The First Persecution of Christians
August 11th, 2009What happened to Christianity after the death of Jesus?
At the time Jesus Christ died there were hundreds of different primitive religions and cults scattered all over the Middle East and Europe. They worshiped everything from the sun, fire, animals, omens, stars, to a host of gods and goddesses that had human personalities and super human powers. Yet among all of these religions, Christianity alone triumphed and achieved a vast and enduring following.
As often happens throughout history, such an incredible uprising is often met with incredible brutality.
The first serious persecution of Christians was directed against the Hellenists, or Greek speaking Jews in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem was structured very differently in those days; it was part of the Roman Empire, but was under jurisdiction of the local kings, who were strictly Jewish kings known as a Pharisees. It was one of these Pharisee that had Jesus executed, and they were the first leaders to have to deal with Christian uprisings.
Pharisees were outraged by these Jews who converted to Christianity, because they not only declared Jesus was the Messiah, but they also claimed that the Jewish temple and its sacrifices had been condemned by Jesus and therefore the laws of the temple could be disregarded.
A young Apostle Paul stood by at the persecution and martyrdom of one of these Jews who converted to Christianity, named Stephen. Stephen was the first Christian on record to be killed for refusing to renounce his faith.
The story of Stephen, a Jew who converted to Christianity
Stephen is believed to have been a Jew who was educated in Alexandria and spoke Greek. He was one of the seven chosen by Christ's apostles as an administrator for their good works. He assisted in the giving of alms and in missionary work Because of his background, Stephen's task included helping Greek widows.
He was also an outstanding preacher and there were reports that he performed miracles. He had an expert knowledge of Jewish history and preached that Jesus' role was that of the promised messiah.
The Pharisees and elders of the synagogue became angry over Stephen's influence. At first they tried to defeat him in debate, but when that failed they brought him to trial on a charge of blasphemy. In the trial Stephen proclaimed that the law of Moses, as found in the Old Testament, was fulfilled in Christ and ought not to be continued in the Church.
In his speech before his Jewish prosecutors he justified his position by an appeal to Israelite history, showing that acceptable worship was offered to God before the law was given and also pointing out that Israelites who lived under the law had persecuted the prophets whom God had sent.
This and what Stephen described at that trial - a vision he'd had of Jesus sitting on the right hand of God in heaven - inflamed his accusers so that they drove him out of court.
The persecutors followed Stephen and pummeled him with stones until he was dead. It is said that in his last moments, Stephen cried out to Christ and asked for forgiveness of his persecutors, as Jesus had done for the roman soldier on the cross.
Some scholars feel that this event, at which a young Apostle Paul was present, could have caused mixed feelings in Paul (then known as Saul) that led to his conversion. Others argue that Saul, who was considered a pharisee himself at this point in time, was more likely to have felt justified at Stephen's death, something he'd come to regret much later in life.
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