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The Persecution of the Early Church by the Roman Empire - The Suffering and Sorrow of God_s People · truthunedited

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Speaker 1: It was an ordinary day in Jerusalem. The sun shone
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Speaker 1: brightly on the city's stones. As Stephen, a man filled
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Speaker 1: with the Holy Spirit, spoke with wisdom before the Sanhedrin.
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Speaker 1: His eyes sparkled as he recounted the story of God's people.
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Speaker 1: But his words struck a nerve with the religious leaders.
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Speaker 1: You stubborn people, you have hardened hearts and deaf ears.
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Speaker 1: You're just like your ancestors. You always resist the Holy Spirit.
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Speaker 1: Stephen's words Enact seven fifty one cut through the room
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Speaker 1: like sharp arrows. The leaders gnashed their teeth in fury.
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Speaker 1: Suddenly Stephen looked up to the heavens and saw something amazing.
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Speaker 1: Look I see heaven open and the Son of Man
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Speaker 1: standing at the right hand of God. That was all
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Speaker 1: it took to ignite the crowd's rage. In Acts seven
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Speaker 1: fifty seven fifty eight we read they covered their ears
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Speaker 1: and yelling at the top of their voices, they all
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Speaker 1: rushed at him. They dragged him out of the city
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Speaker 1: and began to stone him. Among those who approved of
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Speaker 1: Stephen's death was a young man named Saul. He held
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Speaker 1: the coats of those hurling the stones and wholeheartedly agreed
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Speaker 1: with what was happening that day, Something dark took root
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Speaker 1: in Saul's heart, a fierce desire to wipe out the
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Speaker 1: followers of Jesus. Saul began to destroy the church. Going
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Speaker 1: from house to house, he dragged off both men and
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Speaker 1: women and put them in prison. Acts eight three tells
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Speaker 1: us soon Jerusalem was no longer safe for Christians. Many
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Speaker 1: fled the city, scattering across Judea and Samaria. What seemed
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Speaker 1: like a tragedy ended up helping the gospel spread like
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Speaker 1: water droplets flying everywhere when you squeeze a soaked sponge.
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Speaker 1: A few years later, King Herod Agrippa decided to please
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Speaker 1: the Jewish leaders by targeting the followers of Jesus. He
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Speaker 1: had James, the brother of John and one of jesus
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Speaker 1: closest disciples, arrested. In Acts twelve two, we simply read
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Speaker 1: he had James, the brother of John, put to death
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Speaker 1: with the sword a lifetime of service to Jesus summarized
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Speaker 1: in a single brief sentence. This was the end of
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Speaker 1: the earthly life of the first apostle to be martyred.
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Speaker 1: Seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod also had Peter
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Speaker 1: arrested during the festival of unleavened Bread. But God had
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Speaker 1: other plans. Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with
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Speaker 1: two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Acts
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Speaker 1: twelve six tells us that night an angel appeared in
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Speaker 1: the cell. The chains fell from Peter's wrists, and he
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Speaker 1: was miraculously set free. Meanwhile, in neighboring regions, the first
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Speaker 1: Christians were facing different challenges. In Antioch, where followers of
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Speaker 1: Jesus were first called Christians, the community was growing rapidly.
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Speaker 1: People from all backgrounds, Jews and Gentiles were coming together
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Speaker 1: to follow the way of Jesus. But this mix of
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Speaker 1: people stirred trouble with local authorities, who couldn't make sense
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Speaker 1: of this new group that didn't fit into any known religion.
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Speaker 1: It was on a warm July night in the year
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Speaker 1: sixty four that Rome was asleep until small flames began
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Speaker 1: to flicker in the market near the Circus Maximus. The
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Speaker 1: fire spread quickly, leaping from house to house. In no time,
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Speaker 1: the city sky glowed red and people ran frantically through
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Speaker 1: the streets. For six days and seven nights, the fire
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Speaker 1: consumed Rome. By the time it finally died out, ten
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Speaker 1: of the city's fourteen districts were in ruins. Thousands of
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Speaker 1: people had lost their homes and everything they owned. The
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Speaker 1: Romans were enraged. Rumors swept through the city. Emperor Nero
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Speaker 1: had started the fire himself to clear space for a
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Speaker 1: new palace. Desperate to shift the blame, Nero pointed the
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Speaker 1: finger at a strange, unpopular group, the Christians. Nero Blaze
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Speaker 1: aimed and punished with the most horrific tortures those people
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Speaker 1: hated for their shameful acts, whom the populace called Christians,
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Speaker 1: wrote the Roman historian Tacitus. He explained that the name
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Speaker 1: came from Christ, who had been executed under the rule
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Speaker 1: of Tiberius, and so began the first major persecution against
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Speaker 1: Jesus followers. Many Christians were arrested and killed in horrifying ways.
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Speaker 1: Some were dressed in animal skins and torn apart by
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Speaker 1: wild dogs. Others were crucified. Still others coated in pitch,
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Speaker 1: were set on fire and used as living torches to
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Speaker 1: light Nero's palace gardens during his evening feasts. Among the
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Speaker 1: victims of Nero's madness were two of the church's greatest leaders,
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Speaker 1: Peter and Paul Peter, the fisherman Jesus had called to
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Speaker 1: be a fisher of men, were sentenced to be crucified,
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Speaker 1: but he made one last request to be crucified upside down,
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Speaker 1: not feeling worthy to die in the same manner as
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Speaker 1: his lord. Paul, the former persecutor who became Christianity's greatest missionary,
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Speaker 1: was also imprisoned. As a Roman citizen, he could not
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Speaker 1: be crucified. Instead, he was taken outside the city and
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Speaker 1: beheaded with a single stroke of the sword. Two lives
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Speaker 1: wholly devoted to spreading jesus message, ending in martyrdom, but
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Speaker 1: leaving behind a legacy that would only grow stronger. Paul's
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Speaker 1: words in his second letter to Timothy took on even deeper, meaning,
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Speaker 1: I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.
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Speaker 1: I have kept the faith. Now there is in store
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Speaker 1: for me the crown of righteousness. Go Timothy four seven
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Speaker 1: US to eight. He knew the end was near, but
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Speaker 1: he faced it with the certainty that he had fulfilled
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Speaker 1: his calling. Even with the death of its leaders, the
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Speaker 1: church continued to grow in Rome. As to Tutan would
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Speaker 1: later write, the blood of the martyrs became seed for
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Speaker 1: new Christians. The more Rome tried to crush the Christian faith,
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Speaker 1: the more it spread, like a plant that, when trampled,
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Speaker 1: scatters its seeds even farther. Even after Nero's death, Rome
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Speaker 1: went through chaotic times. Four emperors rose and fell within
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Speaker 1: a single year. Eventually, Vespasian took power and began a
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Speaker 1: new imperial dynasty, the Flavians. For a while, Christians could
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Speaker 1: breathe a little easier, but the peace didn't last long. Domitian,
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Speaker 1: Vespasian's youngest son, became emperor in a d eighty one.
