Persecution

Hostility toward Christians by authorities or society.

Passages that substantially address this topic, in date order.

1 Clement 45.4Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The righteous were persecuted only by the wicked.
1 Clement 45.5Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · They endured with glory.
1 Clement 45.6Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Daniel was persecuted by the ungodly.
1 Clement 45.7Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The three young men were persecuted by the wicked, but God protects his worshipers.
1 Clement 45.8Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Those who endured were honored by God.
1 Clement 5.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · The greatest pillars of the church were persecuted to death.
1 Clement 6.1Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · A great multitude of Roman Christians also suffered.
1 Clement 6.2Clement of Rome · ca. 95–97 (range ca. 70–100) · Christian women were tortured in cruel spectacles but finished the race of faith.
Epistle of Barnabas 7.11Anonymous · ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) · To gain the kingdom one must pass through thorns and suffering.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 1.5 (50.5)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Do not deny God's law for the sake of property.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 8.3.7 (69.7)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Those afflicted but not killed, who did not deny, are sealed.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 8.6.4 (72.4)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The dry, moth-eaten sticks are apostates and traitors who will not repent.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 8.8.2 (74.2)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Some repented; others denied the Lord for business and are lost.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 8.8.4 (74.4)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Two-thirds green sticks are those who denied in various ways.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.19.1 (96.1)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The black mountain: apostates and betrayers, without repentance.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.21.3 (98.3)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · In persecution the doubters give way to idolatry.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.26.3 (103.3)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Rough stones are deniers who live alone apart from the church.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.26.6 (103.6)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Repentance is offered for past denials, not for those who deny now.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.28.4 (105.4)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Martyrs who did not hesitate have the greater glory.
Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 9.28.7 (105.7)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Confess your Lord rather than deny him.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 2.2.2 (6.2)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Hermas's children have rejected God and betrayed their parents.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 2.2.7 (6.7)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Blessed are those who endure the coming tribulation.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 2.2.8 (6.8)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Those who deny Christ in the coming days lose life; earlier deniers find mercy.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3.2.1 (10.1)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The martyrs sit on the right, but all receive the same gifts.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 3.6.5 (14.5)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Round stones are the rich, who deny the Lord in persecution to keep their wealth.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 4.2.5 (23.5)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · The beast is a type of the coming great tribulation; repentance and trust will bring escape.
Shepherd of Hermas, Vision 4.3.4 (24.4)Hermas · ca. 100–150 · Gold stands for believers refined by trials.
2 Clement 5.4Anonymous · ca. 100–150 · Jesus: do not fear those who kill the body, but God who judges.
To the Philippians 12.3Polycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · Pray for all believers, for rulers, for persecutors, and for the enemies of the cross.
To the Philippians 8.2Polycarp of Smyrna · ca. 110–135 · Believers should imitate Christ's endurance and glorify him when they suffer for his name.
To Diognetus 2.6Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · Christians are hated for refusing these gods.
To Diognetus 5.11Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · They love all and are persecuted by all.
To Diognetus 5.12Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · Condemned and killed, yet made alive.
To Diognetus 5.16Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · Punished for doing good, they rejoice.
To Diognetus 5.17Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · Jews and Greeks oppose them without being able to say why.
To Diognetus 6.5Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · As the flesh hates the soul, the world hates Christians.
To Diognetus 6.9Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · Persecuted, Christians multiply.
To Diognetus 7.7Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · Martyrs thrown to the beasts do not deny the Lord.
To Diognetus 7.8Anonymous · ca. 150–200 (disputed) · The more are punished, the more believe.
First Apology 1Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Justin addresses his petition to the emperor Antoninus Pius, his sons, the Senate, and the Roman people.
First Apology 11Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Christians expect God's kingdom, not a human one; that is why they confess even at the cost of death.
First Apology 2Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Justin asks the rulers, who claim to be philosophers, to judge by reason, not rumor; they can kill Christians but not harm them.
First Apology 24Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Christians alone are persecuted, though every people worships different gods.
First Apology 3Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Examine the charges; if unproven, do not punish the innocent. Christians will give an account of their life and teaching.
First Apology 31Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · The Hebrew prophets foretold Christ's birth, miracles, death, resurrection, and the mission to the Gentiles; the Scriptures were translated into Greek for Ptolemy.
First Apology 4Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Christians are punished for the name alone, not for proven crimes; the rulers should judge conduct, not the name.
First Apology 45Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Psalm 110 foretells Christ's ascension and the preaching of the apostles from Jerusalem.
First Apology 5Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · The pagan gods are evil demons, exposed by Socrates among the Greeks and by the Word made man, Jesus Christ, among the barbarians.
First Apology 57Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · The demons can only stir up hatred; Christians do not fear death, and if their persecutors think death is the end, killing Christians only frees them from this life's troubles.
First Apology 68Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Justin closes with a warning of God's judgment and appends Hadrian's letter to Minucius Fundanus requiring proper trials of Christians.
