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Hi all!
Many will say that Rome persecuted Christians because they considered Jesus their King.
But Christians are told in the epistles to "honor the King" and "pay tribute to whom tribute is due" and to "live peaceably with all men."
Furthermore, the concept of a God who is above the earthly king was nothing new. In fact, the pagans had MANY gods!!
So what was the reason for Christians being put to death? (I have an idea, but I'll hold off for now. I prefer to hear from you all first!)
Hi all!
Many will say that Rome persecuted Christians because they considered Jesus their King.
But Christians are told in the epistles to "honor the King" and "pay tribute to whom tribute is due" and to "live peaceably with all men."
Furthermore, the concept of a God who is above the earthly king was nothing new. In fact, the pagans had MANY gods!!
So what was the reason for Christians being put to death? (I have an idea, but I'll hold off for now. I prefer to hear from you all first!)
Blessings,
brian
Christians are told to honor the King, not earthly kings. Big difference. Why would Jesus tell us not to serve 2 masters, and then tell the Apostles to do the opposite? Logic please!
Read Romans 1 for clarification.
Tribute is charity, to where charity is due,,,not taxes. Out of the heart, and not holding back. A tax means enslavement, and if you are free, then what tax would you owe, unless you are NOT a child of the land, and are a stranger. Jesus even paid this stranger tax, but refused the temple tax, which was 1 of the charges they levied against Him.
Our liberty in Jesus is why the early Christians were put to death, period. As a matter of fact, it was WHY Jesus was put to death, and why He went from Pilate to Herod, and back to Pilate. No-one had juristiction over Him.
The people killed Him, instead. His blood was on their heads...
Christians are told to honor the King, not earthly kings. Big difference. Why would Jesus tell us not to serve 2 masters, and then tell the Apostles to do the opposite? Logic please!
Read Romans 1 for clarification.
Tribute is charity, to where charity is due,,,not taxes. Out of the heart, and not holding back. A tax means enslavement, and if you are free, then what tax would you owe, unless you are NOT a child of the land, and are a stranger. Jesus even paid this stranger tax, but refused the temple tax, which was 1 of the charges they levied against Him.
Our liberty in Jesus is why the early Christians were put to death, period. As a matter of fact, it was WHY Jesus was put to death, and why He went from Pilate to Herod, and back to Pilate. No-one had juristiction over Him.
The people killed Him, instead. His blood was on their heads...
Whoa.. let's back up..
Are you saying that Jesus and early Christians were tax evaders? This is a first..
What liberty are you referring to? It seemed that people were quite free back then, even if they weren't Christians... So what liberty is this? I read that Jesus says to give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's. That is, taxes..
If they lived in Rome, they must have worked in Rome, and been a part of society there. So paying taxes is quite natural, and Paul says that ALL powers are of God, and to respect them because of it.
Hi all!
Many will say that Rome persecuted Christians because they considered Jesus their King.
But Christians are told in the epistles to "honor the King" and "pay tribute to whom tribute is due" and to "live peaceably with all men."
Furthermore, the concept of a God who is above the earthly king was nothing new. In fact, the pagans had MANY gods!!
So what was the reason for Christians being put to death? (I have an idea, but I'll hold off for now. I prefer to hear from you all first!)
Blessings,
brian
Christianity was not persecuted while it was seen as part of Judaism. When it became separate it was seen as something new. There were several reasons that early Christianity was persecuted. I have added a couple of websites that speak to why early Christians were persecuted. If you click on Theologian and Christian Persecution it will take you to the whole article.
Ironically, when the Christians faced hostility from the Gentile world, it was for the same reason that the Jews were also despised: their allegedly anti-social nature. For Tacitus the martyrs under Nero were convicted "not so much of the crime of arson, as of hatred of the human race." The Christians formed a group with distinct customs, who were severely critical of the mores of Roman society. What is more, they claimed that loyalty to the Church superseded all other loyalties. Between 150 and 200 many denunciations of Christians were made because one member of a family had been converted, and so threatened the unity of the family.
For the first two centuries AD, the infant Church had to face deep popular hostility. This was based not only on their "hatred of the human race", but on widespread misunderstanding of their practices, especially the Lord’s Supper. The martyrs of Lyons were accused of "Thyestean banquets and Oedipean intercourse", and in AD 200, the lawyer Minucius Felix made the same charges of cannibalism and incest. Minucius also believed that Christians worshiped an asses head, a charge reflected in the graffito from Ostia which shows one Alexamenos worshipping a crucified figure with the head of an ass. This curious misconception was probably a reflection of anti-Semitism.
Christian Persecution
As Christianity gained a foothold in the consciousness of the ancient world, the Roman authorities initially reacted slowly. As Jewish Christian migrations, and certainly the work of Peter, brought the new cult to Rome, it became largely identified with the Jews. As the Jews, with their one god concept, and refusal to adopt the Roman Caesar worship ideology, were so largely associated with the early Christians, the new cult got off to a very inauspicious start. This refusal of typical Roman religious custom wasn't just an issue of a damaged ego for the Roman elite, but a serious undermining of the religious tradition incorporating the ideas of many cultures and practices. The Romans had little concern over either Jewish or Christian practices on their own; it was their steadfast dedication to their own gods that would eventually lead to problems.
