The history of Christianity in comparison to Judaism, is of course, rather short. However, it is imperative to understand Christianity and its progress through the last 1700 years. Many traditions that we practice as well as some symbols that we use today within the established Christian religion, are in fact pagan in their origin.Again, if we are to stand a chance against Satan and his legions, we must understand his tactics. These rituals and incorporated practices that exist within our religion, just might be what is holding us back from achieving our full power in Jesus Christ. Remember that it is not the intentions of the Christian but the mere action that causes
manifestations in the spiritual. This is certainly the belief of the NAer's and is in fact the entire premise of their ambitions in deceiving me and you into reciting "The Great Invocation". This
recognition of action/consequence is supported in scripture as well. Despite Christ's sacrifice for our sins, it certainly does not nullify our freewill to act as we choose. Your actions most certainly have spiritual ramifications whether your intent is good or not, and the question that I raise here is...do some of the traditions that we observe as Christians have a negative spiritual impact. This is a question certainly worth exploring if our intent as a Christian is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ...
To die for Christ and his truth is something I am prepared to do...and it may be something that we as believers must do in the near future. However, we are not alone in this. Below are several accounts of Christian martyr's who died for their faith in Jesus Christ. It breaks my heart and brings tears to my eyes to read them. But I fear that as indicated by Jesus and many prophets and apostles, that we have seen nothing that will compare to what is to come in these last days. (These scriptures I will cover and more in the next series "In the days of Noah".)
The early Christians, including eleven of the twelve apostles and many of the other early disciples, faced horrible persecution and ultimately death. They were martyrs.. those who died by the hands of those who hated them for their faith in Christ Jesus. Approximately 2,000 Christians suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem during the early Christian period. Jesus Christ himself was the first martyr for God's truth and he certainly wasn't, nor is, the last. And this, as horrific as it may be,is where our history as Christians begins...
Around 34 AD, about one year after Christ's death and ressurection, Stephen was basically the outreach minister in the early church. He was in charge of the daily distribution of food. He was known as a man inspired by the spirit of God who was"full of grace and power". The Jews brought false witnesses against him, and accused him of speaking against Jewish law. Stephen stood trial before the Jewish Council. When he accused them of betraying and murdering the Messiah, Jesus Christ, he was thrown out of Jerusalem and they stoned him to death. The community of believers scattered after his death.
In 44 AD, when Herod Agrippa was appointed governor of Judea, James, the son of Zebedee and the brother to John, Andrew and Simon Peter was killed. Agrippa hated the Christian sect of Jews, and many early disciples were martyred during his rule, including Timon and Parmenas.
In 54 AD, Philip, who was a disciple from Bethsaida, the same town the sons of Zebedee were from (John, James, Andrew, and Simon Peter), was martyred at Hierapolis, in Phrygia. It is said that he went to the city of Hierapolis along with his sister Mariamme and Bartolomew preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through a miraculous healing and through his preaching of the truth, he converted the wife of the proconsul of the city. The proconsul was enraged by this and Phillip was scourged, thrown into prison, and afterwards was crucified. Mariamme, his sister, met the same fate.
Bartholomew, went on to preach in many countries and translated the Gospel of Matthew into the language of India. Later on in 73 AD, he was brutally beaten and crucified by pagans there.
Matthew, the Jewish tax-collector from Nazareth, who is believed to have written the gospel of Matthew, was hated by the Jewish scribes and Pharisees for his allegiance to Rome. Where most of the general population were illiterate, as a tax collector, Matthew was very well educated and could read and write effectively. While preaching in Ethiopia, he was murdered and impaled by a sword.
James, the brother of Jesus, was an administer of the early church in Jerusalem and authored the Epistle James. When he was 94 years old, he was beat and stoned, and had his head crushed with a fuller's club.
Matthias the apostle, was chosen by the remaining eleven desciples to replace Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot was the man that betrayed Jesus and handed him over to the Jews that were conspiring against him. Judas eventually commited suicide out of guilt. Ultimately, Matthias the
twelfth disciple, was stoned in Jerusalem and then beheaded.
Simon Peter, who is according to the Roman Catholics, the very first pope of the Roman Catholic church (this certainly is not historically sound) was a fisherman by trade. His brother was Andrew and they both were sons of Zebedee, as were James and John. They ran a fishing buisness out of Bethsaida. When Jesus came to them as they were fishing, this is where he told them in Matthew 4:18 that he would make them "fishers of men" and from then on they followed Jesus as his first disciples. Peter's fate was eventually met and he was crucified upside down on a cross at his request. He did so because he did not feel worthy enough to be crucified in the same manner that his Lord Jesus Christ had been.
