The Positive Impact Of Christian Persecution In The Church

Christianity had its inception, as recorded in Scripture, on the Day of Pentecost. One-hundred and twenty plus followers of Jesus gathered in an upper room in Jerusalem after his ascension to wait for the coming of the Comforter (Holy Ghost) which he had promised to send back to his disciples, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;” (John 14:16, KJV). From the very beginning these early Christians faced persecution. Initially the persecutions started with the Jews who did not accept that Christ was the biblically prophesied messiah eventually perceiving Christianity as a heretical sect (as is witnessed by the Biblical account of Saul’s aid in finding and arresting Christians

Persecution was viewed by those of the early church as a declaration of one’s ultimate allegiance with Christ and martyrdom was considered a privilege with some even believing they were appointed for these horrendous sufferings by God himself. Because Jesus had warned his followers that they would be hated just as he was because their standard of living would be at odds with the earthly government and its worldly population, “I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world” (John 17:14, KJV). Being considered unacceptable by a secular governmental entity was one mark of the early church’s separation from the profane things of the mortal realm. While the church was scripturally obligated to respect civil laws and principals, at the same time it was to abstain from any mandate that would steer it away from the principles and doctrines of the Word of God, “And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar 's, and unto God the things which be God 's” (Luke 20:25,