First Apology 7Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Judge each accused by his deeds; punish wrongdoers as wrongdoers, not as Christians.
First Apology 8Justin Martyr · ca. 150–155 · Christians refuse to lie to save themselves; they expect Christ's judgment, with eternal punishment of body and soul.
Second Apology 1Justin Martyr · ca. 150–160 · Recent executions under the prefect Urbicus move Justin to write again, since the demons use those rebuked by Christians to have them killed.
Second Apology 12Justin Martyr · ca. 150–160 · Justin tells how, as a Platonist, the Christians' fearlessness before death convinced him the slanders against them were false.
Second Apology 14Justin Martyr · ca. 150–160 · Justin asks the emperors to publish his petition so that others may learn the truth; those who condemn Christians condemn themselves.
Second Apology 2Justin Martyr · ca. 150–160 · A Christian wife who divorced her dissolute husband is denounced by him; her teacher Ptolemaeus and two others are executed under Urbicus simply for confessing the name of Christ.
Second Apology 7Justin Martyr · ca. 150–160 · The demons have always stirred up hatred against those who lived by reason, and much more against Christians, who know the whole Word, Christ.
Second Apology 8Justin Martyr · ca. 150–160 · Justin expects to be killed, perhaps through the Cynic Crescens, whom he has shown in debate to know nothing of Christian teaching.
Dialogue with Trypho 10.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Justin asks whether Trypho objects only to Christians' not keeping the law, or believes the rumors of cannibalism and orgies.
Dialogue with Trypho 108.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Justin says Jewish leaders spread the story that the disciples stole Jesus' body.
Dialogue with Trypho 110.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Persecution only multiplies Christians, as pruning makes a vine more fruitful.
Dialogue with Trypho 110.5Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians are the afflicted and driven out, whom God will gather at Christ's return.
Dialogue with Trypho 110.6Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians are taken from the earth with the righteous Christ.
Dialogue with Trypho 116.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians are brands plucked from the fire and promised new garments and an eternal kingdom.
Dialogue with Trypho 122.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Proselytes to Judaism are even more hostile to Christians.
Dialogue with Trypho 131.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians, called through the despised cross, endure death rather than deny Christ,
Dialogue with Trypho 133.6Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians pray for their persecutors, as Christ commanded.
Dialogue with Trypho 134.6Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · As Jacob was hated by his brother, so Christ and Christians are hated.
Dialogue with Trypho 136.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Isa 3:9–10 (LXX): “Let us take away the righteous one.”
Dialogue with Trypho 137.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Do not scoff at the King of Israel, as the synagogue rulers teach after the prayer.
Dialogue with Trypho 16.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Justin charges that Christians are cursed in the synagogues.
Dialogue with Trypho 17.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Justin accuses the Jewish leaders of spreading slanders against Christians throughout the world.
Dialogue with Trypho 18.3Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians who endure death for Christ would readily keep harmless rites if they were required.
Dialogue with Trypho 35.7Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christ foretold both the heresies and the persecutions of his followers.
Dialogue with Trypho 39.6Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Fear of persecution may keep Jews from confessing Christ.
Dialogue with Trypho 44.1Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Descent from Abraham does not guarantee the promised blessings.
Dialogue with Trypho 47.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Apostates to the law and unbelieving Jews who curse Christians will not be saved without repentance.
Dialogue with Trypho 82.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christ foretold persecution and false prophets.
Dialogue with Trypho 93.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Justin charges that the Jews have not loved God or neighbor.
Dialogue with Trypho 95.4Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Those who persist in cursing Christ will be held accountable.
Dialogue with Trypho 96.2Justin Martyr · ca. 155–160 · Christians are cursed in synagogues and killed by Gentiles; they call their persecutors brothers and die rather than deny Christ.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 1.1Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · The church writes about the martyrs and especially Polycarp, whose death ended the persecution and showed what a gospel martyrdom looks like.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 10.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Polycarp was willing to explain himself to the governing authority, but not to the mob.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 12.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · The crowd called Polycarp the destroyer of their gods and demanded a lion, but the games were over.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 13.1Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · The crowd quickly gathered wood for the fire.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 2.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · The martyrs endured horrible torture without complaint, because the Lord was present with them.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 2.4Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Those sentenced to the beasts were tortured further to make them deny the faith, for the devil was at work against them.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 3.1Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Germanicus encouraged the others by his courage and chose death rather than accept the proconsul's pity.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 3.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Stirred by the martyrs' courage, the crowd demanded Polycarp.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 4.1Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Quintus, who had volunteered for martyrdom, gave way; so the church does not approve of handing oneself over.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 6.1Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Polycarp moved again, but his pursuers tortured a young slave into revealing where he was.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 6.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Betrayed by his own household, Polycarp was sought by an official named Herod, in a story that echoes Christ's Passion.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 8.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Officials urged Polycarp to call Caesar “Lord” and sacrifice to save himself; he refused.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 8.3Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Thrown from the carriage and injured, Polycarp walked calmly into the noisy stadium.