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Speaker 1: He quickly gained a reputation for cruelty and paranoia. He
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Speaker 1: demanded to be addressed as Lord and God, and persecuted
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Speaker 1: anyone who refused to worship him. For Christians who recognized
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Speaker 1: only Jesus as Lord, this was unacceptable. I am the
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Speaker 1: Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the End, says
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Speaker 1: the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who
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Speaker 1: is to come the Almighty Revelation one. Eight words like these,
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Speaker 1: affirming that only Jesus was the true Lord, made Christians
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Speaker 1: appear defiant in the emperor's eyes. Among those persecuted was John,
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Speaker 1: the last living Apostle. Now an old man, he was
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Speaker 1: exiled to the small, rocky island of Patmos. It was
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Speaker 1: there alone, on that island that John received the visions
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Speaker 1: described in the Book of Revelation. I John, your brother
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Speaker 1: and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance
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Speaker 1: that are ours in Jesus was on the island of
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Speaker 1: Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony
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Speaker 1: of Jesus Revelation one nine. On the barren rocks of Patmos,
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Speaker 1: far from everything and every one, John saw the heavens
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Speaker 1: opened and received a message of hope for suffering Christians.
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Speaker 1: In the end, Jesus would trymph over all the forces
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Speaker 1: of evil, including the emperors who persecuted his people. Another
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Speaker 1: Christian leader who suffered during this time was Clement of Rome.
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Speaker 1: He had known the Apostles and was now leading the
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Speaker 1: church in Rome. His famous letter to the Christians in
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Speaker 1: Corinth reveals a pastor deeply concerned with the unity of
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Speaker 1: the Church. According to tradition, Clement was imprisoned and thrown
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Speaker 1: into the Black Sea with an anchor tied around his neck.
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Speaker 1: When Domssion was assassinated in ninety six, A d Nerva
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Speaker 1: took power, bringing a brief period of peace, but Not
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Speaker 1: long after, under Emperor Trajan, the persecutions resumed in a
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Speaker 1: more organized fashion. In one hundred ten, a d Ignatius,
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Speaker 1: Bishop of Antioch, was arrested and sentenced to die in
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Speaker 1: the Roman Arenas. On his journey to Rome, he wrote
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Speaker 1: seven letters that survived to this day. I am God's whit,
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Speaker 1: he wrote to the Christians in Las Rome, and I
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Speaker 1: shall be ground by the teeth of beasts to become
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Speaker 1: the pure bread of Christ. He pleaded with them not
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Speaker 1: to interfere with his martyrdom, as he longed to be
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Speaker 1: with Christ. Around the same time, Pliny, the younger governor
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Speaker 1: of Bithynia, wrote a letter to Emperor Trajan asking how
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Speaker 1: to deal with Christians. He reported that he had investigated
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Speaker 1: them and found they met before dawn to sing to
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Speaker 1: Christ as to a god, and to take oaths, not
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Speaker 1: to steal, commit adultery, or break promises. Pliny tortured two
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Speaker 1: Christian servant women to find out more, but discovered nothing
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Speaker 1: but a contagious superstition. Trajan replied that Christians should not
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Speaker 1: be actively hunted down, but if they were accused and
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Speaker 1: refused to worship the Roman gods, they should be punished.
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Speaker 1: It was a strange policy, showing how confused the Romans
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Speaker 1: were about how to deal with this new faith. Years later,
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Speaker 1: under Marcus Aurelius, considered one of Rome's greatest emperors, the
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Speaker 1: persecution continued. In one fifty five, a d in the
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Speaker 1: city of Smyrna, an elderly man named Polycarp was arrested.
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Speaker 1: Polycarp had been a disciple of the apostle John and
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Speaker 1: was highly respected as the bishop of Smyrna. When he
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Speaker 1: was taken to the stadium, the proconsul gave him a chance,
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Speaker 1: swear by the fortune of Caesar, change your mind, say
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Speaker 1: down with the atheists to the Romans. Atheists were the Christians,
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Speaker 1: those who refused to acknowledge the Roman gods. Polycarp looked
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Speaker 1: at the crowd shouting for his death and said, yes,
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Speaker 1: down with the atheists, But he was referring to the
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Speaker 1: pagan crowd, not the Christians. The proconsul pressed him again,
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Speaker 1: swear and I will release you, curse Christ. Polycarp's reply
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Speaker 1: went down in history for eighty six years. I have
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Speaker 1: served him and he has done me no wrong. How
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Speaker 1: can I blaspheme, my King and Savior. He was burned alive,
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Speaker 1: and when the flames did not consume him quickly, he
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Speaker 1: was killed with a dagger. With the rise of Emperor
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Speaker 1: Septimius Severus, things began to take a turn for the worse.
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Speaker 1: It was the beginning of a new era, and Rome
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Speaker 1: was facing challenges at its borders. Severus was a harsh man,
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Speaker 1: a general who had seized power through civil war. To him,
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Speaker 1: the unity of the empire was above all else, and Christians,
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Speaker 1: with their loyalty to a kingdom not of this world,
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Speaker 1: seemed dangerous. In two hotu AD, Severus issued a decree
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Speaker 1: forbidding new conversions to either Judaism or Christianity. It was
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Speaker 1: no longer just about punishing Christians, It was about preventing
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Speaker 1: the spread of their faiths. No one may have any
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Speaker 1: God but the Emperor. Roman officials would say when arrested
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Speaker 1: suspected Christians in Carthage, North Africa, a young woman named
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Speaker 1: Vibia Perpetua, only twenty two years old and mother to
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Speaker 1: a new born baby, was arrested along with several other Christians.
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Speaker 1: She came from a wealthy, educated family. Her father, who
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Speaker 1: was not a Christian, begged her to renounce her faith.
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Speaker 1: Daughter have pity on my gray hair. Have pity on
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Speaker 1: your father, Think of your baby who cannot live without you.
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Speaker 1: Give up this stubbornness. But Perpetua stood firm in her faith.
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Speaker 1: In her prison diary, she wrote, my father tried to
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Speaker 1: persuade me out of love for me and to shake
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Speaker 1: my faith. And I said to him, do you see
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Speaker 1: this vessel here on the floor? He answered, yes, I
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Speaker 1: see it. And I said, can it be called by
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Speaker 1: any other name than what it is? He said, no,
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Speaker 1: neither can I be called anything but what I am
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Speaker 1: a Christian with Perpetua was a slave Felicity eight months pregnant.
