Persecution: Part of Living Christianity

by Wesley Kawato

Have you ever thought about this? Our Lord was persecuted and nailed to a cross. Throughout Church history, His true followers have also had to deal with cruel persecution. When Jesus said "take up your cross and follow Me," (Matt. 16:24), He knew what commitment would mean for the follower. It should be no surprise that facing persecution has been a regular part of the Christian life for 2,000 years. This issue of the GPD does deal with widespread persecution of members of all religions. However, this introductory article will focus on the persecution of fellow Christians.

Persecution during the Roman Empire
The Christian Church has suffered persecution almost from the time it was founded. Shortly after Jesus ascended into heaven, as Acts chapter 7 records, Stephen, one of the early leaders of the Jerusalem Church, was stoned to death by a Jewish mob egged on by their religious leaders. Soon the early Christian Church would face persecution from a different source: the Roman government. According to the New Testament and early church historians, the Apostle Paul was arrested at least twice by the Romans for preaching the gospel. The final arrest led to his execution.

Paul's death didn't slow the spread of the gospel. Other Christian workers finished the work he had started: taking the gospel to every corner of the Roman Empire. These heroes of the faith withstood the challenge of persecution. Many were beaten or jailed for preaching the message of salvation. A few gave their lives for the Lord. Others spread the gospel to far away places like Ethiopia and southern India.

The enemies of God couldn't stop the spread of the gospel. During the reign of Emperor Domitian (A. D. 81-96) thousands of Christians were killed, and, in A. D. 95 or 96 the Apostle John was banished to the island of Patmos. John rose above his circumstances to receive a special revelation from God, which became the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book of the Bible.

Domitian's successor, Trajan, also persecuted Christians. Ignatius, the Bishop of Antioch, was thrown to the lions in the Roman Coliseum in A. D. 110. This was the first recorded instance of a Christian being thrown to the lions, but it wouldn't be the last. Trajan made it a regular practice of having Christians eaten by lions or hacked to pieces by gladiators in arenas all over the Roman Empire.

Emperor Diocletian, who ruled Rome from A.D. 284-305, was probably the worst persecutor of all. Besides killing Christian leaders and laymen, he was the first to order the destruction of every Bible found. The Soviet Union would later copy this practice.

God heard the prayers of His people. The Lord removed Diocletian from power, replacing him with Emperor Constantine I, The Great, who ended state persecution of Christians during his reign. One of his successors, Emperor Theodosius, ruled Rome from A.D. 378-398. He made Christianity the official religion of the empire. Forced conversions filled Rome's places of worship with false converts, creating the spiritual corruption that would spark a second wave of persecution a thousand years later.

The Christian Church survived the fall of the western half of the Roman Empire in the early 400s, putting an end to forced conversions.

Catholics and Protestants Persecute One Another During the Reformation Era
Martin Luther's Reformation split Europe into Protestant and Catholic camps, planting the seeds for a second round of intense persecution.

Religious tensions in Europe rose ever higher until they exploded into warfare in 1618. The war began when the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand I, revoked the freedom of religion granted to Bohemia's Protestants by his predecessor. Unlike the Christians of the Roman era, Bohemia's Protestants tried to restore their religious freedoms through political means, rather than trusting in the Lord. They killed the Catholic king who ruled them, replacing him with a Protestant prince. The Bohemian Revolution upset Europe's balance of power, plunging the continent into 30 years of war. The Thirty Year's War saw numerous atrocities committed in the name of Christ. General Wallenstein, the leader of the Catholic Army, started the cycle of escalating violence. He made it a practice to loot the Protestant villages he conquered. Catholic soldiers often killed any Protestants they found. In 1630 King Gustav II of Sweden could no longer bear the persecution of believers in Germany. He led an invasion of Germany to save the

Protestants of that region from extermination. From 1630, until his death in 1632, Gustav II pushed back the Catholic armies, making northern Germany safe for Protestants. But he allowed zeal to get the better of him. Like Wallenstein, Gustav II looted the towns he conquered. Protestant soldiers often killed the Catholics they captured.