Martyrdom of Polycarp 9.2Anonymous · ca. 156–160 · Told to say “Away with the atheists,” Polycarp said it, but of the pagan crowd.
Oration to the Greeks 19Tatian · ca. 165–172 · The philosophers' contempt for death is a pose; the Cynic Crescens plotted against Justin and Tatian. Oracles serve human greed; God alone should be followed.
Oration to the Greeks 25Tatian · ca. 165–172 · The Cynics' claim to self-sufficiency is hollow and the schools contradict each other; Christians hold one consistent teaching, and the charge of cannibalism fits the Greek myths, not them.
Oration to the Greeks 27Tatian · ca. 165–172 · Christians are condemned for their name without examination, while pagan atheists and skeptics are read freely; the philosophers' speculations are idle.
Oration to the Greeks 4Tatian · ca. 165–172 · Christians obey rulers and pay taxes but fear God alone, who is spirit, without beginning, known through creation, and in need of nothing.
Oration to the Greeks 42Tatian · ca. 165–172 · Tatian signs off: an Assyrian by birth, educated in Greek learning, now a Christian ready to be examined but never to deny his faith.
To Autolycus 1.1Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · Theophilus replies to his friend Autolycus, who mocked him as a Christian: he gladly confesses the name.
To Autolycus 1.11Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · Christians honor the emperor, obey him, and pray for him, but worship God alone.
To Autolycus 3.15Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · Christians, who may not even watch gladiatorial shows or immoral plays, cannot be guilty of promiscuity or cannibalism; their life is marked by chastity, monogamy, righteousness, and the rule of God.
To Autolycus 3.30Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · The Greeks ignore the true history because they learned writing late and forgot God; they honor poets who mock God and persecute those who worship him.
To Autolycus 3.4Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · Theophilus answers the slanders against Christians (promiscuity, incest, cannibalism) and the charge that their teaching is new.
To Autolycus 3.5Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · It is the philosophers (Zeno, Diogenes, Cleanthes) and historians who describe or even recommend cannibalism, not the Christians.
To Autolycus 3.6Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · Plato's community of wives and the incest and sodomy taught (so Theophilus says) by Epicurus and the Stoics show that the charges of immorality belong to the philosophers.
To Autolycus 3.8Theophilus of Antioch · ca. 180–185 · The philosophers and poets ascribe incest, lust, and bloodshed to their gods; so the charges of atheism, promiscuity, and cannibalism rebound on them.
A Plea for the Christians 1Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · Every people may worship as it likes under the emperors' tolerant rule, yet Christians alone are persecuted for their name; they do not resist, but ask for a hearing.
A Plea for the Christians 2Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · Christians ask not to be punished for their name but to be tried on real charges, as philosophers are.
A Plea for the Christians 3Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · The three charges against Christians are atheism, cannibalism, and incest; if true, destroy us; if false, examine our lives and treat us as others are treated.
A Plea for the Christians 31Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · Answering the charges of cannibalism and incest: virtue has always been slandered; Christians, who expect God's judgment and eternal life, would not even think of such sins.
A Plea for the Christians 34Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · Those who accuse Christians of vice practice prostitution and pederasty themselves; the real cannibalism is their violence against defenseless Christians.
A Plea for the Christians 37Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · Athenagoras asks the emperors for their favor: Christians pray for them and their succession, so that they may live quiet and peaceful lives.
A Plea for the Christians 4Athenagoras · ca. 176–180 · Christians are not atheists: unlike Diagoras, they believe in one God, uncreated and distinct from matter, who made all things through his Word.
The Instructor 3.8.41Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · Frugality trains Christians to endure persecution, having no fatherland on earth; examples teach virtue, as Penelope's faithfulness and the Spartans' drunken Helots did.
Exhortation to the Greeks 10.104Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–200 · Human beings, not stones or birds, are sacred; yet people honor ravens as God's messengers while persecuting the Christian who speaks for God.
Prophetic Extracts 63.1Clement of Alexandria · ca. 200 · The psalm is read as: unless persecuted like the Lord, one cannot be proved blameless; no one becomes a martyr without persecution.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 25.1Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · The saying about having fields and brothers with persecutions has the same meaning.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 25.3Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · There is outward persecution, from those who harass believers through enmity, envy, greed, or the devil.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 25.4Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · The hardest persecution comes from within, from a soul tormented by godless desires and passions until it despairs of life and despises God.
Who Is the Rich Man That Is Saved? 4.10Clement of Alexandria · ca. 190–210 · Peter says they have left everything; Jesus promises a hundredfold now, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.
Miscellanies 2.20.125Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Zeno would learn more from one Indian enduring fire than from arguments; Christians see martyrs burned and beheaded daily, trained by the law's fear; the “gods” of Psalm 82 are those who rise above pleasure and the flesh.
