TEN MAJOR PERSECUTIONS OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS WHICH OCCURRED
DURING THE REIGN OF THE IMPERIAL ROMAN EMPERORS
From the internet--
Although Roman persecutions for [early] Christians continued for about three centuries and never stopped during that era, the historians used to assign it into ten great persecutions happened [sic] by ten Roman Emperors... (www.suscopts.org/pdf/copticchurch/martyrdompersecution.pdf)Also from the internet (www.timetracts.com/Tracts/earlychurchpersecutions.htm)--
What is sad today is that history is being rewritten. Current history says that Nero did not persecute Christians. This is what Compton's interactive encyclopedia 1998 recorded:...Nero's unsavory reputation is almost wholly undeserved. he was certainly not the bloody dictator that Roman and Christian historians have depicted...
I have personally seen this practice. At the library, the old encyclopedias are gone and replaced with something with a title like, "World Book." When looking up the "Inquisition" in this book, one might think that the Inquisition was some kind of administrative affair of the Roman Catholic institution and not the bloodbath that it was. Another example--I've examined various editions of the Koran/Quran (both new and used). It seems that "Allah" is being liberally replaced with "God" as if written specifically for a western audience and toned down. But not just in recent publishings have I seen this in the Quran. I've seen the same thing in an older edition which assured the reader that Christians and Muslims worship the same God (which is not true). Muhammad denied that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God--and he that denieth the Son (like Muhammad did) hath not the Father. Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God.
For those who care to open their eyes as to what is happening, they will see that a frightful situation is arisen;
- We are undereducated and miseducated.
- Revisionist historians are speedily changing the historical record.
- Old books, along with the correct information that they contain, are disappearing off of the shelves.
- People who want information may only be able to find lies.
Ten great persecutions occurred under the reigns of the following Roman emperors (approximate dates of their reigns in parentheses)--
- Nero (54-68 AD)
- Domitian (81-96)
- Trajan (98-117)
- Marcus Aurelius (161-180)
- Septimius Severus (193-211)
- Maximinus (235-238)
- Decius (249-251)
- Valerian (253-260)
- Aurelian (270-275)
- Diocletian (284-305)
The persecutors did not prevail, the church continued...but soon came Constantine the Great in 312 A.D. Constsntine's name may not be on an official list of the popes (as I recall there is more than one list), but there are those that mark Constantine as basically the beginning of the Roman Catholic church. With Constantine, one sees the beginning of the soldering/welding of (1) a professed Christian religious system with (2) the Roman state and its gods.
An excerpt from Funk & Wagnalls under "Constantine I", page 2366--
With the reign of Constantine, CHRISTIANITY was not only recognized and tolerated, but BECAME THE RELIGION of the rulers themselves....he [CONSTANTINE] RETAINED THE TRADITIONAL PAGAN TITLE of Pontifex Maximus (the popes have been called "pontiff"), AS DID HIS Christian SUCCESSORS of the 4th century, AND HIS COINS STILL BEAR THE FIGURES AND THE NAMES OF THE OLD GODS....IT WAS HE WHO CALLED THE great COUNCIL OF NICAEA in Bithynia in 325 AND PRESIDED at the first sitting. HE DID NOT RECEIVE BAPTISM UNTIL SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH (I have heard someone say that CONSTANTINE MAY HAVE ALREADY BEEN DEAD BEFORE HE RECEIVED BAPTISM (video, "A Lamp in the Dark" available from Chick Publications).The Roman Catholic institution bears the imprint of Rome, and her popes, like the Roman Caesars, went on to continue to persecute the church of God for centuries on end on a massive scale.
[12-10-12]