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Speaker 1: She gave birth in prison, just two days before both
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Speaker 1: women were taken to the Amphitheater on March seventh, two
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Speaker 1: o three. Perpetua, Felicity, and the others were led into
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Speaker 1: the arena to be killed during the games celebrating the
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Speaker 1: emperor's son's birthday. First they were whipped, then they faced
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Speaker 1: wild animals. Perpetua and Felicity were attacked by a wild
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Speaker 1: cow but survived. Finally, a gladiator was sent to kill
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Speaker 1: them with a sword. Eye Witnesses say that Perpetua guided
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Speaker 1: the young gladiators trembling and to her throat, showing that
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Speaker 1: she embraced her fate with courage. Her last words to
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Speaker 1: the other Christians were stand firm in the faith and
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Speaker 1: love one another. Some years later, when Alexander Severus became emperor,
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Speaker 1: Christians enjoyed a brief period of peace. Alexander was more tolerant,
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Speaker 1: and according to some accounts, he even had a statue
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Speaker 1: of Jesus among other figures he admired in his private shrine.
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Speaker 1: His mother, Julia Mammaea, once invited the great Christian theologian
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Speaker 1: Origin to speak with her about religion. During this time,
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Speaker 1: churches began to organize more formally. In some cities, Christians
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Speaker 1: even built their first dedicated buildings for worship, moving out
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Speaker 1: of the private homes where they had once gathered in secret.
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Speaker 1: In Rome, Christians bought land for cemeteries, creating the famous catacombs,
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Speaker 1: long underground tunnels where they buried their dead and sometimes
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Speaker 1: hid during persecutions. But that time of relative peace came
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Speaker 1: to an end when Maximinus Thrax, a giant and brutal soldier,
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Speaker 1: assassinated Alexander Severus and seized power In two hundred and
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Speaker 1: thirty five A De Maximinus hated everything Alexander had loved,
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Speaker 1: and so the persecutions returned with the u greater intensity.
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Speaker 1: Maximinus focused his attacks primarily on church leaders. His reasoning
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Speaker 1: was simple, cut off the head and the body will fall. Bishops, presbyters,
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Speaker 1: and deacons were his main targets. Many were imprisoned, tortured,
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Speaker 1: or killed. Others fled to distant places, abandoning their flocks
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Speaker 1: to save their own lives. It was during this period
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Speaker 1: that Bishop Pontian of Rome and the presbyter Hippolytus were
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Speaker 1: exiled to the mines of Sardinia, a terrible place from
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Speaker 1: which few ever returned alive. The Letter to the Hebrews,
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Speaker 1: written long before to Christians enduring similar hardships, took on
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Speaker 1: a new meaning. Remember those in prison as if you
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Speaker 1: were there with them in prison, and those who are mistreated,
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Speaker 1: as if you yourselves were suffering Hebrews thirteen three. Maximinus's
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Speaker 1: persecutions were intense, but localized. Not all provinces of the
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Speaker 1: vast Empire enforced his orders with the same zeal. In
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Speaker 1: some regions, Christians were able to live in relative peace,
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Speaker 1: especially if they were discreet about their faith. But something
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Speaker 1: was changing in the Empire. With each new wave of persecution,
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Speaker 1: the methods became more organized, more systematic. The empire was
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Speaker 1: learning how to identify Christians, understand their structure, and strike
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Speaker 1: at their weak points. Next time, they would be even
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Speaker 1: better prepared, and so as the Empire approached the middle
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Speaker 1: of the third century, Christians looked to the future with
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Speaker 1: a mix of hope and fear. The Church had survived
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Speaker 1: two hundred years of persecution. It had grown spread across
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Speaker 1: the entire empire and beyond, reaching people from all walks
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Speaker 1: of life, but the hardest trials were still to come.
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Speaker 1: The empire was in crisis. Barbarians threatened the borders, the
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Speaker 1: currency was losing its value, and unrest spreading among the people.
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Speaker 1: Emperor Deseus had an idea. Rome's problem was that the
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Speaker 1: gods were angry. Why because many people had abandoned the
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Speaker 1: old gods to follow other religions, especially Christianity. In December
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Speaker 1: of the year two forty nine, Decius made a decision
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Speaker 1: that changed everything. For the first time in history, a
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Speaker 1: Roman emperor ordered that all citizens of the empire, not
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Speaker 1: just a few suspects, but everyone, must make a sacrifice
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Speaker 1: to the Roman gods. Everyone had to appear before a commission,
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Speaker 1: offer a bit of incense or whine to the gods,
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Speaker 1: and receive a certificate proving they had done so. For
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Speaker 1: many people it wasn't a big deal. They didn't actually
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Speaker 1: believe in the gods, but went through the ritual just
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Speaker 1: to avoid trouble. It was like getting an ID card today,
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Speaker 1: just a formality. But for Christians it was deadly serious.
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Speaker 1: Jesus had said in Matthew ten thirty two to thirty three,
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Speaker 1: whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before
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Speaker 1: my Father in heaven. But whoever denies me before others,
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Speaker 1: I will deny before my Father in heaven. Christians faced
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Speaker 1: a terrible choice, deny their faith and live, or confess
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Speaker 1: it and die. Many chose death. In Rome, Bishop Fabian
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Speaker 1: was one of the first to be executed on January twentieth,
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Speaker 1: two fifty. Without a leader, the church in Rome was
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Speaker 1: left confused and divided. For more than a year. They
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Speaker 1: were unable to elect a new bishop because anyone who
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Speaker 1: accepted the position would be immediately arrested and killed. In
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Speaker 1: the city of Smyrna, a Christian named Pioneus was taken
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Speaker 1: to the public square. The crowd shouted for him to
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Speaker 1: sacrifice to the gods. We cannot worship gods made by
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Speaker 1: human hands, he replied. They placed a crown of flowers
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Speaker 1: on his head, as they did with animals before sacrifice.
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Speaker 1: Paonius tore the crown off and was sentenced to be
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Speaker 1: burned alive. His final words before being chained to the
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Speaker 1: stake were a prayer, Lord, receive my soul. But not
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Speaker 1: all Christians were so brave. To the shock and dismay
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Speaker 1: of church leaders, many Christians rushed to sacrifice to the
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Speaker 1: idols as soon as the decree was announced. In Carthage,
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Speaker 1: North Africa, Bishop Cyprian wrote, before the battle even began,
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Speaker 1: many were defeated. They didn't even wait to be arrested
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Speaker 1: before denying the faith. In Alexandria, Bishop Dionysius reported many
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Speaker 1: of the most prominent Christians rushed to comply. Some came
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Speaker 1: pale and trembling as if they themselves were about to
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Speaker 1: be sacrificed to the idols, drawing laughter from the crowd.
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Speaker 1: The Romans devised a simple and efficient system to process
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Speaker 1: all citizens. Anyone who made the sacrifice vice received a
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Speaker 1: certificate called a Libellus. These documents followed a standard format
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Speaker 1: to the supervisors of sacrifices in the village of Theodelphia.