Miscellanies 4.10.76Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Christ's command to flee persecution is not because persecution or death is evil, but so that we may not be the cause of the persecutor's sin; the one who disobeys is reckless.
Miscellanies 4.10.77Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · One who hands himself over to the court shares the guilt of his killer and helps the persecutor sin; we should not provoke persecution by conflict or litigation, but yield even our goods, lest we provoke blasphemy of Christ's name.
Miscellanies 4.11.78Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Pagans ask why God lets Christians be persecuted; God did not will persecution but foretold it, to train us for endurance, to which he promised the inheritance.
Miscellanies 4.11.79Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Persecutors unwillingly testify to Christians' innocence; the unjust judge acts freely and so does not implicate God's providence; he condemns from prejudice, simply because we are Christians.
Miscellanies 4.11.80Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Death is no harm to Christians but a release to the Lord, for which we may even thank our persecutors; as Socrates said, the worse cannot harm the better; the Lord is our helper, and the souls of the righteous are in God's hand.
Miscellanies 4.12.86Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · If suffering were God's will, persecution would be good or persecutors innocent; rather, God does not will persecution but does not prevent it, which preserves both his providence and his goodness.
Miscellanies 4.16.101Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul's contentment in plenty and want is the knower's rule; Hebrews recalls believers who, after enlightenment, joyfully endured suffering and loss of goods, and urges endurance and faith.
Miscellanies 4.16.102Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Hebrews lists the faithful who endured mocking, scourging, stoning, and death, of whom the world was not worthy, who did not receive the promise without us.
Miscellanies 4.16.99Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Paul describes perfect righteousness as believing in the heart and confessing with the mouth; we must bless persecutors, and our boast is a conscience that has lived in holiness by God's grace.
Miscellanies 4.21.131Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · The perfect Christian relies on God's power, enduring affliction and persecution without despair, commending himself to God by patience, purity, knowledge, and love, cleansing himself and perfecting holiness; godly grief leads to repentance and salvation.
Miscellanies 4.4.14Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · The true martyr dies not from fear of punishment or hope of reward, but out of love for the Lord, even grateful to his persecutors; martyrdom is called “perfection” because it is the perfect work of love.
Miscellanies 4.6.41Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · The sum of virtue is to despise death for love of God; Christ blesses the persecuted, in the Gospels and in variant forms; we must endure persecutors without hating them, knowing every trial is an occasion for witness.
Miscellanies 4.7.42Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · The one who denies Christ in persecution goes over to the devil and deceives his own hope; denying the Savior is denying one's own life; such people are faithless hypocrites; true self-love is loving the Lord and confessing salvation.
Miscellanies 4.7.46Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · All things work for good to those who love God; martyrdom is taught for love, and even hope of reward is hope for the unseen; Peter blesses those who suffer for righteousness and bids them be ready to give an account of their hope.
Miscellanies 4.7.47Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Weak flesh can resist the spiritual powers by trust in the Almighty, who is at hand; Peter bids Christians rejoice in the fiery trial as sharing Christ's sufferings; in all things we conquer through him who loved us.
Miscellanies 4.7.51Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Christians have crucified the old man; Paul describes the apostles as a spectacle to the world, hungry, beaten, persecuted, and treated as refuse.
Miscellanies 4.7.52Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Plato says the just man is happy even under torture; the one who knows has happiness in himself, not in fortune, and no dishonor, exile, or death can tear him from his love of God.
Miscellanies 4.9.70Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Clement gathers Christ's sayings on martyrdom: whoever confesses him before men he will confess before the angels and the Father; whoever denies or is ashamed of him he will deny; the Spirit will give words before rulers.
Miscellanies 6.1.1Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Clement introduces books 6 and 7: after the Instructor's elementary training, he will show that the one who knows is not godless but alone truly devout, and then answer objections about Christ's coming.
Miscellanies 6.18.167Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · The philosophers persuaded only a few disciples, but Christ's word has spread through the whole world; Greek philosophy vanishes at a magistrate's ban, while Christian teaching, though persecuted by rulers everywhere, only flourishes.
Miscellanies 6.8.67Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · Philosophy was given by God to the Greeks as a kind of covenant preparing for Christ, but, as in the church, the enemy sowed weeds in it, such as Epicurus' godlessness.
Miscellanies 7.11.66Clement of Alexandria · ca. 198–203 · True courage comes from knowledge, not temperament; the one who knows fights vice with the Lord's armor, and in persecution he does not rush rashly into danger, as some so-called martyrs do, but gives himself gladly when God truly calls.
On Idolatry 23Tertullian · ca. 196–211 · Signing a written oath by the gods to secure a loan is a real denial even if nothing is spoken, since the soul dictates what the hand writes, as Zechariah “spoke” in writing.
Octavius 12.4Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Why does God not rescue Christians from torture and execution?
