Throughout the biblical history from Genesis to Revelation, the Bible talks about persecution/suffering and caring for the needy. The Old Testament does not emphasize it the way Jesus puts it in the New Testament. The Christian point of view of these two concepts is reflected by utilizing the examples set by Jesus, when He came to earth to save the souls of men. Jesus gave some teachings on why suffering and persecution was part of the Christian path and why it was the responsibility of Christians to care for the needy in the fulfillment of the God’s purpose as His children.
Throughout the Christian history after Christ, Christian persecution, and suffering has been part and parcel of people who claimed that they had accepted Christ publicly and that they were ready to walk through his path. Thousands of Christians have been persecuted for proclaiming their stand with Christ including Jesus’ disciples. In fulfillment of God’s work, Christians also practice giving, and it is portrayed throughout the Christian history, as a way of helping the needy in the society. The paper shall discuss the trajectory and evolution of these two elements from the time of Jesus throughout the Reformation.
Suffering/persecution
Before Jesus ascended to heaven, he assured his disciples that the path of Christianity was not easy and that most of them would suffer and persecuted in His name. Jesus set a solid foundation of suffering when he was prosecuted and killed so that man can be saved. Having experienced that, his disciples were ready to carry His cross and take his footsteps (Christian Persecution, par 2). As his disciples continued spreading the message of Christ throughout Israel, they went through suffering and prosecution and most of them were beheaded because of their faith in Christ.
The stoning of Saint Stephen also took place when he defended the apostles, and subsequent dispersion of the apostles took place during the apostolic age. Saul was also fulfilling his mission of persecuting during this age before he met Christ on his way to Damascus and he was renamed Paul the apostle. During his missions as he preached, Paul went through suffering (Persecution and Faith par 1). The apostolic age that started around AD 31 to AD 100 marked several transformation of the Christian church including numerous prosecutions that were done to the Christian faithful including the famous riot in Jerusalem during Passover that killed over thirty thousand people (Persecution And Faith par 2 ). Though the disciples spread far as India to pitch churches and spread the word of Christ, a majority of converts had to practice the new religion while hiding.
During the Ante-Nicene period between AD 100 to AD 321, a lot of the New Testament books though there were many controversies during that period and there were many shakes in the church as they started separating. Several believers of Christ were killed, until, in AD 313, Constantine ended the persecution of Christians and developed toleration of the Christian religion together with Licinius in the period known as Edict of Milan (The Persecuted Church par 2). During this period, mobs were willing to stone Christians to death and at the same period, the entire empire, had all the Christians persecuted led by Maximinus Thrax. When the Jews rose against the Roman Empire between 132-135 AD and required all Christians to deny Christ or die. Several Christians were killed during that period. The great persecution that took place at the ending of the 3rd century and start of 4th century, and it banned Christian practices in the Roman Empire and imprisoned Christian clergies.
The Christians were forced to bow and sacrifice to the Roman gods or be executed. Over twenty thousand Christians were reported dead during the Diocletian’s reign (The Persecuted Church par 3). When Constantine came to power in 313, he legalized Christianity in the Empire. An estimated number of Christians that died during that era was about ten to a hundred thousand. In the Persian Empire in 314 AD, Zoroastrian Shapur II ordered the slaughter of over one thousand one hundred Christians. The Jews also participated in the persecution of Christians during that period.
During the middle ages, the Jews and Persians persecuted the Christians during the Roman and Persian wars. In Jerusalem, persecution took place after young Christians killed Nehemiah, who was the governor of the city, and also the Christian rebellion against the Eastern Roman Empire took roots, and eventually blew to a full blown war between the Jews and Christians (Christian Persecution par 3).The Persians encamped Jerusalem and attacked the city leaving over seventeen thousand Christians dead. In the Islamic caliphates, Christians were forbidden to practice anything that displayed element of Christianity, and the native Christian communities were persecutor in Muslim majority countries of North Africa and the Middle East.
During the French revolution that took place in the 16th century, de-Christianization campaigns took roots throughout the city and all symbols related to Christian religion or practice were condemned. Campaigns against Christianity were accompanied by anti-Christian policies (Persecution and Faith par 2). During the celebration of Goddess Reason, the climax of the campaigned reached when about twenty thousand priests were forced to hand their letters of ordination, forced to marry and hence to abandon their ministerial duties. About thirty thousand priests were ordered to leave France during that period. Towards the end of this period, an approximated number of Vendean deaths were close to five hundred thousand (Persecution and Faith par 3). In China, Christianity was forbidden, and all missionaries were forced to leave the country. In India, during the period between 16th to 18th century Christians were persecuted in the Muslim kingdoms. There was a continued fight against Christianity in the kingdom especially the Roman Catholics.
