Catholic Church did its own share of burning "heretics", in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd century A.D. (after Christ) it was the PAGAN Romans who did it.
What had happened was that in the 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. (before Christ), the Romans had gradually reduced and pulverized Greece and Greece's colonial interests in Ionia (Aegean coast of west Asia Minor) and elsewhere.
But by the 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. (before Christ), philosophy and astronomy were already well-established, and so when the Romans pulverized Greece's interests, tens of thousands of Greek scholars and artisans and teachers and philosophers poured into Rome and the main Italian cities to teach the children of the hyper-rich Romans.
As a result, by the 1st century B.C. (before Christ), even the Romans were laughing about the unlikelihood of their own ancient gods.
But as Rome weakened and faced economic calamities like no grain shipments coming into Italy from Africa, and as Rome suffered military defeats in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd centuries A.D. (after Christ), the priests and witchdoctors of the ancient Roman gods, which priests and witchdoctors were never far away from the Imperial Court, counseled that it was because Rome had been neglecting the ancient gods, and now the gods were angry and needed to be appeased.
Now, that was not a problem for nations which also a number of its own ancient gods, because after all the more ancient gods were appeased, the better it was for all, and after all, were not the Romans in control still? So the Roman gods were worthy of being prayed to and appeased with incense.
But there is just about only one religion on earth for whom these ancient gods ARE a problem, and that is Christianity, which is an "either-or" religion; it can't be both Christianity with YHWY and Jesus as the Creator of heaven and earth, AND the ancient gods, of ANY nation
So soon it was apparent that it was "because of the Christians" that the ancient gods were angry, who alone would not worship the ancient Roman gods to appease them. The Christians stood out like a sore thumb.
And they were killed by the thousands for not praying to and burning incense to the ancient gods.
But other Christians recanted to save their lives on earth ("for, isn't it a beautiful earth"?) and they prayed to and burned incense to the ancient gods.
But to the ones who DID NOT recant to save their lives, it must have looked as if those who DID recant to save their lives, had put themselves BACK under the law and would have to pay for their own sins again, and so they were considered lost by the martyrs.
But to repeat, in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd centuries A.D. (after Christ), it was the PAGAN Romans who tortured, killed, flayed, shredded, cut-up, burned, boiled the Christians for making the ancient gods angry, both young and old Christians who held steadfast to their belief that Jesus was the Son of God who had come to save that which was lost.
But the more they killed them, the more even the pagan population took pity and were converted themselves when seeing the grace and worship and patience of the dying saints.
In one instance, a saint was told to worship the ancient gods by holding his hand over a burning incense altar with a flame rising in the incense altar, and the saint had to hold his hand right above the fire.
Then they laid hot coals in that hand with incense, thinking that surely the saint would let the incense drop into the incense altar and then all could say that he had prayed and worshipped the ancient gods.
But instead, the hot coals on the hand burned right down to the bone and the incense came to rest right on the bones of the saint's hand.
love, Eden
IP: Logged |
|
|
MentorsRiddle
Advanced Member
Member # 2108
|
posted
What a great and wonderful topic.
It is amazing how easy Christians today have it --you are certainly correct on that statement.
I can't even begin to imagine the horrible things that went on during that time period to people who just wanted to live in peace and not be forced to worship the pegan gods of the past.
I, like you, wonder how many "Christians" would remain Christians if they were put in similar situations as the ancient Christians of the past.
They were certainly people who were devout in their worship of Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
I couldn't imagine how horrible those things must have been.
When you were talking about the girl having flesh stripped from her side, etc... I was about in tears.
Your topic is certainly an eye opener on how easy we have it today.
Thank you so much for your time in posting this.
--------------------
With you I rise,
In you I sleep,
kneeling down I kiss your feet,
Grace abounds upon me now,
I once was lost
but now I'm found.
The gift of God dwells within,
To this love I now give in.
Posts: 1337 | From: Arkansas | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged |
|
|
becauseHElives
Advanced Member
Member # 87
|
posted
quote:
Which brings me to my question, Is it possible for a Christian to just say some "meaningless prayers" to some gods which were only devils anyway and then secretly continue to believe in Jesus afterwards?
no !
Matthew 10:33 "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."
Mark 8:38 "Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of Him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when He cometh in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."
II Timothy 2:12 "If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us."
--------------------
Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
Posts: 4578 | From: Southeast Texas | Registered: Jun 2002
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Found in Him
Advanced Member
Member # 7596
|
posted
Peter considered himself unworthy to be crucified right side up as The Lord was...and was crucified up-side-down ! !
--------------------
~To Him That is able to keep you from falling and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy...to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.~ Jude 24
Posts: 1503 | Registered: Jan 2009
| IP: Logged |
|
|
Eden
unregistered
|
posted
I'm starting to read a book called "Victories of the Martyrs" which describes in the Introduction how Christians ended up becoming martyrs in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd centuries A.D. especially.
Just prior to starting to read that book, I had read in Will Durant's The Story of Civilization how, as the Romans began to lose more and more control of the Empire to the barbarians (the Goths and others) and to the Persians and to the Germans in the West, etc., the witchdoctors of the Roman political machine began to assert that the ancient gods of Rome were angry because for decades now Rome had been "neglected the worship of the ancient Roman gods".
And that, to restore Rome to its former glory, the people in the Empire needed to worship the ancient gods with prayer and incense, and then it became evident that of all the people in the Roman Empire of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd centuries A.D., the Christians especially did not want to worship the ancient gods of Rome and so the Christians had to make a choice, save their life by "saying some prayers" and "burning some incense" to the ancient gods of Rome, or refuse and continue to assert that Jesus was their God and Savior.
As a result, these early Christians, both old and young, men and women and children, died some horrific deaths, such as being tied to branches of two trees that have been bend down abnormally and then the trees are released and tear the Christian apart.
Or they used iron hooks to tear the flesh of the sides of a young Christian girl until her insides showed, and poured boiling oil in the wounds or hung them by their hands upside down while hanging a heavy rock from their heads, all the while the tortured Christians spoke to their executioners of the error of the ancient gods and told them that Jesus was God and how they longed to be with Jesus, etc., unbelievable stuff.
So their choice was to live by saying some "meaningless prayers" to the ancient gods and "burn some incense to them", or die unbelievalble deaths for Jesus, beheadings, boiling oil poured on them, hot asphalt poured in cut-out eyes or breasts, scourgings until the flesh hung off on all sides, cutting off parts of the limbs until gradually only the trunk was left...
And we Christians in the USA have it so easy ... I wonder how many of us would stay Christians if all we had to say that we believe in "science and evolution", but then secretly continued to believe in Jesus?
Which brings me to my question, Is it possible for a Christian to just say some "meaningless prayers" to some gods which were only devils anyway and then secretly continue to believe in Jesus afterwards?
And by the way, these Christian MARTYRS were different than the current crop of "Islamic martyrs" because Islamic martyrs using, say, carbombs, are not becoming martyrs because they are refusing to worship ancient gods, but the Islamic martyrs are killing infidels because the infidels refuse to become Islamic.
Which is the opposite of the Christians being killed because the Christian martyrs refused to worship the ancient gods, while the Islamic "martyrs" are killing themselves because they want to force others to become Islamic.
That is, the Christians were not killing themselves but they were being killed against their will. But the Islamics are killing themselves by their own will to force others to become Islamic.
No Roman who worshipped the ancient gods ever killed HIMSELF to force the Christians to believe in his ancient gods, so the two types of martyrs are very different, with the Christians being the only true martyrs in this case, that is, "being killed against their will" (although they went willingly).
love, Eden
IP: Logged |
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view of this topic