Andrew, the brother of Peter and a friend of John the Baptist, preached the gospel throughout Asia. He was arrested in Edessa and crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground. (To the Catholics this is considered St. Andrew's Cross)
Mark, who was converted to Christianity by Peter, transcribed Peter’s account of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Mark evangelized with Paul and his brother Barnabas throughout their ministry. When Barnabas seperated from Paul over a dispute about Jews and Gentiles, Mark went with him. Paul later called on Mark's services again and Mark became Paul's fellow worker. Mark was literally ripped to pieces by the people of Alexandria in front of their pagan idol Serapis.
Paul of Tarsus, who is called "Blessed Paul" and known as Saint Paul to the Catholics, was responsible for much of The New Testament which is comprised of Paul's letters or epistles written to many communities he helped establish thoughout the region. Early on in his life, Paul helped in persecuting the Christians, but one day traveling to Damascus, he had a vision in which Jesus spoke to him and asked Paul why he was persecuting him...Paul saw the truth and he converted and began helping Jesus Christ's cause. Three years after his conversion he went to Jerusalem where he met James and he stayed with Simon Peter for 15 days. After his departure, He did not return from his travels to Jerusalem for another 14 years. Paul spent the rest of his life thinking and writing about Christianity and converted many to the faith. Around 60 AD, 14 years after leaving, Paul returned to Jerusalem bringing money, which he had acquired, to help the congregation there. Blessed Paul was arrested and detained for two years. Facing his martyrdom, Paul’s faith was so dramatic that the authorities took him to a private location to be executed by the sword.
Most of these great men died during the reign of the evil Emperor Nero.
Matthias the apostle, was chosen by the remaining eleven desciples to replace Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot was the man that betrayed Jesus and handed him over to the Jews that were conspiring against him. Judas eventually commited suicide out of guilt. Ultimately, Matthias the
twelfth disciple, was stoned in Jerusalem and then beheaded.
Simon Peter, who is according to the Roman Catholics, the very first pope of the Roman Catholic church (this certainly is not historically sound) was a fisherman by trade. His brother was Andrew and they both were sons of Zebedee, as were James and John. They ran a fishing buisness out of Bethsaida. When Jesus came to them as they were fishing, this is where he told them in Matthew 4:18 that he would make them "fishers of men" and from then on they followed Jesus as his first disciples. Peter's fate was eventually met and he was crucified upside down on a cross at his request. He did so because he did not feel worthy enough to be crucified in the same manner that his Lord Jesus Christ had been.
Andrew, the brother of Peter and a friend of John the Baptist, preached the gospel throughout Asia. He was arrested in Edessa and crucified on a cross, the two ends of which were fixed transversely in the ground. (To the Catholics this is considered St. Andrew's Cross)
Mark, who was converted to Christianity by Peter, transcribed Peter’s account of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. Mark evangelized with Paul and his brother Barnabas throughout their ministry. When Barnabas seperated from Paul over a dispute about Jews and Gentiles, Mark went with him. Paul later called on Mark's services again and Mark became Paul's fellow worker. Mark was literally ripped to pieces by the people of Alexandria in front of their pagan idol Serapis.
Paul of Tarsus, who is called "Blessed Paul" and known as Saint Paul to the Catholics, was responsible for much of The New Testament which is comprised of Paul's letters or epistles written to many communities he helped establish thoughout the region. Early on in his life, Paul helped in persecuting the Christians, but one day traveling to Damascus, he had a vision in which Jesus spoke to him and asked Paul why he was persecuting him...Paul saw the truth and he converted and began helping Jesus Christ's cause. Three years after his conversion he went to Jerusalem where he met James and he stayed with Simon Peter for 15 days. After his departure, He did not return from his travels to Jerusalem for another 14 years. Paul spent the rest of his life thinking and writing about Christianity and converted many to the faith. Around 60 AD, 14 years after leaving, Paul returned to Jerusalem bringing money, which he had acquired, to help the congregation there. Blessed Paul was arrested and detained for two years. Facing his martyrdom, Paul’s faith was so dramatic that the authorities took him to a private location to be executed by the sword.
Most of these great men died during the reign of the evil Emperor Nero.
Jude, who was of course the author of the epistle Jude, was known as "the brother of James" and was commonly called Thaddeus. As noted, Jude is sometimes mistaken as the brother of James, but this is a doing all his own. Jude was actually a brother of Jesus. He acknowledged his sin and did not feel worthy enough to be called the brother of the only Son of God, so in his own epistle Jude, he humbly names himself the Brother of James. In 72 AD, Jude was crucified in Edessa, a large christian community at the time.
