The Spread Of Christianity In Rome

Christianity was to be a positive societal ideal to be modeled throughout the lives of Christians as well as a doctrine to be fulfilled in “eternity” yet it posed suspicion amongst Roman society. In the early Christian centuries, believers were called to witness for their religious belief and on account of this witness, endured suffering and/or death. Early Christians were persecuted for their faith at the hands of both Jews from whose religion Christianity arose and the Roman Empire which controlled much of the land across which early Christianity was distributed. Christian missionaries, as well as the people that they converted to Christianity, have been the target of persecution, many times to the point of being martyred for their faith.
For many Christians, the threat of death meant going to be with God Almighty. Ignatius exhorted fellow Christians not to absolve him of his suffering with “unseasonable kindness” (17). His death brought along an inheritance. He states further, “But if I suffer, I shall be emancipated by Jesus Christ: and united to him, I shall rise in freedom.” (17). Many martyrs embraced death. Perpetua was a great example of a Christian that clung to her profession while in the company of her persecutors and her father, who is trying to spare her torment, she proclaims, “Neither can I call myself anything else other than what I am, a Christian.” (31). Many continued living as Christians though their impending demise pursued them testing their faith. Pliny recounts that “The contagion of that superstition has penetrated not the cities only, but the villages and country; yet it seems possible to stop it and set it right.” (24). Some helped to prove this theory of his by chose to deny being a Christian in order to escape pain and