The Thirty Year's War ended in a stalemate in 1648. During the fighting, Europe's Protestants compiled a sorry record of fighting persecution with more acts of persecution. The war showed what could happen when Christians fail to trust the Lord and love their enemies. After 1648, Europe lost its stomach for religious warfare. For the next 250 years, most governments left Christians alone.

Persecution Under Communism
In 1917 the period of tolerance changed when the communists came to power in Russia. The Red Army killed millions of Christians, as it sought to consolidate after the revolution it had just won. These atrocities caused many other Christians to flee Russia, fearing the situation would get worse.

They were right. After Stalin came to power, he systematically rounded up Christians. Secret police infiltrated underground churches, arresting millions of people. Believers were executed or worked to death in labor camps that dotted the Siberian wilderness. The aftermath of World War II increased the misery. The allied powers allowed the Soviet Union to retain control of the countries it had "liberated" from the Nazis. The Christians of these lands faced the same persecution as their brothers and sisters in Russia.

But the Christians of the free West remembered their brothers and sisters in Eastern Europe. After 1945 people like Brother Andrew sent aid to Christians imprisoned in communist lands. Brother Andrew founded a ministry called Open Doors, dedicated to restoring religious freedom. It would be the first of many ministries dedicated to aiding the persecuted Church. These groups sent aid and comfort to believers in these lands. Sometimes they even helped Christians flee from the lands of their captivity.

Bible burning was a common practice of communist regimes. In response, underground groups smuggled Bibles into communist lands. These efforts neutralized the attempt of communist dictators to snuff out the message of salvation. Behind the scenes, millions of Christians prayed for the end of persecution in Eastern Europe and parts of Asia. Between 1989-91, God answered those prayers, when one communist government after another fell, most of them in peaceful revolutions.

Persecution Today
Millions of Christians still face persecution today. Not all communist regimes fell during the 1989-91 period. Vietnam is a case in point. Christians among the Hmong people of China and Vietnam have been beaten and/or arrested. In other parts of Vietnam, churches dominated by the majority Vietnamese people group have been left alone by the secret police. Some have even been granted legal recognition. The situation in China is similar to Vietnam. Not all Christians are persecuted by that country's communist government. Believers in the state-sponsored churches are often left alone. However, Christians caught attending underground house churches face arrest and years of imprisonment in harsh labor camps. North Korea, Laos, and Cuba are also still ruled by communist regimes. Christians in these lands face varying degrees of persecution. In Cuba, the government has become more tolerant of religion and has even allowed televised evangelistic crusades. By contrast, Christians in Laos and North Korea are still forbidden to meet or witness openly, for fear of arrest.

Persecution by Muslim and Hindu Fanatics
Religious fanatics provide another source of persecution. Seven out of the 10 countries with the worst human rights records are Muslim countries according to Open Doors. In Sudan, the hard-line Muslim government has waged war against the Christian minority in Southern Sudan. The Sudanese army has killed or enslaved millions of Christians and animists. In Indonesia, Muslim extremists went on a rampage last year on the island of Sulawesi. Dozens of Christian villages were burned and the people were massacred. The attacks stopped in December when the Indonesian Army cracked down on the militants in answer to prayer.

Muslims hold no monopoly on fanaticism. Hindu extremists have caused problems for Christians in India. Church burnings have become common, especially in the state of Gujarat. Though few foreign missionaries have been slain, Indian believers are often beaten or even killed in India's northern states.

Let's Go to Prayer
Christians need to continue praying for the persecuted Church around the world. Our prayers can put a stop to persecution, like the believers' prayers did recently in Indonesia. We need to pray that believers will love their enemies and not retaliate. Acts of defense are one thing; but revenge has a way of creating an escalating cycle of persecution as it did during the Thirty Year's War. Pray that God will bind the demonic powers responsible for persecuting the Church. Pray that God will deliver His children in today's world as He did in 1989-91.