A History Untold
The Untold Story of The Persecution of Christians
by Jaclyn Miller
04-18-13
Did you know hundreds of thousands of
people have been murdered for their faith in the God of the Bible? These peaceable people had two main ties that
bound them together:
their belief that Jesus Christ came to save the world from sin and that the
Bible is God’s Word and sole authority in their lives. Many generations of religions and/or
governments attacked, tortured, molested, and slaughtered these people simply
because they held to the Bible. From as
early as the Jews of Jesus day, to the Roman Catholic Church during the Dark
Ages, to the Protestant Reformers in Europe and even in the American colonies, to today, there has been unending persecution
of Bible believers throughout the world.
Most people understand the Inquisition to be the height of religious persecution
that occurred for only a few hundred years in Europe, but, in fact, religious
persecution has continued for two millennia across the borders of many
countries including the American colonies.
In America and most other free countries
today, we take our religious freedoms for granted; to the point, we have all
but forgotten why we wanted those freedoms.
Society calls out cries out for tolerance
of everyone’s beliefs because, they
claim, we all serve the “same God”. Particularly, many of the churches that separated from the Roman Catholic Church during of
the Reformation have begun talking with the Roman Catholic Church about
becoming one church again. Dr. David
Cloud, founder of Way of
Life Literature website (www.wayoflife.org),
wrote, “The lie that Catholicism is becoming more evangelical, more
biblical, and more spiritual…is being used to encourage ecumenical
relationships between Catholics and Protestants” (290) . Ever since the Roman Catholic Church lost the
great power she had before the Reformation, Rome has been seeking to regain her
glory years again. Lutherans, Presbyterians,
Anglicans, and etc. today do
not fully understand why they separated in the first place. If the churches that came out of the Reformation do not remember the
history of the persecutions and vicious
Inquisition against themselves, do Bible-believers even recall the persecutions they have endured for
so long from the Jews, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Protestant Reformers?
To begin with, Religious persecution against Christians started
with Jesus Christ Himself being persecuted. The Jews were looking for their
Messiah to save them from the rule of the Romans, but when Jesus died, as He
said, to save them from their sins instead. The Jews rejected Jesus and His followers as a result. Dr. Phil
Stringer, who is an author and active
Bible conference speaker, says “The
leaders of the Jewish Sanhedrin began the first persecution of Christians” (49) . Harold Chadwick, Editorial Director of
Bridge-Logos Publishers, wrote in the updated version of “Foxe’s Book of
Martyrs” that because He claimed to be the Son of God, “The first to suffer for the Church was Jesus Himself—not a martyr, of
course, but the inspiration and source of all martyrdom” (4) . Because Christ was willing to suffer and die as He did on the cross,
His disciples believed that He taught the truth and followed Him, even unto death. Peter, one of the more famous disciples, “requested that he be crucified in an upside
down position because he did not consider himself worthy to be crucified in the
same manner as his Lord” (Chadwick 7) . “[Paul] was
taken to the execution block and beheaded.” (Chadwick 8) . All but one of the twelve Disciples of Christ
died violent deaths along with many other followers of Christ. These
men, guilty only of preaching in the name of Christ, were murdered by the Jews,
who did not want to hear the truth.
In 70 A.D., the Roman Army under the leadership of Titus sacked
Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple, but
Christians were still persecuted, now by the Romans. Contrary to popular belief today,
Constantine, who came to power in 306 A.D., was not a Christian in the same way
as the Bible teaches a Christian ought to be.
“Like many during his time,
Constantine’s life and conduct were a mixture of Christianity and paganism.”
(Chadwick 42) . Romans of Constantine’s day just added the
God of the Bible to their other gods, instead of making the God of the Bible
his sole authority. This Christianity resembled
that of the RCC, not of the Bible. Constantine
created the union between “church” and state though it still took some two
hundred years for the RCC to gain its full power. Additionally, Constantine approved the famous
Edict of Milan, supposedly giving Christians the freedom to live out their
faith. In Chadwick’s book, he writes “During the thousand years of general peace
Christians still suffered martyrdom for their faith in Christ” (46) . Despite the edict, true Bible-believers still
suffered for their faith because the edict only approved the Roman Catholic
version of Christianity. However, the
more they were persecuted, the more the Bible-believers spread the gospel
around the world.