Thomas, who was called Didymus, preached the Gospel in Parthia and India. His activity enraged the pagan priests and he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear.
Luke, who was the author of the Gospel of Luke, also traveled with Paul through various countries preaching the gospel of our Lord. He was eventually hung on an olive tree by idolatrous priests in Greece.
Simon, who was called Zelotes, preached the Gospel in Mauritania, Africa and Britain...where in 74 AD, he was crucified.
John, the brother of James, who was considered the "beloved disciple", was ordered out of Ephesus to go to Rome. It is here that he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. By the power and grace of God, he escaped without injury. He was later banished to the Isle of Patmos by Domitian, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. This was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.
This is just a small list of those who were killed for Jesus' sake....most of which were crucified on a cross. This is where I get uneasy about the use of a cross as a spiritual symbol for us as Christians. Do you think the early Christians would have paraded around a Roman crucifix as a symbol for faith in Jesus when they had seen their friends and savior painfully die by that same cross? I believe it would have been considered heresy by the early Christians. Keep in mind it was the Catholics, or "Christianized" pagan Romans, that introduced the cross as a Christian symbol. Visualize a Catholic procession with the symbol of the cross being carried by an acolyte, leading the priest into the sanctuary. The Romans martyred most Christians on the cross, and when I see a procession, it says to me "here comes Rome and its heirarchy guided by a cross which has ruled you and your Messiah!!" Its almost a slap in the face to Christians everywhere. To me this symbolizes Rome's power and rule over the Christian faith and its practices. As I will talk about later in the series... Rome never actually fell.... it became the Catholic church!
(I do have a cross and I know alot of people use a cross as a representation for Jesus' sacrifice for our salvation... but I want people to have an understanding that the symbology of many things we see and use today, finds its roots in paganism, occultism and ultimately the progressive New Age. More on this later as well.)
The Roman empire was seemingly successful in attempting to "purge" the empire of Christians and Jews. It was around this time also that the 2nd Temple was ransacked and demolished by the Romans. Many Jews and Christians died and continued to die at the hands of the Romans during this period. Despite this however, the Jews continued to persecute and kill the Christians for the same reason that they were being killed and persecuted........ for their faith.
To Be Continued...
Thomas, who was called Didymus, preached the Gospel in Parthia and India. His activity enraged the pagan priests and he was martyred by being thrust through with a spear.
Luke, who was the author of the Gospel of Luke, also traveled with Paul through various countries preaching the gospel of our Lord. He was eventually hung on an olive tree by idolatrous priests in Greece.
Simon, who was called Zelotes, preached the Gospel in Mauritania, Africa and Britain...where in 74 AD, he was crucified.
John, the brother of James, who was considered the "beloved disciple", was ordered out of Ephesus to go to Rome. It is here that he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. By the power and grace of God, he escaped without injury. He was later banished to the Isle of Patmos by Domitian, where he wrote the Book of Revelation. This was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.
This is just a small list of those who were killed for Jesus' sake....most of which were crucified on a cross. This is where I get uneasy about the use of a cross as a spiritual symbol for us as Christians. Do you think the early Christians would have paraded around a Roman crucifix as a symbol for faith in Jesus when they had seen their friends and savior painfully die by that same cross? I believe it would have been considered heresy by the early Christians. Keep in mind it was the Catholics, or "Christianized" pagan Romans, that introduced the cross as a Christian symbol. Visualize a Catholic procession with the symbol of the cross being carried by an acolyte, leading the priest into the sanctuary. The Romans martyred most Christians on the cross, and when I see a procession, it says to me "here comes Rome and its heirarchy guided by a cross which has ruled you and your Messiah!!" Its almost a slap in the face to Christians everywhere. To me this symbolizes Rome's power and rule over the Christian faith and its practices. As I will talk about later in the series... Rome never actually fell.... it became the Catholic church!
(I do have a cross and I know alot of people use a cross as a representation for Jesus' sacrifice for our salvation... but I want people to have an understanding that the symbology of many things we see and use today, finds its roots in paganism, occultism and ultimately the progressive New Age. More on this later as well.)
The Roman empire was seemingly successful in attempting to "purge" the empire of Christians and Jews. It was around this time also that the 2nd Temple was ransacked and demolished by the Romans. Many Jews and Christians died and continued to die at the hands of the Romans during this period. Despite this however, the Jews continued to persecute and kill the Christians for the same reason that they were being killed and persecuted........ for their faith.
To Be Continued...
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