Would They Die for a Lie?

[Drich]

Drich,

What your own quotes prove is that the Empire persecuted some early Christians for political reasons and not for their religious beliefs.

Then why were they identified as being christian they were killed and if they renounced the faith they were spared?

Did you even think or read the letter between pliny the younger (the governor and the emperor?)

They only qualification for death was the fact that the followers would not renounce christianity. they were even tortured to see if they would recant their faith if they did they lived if they didn't they were executed. and the emperor supported this!

Again put everything aside besides these two facts if the stated they were believers they died and if the recanted their beliefs they lived. this was written out in a well document vetted letter between a regional governor and the then emperor of rome. You can not get or official than that. the fact that the only condition for killing christians if they would not recant the faith PROVES RELIGIOUS PERSECUTION!

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In those days there wasn't the politics/religion distinction there is now. They were too closely intertwined to be separated.

Hence the problem. A movement that declared Jesus as king (Christ) was already in big trouble with the Romans; it would have been taken as another in the series of minor rebellions. A movement that declared the Temple on its way out would have got you in big trouble with the Jewish authorities. A movement which said that being Jewish didn't get you to be one of the People of God any more got you in big trouble with the ordinary Jewish people. A movement which said that people should abandon the city deities got you in big trouble with the Greek cities.

What did 'big trouble' look like? Read the NT.

Agreed that the persecution didn't officially come close to Nazi-Jew, but it happened, and much of it would have been local incidents by local thugs that never made official records.

For an impartial summary of the official evidence, the BBC is, as always, excellent:

Here

The earliest Christians did not believe that Jesus was "king"; all of that came later.

that's not true. He was sent before pilate by the sanhedrin because he claimed to be king of the jews. then pilate asked if this was true, He said his kingdom is not of this earth. even so he was beaten and crucified with a sign above his head that stated "king of the Jews."

It's like everything you say is wrong.. 

maybe you ought ask questions rather than make definitive statements with no backing. It doesn't seem to suit you very well.