As the Roman Catholic Church gained
greater power over the people’s lives, she tightened her grip not only on the
populace but also on the governments of that day. The reign of the Roman Catholic Church across
Europe was the second worst time of persecution for the Bible-believers because
the Roman Catholic Church refused to allow the people to read the Bible in the
vulgar (common) language (Cloud 61) . Yet, the people thirsted for the truth that
can only be found in the Scriptures. J.
M. Cramp, college professor and college president in the 1800s, wrote that because
the populace was “Shocked at the frauds
and crimes which were daily perpetrated, they panted for something better than
Rome proffered [offered]. The Gospel of
Christ, as preached by the persecuted sects, satisfied their souls” (Cramp 87) The Popes hated anyone who opposed their
authority, but most of all those who insisted the Bible was the only authority
by which a man should live. “Cursing was first thought of, because it
was easy, and the Church was expert at it…they said ‘all manner of evil against
them falsely,’ hurled anathemas [permanent condemnation] at their heads, and
called upon the people to ‘hate them with a perfect hatred’” (Cramp 88) . During this time, the Popes began issuing
Papal bulls to threaten Christians with eternal separation from God. When this was not enough, the Popes gathered
armies to go on crusades by promising to those who served in them salvation
from their sins. “The human bloodhounds were at work in all directions” (Cramp 90) . These armies would either wipe out whole
towns, as in the case of the town of Beziers, France. Contingents would harass families; they did
not always care that there might be Roman Catholics among those they
slaughtered. Male or female from the infant
to the elderly, all were mistreated in the most horrific manner. John T. Christian, professor of history in
the Baptist Bible Institute, wrote “Mary
[Bloody Mary] sought to burn all who were opposed to Romanism, Baptists and
Reformers alike” (A History of the Baptists Volume 1 203) It was not uncommon for these believers,
while they were yet alive, to have their limbs cut off, stabbed many times, roasted
in a fire like a pig, raped, have private parts cut off, their entrails torn out, and then
be paraded around the town. Oftentimes,
the great crime that warranted such treatment was reciting Scripture in their
mother tongue or denying that infant baptism had saving merit. “Only
when Rome lacked the power to accomplish its true intention did she countenance
the distribution of the Bible in the vernacular languages, and even then she
attempted to control such distribution and to force the people to read only
those Bibles that contain Catholic notes approved by its hierarchy” (Cloud 44) . As the Roman Catholic Church began to lose
power during the Reformation, it changed tactics. Rome is now significantly destroying the
foundation from which the Scriptures were translated.
There is a common misconception that the
Reformation finally brought peace among religions; however, true Christians
continued in the “suffering, inflicted, not only by the Papists…but by their
fellow-Protestants. The Episcopalians
and Presbyterians of England, the Lutherans of Germany, and the reformed in
Switzerland…agreed in persecuting the Baptists” (Cramp 232) . The Reformers fought long and hard to gain
their own religious freedom, but then turned around and persecuted those same
Bible-Believers that Rome had. Reformers
treated these people no better than the Roman Catholic Church. “Swiss Presbyterians had won freedom for
themselves, but they were determined not to grant it to others” (Cramp 239) . “[John Calvin] was responsible in a large
measure for the demon of hate and fierce hostility which the Baptists of
England had to encounter” (Christian, A History of the Baptists Volume 1 198) . The leaders of these infant religions were
just as harsh as Rome. Protestants took
away believer’s property, banished naked persons to the wilderness, and many
other horrific punishments, just like Rome.
While popes issued papal bulls of condemnation of Bible-Believers,
Protestant rulers issued laws against them.
“These warrants are substantially alike… word for word. Mary, the
Papist, dooming to death the Protestant, and Elizabeth, the Protestant,
ordering the execution of the Baptist” (Cramp 245) . Baptists had no relief from their
persecutions during or after the Reformation. There was no peace anywhere they moved in
Europe; for if Rome was not attacking them, Reformists were.
