January 18, 2022
Brent Hartford
Grace Apologetics 101
FRATRICIDE
frăt′rĭ-sīd″
noun
The killing of one's brother or sister.
One who has killed one's brother or sister.
WHO REALLY STARTED THE KILLING?
The 1st Century persecutions of the church was not that of the Roman State, but of fellow Jews; Predominantly motivated by the religious rulers of the day… the Sanhedrin! They killed Jesus and now they were after His followers!
Roman persecution did not really begin until 41 to 54 AD, under the rule of Claudius. Then we all know of the era from 54 AD to 68 AD being that of Nero’s reign of terror. Therefore, Roman persecution did not officially start until almost 10 to 11 years after the death of Jesus. So for almost a decade, Jewish members of Judaism were killing Jewish Christians (believers), and probably some Gentiles, long before Roman Emporers came into the picture.
Persecutions under fellow Jewish zealots of the religious ruling class starting with Stephen in Acts 7:54-60 running on through and beyond Nero’s reign… 38 years, and the 1st Century was a little over halfway to completion, ending the Apostolic Age.
What the 1st Century Christians actually endured none of us will ever know but here is an excerpt from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs that sheds some light.
(1)Around 34 A.D., one year after the crucifixion of Jesus, Stephen was thrown out of Jerusalem and stoned to death. Approximately 2,000 Christians suffered martyrdom in Jerusalem during this period. About 10 years later, James, the son of Zebedee and the elder brother of John, was killed when Herod Agrippa arrived as governor of Judea. Agrippa detested the Christian sect of Jews, and many early disciples were martyred under his rule, including Timon and Parmenas.
Mark was converted to Christianity by Peter, and then transcribed Peter’s account of Jesus in his gospel. Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria in front of Serapis, their pagan idol. It appears Peter was condemned to death and crucified at Rome. Jerome holds that Peter was crucified upside down, at his own request, because he said he was unworthy to be crucified in the same manner as his Lord.
Paul suffered in the first persecution under Nero. Paul’s faith was so dramatic in the face of martyrdom, that the authorities removed him to a private place for execution by the sword. Luke was the author of the Gospel under his name. He traveled with Paul through various countries and is supposed to have been hanged on an olive tree by idolatrous priests in Greece.
John was the disciple closest to Jesus. From Ephesus he was ordered to Rome, where he was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil. Miraculously, he escaped without injury. Later Domitian, the Roman Emperor who unleashed an intense persecution against Christians late in the 1st Century, banished John to the Isle of Patmos, where he wrote the last book of the Bible, Revelation. He was the only apostle who escaped a violent death.
John Foxe, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, Ed. by W. Grinton Berry, Reprinted by Fleming H. Revell, 1998.
THIS IS WHY!
The Epistle of James is the result of the physical persecutions that Jewish believers, specifically in Jerusalem, were enduring. Knowing some back story helps shed some light and brings into focus the context of what James was writing, to whom he was writing, and why he was writing it.
Verse 1 thru 4 of James Chapter 1
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad [among the Gentiles in the dispersion]: Greetings ([a]rejoice)!
2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.
3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.
4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. (AMPC)
Here we see James acknowledging his audience. Jewish believers who have scattered from the area of Jerusalem (scattered into Gentile areas of other cities and nations) to escape the persecutions that were coming from their own people. Think of it! Most likely betrayed, to the Sanhedrin, by their own family and friends?
He additionally acknowledges what all the members of the Jerusalem congregation were aware of… the temptation to deny Christ due to intense persecution. He encourages his flock to count it all joy and that it is about the trying of their faith (specifically belief in Jesus as Messiah).
He further emphasizes that the trying of their faith in those perilous times resulted in patience and how when patience has done its work within they will be perfected and wanting for nothing because all that they have, and are, is only found in Jesus being who he said He was… The Messiah!
Those that know Christ and put it on display will surely suffer persecution... sometimes from those closest to you, and sometimes by the religious communities around you.
Check out Part 3 - Posting Soon!
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Blessings to all the brethren. In His service and yours in Christ,
~Brent
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