Persecution and Theology:

Persecution and Theology: Discussion Board (Module 3)

While persecution of Christians had been sporadic starting under Domitian in approximately AD 96, an all out assault on the Church as a whole was declared by Rome in the Third Century. Septimius Severus fired the first shot in AD 202 when he made conversion to Judaism or Christianity punishable by death. The godly Perpetua and her friends met their death in the amphitheater of Carthage in AD 303. Her story was an inspiration to many in the Church and continues to bless Believers today who can read the account from her diary, which has been providentially preserved. Her story and those of other Believers who met their death for identifying with Christ inspired Tertullian to reportedly say, “the blood of martyrs is seed for Christians”.

God blessed the Church with a period of peace from AD 211 – 250. Unfortunately, wholesale war was declared on the church beginning at the end of that period under the reigns of Decius and Valerian that lasted until AD 260. Some scholars believe that the impetus was related to the one thousand year anniversary of the founding of Rome and the "revival of ancient customs”.1 Dr. Everett Ferguson describes the initiation of the persecution by stating, “The first action of Decius was the arrest of the higher clergy”.2 Ferguson continued, “The second was a universal order to sacrifice to the gods of the empire (burn incense, pour a libation, and taste sacrificial meat)”.3 Apparently the peace enjoyed by the previous generation left the Church with many people who were unprepared for the demands of persecution. A great many number of professed Christians offered the sacrifice to the gods of the empire or found ways to bribe officials to receive certificates stating that they had performed the sacrifice.

There was great division in the church, after the persecution ended, as to whether those who had sacrificed or gained certificates via other means should be allowed to be...