The relationship of early Christianity to the Jewish faith, and the foundation of the cult deeply rooted in a people accustomed to religious intolerance actually helped it take hold initially. The Jews were accustomed to resisting political authority in order to practice their religion, and the transition to Christianity among these people helped foster the sense of Imperial resistance. To the Romans, Christians were a strange and subversive group, meeting in catacombs, sewers and dark alleys, done only for their own safety, but perpetuating the idea that the religion was odd, shameful and secretive. Rumors of sexual depravity, child sacrifice and other disturbing behavior, left a stigma on the early Christians. Perhaps worst of all was the idea of cannibalism. The concept of breaking bread originating with the last supper, partaking of the blood and body of Christ, which later came to be known as Communion, was taken literally. To the Romans, where religious custom dictated following ancient practices in a literal sense, the idea of performing such a ritual as a representation was misunderstood, and the early cult had to deal with many such misperceptions.
Why were Christians persecuted? Much seems to have depended on local governors and how zealously or not they pursued and prosecuted Christians. The reasons why individual Christians were persecuted in this period were varied. In some cases they were perhaps scapegoats, their faith attacked where more personal or local hostilities were at issue.
Contemporary pagan and Christian sources preserve other accusations levelled against the Christians. These included charges of incest and cannibalism, probably resulting from garbled accounts of the rites which Christians celebrated in necessary secrecy, being the agape (the ‘love-feast’) and the Eucharist (partaking of the body and blood of Christ).
Pagans were suspicious of the Christian refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods.
Pagans were probably most suspicious of the Christian refusal to sacrifice to the Roman gods. This was an insult to the gods and potentially endangered the empire which they deigned to protect. Furthermore, the Christian refusal to offer sacrifices to the emperor, a semi-divine monarch, had the whiff of both sacrilege and treason about it.
Thus the classic test of a Christian’s faith was to force him or her, on pain of death, to swear by the emperor and offer incense to his images, or to sacrifice to the gods.
Are you saying that Jesus and early Christians were tax evaders? This is a first..
Not tax evaders,,,but not LIABLE to the tax.
When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"
Peter doesn't know, but answers anyway.
He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?"
Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. Huge difference.
"Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."
Quote:
What liberty are you referring to? It seemed that people were quite free back then, even if they weren't Christians... So what liberty is this? I read that Jesus says to give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's. That is, taxes..
Really? Where?
And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this [fellow] perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.
Quote:
If they lived in Rome, they must have worked in Rome, and been a part of society there. So paying taxes is quite natural, and Paul says that ALL powers are of God, and to respect them because of it.
That is ignorance of the scriptures. So Hitler was of God? Really?
Show me, and I will converse with you on this perversion of scripture.
Hi all!
Many will say that Rome persecuted Christians because they considered Jesus their King.
But Christians are told in the epistles to "honor the King" and "pay tribute to whom tribute is due" and to "live peaceably with all men."
Furthermore, the concept of a God who is above the earthly king was nothing new. In fact, the pagans had MANY gods!!
So what was the reason for Christians being put to death? (I have an idea, but I'll hold off for now. I prefer to hear from you all first!)
Blessings,
brian
Becouse unlike other citzens of the roman empire the christians refused to acknowledge the roman gods.
Unfortanatly this kind of persecution of peoples that refuse to follow the dominating god would be replicated by the Christians against other peoples with other god than the christian god and on much larger scale.
Followers of Jesus Christ were persecuted back at the time of Jesus Christ presence in the Flesh on earth, and after His Resurrection, and Ascension to the right hand of The Father.
Christians are still persecuted today for the exact same reason
all over the world. Many unto there death.
The Lost of the world ( HATE Christians ) without a real cause.
Jesus Christ said that they hated Him, and that it would be this way even for his followers who believe in Him, and that many many Christians would be put to death for there Belief in The Faith even unto the end of the world.
When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, "Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?"
Peter doesn't know, but answers anyway.
He said, "Yes." And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, "What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?"
Peter said to Him, "From strangers." Jesus said to him, "Then the sons are free. Huge difference.
"Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you."
Really? Where?
And they began to accuse him, saying, We found this [fellow] perverting the nation, and forbidding to give tribute to Caesar, saying that he himself is Christ a King.
That is ignorance of the scriptures. So Hitler was of God? Really?
Show me, and I will converse with you on this perversion of scripture.
I do, but it is deep.
Luke 23:2 talks about giving tribute to Ceasar; I don't see where this talks about not paying taxes. If Jesus was telling people to not pay taxes, then He was committing a crime.
If He was teaching people to not pay taxes, then Christians today should not be paying taxes, including yourself. Try telling Obama that you're not liable to tax, and see what happens. Just don't use it to say you are being "persecuted" for your faith!
Rom. 13, used by fundamentalists to justify holy wars in Iraq, etc:
" 1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour."
??
Blessings,
brian
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Uh Oh,,,might be going deep!