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Speaker 1: From Aureliabelias, daughter of Peteris, and her daughter Capinis, we
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Speaker 1: have always sacrificed to the gods, and now in your presence,
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Speaker 1: obeying the decree, we have sacrificed and poured libations and
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Speaker 1: tasted the sacred meat. We ask that you certify this
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Speaker 1: year one of Emperor Caesar, Caius, Messius, Quintus, Trajan, Diseus,
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Speaker 1: Pius Fortunate Augustus June twenty seventh. Some archaeologists have discovered
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Speaker 1: these certificates in Egypt, preserved for nearly two thousand years
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Speaker 1: in the dry sand. They are pieces of papyrus, written
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Speaker 1: in Greek and signed by government officials. These were passports
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Speaker 1: to survival in dangerous times. Christians who gave in to
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Speaker 1: the pressure and sacrificed to the idols became known as
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Speaker 1: the Lapsi, the fallen. There were different types among them.
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Speaker 1: The sacrificati were those who actually performed sacrifices to the gods,
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Speaker 1: the thurificati only burned a bit of incense, and the
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Speaker 1: Liberlatchi were the cleverest. They bribed officials to get a
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Speaker 1: certificate without making any sacrifice, or sent a non Christian
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Speaker 1: friend to do it in their place. When the persecution eased,
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Speaker 1: the church faced a difficult question what should be done
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Speaker 1: with all these fallen believers who now wanted to return.
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Speaker 1: Some leaders called for strict measures, anyone who had denied
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Speaker 1: Christ should never be allowed back. Others, like Cyprian of Carthage,
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Speaker 1: advocated mercy provided there was true repentance. There were also
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Speaker 1: the Confessors Christians who were arrested and tortured but survived
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Speaker 1: without renouncing their faith. They earned immense respect within the
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Speaker 1: Christian community. Some confessors began issue letters of peace to
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Speaker 1: the fallen, declaring their sins forgiven, which only caused further confusion.
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Speaker 1: In the prison of Carthage, the confessor Lucian wrote, in
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Speaker 1: the presence of Christ, I have decreed that all the
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Speaker 1: fallen who repent should be readmitted to communion. Cyprian was
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Speaker 1: furious at this, as it bypassed the authority of the bishops.
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Speaker 1: If that is the case, he wrote, then let the
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Speaker 1: confessors build a new church just for themselves. The Decian
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Speaker 1: persecution was brief, only a year but extremely intense. Diseus
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Speaker 1: himself died in battle against the Goths in June two
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Speaker 1: fifty finth. However, his short reign permanently altered the relationship
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Speaker 1: between Rome and the Christians. It was no longer a
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Speaker 1: matter of tolerating or not tolerating a small, peculiar sect,
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Speaker 1: but of forcing all citizens to choose between the empire
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Speaker 1: and their faith. For a few years after Diseus's death,
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Speaker 1: Christians had a period of relative peace to recover and reorganize.
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Speaker 1: The new emperor, Valerian initially paid little attention to them.
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Speaker 1: Cyprian wrote, the Lord has given us peace through tranquility
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Speaker 1: and rest The discipline that had been overthrown and nearly
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Speaker 1: destroyed has been restored. But that peace did not last long.
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Speaker 1: In August two fifty seven, Valerian issued an astonishingly specific
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Speaker 1: edict targeting the very structure of the Church. Instead of
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Speaker 1: demanding sacrifices from all, he focused solely on Christian leaders.
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Speaker 1: The edict decreed that bishops, presbyters, and deacons must sacrifice
23:46
Speaker 1: to the Roman gods. If they refused, they would be exiled.
23:51
Speaker 1: Christians were also forbidden from gathering for worship or visiting
23:55
Speaker 1: their cemeteries. When Cyprian of Carthage was brought before the
24:00
Speaker 1: proconsul Paternus, the exchange was direct. Paternus, the emperors Valerian
24:07
Speaker 1: and Gallienus have sent me a letter ordering that all
24:11
Speaker 1: who do not follow the Roman religion must acknowledge the
24:14
Speaker 1: Roman rites. What is your name and position, Cyprian. I
24:19
Speaker 1: am a Christian and a bishop. I recognize no other
24:22
Speaker 1: gods but the one true God, Paternus. Are you determined
24:27
Speaker 1: to persist in this attitude? Cyprian, A firm resolve based
24:32
Speaker 1: on the knowledge of God cannot be changed. Paternus. Then,
24:36
Speaker 1: according to the orders of Valerian and Gallienus, you will
24:39
Speaker 1: be exiled to the city of Curubis. Exile was not
24:43
Speaker 1: as harsh as execution, and Cyprian continued to lead his
24:47
Speaker 1: church through letters. He wrote to Christians imprisoned in the minds,
24:52
Speaker 1: your chains are precious jewels. Without the world's honor, you
24:57
Speaker 1: receive the greater honor of God. Had their heads partially
25:01
Speaker 1: shaved as a mark of shame, but Cyprian consoled them.
25:05
Speaker 1: The head of a Christian is honored, for it is
25:07
Speaker 1: Christ who is the head of man. The following year,
25:11
Speaker 1: in two fifty eight, Valerian hardened his stance. A second
25:15
Speaker 1: edict decreed that bishops, presbyters, and deacons were to be
25:20
Speaker 1: executed immediately. Christian senators, nobles and knights would lose their
25:26
Speaker 1: rank and property, and if they persisted in their faith,
25:29
Speaker 1: they too would be executed. Noble women would have their
25:33
Speaker 1: assets confiscated and be exiled. Christians working on imperial estates
25:39
Speaker 1: would be reduced to slaves and sent to labor in
25:42
Speaker 1: chains in the minds. In Rome, bishops Sixtus the second
25:47
Speaker 1: and four of his deacons were caught conducting a service
25:50
Speaker 1: in the cemetery of Callixtus and were executed on the spot.
25:54
Speaker 1: Four days later, his deacon Lawrence, was also martyred. Lawrence
25:59
Speaker 1: was responsible for them the church's treasures in Rome and
26:02
Speaker 1: for caring for the poor. When the Roman prefect demanded
26:05
Speaker 1: that he hand over the church's wealth, Lawrence asked for
26:09
Speaker 1: three days to gather it. In that time, he distributed
26:12
Speaker 1: everything he could to the poor. On the third day,
26:15
Speaker 1: he presented himself before the prefect, followed by a crowd
26:19
Speaker 1: of the poor, widows and sick. These are the treasures
26:24
Speaker 1: of the church, he declared. Enraged, the prefect ordered Lawrence
26:29
Speaker 1: to be roasted alive on a gridiron. It is said
26:34
Speaker 1: that while being tortured, Lawrence maintained his sense of humor.
26:39
Speaker 1: At one point, he supposedly told his executioner, this side
26:43
Speaker 1: is done, turn me over and eat. His words became
26:47
Speaker 1: the ultimate example of Christian courage in the face of martyrdom.
