Christians and persecution
Toby Anderson-Jone
Christians and persecution
A 1) Describe the persecution of Christians in Rome by Nero.
Nero (CE 37-68) was a Roman emperor who reigned from CE 54 until 14 years
later when he died. His reign is better known for a fire that incinerated
much of Rome in CE 64. Nero built the Golden House, a gigantic palace, in
the middle of the destroyed area. Many had rumoured that Nero himself had
arranged for the fire to be started so that he would be able to build the
magnificent palace.
At this time, Christianity had started to develop in small groups within
Rome, but unfortunately, Christians were seen as outcasts and were very
unpopular at this time. Nero also felt hatred towards Christians and was
well known for their oppression. The fire that he had arranged had proven
to be a perfect opportunity for him, to blame the Christians and persecuted
the group further.
2) Explain why some people think that Mark's gospel was written for non-Jews
facing persecution.
There is much evidence in Mark's gospel that leads many people to believe
that he wrote it for the benefit of Christians and non-Jews facing
persecution. Whether or no this is correct will never be known but by
examining his gospel, there are many examples that this may be true.
In Mark's gospel, Jesus, on many occasions questioned Jewish authority. In
the story of Jesus calls Levi (Mark 2-13), Jesus asked a tax collector named
Levi to follow him. They returned to Levi's house, along with other tax
collectors and outcasts and all sat and had a meal together. The Jewish
leaders and Pharisees saw Jesus with these outcasts and asked his disciples
why he was doing so. Jesus heard them and said "People who are well do not
need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have not come to call
respectable people, but ...
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the story of Jesus calls Levi (Mark 2-13), Jesus asked a tax collector named
Levi to follow him. They returned to Levi's house, along with other tax
collectors and outcasts and all sat and had a meal together. The Jewish
leaders and Pharisees saw Jesus with these outcasts and asked his disciples
why he was doing so. Jesus heard them and said "People who are well do not
need a doctor, but only those who are sick. I have not come to call
respectable people, but outcasts." This could be a clear indication that the
gospel was written for non-Jews, because the story illustrates Jesus
challenging the Jewish teachers and Pharisees by associating with outcasts
and tax collectors. Although the story does not mention non-Jewish groups,
Christians in particular, the principals and morals of the story are still
very relevant. Another example of Jesus challenging Jewish law, was when he
and his disciples were picking corn on the Sabbath day. Pharisees became
enraged about this and confronted Jesus about what he and the disciples were
doing. Jesus replied "Have you never read what David did that time when he
needed something to eat? He and his men were hungry, so he went into the
house of God and ate the bread offered to God. This happened when Abiathar
was high priest. According to our law, only priests may eat this bread - but
David ate it and gave it to his men. The Sabbath was made for the good of
human beings, they were not made for the Sabbath." This is yet another
example of Jesus challenging Jewish law. This gives the reader the
impression that this gospel was written for the purpose of giving non-Jews
(Christians in particular) courage and faith so that they could be helped to
face their persecutors.
Another example of writing for non-Jews is the book of Revelations.
Although this has no obvious relevance to Mark's gospel, it was written at
the time when Christians were being persecuted by Nero. By examining the
text, you can clearly see that it was written for Christians so that they
may have faith in God. The text is obviously illustrating that God will
defeat all evil within the world and then Satan himself. After this has been
accomplished God promises that the earth and heaven itself will be reborn
and that the oppressors of Christians would not go unpunished.
3) Explain how Jesus' example could help Christians facing persecution
today.
Jesus, whether he was the Son of God or not, set an excellent example of
the way we should treat each other and lead our lives. He helped people in
anyway he could, he healed, comforted and befriended anyone he needed and
deserved his help. He also had great courage, even though he knew he was
going to be barbaricly murdered by the Romans, he held the greatest faith
possible. Instead of making the easy choice of running away and hiding, he
faced his persecutors, and even while he was being mocked, tortured and put
to death, he asked God to forgive them.
For Christians being persecuted in various countries, it would be almost
impossible to have as much courage and faith as Jesus, but Christians can
use his example as a guideline to live by so that they will have the courage
to face those who are oppressing and spread the word of God.
Many Christians today go to church but make no effort to help other people,
be it a neighbour, a homeless person or giving to charity. If Christians
made more of an effort to help others in a useful way, as Jesus did, people
may not be prejudiced against Christians.
B 1) "Christians today are not prepared to suffer as Jesus did". Do you
agree?
In this day and age, many of the trials Jesus went through would not be
possible for people to undergo now, but some people may believe that if some
of the situations that Jesus went through, for example: Mockery, Challenging
law and even dying for ones beliefs, came around today, people would face
them. One example of this kind of faith is mother Teresa. She devoted her
entire life to helping the poor; she had little or no possessions except for
her bible and challenged all the wrong that she saw in the world, but, today
most of the Christians in the world are so indulged in the important aspects
of their lives, that giving this kind of devotion and sacrifice to religion
is so hard that they simply would not do it. It is not necessarily because
they are mean and don't care about others or their faith, it is that there
are many over powering obstacles that would stand in the way of doing so,
the government for example. By law you have to pay taxes, if you give all
your possessions to charity and help the poor you cannot pay your bills and
so eventually you would loose your house, end up on the streets and
eventually end up in the same position as the people you are meant to be
helping. However giving to charitable organisations like Oxfam and Cafod
can help these people without putting yourself in their position. So in
conclusion, I do not believe that Christians today are prepared to undergo
what Jesus went through because there are too many difficulties nowadays
preventing it.