Octavius 27.8Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Demons stir up hatred of Christians so people will condemn them without knowing them.
Octavius 28.1Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Octavius, once a persecutor himself, says it is unjust to judge Christians unheard.
Octavius 28.2Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Octavius once believed the slanders too, though no Christian ever confessed such crimes.
Octavius 28.3Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · As advocates they defended criminals but tortured Christians to make them deny their faith.
Octavius 28.4Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Those who denied Christ under torture were let off as if cleared of all crimes.
Octavius 28.5Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · If the charges were real, courts would demand confessions of the crimes, not denials of the name.
Octavius 35.6Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Christians avoid even sinful thoughts, and none are in prison except for their faith.
Octavius 36.9Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · God allows suffering to test and prove his people, as gold is tested by fire.
Octavius 37.1Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · A Christian facing torture and death bravely is a beautiful sight to God.
Octavius 9.1Minucius Felix · ca. 197–250 · Caecilius says the Christian sect is spreading everywhere and must be destroyed.
To the Martyrs 1Tertullian · ca. 197 · Tertullian encourages Christians imprisoned and awaiting martyrdom to feed their spirits, not to grieve the Holy Spirit, and to keep peace among themselves so that the devil finds no foothold.
To the Martyrs 2Tertullian · ca. 197 · The world is the real prison; for the Christian the prison is a retreat that frees the spirit from idolatry and temptation, as the desert did for the prophets.
To the Martyrs 6Tertullian · ca. 197 · Ordinary life exposes people to fire, beasts, and violence, and many have recently died for the sake of a mere man; Christians should not hesitate to suffer for God.
To the Nations 1.1Tertullian · 197 · Those who come to know Christianity stop hating it and join it, and unlike real wrongdoers, Christians are not ashamed of their way of life but confess it gladly.
To the Nations 1.11Tertullian · 197 · The slander that Christians worship an ass's head comes from Tacitus, who contradicts himself, and pagans themselves worship asses and all kinds of animals.
To the Nations 1.14Tertullian · 197 · A renegade Jew paraded a caricature of the Christians' god as a donkey-eared figure, but pagans themselves worship many gods with animal heads.
To the Nations 1.17Tertullian · 197 · Christians are called disloyal because they will not swear by the emperor's genius or call him a god, yet it is pagans who rebel, mock, and curse the emperors.
To the Nations 1.18Tertullian · 197 · Christians are called obstinate for despising death, yet pagans praise the same courage in their heroes and still hire themselves out daily to the sword, the beasts, and the fire.
To the Nations 1.2Tertullian · 197 · Magistrates torture others to make them confess but torture Christians to make them deny, and never investigate the crimes they claim Christians commit.
To the Nations 1.20Tertullian · 197 · Since the pagans are guilty of everything they charge against Christians, they should correct themselves first, and if they did, they would become Christians.
To the Nations 1.3Tertullian · 197 · Since Christians are condemned only for confessing the name, the charge is against a name, and the name “Christian” (from “anointed”) is harmless.
To the Nations 1.4Tertullian · 197 · Christians are hated for their name, like Socrates for truth, even when their lives visibly improve, and their true marks are wisdom, self-restraint, chastity, compassion, truth, and freedom.
To the Nations 1.6Tertullian · 197 · Appealing to the laws does not help, because even laws require an inquiry into the deed, and a law that will not be examined is suspect and unjust.
To the Nations 1.7Tertullian · 197 · The charges of ritual murder and incest rest only on rumor, which has never been proved in all the years Christians have been watched and arrested; no one would buy eternal life at such a price.
To the Nations 1.8Tertullian · 197 · Tertullian mocks the name “third race” for Christians, ridiculing the tale of Psammetichus's experiment to find the first nation and asking who, then, the first and second races are.
To the Nations 1.9Tertullian · 197 · Christians are blamed for every disaster, yet disasters came long before Christians, and gods who need men to avenge them are weak.
On the Shows 27Tertullian · ca. 197–202 · Christians should shun the shows, where God is blasphemed and persecution is demanded, and should see their pleasant parts as honey on poison.
On the Shows 30Tertullian · ca. 197–202 · The greatest show is still to come: Christ's return, the new Jerusalem, and the judgment, when persecutors, philosophers, and performers will burn and those who mocked Christ will see him.
On Prayer 29Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · Prayer has great power: in the old covenant it worked deliverances and punishments, but Christian prayer brings endurance in suffering, turns away God's wrath, and does only good; all creation prays, and Christ himself prayed.
On Patience 13Tertullian · ca. 198–206 · Patience is also exercised in the body: in fasting and penance, as Nebuchadnezzar showed, in continence and celibacy, and above all in enduring persecution and martyrdom.
Prescription against Heretics 4Tertullian · ca. 203 · Christ and the apostles foretold heresies as wolves in sheep's clothing; they exist so that the approved may be shown, and “test all things” does not justify changing one's faith.