26:54
Speaker 1: In Carthage, Cyprian was recalled from exile. This time the
26:58
Speaker 1: proconsul Galeria Maximus was blunt, Galerius Maximus, are you, Thassius Cyprian,
27:05
Speaker 1: Bishop of those who call themselves Christians? Cyprian, I am
27:09
Speaker 1: Galerius Maximus. The most sacred emperors have ordered you to
27:14
Speaker 1: perform the religious rites, Cyprian, I will not do so,
27:19
Speaker 1: Galerius Maximus, Think carefully, Cyprian, do what you are ordered
27:25
Speaker 1: to do in such a just cause, there is no
27:28
Speaker 1: need for deliberation. Galerius briefly consulted his counsel and then
27:33
Speaker 1: pronounced the sentence. Thassius Cyprian, you have long lived in
27:37
Speaker 1: your sacrilegious ways and gathered many people into a criminal conspiracy.
27:42
Speaker 1: You have been an enemy of the gods of Rome
27:45
Speaker 1: and of religious laws. The pious and most sacred emperors
27:49
Speaker 1: have been unable to bring you back to the practice
27:52
Speaker 1: of their worship. Therefore, guilty of these crimes, you must
27:55
Speaker 1: serve as an example to those whom you have gathered
27:58
Speaker 1: in your criminal cans spiracy. Your obedience to the law
28:02
Speaker 1: will be established with your blood. He then read the
28:05
Speaker 1: official decree I order that Thasius Cyprian be put to
28:10
Speaker 1: death by the sword. Cyprian simply replied, Thanks be to God.
28:15
Speaker 1: A crowd of Christians gathered to witness the execution of
28:18
Speaker 1: their beloved bishop. Cyprian gave twenty five gold coins to
28:22
Speaker 1: the executioner, a gesture of forgiveness toward the man who
28:26
Speaker 1: would kill him. He then removed his cloak, knelt and prayed.
28:30
Speaker 1: He blindfolded himself, but as his hands trembled, two friends
28:34
Speaker 1: helped him tie the cloth. The executioner, also trembling, struggled
28:39
Speaker 1: to hold his sword, but finally he delivered the fatal blow,
28:43
Speaker 1: and Cyprian joined the long list of Christian martyrs. Valerian's
28:48
Speaker 1: persecution struck the church hard, killing many of its leaders,
28:52
Speaker 1: but it came to an abrupt and unexpected end. In
28:56
Speaker 1: two sixty Valerian led a military campaign against the Persian Empire.
29:01
Speaker 1: At the Battle of Edessa, he was captured by the
29:04
Speaker 1: Persian king Shapufur, the first Roman emperor to become a
29:08
Speaker 1: prisoner of a foreign power. Valerian's fate was humiliating. According
29:13
Speaker 1: to contemporary accounts, King Shapur used the emperor as a footstool,
29:18
Speaker 1: resting his feet on Valerian's back to mount his horse.
29:21
Speaker 1: When Valerian died or was executed, some say his body
29:26
Speaker 1: was stuffed and displayed as a trophy in the Persian palace.
29:30
Speaker 1: When his son Galienus ascended to the throne, he immediately
29:35
Speaker 1: ended the persecution with an Edict of Tolerance that restored
29:39
Speaker 1: confiscated church properties and allowed Christians to freely practice their
29:43
Speaker 1: religion once again. For the next forty years, the church
29:48
Speaker 1: experienced a time of peace and growth, but the greatest
29:53
Speaker 1: trial was yet to come. Diocletian's persecution was the longest,
29:57
Speaker 1: most widespread, and bloodiest of them all. That is why
30:01
Speaker 1: it is known as the Great Persecution. Diocletian had been
30:06
Speaker 1: an ordinary soldier who rose through the military ranks until
30:10
Speaker 1: he became emperor in two hundred and eighty four. He
30:13
Speaker 1: was a pragmatic man, a reformer determined to save the
30:17
Speaker 1: empire from the crisis that had been dragging on for decades.
30:21
Speaker 1: To better administer the vast territory, he created a system
30:25
Speaker 1: called the tetrarchy. The empire would be governed by four men,
30:29
Speaker 1: two Augusti senior emperors and two Caesars junior emperors. The
30:35
Speaker 1: Roman Empire was divided into two halves. Diocletian ruled the
30:40
Speaker 1: East with Galerius as his caesar. Maximian ruled the West
30:44
Speaker 1: with Constantius Chlorus as his caesar. Diocletian was highly superstitious
30:50
Speaker 1: and devoted to the old gods. His wife Prisca and
30:53
Speaker 1: his daughter Valeria were Christians, but that did not stop
30:57
Speaker 1: him from seeing Christianity as a threat to the unity
31:01
Speaker 1: of the empire. However, during the first eighteen years of
31:04
Speaker 1: his reign, he took no measures against Christians, who lived
31:08
Speaker 1: in peace and openly built churches. This began to change
31:14
Speaker 1: around the year three hundred, when Diocletian ordered that all
31:17
Speaker 1: soldiers and pallace officials offer sacrifices to the gods. Many
31:21
Speaker 1: Christians were forced to leave the army, but the harshest
31:25
Speaker 1: blow came on February twenty third, three o three. It
31:29
Speaker 1: was the feast day of Terminalia, dedicated to Terminus, the
31:34
Speaker 1: god of boundaries. Early in the morning, the city prefect
31:39
Speaker 1: arrived at the main church of Nicomedia, where Diocletian had
31:43
Speaker 1: his capital, accompanied by armed soldiers. They broke down the doors,
31:47
Speaker 1: looted the building, and burned the sacred scriptures they found.
31:51
Speaker 1: Then they demolished the entire structure. The next day, Diocletian
31:56
Speaker 1: issued his first edict against Christians were to be destroyed
32:01
Speaker 1: and sacred scriptures burned. Christians holding official positions would lose
32:07
Speaker 1: their jobs. No Christian could appeal to the courts. They
32:11
Speaker 1: were placed outside the protection of the law. An outraged
32:14
Speaker 1: Christian tore down the edict from the wall where it
32:17
Speaker 1: had been posted and ripped it apart, shouting more victories
32:21
Speaker 1: against the Goths and Sarmatians, a sarcastic reference to the
32:25
Speaker 1: titles Diocletian had assumed after his military victories. The man
32:29
Speaker 1: was immediately arrested, tortured, and burned alive. He was the
32:34
Speaker 1: first of many martyrs. Shortly after, a mysterious fire destroyed
32:40
Speaker 1: part of the imperial palace in Nicomedia, Galerius the Caesar
32:45
Speaker 1: of the East, and diocletians son in law, accused Christians
32:50
Speaker 1: of starting the fire. Diocletian ordered mass torture. All palace
32:55
Speaker 1: officials were forced to sacrifice to the gods. Even his
32:58
Speaker 1: own wife and daughter had to comply. Peter, a palace servant,
33:03
Speaker 1: refused and was stripped, naked, whipped until his bones were exposed,
33:07
Speaker 1: and then had his wounds washed with vinegar and salt.