Reformation
Christian reformations took place in the 16th century with strong reformist and ideologists like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and other radical individuals, who wanted to alienate themselves from the Christian norms the Catholic Church practiced (Reformation Christianity par 3). They questioned the wealth and the power the Catholic Church had over the western civilization and the impunity and corruption activities that took place in the church. The reformers attacked these practices of the Catholic Church, and they opted to reform the ethical and theological aspect of the church (Reformation Christianity par 2). Though these reformers demanded liberty from the Catholic Church, they did not give liberty to others as they prosecuted Christians in countries of their origin who did not support their ideologies. A good example is Zwingli in Switzerland imprisoned Anabaptists and supported the assassination of a dozen of them. He complained about prosecutions by the Catholic Church, but he went on persecuting the Baptists.
In Germany, Luther initially had good plans for the reforms but he later ordered slaughtering of over one hundred thousand peasants who did not support him, and he further turned against Anabaptists and formed a council composed of Roman and Protestant princes that declared the death of all Anabaptists. John Calvin in Geneva, in the practice of his granted powers to stand for Protestantism, he declared all Anabaptists to be killed (Christian Persecution par 2). In the Church of England, during the reign of King Hendry VII after the split from Rome, the Baptists and other Christians who were not members of the Church of England were prosecuted for not subscribing to the national church. The persecutions of the Baptists even continued during the reign of King Edward VI were two Baptists were burned for declaring their faith (Christian Persecution par 3). Persecution of the Baptists by the Protestant church leaders continued in England even during the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1, and it continued in the United States.
Helping the Needy
The entire concept of charity was a Christian innovation and benevolence was unknown until the time of Christ. The teachings that teach on being an example of Christ identify generosity and service for the needy, the poor, and the sick in the society. Service to the needy took roots even after Christ left the earth and his disciples continued service to the needy as part of Christian work (History Par 1). During the apostolic era, Paul wrote scriptures and sent to all the churches emphasizing care for the needy as an essential characteristic of Christian faith and service to others. During the first three centuries of the early church, love for one another had taken roots and so was caring for one another. The Roman society realized that Christian practice and Tertullian reported that case.
Justine Martyr emphasized sharing personal possessions and wealth to the poor as the practice of faith and service to Christ in a society that one time in history could not see eye to eye. Clement also inscribed to other to love and care for brothers in need as q way of exercising love (Historical Perspectives par 2). When the plague swept across the world in the 3rd century AD, Christians were the only individuals that cared for the sick. That motivated several people including a pagan who decided to become a Christian and help in the service of the poor.
The early Christian servants of AD 368-408 (The Age of Persecutions par 1): These Christian women dedicated their lives to service to the poor and the needy throughout the early centuries of the church. Deaconesses in the Constantinople church used her inheritance to buy freedom for the slaves, gave to the poor and relieved the suffering (History par 3). She also built a monastery to house the poor and the needy. Church Father Jerome in the late fourth century supported by Paula helped protest against materialism and giving to the poor. They built monasteries, hospitals, and churches that served as sanctuaries for those in need.
The other cause Christian charity during this age was the Christian attributions towards their political and social environment. They refuted the Roman rule, morality, worship, and religion. They preferred martyrdom and almsgiving as one of the activities that kept them going during the era (Catholic Encyclopedia par 2). The well off Christians also helped the bishops in fulfillment of their duties such as caring for the needy, the widows, and the children with the aid of deaconesses. Some other activities of Christian charity during this period were teachings given to those who owned slaves to take care of them as their own among other activities.
During Medieval times and reformation the church hierarchical ranks took its foundations and phased out women deaconesses and widow (Historical Perspectives par 2). The women found alternatives for the service including ministering with each other and helping the needy. They established a culture of giving and even organized charitable outreaches.
During reformations, the Protestant church established a domestic world and gave women the responsibility of caring for those in need by organizing financial services as a gesture of true hospitality (Catholic Encyclopedia par 2). The Protestants condemned confinement of women in a convent, but rather empowered them to open their homes to the poor and the needy and also to Protestant travelers and refugees as part of service to Christ. Only the wealthy offered their funds for use in benevolent causes including those that were used to protest against Catholicism.
Works Cited
"CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Charity And Charities". Newadvent.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
"Christian Persecution, The Persecuted Church". Open Doors USA. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
"Early Church History 101 - Early Christian Church History, The Early Church Fathers, Persecution Of Roman Empire, Persecution Christians Second Century, Roman Persecution, Church History For Beginners, The New Testament Canon, RA Baker, Al Baker, Alan Baker". Churchhistory101.com. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
"History". Saintlazarus.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
"Reformation | Christianity". Encyclopedia Britannica. N.p., 2014. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
"Second Century: Persecution And Faith". CBN.com (beta). N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
"The Church And The Poor: Historical Perspectives". Colsoncenter.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 9 Apr. 2016.