Against Marcion 3.22Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The apostles' mission, their break with the synagogue, their persecution, the sign of the cross on believers' foreheads, and the church's pure sacrifice of praise were all foretold by the Creator's prophets.
Against Marcion 4.14Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The Beatitudes on the poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the persecuted echo the Creator's constant care for the lowly in the Psalms and Isaiah, and fulfill Isaiah 61, so they belong to the Creator's Christ.
Against Marcion 4.39Tertullian · 207/208 (third edition, completed later) · The false Christs, the signs of the end, the persecutions of the disciples, and the coming of the Son of Man in Luke 21 all follow the prophets, so that both the troubles before his coming and the blessings after it belong to the Creator's Christ.
To Scapula 1Tertullian · 212 · Christians do not fear persecution; Tertullian writes out of love for his enemies, as Christ commanded, to warn them of what is coming.
To Scapula 2Tertullian · 212 · Christians worship the one God, hold that religion must not be compelled, pray for the emperor to their God, and are loyal and peaceable subjects who leave vengeance to God.
To Scapula 3Tertullian · 212 · Tertullian points to disasters and to the miserable deaths of persecuting governors as signs of God's wrath and warns Scapula that judgment is coming.
To Scapula 4Tertullian · 212 · Tertullian urges Scapula not to fight against God, citing lenient governors, Christian healings of pagans, the favor of Severus, the rain miracle under Marcus Aurelius, and the blameless life of Christians.
To Scapula 5Tertullian · 212 · Christians gladly offer themselves to death; persecution cannot destroy them but only spreads the faith, so Scapula should spare Carthage and himself.
Refutation of All Heresies 7.32.6Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Hippolytus says Satan used such sects to bring the church into disrepute among pagans.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.8Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · The Jews complained that Callistus, claiming to be a Christian, had disrupted their lawful worship.
Refutation of All Heresies 9.12.9Hippolytus of Rome · ca. 222–235 · Carpophorus said Callistus was no Christian but a debtor; the prefect, pressed by the Jews, had him flogged and sent to the Sardinian mines.
On Prayer 29.4Origen · ca. 233–234 · If the petition meant escaping all trials, the apostles, who suffered countless hardships, would have prayed in vain.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 1Origen · 235 · Origen opens by applying Isaiah's “affliction upon affliction, hope upon hope” to his friends Ambrose and Protoctetus, mature believers now facing trial.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 11Origen · 235 · The measure of confession is full only if one resists every inner temptation, every word of compromise, all mockery, and attachment to family and possessions.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 18Origen · 235 · The whole world and the angels watch the martyrs' contest; those who deny will hear the taunts of Isaiah 14 from the powers of Hades.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 19Origen · 235 · When neighbors mock us, we can pray the words of Psalm 44 and say that we have not forgotten God or turned back.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 23Origen · 235 · The seven Maccabean brothers, tortured one after another before their mother, encouraged each other with the thought that God was watching.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 26Origen · 235 · Antiochus tried bribery on the youngest brother, but his mother urged him to endure, and he went to death pronouncing God's judgment on the tyrant.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 32Origen · 235 · The devil cannot persuade Christians to worship idols, so he tries force; they must not trade Christ's light yoke for the yoke of demons.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 33Origen · 235 · The three youths, Mordecai, Daniel, and Job are models for refusing to worship idols or men, even at the threat of fire or lions.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 34Origen · 235 · Jesus' warnings of persecution and his command not to fear those who kill the body were given to the apostles and apply to martyrs, whom Christ will confess before the Father.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 4Origen · 235 · Origen urges his friends to rejoice in persecution, to calm a troubled soul with the Psalms, and not to fear mortal men when God is present everywhere.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 41Origen · 235 · Those who have passed from death to life should expect the world's hatred, lay down their lives as Jesus did, and boast in their afflictions.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 42Origen · 235 · Those who share Christ's sufferings share his comfort and triumph; the martyr's departure is the true day of salvation, and ministers must commend themselves by endurance.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 44Origen · 235 · Like the Hebrews Paul praised, Christians should accept the loss of their goods with joy, since they have a better and eternal possession.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 48Origen · 235 · The persecution is the storm that will show whether each has built on the rock, Christ; the spiritual powers that beat on such a house will themselves be defeated.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 49Origen · 235 · Persecution tests whether the word fell on rocky ground or good soil; those who endure bear fruit a hundredfold and should despise the cares and riches of this world.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 5Origen · 235 · Piety toward the one God is a contest only God's people undertake; faith in the heart is not enough without confessing him with the mouth.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 6Origen · 235 · Origen distinguishes outwardly bowing to idols from inwardly serving them, and warns that denying Christ in court, even without belief, is still bowing to idols.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 7Origen · 235 · Denial and an oath by the emperor's Fortune are grave sins; not even the sun, a creature itself, would wish to be worshiped instead of God.
