The Myth of Christian Persecution

[Minimalist]

IN THE NEARLY FOUR centuries since the Bollandists were founded, they and subsequent generations of Dutch, German, Italian, and French scholars have whittled away at the canon of saints’ lives. If the saints are supposed to participate in the heavenly banquet, what was once a crowded buffet now resembles an intimate dinner party. Once scholars had stripped away the pious frauds, entertaining forgeries, and well-intentioned legends, they were left with only a small handful of martyrdom stories from before 250 that they judged to be historically reliable.
 The remaining accounts were either greatly edited and expanded or composed long after the events by people who hadn’t met an eyewitness to the events they described, much less witnessed them themselves. Many of the discarded accounts were religious romances long on adventure and intrigue and short on probability and accuracy. Others were implausibly anachronistic and referred to institutions, ideas, and concepts that didn’t exist at the time their protagonists lived. Others still were forgeries that copied the form, style, and sometimes words of earlier martyrdom accounts. Some, like the legend of Barlaam and Josaphat, turned out to be literary houses built on sand; their protagonists never existed. A few were more slippery and presented themselves as simple transcriptions of court affairs, when in fact they were written long after the events.11
 Once the pious chaff had been separated and the forged weeds cut, out of the hundreds of martyrdom stories only six accounts remained from the earliest church.12 These so-called authentic accounts are as follows:
 
 1.  Martyrdom of Polycarp  
 2.  Acts of Ptolemy and Lucius  
 3.  Acts of Justin and Companions  
 4.  Martyrs of Lyons  
 5.  Acts of the Scillitan Martyrs  
 6.  Passion of Perpetua and Felicita


Prof. Candida Moss

And then, Professor Moss takes even those silly stories apart.

[Fireball]

I remember sitting in Catechism class and listening to the nun tell me about how some guy in a public setting was praying before he ate, when no one else was. She made it seem like it was a rebellious act.There I was (not knowing it at that time) being indoctrinated into a persecution religion, where no one in my country was being persecuted for their beliefs. Crazy. It was one of many little vignettes that, in toto, just did not add up.

[Amarok]

A delusion that remains in the wealthiest country on earth

[brewer]

As their myth belief falls more and more out of fashion I'm not surprised that they scream persecution.

[Crossless2.0]

I remember sitting in Catechism class and listening to the nun tell me about how some guy in a public setting was praying before he ate, when no one else was. She made it seem like it was a rebellious act.There I was (not knowing it at that time) being indoctrinated into a persecution religion, where no one in my country was being persecuted for their beliefs. 

It seems to me the guy already got his reward for his ostentatious display. 

I can't remember where I read something about that. I'm sure the nun could help me out.

[Minimalist]

Inventing these silly stories was a marketing ploy. 

One church claims "the bones of OUR martyr can cure gout!"

So the next church claims "the bones of OUR martyr can cure gout and the clap."

It's the catholick church...it's always about money.  Have to give Luther than one.  He was right on that score.

[vorlon13]

except when it's about ejaculating into children . . .

[Minimalist]

That's under the heading of "Pleasure" not "Business" when the pope reads the agenda for the meetings.

[Fake Messiah]

At least there is nothing mythical about Christian perversion.