This harassment continued even on the
North American continent. History books cast
the colonies as a place of religious bliss from the start. However, “As the Puritans settled around the
Pilgrims, they brought their ideas of a state church with them, and they soon
began to harass the Baptists and other non-conformists” (Stringer 184) . Religious freedom was a major reason for the
emigration to America, yet leaving Europe and starting over completely was not
enough. Protestants wanted freedom for
themselves, but not for others. “Most
colonial governments treated Baptists with hostility or outright persecution” (Stringer
187) . Though it is touted as representative of all
the colonies at the time, Providence, Rhode Island was an anomaly of religious
liberty among the colonies. Even as late
as “1768, three Baptists were arrested for witnessing in Virginia, and they
continued to preach through the window of the Culpepper County jail” (Stringer
188) . These three were eventually let go, but
others were whipped viciously or banished to the wilderness for similar acts of
faith. Part of a law passed in
Massachusetts against Baptists reads, “It is ordered and agreed, that if any
person or persons… shall either openly [condemn] or oppose the baptizing of
infants…every such person or persons shall be sentenced to banishment” (qtd. in
Christian, A History of the Baptists volume 2 54). It was not until after the colonies won the War
for Independence that Baptists finally had relief from their persecutions, but even
then, it was only in the United States of America.
In the United States of America, we live
a life bathed in freedom. We have
forgotten the price that was paid for this freedom and the lack of freedom that
other countries suffer. “During this
century alone, more Christians have been killed for their faith than in all
previous centuries combined” (Chadwick 323) . This persecution has only worsened in the
last one hundred years. The media does not
report on these controversially religious massacres occurring around the
world. “Communists persecuted
Christians, destroyed their churches, imprisoned them, tortured them, and
killed them. During the height of
Communism worldwide, an average of 330,000 Christians were killed every year” (Chadwick
326) . This is just in the last 40 years. While the USSR has been dissolved, there are
still other Communist countries persecuting more than 150,000 Christians a
year. In China in 1990, Mother and
daughter were imprisoned for the mother’s beliefs (Chadwick 348-349) . China does not want the people to have
freedom to worship God as they believe He ought to be worshipped. Over the last year, China has been clamping
down harder on its people by not allowing them free reign of the internet. Additionally, Islamic countries do not want
any other religion but that of Islam.
Muslims have even burned their own Koran and blamed it on the Christians
falsely (Chadwick 365) . There is still widespread persecution of
Bible-Believers around the world today. Even
in America, Christians are told to be tolerant of others’ beliefs, to be
non-judgmental, which is contrary to what the Bible teaches. While we don’t have the physical persecution
like that of other countries, we still are looked down upon for our
beliefs. We, American Christians, face
the least amount of persecution, but are the most afraid to stand up for the
Bible because we might offend someone else.
Bible-believing Christians have continuously
been persecuted from the time of Christ until the present. The Jews were the first to reject the Disciples
and other Christians. While Constantine
is considered the first Christian to rule Rome, he also discriminated against the
Bible-believers; furthermore, he started the “state-church” of the Roman
Catholic Church. When Rome held sway
over all Europe, she viciously attacked anyone who opposed her. Once the Protestant Reformers gained their
own freedom, they began to persecute Bible-Believers just as much as the RCC
even in the colonies of the New World. Religious
liberty did not exist for Baptists until the United States had gained its
independence, but even then, this freedom is found only in certain countries. Many have heard of the Inquisition, but have
not been told about any of the other intense persecutions that have happened
for the last two-thousand years. As time
rolls on, the story of the discrimination of Bible-Believers is lost in the
past. These important, yet often
neglected, accounts must be taught lest history repeats itself, and in ten
years, the Roman Catholic Church regain her glory years, once again leaving no
safe haven for those that oppose her.
Works Cited
Chadwick, Harold J. The New Foxe's Book of Martyrs.
North Brunswick: Bridge-Logos Publishers, 1997. Print.
Christian, John T. A History of the Baptists
Volume 1. Texarkana: Bogard Press, 1922. Print.
—. A History of the Baptists Volume 2.
Texarkana: Bogard Press, 1926. Print.
Cloud, David. Rome and The Bible. Port Huron:
Way of Life Literature, 2009. Print.
Cramp, J. M. Baptist History: From the Foundation
of the Christian Church to the Present Time. London: Baptist Heritage
Publications, 1987. Print.
Stringer, Phil. The Faithful Baptist Witness.
Chicago: Lightning Source, Inc., 2011. Print.
No comments:
Post a Comment