Exhortation to Martyrdom 8Origen · 235 · When false prophets of impiety speak against us, we should be deaf to them, as the psalmist was, when there is no hope of correcting them.
Against Celsus, preface 3Origen · ca. 248 · Origen writes his reply reluctantly, since no true believer should be shaken by Celsus; Paul's list of things that cannot separate us from God's love does not even include arguments.
Against Celsus 1.1Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus accuses Christians of illegal secret associations; Origen replies that secret agreements against unjust laws, like a plot against a tyrant, are right.
Against Celsus 1.27Origen · ca. 248 · The faith spread worldwide against every power; naturally most converts are simple people, but, as Celsus admits, some are educated.
Against Celsus 1.3Origen · ca. 248 · Unlike the persecution of Socrates or Pythagoras, the persecution of Christians came from every power in the empire, and only divine power let the faith survive and conquer.
Against Celsus 1.65Origen · ca. 248 · Jesus' avoiding of danger was prudence, like Aristotle's leaving Athens, and his support from grateful women was no more shameful than philosophers' support from their pupils.
Against Celsus 2.13Origen · ca. 248 · Jesus foretold that his followers would be brought before rulers for his name alone—as Christians uniquely are—that the gospel would reach the whole world, and that Jerusalem would be besieged, all of which came true.
Against Celsus 2.40Origen · ca. 248 · Origen says Celsus wrongly thinks greatness means escaping death, whereas Jesus' death became an example for those who die for true piety.
Against Celsus 2.44Origen · ca. 248 · Origen rejects Celsus's comparison of Jesus with condemned sorcerers and robbers: Jesus was indeed crucified among robbers, as foretold, and his martyrs share his unjust condemnation.
Against Celsus 2.45Origen · ca. 248 · Origen answers that the disciples' early failure is balanced by their later bold preaching, suffering, and martyrdom, which Celsus ignores.
Against Celsus 3.15Origen · ca. 248 · Origen says Christianity is not held together by fear of outsiders, since persecution has ceased for some time and may return, and that Christians openly teach converts to reject idols and worship the Creator.
Against Celsus 3.3Origen · ca. 248 · Origen argues that Israel's faithfulness under persecution shows it had genuine signs and prophecies from God, since otherwise it would have turned to the pagan oracles and healing gods.
Against Celsus 3.7Origen · ca. 248 · Origen denies that Christianity arose from rebellion, since Christ forbade his followers to kill anyone and they accepted death like sheep; and he suggests the Hebrew language was God's gift at the Exodus.
Against Celsus 3.8Origen · ca. 248 · Origen argues from Hebrew names that the Israelites were not Egyptians, and says that Christians, forbidden to fight, have been protected by God, who has allowed only a few martyrs as examples while preserving the church.
Against Celsus 4.32Origen · ca. 248 · Providence transferred the dignity of Israel's law to believers from all nations through Jesus, whose word prevailed despite demon-inspired persecution by rulers and peoples; Israel was protected while faithful and forsaken after killing Jesus.
Against Celsus 5.50Origen · ca. 248 · The Jews were once favored and protected by God, as Alexander's homage to the high priest shows; that favor has now passed to Christians, whom Rome cannot destroy because God defends them.
Against Celsus 6.27Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus invents a rite of the Christian “seal” and says Christians call the Creator accursed; Origen rejects this as slander like the old tales of child-eating and orgies spread about Christians.
Against Celsus 6.40Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus's claim to have seen Christian presbyters with magic books is a slander like the old tales of Christian cannibalism, easily disproved by anyone who has lived among Christians.
Against Celsus 7.26Origen · ca. 248 · The law of Moses suited a nation with its own state and wars, while the Gospel suits people from all nations under Roman rule; providence ended the temple worship and has made Christianity grow despite persecution.
Against Celsus 7.40Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus confuses Christians with the Ophite sect, whose magical names for the doorkeepers of the heavens Christians reject; those sectarians do not die for their faith, as Christians do.
Against Celsus 8.39Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus retorts that Christ's persecutors go unpunished; Origen says the retort fails, since Christians do not mock statues, Christ is God's Word and not a demon, and judgment will come on the incurably wicked in due time.
Against Celsus 8.43Origen · ca. 248 · Since Jesus' death a whole new nation of Christians has arisen; like a grain of wheat his death bore much fruit, and the Father gave his Son willingly for the world, while the demons avenge themselves on Christians who expel them.
Against Celsus 8.44Origen · ca. 248 · The martyrs' deaths break the demons' power, which is why persecution pauses and resumes; the demons and the judges rejoice when a Christian denies under torture, and a Christian who flees does so in obedience to Christ, not from cowardice.
Against Celsus 8.6Origen · ca. 248 · Christians refuse to serve anyone but God not to protect God but to avoid harming themselves; like the Spartan envoys who would not bow to the Persian king, Christ's ambassadors bow to no ruler but Christ.
