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The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 7:04 pm
From the conclusion of Chapter VII in Candida Moss' The Myth of Persecution.
Quote:At the same time that Eusebius was editing his Church History, other Christians began to edit and compose their own stories about persecution and suffering. As competition between religious centers and towns grew, there was a greater motivation for longer, more ornate martyrdom stories. It was important to demonstrate concrete links between the remains and the story of a saint over and against the claims of nearby religious centers. More broadly, Christians enjoyed hearing martyrdom stories. They relished the horrifying tortures, delighted in the battle between good and evil, and cheered the martyr’s final triumph. As time went on, the stories about early Christians were edited and changed in order to address later doctrinal issues and cater to evolving liturgical and literary tastes.
The result is that we are farther and farther removed from the historical martyrs. What remains is a narrative of persecution and suffering developed to justify and support the institutions of orthodoxy. We can see how Eusebius and the editors of Christian stories are using martyrs, and we can admire the edifice of Eusebius’s history of the church, but the idea of the persecuted church is almost entirely the invention of the fourth century and later.
Fascinating little book. Goes to show how much of a sham the reconstituted "history" of the church actually is.
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 7:19 pm
Always odd to hear people claim that even in America, we've abandoned Jesus. Despite the vast majority of the country bring christians, and celebrating christian holidays. Christians have been held back from making this country a complete theocracy, and that counts as persecution.
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 7:25 pm
I actually read an article concerning this recently. It said that Christians were scapegoated from time to time, but the stories about them being fed to lions en masse were exaggerated. It would be interesting to learn what is fact and what is fiction on the matter.
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 7:33 pm
I've wondered that supposedly with an early history of persecution and it presumably helping establish their religion, modern era Christians are remarkably loathe to suffer the slightest inconvenience for their faith.
Not so hard to imagine it's ALWAYS been that way . . . .
The granting of a pardon is an imputation of guilt, and the acceptance a confession of it.
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 7:36 pm
At most, in a period of nearly 3 centuries, scholars can identify a maximum of 12 years when xtians were actively persecuted by a handful of emperors and, in the case of Decius, c 250 AD, it is not apparent that his decree was aimed at xtians at all.
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 7:36 pm
(February 20, 2018 at 7:33 pm)vorlon13 Wrote: I've wondered that supposedly with an early history of persecution and it presumably helping establish their religion, modern era Christians are remarkably loathe to suffer the slightest inconvenience for their faith.
Not so hard to imagine it's ALWAYS been that way . . . .
You forgot to add "schism" to your post. Are you ill?
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 7:47 pm
The persecutions continue to this day. It's almost impossible to find a Christian church (of any denomination) in any Western city or town. Laws are frequently promulgated that are designed to do nothing more than inhibit a Christian's right to worship. Falsehoods are regularly spread about bizarre - almost demonic - Christian practices. Their holidays are outlawed by the heartless, atheistic State. And, worst of all, the average Christian has been made so afraid by this relentless persecution, he must worship in secret and may not speak his beliefs aloud in the public square for fear being imprisoned or worse.
Boru
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 8:25 pm
(February 20, 2018 at 7:36 pm)Minimalist Wrote: At most, in a period of nearly 3 centuries, scholars can identify a maximum of 12 years when xtians were actively persecuted by a handful of emperors and, in the case of Decius, c 250 AD, it is not apparent that his decree was aimed at xtians at all.
But that's a conservative estimate, right? It could have been more, but definitely those 12 years...
I mean, Nero's reign was longer than 12 years, and it's hard to see why he was so hated by the Christians if he didn't actually persecute them.
History isn't a strong point for me. I personally think Nero showed himself to be a psychopath by ordering Seneca to commit suicide.
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 9:05 pm
(This post was last modified: February 20, 2018 at 9:08 pm by Amarok.)
(February 20, 2018 at 7:25 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote: I actually read an article concerning this recently. It said that Christians were scapegoated from time to time, but the stories about them being fed to lions en masse were exaggerated. It would be interesting to learn what is fact and what is fiction on the matter.
Accept we have no mention of a mass persecution of Christians by Roman commentators who would have every reason too .
As for Demonizing Nero just about everyone did that . Oh sure he wasn't a soft fluffy teddy bear. But quite a few myths have popped up about him that are not true . Like him burning down Rome .
(February 20, 2018 at 7:25 pm)vulcanlogician Wrote: I actually read an article concerning this recently. It said that Christians were scapegoated from time to time, but the stories about them being fed to lions en masse were exaggerated. It would be interesting to learn what is fact and what is fiction on the matter.
Problem is most small cults were at that time . They were an easy target . But most Romans had no clue what a Christian was . And another Reason cults were targeted was their tendency to be breeding grounds of malcontents and rebels .
Seek strength, not to be greater than my brother, but to fight my greatest enemy -- myself.
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RE: The Myth of the Persecuted Church
February 20, 2018 at 9:17 pm
(This post was last modified: February 20, 2018 at 9:27 pm by vulcanlogician.)
I thought the myth was he played the fiddle while Rome burned.
There are several things that make me think perhaps the Christians WERE persecuted at some point. One is the NT. It's almost like there was a concerted effort to advise followers to endure persecution as best they could. Why would so many writers think it was a point that needed to be addressed?
This isn't to say that the persecution went on for centuries or anything. And I think its plausible that later on, some Christians were encouraged to offer embellished stories of persecution BECAUSE OF WHAT WAS WRITTEN IN THE NT. But still, it seems reasonable to assume the Christians were genuinely persecuted at one point in history.
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