33:11
Speaker 1: When he still stood firm, he was slowly roasted on
33:14
Speaker 1: a grill piece by peace until he died. Two weeks later,
33:20
Speaker 1: another fire struck the palace. This time Gallerius decided to
33:24
Speaker 1: leave Nicomedia, claiming he feared for his life. Convinced of
33:29
Speaker 1: a Christian conspiracy, Diocletian intensified the persecution even further. In
33:35
Speaker 1: April three o three, he issued a second edict ordering
33:39
Speaker 1: the arrest of all church leaders, bishops, presbyters, and deacons.
33:44
Speaker 1: Prisons quickly became so overcrowded with clergy that there was
33:48
Speaker 1: no room for common criminals, who were released as a result.
33:53
Speaker 1: In November, a third edict was issued. Imprisoned religious leaders
33:58
Speaker 1: could be freed if they suckedrifice to the gods. This
34:01
Speaker 1: was not an act of clemency, but an attempt to
34:04
Speaker 1: force public apostases that would demoralize ordinary Christians. Finally, in
34:10
Speaker 1: three o four, Diocletian issued his fourth and most terrifying edict.
34:16
Speaker 1: All Christians without exception, had to sacrifice to the gods
34:21
Speaker 1: or face the death penalty. Eusebius, the first historian of
34:26
Speaker 1: the Church, witnessed these events and wrote, we cannot describe
34:29
Speaker 1: in words the greatness and quality of the martyrdoms we
34:33
Speaker 1: saw when the persecution intensified against us. Great multitudes were
34:38
Speaker 1: killed every day. In some places, the sword grew dull
34:42
Speaker 1: and broke, and the executioners became exhausted and had to
34:46
Speaker 1: take turns. Martyrs faced death in different ways, but with
34:50
Speaker 1: the same faith. In Alexandria, a young Christian woman named
34:55
Speaker 1: Apollonia had all her teeth broken when threatened with being
34:59
Speaker 1: burned alon unless she renounced christ. She asked for a
35:03
Speaker 1: moment to think. As soon as she was freed, she
35:06
Speaker 1: voluntarily jumped into the already burning fire, choosing death over
35:11
Speaker 1: denying her faith. In Phrygia, an entire city was burned
35:16
Speaker 1: along with all its inhabitants because they were all Christians
35:20
Speaker 1: and none would sacrifice to the gods. In Egypt, martyrs
35:25
Speaker 1: faced death with joy. A Roman officer wrote in astonishment,
35:29
Speaker 1: they go to death without being dragged, and many voluntarily
35:34
Speaker 1: present themselves for condemnation, speaking joyfully about their courage in
35:38
Speaker 1: the face of threats. In Palestine, a young man named Aphianus,
35:44
Speaker 1: only twenty years old, interrupted Governor Urbanus during a public sacrifice,
35:50
Speaker 1: grabbing his arm and trying to persuade him to abandon idolatry.
35:54
Speaker 1: He was immediately seized, tortured, had his feet wrapped in
35:58
Speaker 1: oil soaked cloth and set on fire, and was ultimately
36:02
Speaker 1: thrown into the sea. Not all stories ended in martyrdom.
36:07
Speaker 1: A bishop named Mensurius of Carthage used a clever strategy.
36:11
Speaker 1: When soldiers came looking for sacred scriptures in his church,
36:15
Speaker 1: he handed them heretical books instead. They were destroyed in
36:19
Speaker 1: place of the real scriptures, which had been hidden. Other
36:23
Speaker 1: Christians handed over sacred books to avoid persecution. They became
36:28
Speaker 1: known as traditories, those who surrendered. This word later gave
36:32
Speaker 1: rise to our modern term traitor. Years later, when peace returned,
36:37
Speaker 1: the issue of the traditors caused a severe division in
36:41
Speaker 1: the church. Would the sacraments administered by bishops who had
36:45
Speaker 1: surrendered scriptures still be valid. The implementation of the edict
36:50
Speaker 1: varied greatly depending on the region. In the West, where
36:54
Speaker 1: Constantius Chlorus was Caesar, the persecution was relatively mild. Instantius
37:00
Speaker 1: pretended to comply with the orders, but in practice only
37:04
Speaker 1: destroyed some church buildings without shedding blood. In Spain, a
37:09
Speaker 1: bishop named Hosius, who would later play an important role
37:13
Speaker 1: in the Council of Nicia, survived unharmed. In Gaul modern
37:18
Speaker 1: day France, there was almost no persecution. In Africa, the
37:22
Speaker 1: persecution was more intense, though still not as severe as
37:26
Speaker 1: in the East, where Galleius, a staunch enemy of Christians,
37:31
Speaker 1: was effectively in command. In three o five, something unprecedented occurred.
37:37
Speaker 1: Diocletian decided to retire. He forced Maximian to do the same,
37:42
Speaker 1: and the two caesars were promoted to Augusti Constantius in
37:46
Speaker 1: the West and Gallerius in the east. New caesars were
37:51
Speaker 1: appointed Severus and Maximinus Dire. In the East, the persecution
37:57
Speaker 1: continued and even intensified under Gallerius and Maximinus Dire, both
38:03
Speaker 1: deeply anti Christian, but in the West things began to
38:07
Speaker 1: change quickly. When Constantius died in three o six, his
38:11
Speaker 1: troops proclaimed his son Constantine as Augustus. This triggered a
38:16
Speaker 1: series of civil wars for succession that would last until
38:19
Speaker 1: three hundred and twenty four. During this turbulent time, Christians
38:24
Speaker 1: found an unexpected defender in Constantine, the son of Helena.
38:28
Speaker 1: A devout Christian, Constantine came to see the Christian God
38:33
Speaker 1: as his protector. The Great Persecution continued to devastate churches
38:37
Speaker 1: in the East, while the West already lived in relative peace.
38:41
Speaker 1: But in three hundred eleven, something unexpected happened. Gallerius, the
38:46
Speaker 1: Eastern Augustus and the greatest enemy of Christians, fell gravely ill.
38:51
Speaker 1: His body became covered with festering sores that smelled so
38:55
Speaker 1: foul that no doctor could stand to be near him.
38:59
Speaker 1: On the brink of death, Galerius issued a surprising edict
39:03
Speaker 1: on April thirty three, hund eleven. In it he admitted
39:06
Speaker 1: the failure of all persecutions. Among our other measures for
39:11
Speaker 1: the benefit and good governance of the Empire, we first
39:15
Speaker 1: sought to restore the ancient customs of the Romans, and
39:19
Speaker 1: to ensure that the Christians who had abandoned the religion
39:22
Speaker 1: of their ancestors returned to reason. But we were driven
39:26
Speaker 1: by a certain reasoning, for many persisted in their beliefs,
39:30
Speaker 1: and we saw that they were neither rendering due worship
39:34
Speaker 1: to the heavenly gods nor to the God of the Christians.
