Persecution In The Early Church

PERSECUTION IN THE EARLY CHURCH BEFORE
CONSTANTINE

TONNIE L. COLLINS
DR. DAVE PEDERSON
CHHI 520 B11 – LUO

CONTENTS

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………….....3
Persecution in the early church………………………………………………………………4-10
The growth of the Church ....................................................................................................10-14
Concludes……………………………………………………………………………………14-15
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………….17-18

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this paper is to investigate why the Church was persecution; how the church increased devotion to their Savior Jesus Christ because of the persecution, and what cause the church to grow. Acts 8:1, at that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Acts 14:5, and when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them. Acts14:22, confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

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Persecution in the early church
In the first seven chapters of Acts, during the Apostles ' witness to Jerusalem, the Apostles were found in the temple preaching. Those in attendance of such sermons would have been the Sadducees and Pharisees. The message of a new kingdom reserved only for those who professed Christ would have angered the Sadducees by threatening their power hold on the temple. As much as they would have desired freedom from foreign invaders their link with the Romans helped to keep them in power and thus the Christian message was an affront to their capital. Likewise, the same message would have been even more distasteful to the Pharisees. It would have struck the same already raw nerve of the invading Hellenism in that Christianity, like Hellenism,

Bibliography: The tradition of martyrdom has entered deep into the Christian consciousness." Kenneth Scott LaTourette, A History of Christianity, Volume I: Beginnings to 1500, rev. ed. (Prince Press, 2000), p. 81. William H.C. Frend, "Persecution in the Early Church." Christian History, Issue 27 (Vol. XI, No. 3), p. 7. Persecution in the Early Church by Herbert B. Workman Review by: P. V. M. Benecke the English Historical Review, Vol. 22, No. 86 (Apr., 1907), pp. 328-333 Published by: Oxford University Press Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/550574 Martyrdom and Persecution in the Early Church: A Study of a Conflict from the Maccabees to Donatus by W. H. C. Frend Review by: Louis H. Feldman The Classical Journal, Vol. 65, No. 4 (Jan., 1970), pp. 186-188 Published by: The Classical Association of the Middle West and South Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3295561 The Early Church Persecution Edited By Dana Carleton Munro, AM and Edith Bramhall PH. D. Published By the Department of History of the University of Pennsylvania