PRIMITIVE PERSECUTION.—There were ten persecutions in the first hundred years of the church, during which hundreds of thousands of Christians were destroyed, and the enemies often thought they had crushed out the Christ doctrine. Vet the Stone from the mountain, so often smitten, is spread today more generally on earth than ever. Those in authority ordered the death of Christians on every hand. But the more they were persecuted the more they multiplied. The more that were slain, the more there seemed to be left for slaughter. Indeed, the martyrs pressed to the cruel judgment-seat and asked to be permitted to die for Christ. Various torments were invented. Saints were dragged at the heels of wild horses; the persecutors laid them upon red-hot gridirons; they pulled off the skin from their flesh piece by piece; they were sawn asunder; they were wrapped up in skins and daubed with pitch and set in Nero’s gardens at night to burn; they were left to die and decay in dungeons; they were made a spectacle to all men in the amphitheater; bears hugged them to death; lions tore them to pieces; wild bulls gored them with their horns, and yet Christianity spread.
Posted on: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 19:15:34 +0000
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