39:38
Speaker 1: Considering our great clemency and our constant custom of granting
39:43
Speaker 1: pardon to all, we decided that we should extend our
39:46
Speaker 1: forgiveness to them as well, so that they may once
39:49
Speaker 1: again be Christians and establish their places of worship, provided
39:54
Speaker 1: they do nothing against public order. The edict concluded, in
39:59
Speaker 1: return for our indulgence, they must pray to their God
40:02
Speaker 1: for our health, for public welfare, and for themselves, so
40:06
Speaker 1: that the state may remain secure in every way and
40:09
Speaker 1: they may live peacefully in their homes. It was a
40:13
Speaker 1: clear admission of defeat. After years of torture and death,
40:18
Speaker 1: the empire admitted that it could not force the consciences
40:21
Speaker 1: of Christians. Five days after publishing the edict, Galerius died.
40:26
Speaker 1: In the East. However, Maximinus dire continued persecuting Christians, though
40:31
Speaker 1: with less intensity. In the West, Constantine was already showing
40:35
Speaker 1: clear signs of support for Christianity. The decisive moment came
40:40
Speaker 1: in three twelve, Constantine marched toward Rome to face Maxentius,
40:45
Speaker 1: the son of Maximian, who had usurped power in Italy.
40:49
Speaker 1: Although he had a smaller army, Constantine felt confident. On
40:53
Speaker 1: the eve of the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, he
40:56
Speaker 1: had a vision a cross in the sky with the
40:59
Speaker 1: word birds in hoc signo vincez. With this sign you
41:04
Speaker 1: will conquer. Impressed, Constantine ordered his soldiers to paint the
41:10
Speaker 1: chi roe on their shields, a symbol formed by the
41:13
Speaker 1: first two letters of the word Christ in Greek. The
41:18
Speaker 1: next day, on October twenty eighth, three to twelve, Constantine
41:23
Speaker 1: won the battle and Maxentius drowned in the Tiber River
41:27
Speaker 1: while trying to flee. The path to Rome was open.
41:32
Speaker 1: A few months later, in February three thirteen, Constantine met
41:36
Speaker 1: in Milan with Lycinius, who controlled part of the East.
41:40
Speaker 1: Together they issued the famous Edict of Milan, which granted
41:45
Speaker 1: full religious freedom to all subjects of the Empire. When
41:49
Speaker 1: we Constantine and Licinius, emperors, successfully met in Milan and
41:54
Speaker 1: discussed all matters concerning public welfare and security. Among the
41:59
Speaker 1: things we saw as better unofficial to many people. We
42:02
Speaker 1: decided first and foremost to establish the conditions that would
42:06
Speaker 1: insure respect for divinity, that is, to grant Christians and
42:10
Speaker 1: all others complete freedom to follow the religion of their choice.
42:16
Speaker 1: The edict went beyond mere tolerance. We have decided to
42:21
Speaker 1: grant Christians and all others the free faculty to follow
42:24
Speaker 1: whatever religion they desire, so that everything divine in Heaven
42:29
Speaker 1: may be favorable and propitious to us and to all
42:32
Speaker 1: under our authority. The edict also ordered the restitution of
42:36
Speaker 1: all confiscated church properties, and we do this even more
42:40
Speaker 1: in consideration of the Christians. All properties that have been
42:44
Speaker 1: taken from Christians, whether by our city or by any
42:48
Speaker 1: other person, shall be immediately and without hesitation, returned to
42:53
Speaker 1: those same Christians. Religious freedom had finally arrived. Destroyed church
43:00
Speaker 1: began to be rebuilt. Christians who had lost jobs and
43:03
Speaker 1: social positions were reinstated. Christian cemeteries confiscated during the persecutions
43:11
Speaker 1: were returned to their communities in the East. Maximinus dire
43:15
Speaker 1: continued persecuting Christians for some time, but in three thirteen
43:20
Speaker 1: he was defeated by Lycinius, who extended religious freedom to
43:24
Speaker 1: the eastern provinces as well. In three twenty four, Constantine
43:30
Speaker 1: defeated Licinius and became the sole emperor of the entire
43:34
Speaker 1: Roman Empire. Now Christianity was not only tolerated but favored
43:39
Speaker 1: by the emperor. Constantine donated land for the construction of churches,
43:44
Speaker 1: including the first Basilica of Saint Peter in Rome. He
43:49
Speaker 1: exempted the clergy from taxes and allowed churches to receive inheritances.
43:55
Speaker 1: He declared Sunday a day of rest, the venerable day
44:00
Speaker 1: of the Sun, and prohibited work on that day, except
44:04
Speaker 1: for the emancipation of slaves, which he considered an act
44:07
Speaker 1: of piety. Constantine also sought to unify the Church, which
44:12
Speaker 1: had been deeply divided after years of persecution. In three
44:16
Speaker 1: twenty five, he convened the Council of Nicia, the first
44:20
Speaker 1: ecumenical council in church history, to resolve the Aryan controversy
44:25
Speaker 1: over the nature of Christ and to establish a common
44:28
Speaker 1: date for Easter. The cross, once a symbol of shame
44:32
Speaker 1: and defeat, became an emblem of victory. The apostle Paul
44:36
Speaker 1: had written to the Christians in Corinth long before all
44:39
Speaker 1: these persecutions, for the message of the cross is foolishness
44:44
Speaker 1: to those who are perishing, but to us, who are
44:46
Speaker 1: being saved, it is the power of God First Corinthians one, eighteen.
44:51
Speaker 1: Now these words had taken on a new meaning. The cross,
44:56
Speaker 1: which had seemed like madness to the Empire, had become
44:59
Speaker 1: its new standard for the Christians who had survived the
45:03
Speaker 1: Great Persecution. This radical shift felt almost like a dream.
45:08
Speaker 1: Many could hardly believe it. Eusebius wrote, perhaps we were
45:12
Speaker 1: too preoccupied with the present to perceive the greatness of
45:16
Speaker 1: divine grace. But God's works are now beyond all admiration
45:21
Speaker 1: for those who look upon events with sincere eyes. But
45:25
Speaker 1: not everything was perfect. Imperial favor brought new challenges to
45:30
Speaker 1: the church. Now that being a Christian no longer required
45:34
Speaker 1: courage and sacrifice, many converted out of convenience or for
45:38
Speaker 1: personal gain. Bishop Hosius of Corduba, an adviser to Constantine,
45:44
Speaker 1: warned against the superficial Christians who joined the churches only
45:49
Speaker 1: to gain imperial favors. The church also had to deal
45:53
Speaker 1: with the wounds left by persecution. What should be done
45:56
Speaker 1: with the traditories those who had handed over the scriptures.