Against Celsus 8.65Origen · ca. 248 · Christians will not win rulers' favour by sin or servility, but neither do they provoke them, obeying Paul's command to be subject to the authorities; yet they will die rather than swear by the emperor's Fortune, which is either nothing or a demon.
Against Celsus 8.69Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus mocks the hope that God would defend a Christian Rome, pointing to the Jews' loss of their land and the persecution of Christians; Origen answers that if all Romans prayed together, God would fight for them as for Moses, and God's promises were conditional.
Against Celsus 8.70Origen · ca. 248 · A Christian Rome would be protected by God, as ten righteous men would have saved Sodom's cities, for Christians are the salt of the earth; persecution comes only when God permits it, and Christ has overcome the world.
Against Celsus 8.71Origen · ca. 248 · Celsus imagines Christians converting one set of rulers after another until some government wipes them out; Origen says no Christian claims this and Celsus has invented it.
On the Lord's Prayer 21Cyprian of Carthage · ca. 252 · God provides food for the righteous, as he did for Daniel among the lions and Elijah by the ravens.
On the Lapsed 1Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian rejoices that peace has returned to the church after persecution and calls for thanksgiving to God.
On the Lapsed 10Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Fear of losing home and property is no excuse, for Scripture and Christ command flight in persecution; the one who withdraws keeps the faith, while the one who stays for his property falls.
On the Lapsed 11Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Love of property kept many from fleeing and made them fall; Christ's call to sell all and follow him would have kept them free.
On the Lapsed 12Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Those possessed by their wealth cannot follow Christ; Scripture warns against the love of money and promises great reward to those who lose everything for Christ's sake.
On the Lapsed 13Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Those who gave way only after long torture have a pitiable excuse and can quickly be pardoned, like Castus and Aemilius, who later died as martyrs.
On the Lapsed 14Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Those who sacrificed willingly have no wounds to show; flattery would harm them, and like a good physician the bishop must treat them with stern remedies for their healing.
On the Lapsed 15Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian attacks those who readmit the lapsed to communion without penance, a false peace that lets them receive the Lord's body with hands still defiled by idol sacrifice.
On the Lapsed 16Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Easy readmission of the lapsed before penance and reconciliation is not peace but a new persecution by the devil, which robs them of true repentance; only the Lord can show mercy.
On the Lapsed 2Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian welcomes the confessors who resisted sacrifice, and praises equally those who stood firm by refusing to sacrifice even if they were not arrested.
On the Lapsed 21Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · The persecution came by God's will because of the people's sins, as Scripture shows; the lapsed should examine their consciences.
On the Lapsed 23Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · If the lapsed do not fear future judgment, let them fear the present punishments that have already struck some who denied Christ.
On the Lapsed 24Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian tells of a man struck dumb after denying Christ and a woman who, possessed after sacrificing, bit her own tongue and died.
On the Lapsed 25Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian recounts how a little girl, fed idol-offered bread and wine by a nurse without her parents' knowledge, refused and vomited the eucharistic cup.
On the Lapsed 26Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Other lapsed Christians who received the Eucharist secretly were struck down: a woman choked, another was stopped by fire from her box holding the sacrament, and a man found it turned to ashes.
On the Lapsed 27Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Those who obtained certificates of sacrifice without actually sacrificing (libellatici) have also denied Christ and must do penance, for God sees the heart.
On the Lapsed 28Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Those who only considered sacrificing do well to confess it to the clergy; those with certificates sinned less than those who sacrificed, but are not innocent and must still do penance.
On the Lapsed 3Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Those who withdrew rather than sacrifice by the appointed day are also confessors, in a private rather than public way.
On the Lapsed 4Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian's joy is clouded by grief for the many who fell in the persecution, whose wound he feels as his own as their shepherd.
On the Lapsed 5Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · The persecution was God's testing and correction of a church whose discipline had been corrupted by long peace, and it was milder than its sins deserved.
On the Lapsed 6Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian lists the sins that provoked the persecution: greed, vanity, fraud, marriage with unbelievers, perjury, quarreling, and bishops who neglected their people for business and usury.
On the Lapsed 7Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · The persecution had been foretold in Scripture, yet most of the brothers fell at once, voluntarily denying the faith that the prophets, apostles, and Christ had warned them to keep.
On the Lapsed 8Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Many rushed to sacrifice voluntarily, without waiting to be arrested or questioned, and so destroyed their own salvation at the idols' altars.
On the Lapsed 9Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Some lapsed Christians drew others into sacrificing, even their baptized infants, who will accuse their parents at the judgment.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 1Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Cyprian warns that the devil is most dangerous when he attacks secretly, under the appearance of peace.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 19Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Schism is worse than lapsing under persecution, since the lapsed repent and harm only themselves, while schismatics mislead many.
On the Unity of the Catholic Church 20Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · Confessors are not immune to sin; like Solomon, they can lose God's grace if they depart from his way.