46:00
Speaker 1: How should the lapsi, those who had sacrificed to idols
46:04
Speaker 1: be treated. In North Africa, a strict group called the
46:08
Speaker 1: Donatists followers of Donatus, insisted that sacraments administered by traditors
46:15
Speaker 1: were invalid. They refused to recognize ordinations performed by bishops
46:20
Speaker 1: who had compromised during the persecution. This division would trouble
46:24
Speaker 1: the African Church for centuries. Many Christians also worried about
46:29
Speaker 1: the growing alliance between the Church and imperial power. Had
46:34
Speaker 1: Jesus not said to pilate my kingdom is not of
46:37
Speaker 1: this world? Was there no danger in embracing Constantine's favor
46:43
Speaker 1: too eagerly. At the same time, the memory of the
46:46
Speaker 1: martyrs became increasingly central to Christian spirituality. The dates of
46:51
Speaker 1: their deaths were commemorated as birthdays into eternal life. Their
46:56
Speaker 1: tombs became places of pilgrimage. Accounts of their life waves
47:00
Speaker 1: and deaths were carefully recorded and shared among distant communities.
47:04
Speaker 1: The Acts of the Martyrs became the first widely circulated
47:09
Speaker 1: Christian literature outside the Bible. The courage of the martyrs
47:13
Speaker 1: inspired Christians to live out their faith with greater devotion.
47:17
Speaker 1: A text from the time stated, the blood of the
47:20
Speaker 1: martyrs is the seed of new Christians. This was literally
47:24
Speaker 1: true even during the worst persecutions. For every Christian who died,
47:29
Speaker 1: many others converted, impressed by the martyrs bravery. In the
47:34
Speaker 1: city of Antioch, a young deacon named Romanus was arrested
47:39
Speaker 1: during Diocletian's persecution. When he refused to sacrifice to the gods.
47:44
Speaker 1: The judge ordered that his tongue be cut out, to
47:47
Speaker 1: everyone's astonishment. Even without a tongue, Romana's continued praising God
47:53
Speaker 1: in a clear voice. Many in the crowd, witnessing this miracle,
47:58
Speaker 1: converted on the spot. In Palestine, a young virgin named
48:02
Speaker 1: Theodosia visited some imprisoned confessors and was arrested as well.
48:08
Speaker 1: The governor ordered iron claws to tear into her sides
48:12
Speaker 1: until her bones were exposed. She endured the torture with serenity,
48:17
Speaker 1: and when she was finally thrown into the sea to drown,
48:20
Speaker 1: many who witnessed her peace became Christians. These stories multiplied
48:26
Speaker 1: once freedom arrived. Christians could now openly honor their martyrs,
48:32
Speaker 1: tell and retell their stories. Small chapels were built over
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Speaker 1: the tombs of the most famous ones. The catacombs of Rome,
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Speaker 1: where many had been secretly buried, became places of worship.
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Speaker 1: Jesus words took on a deeper meaning. Whoever loses their
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Speaker 1: life for My sake will find it Matthew ten thirty nine.
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Speaker 1: The martyrs had lost their lives on earth, but found
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Speaker 1: eternal life. Now their stories continued to breathe life into
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Speaker 1: the faith of new generations of Christians. The Church that
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Speaker 1: emerged from persecution was stronger, more resilient. It had passed
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Speaker 1: through the fire and come out purified. The Book of
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Speaker 1: First Peter, written long before for Christians facing hostility, now
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Speaker 1: seemed prophetic. These trials have come so that the proven
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Speaker 1: genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which
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Speaker 1: perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory,
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Speaker 1: and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed First Peter one seven.
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Speaker 1: The Roman Empire, which had once tried to crush Christianity,
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Speaker 1: eventually bowed before it. Less than a hundred years after
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Speaker 1: the Edict of Milan. Christianity would become the official religion
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Speaker 1: of the Empire. In three hundred eighty, Emperor Theodosius declared
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Speaker 1: that all citizens must follow the faith of the apostles
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Speaker 1: Peter and Paul. Those first Christians who gathered in simple
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Speaker 1: homes to break bread and pray together, could never have
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Speaker 1: imagined that one day the mighty Roman Empire would embrace
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Speaker 1: their faith. From a small, persecuted sect in a distant
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Speaker 1: corner of the empire, Christianity had become the most influential
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Speaker 1: religious and cultural force in the Western world. The path
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Speaker 1: had been marked by blood and tears. Thousands of lives
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Speaker 1: had been sacrificed. But as Jesus had said, unless a
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Speaker 1: grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it
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Speaker 1: remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it
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Speaker 1: produces many seeds John twelve to twenty four. The martyrs
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Speaker 1: were the seeds. The Church that flourished in freedom was
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Speaker 1: the fruit. And once again God's promises had proven true.
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Speaker 1: And so, my friend watching this, we come to the
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Speaker 1: end of this journey through one of the most difficult
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Speaker 1: yet inspiring periods in the history of the Church. Ordinary
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Speaker 1: men and women, people like you and me, faced the
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Speaker 1: choice between denying their faith or dying for it, and
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Speaker 1: many chose to remain faithful until the end. The early
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Speaker 1: Christians had no grand temples, no political influence, no wealth.
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Speaker 1: They had only their faith in Jesus and the certainty
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Speaker 1: that even if their bodies were destroyed, their souls were
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Speaker 1: safe in God's hands. As Paul wrote in Romans eight
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Speaker 1: thirty eight thirty nine, for I am convinced that neither
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Speaker 1: death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
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Speaker 1: nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth,
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Speaker 1: nor anything else in all creation, will be able to
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Speaker 1: separate us from the love of God that is in Christ, Jesus,
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Speaker 1: our Lord. This story is not just about suffering, but
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Speaker 1: about triumph. The Roman Empire, the greatest power of the
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Speaker 1: ancient world, tried to crush Christianity with all its might,
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Speaker 1: and it failed. The faith they sought to destroy ended
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Speaker 1: up conquering the very empire itself. The words of Jesus
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Speaker 1: were fulfilled. I will build my Church, and the gates
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Speaker 1: of Hell shall not prevail against it. If this story
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Speaker 1: has touched you, help us share it. Every time you
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Speaker 1: share one of our videos, the story of faith reaches
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Speaker 1: more hearts. This is our small way of continuing the
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Speaker 1: work that our brothers and sisters began two thousand years ago.
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Speaker 1: of Christian faith through the centuries. Also turn on the
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Speaker 1: those who do not know their history are doomed to
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Speaker 1: repeat it. May the example of these faithful ones inspire
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Speaker 1: us to live out our faith with courage and conviction,
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Speaker 1: even in the face of challenges. See you in the
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Speaker 1: next video, and may God richly bless your life.