How did the roman emperor's persecute Christians?

Answer 1

I think because Emperor Nero was a roman and there emperor, He probably believed that which the Romans believed. Maybe Nero thought he could change Gods plan for humankind by exterminating Christianity(Hitler believed he could change gods plan by wiping all Jews of the face of the earth) Perhaps he was a Psycotic madman who enjoyed watching people be burnt, Maybe he thought that christians were wrong and needed to be punished, And maybe since he was a roman he might have respect for the roman people and not for the christian people.

I believe that Nero was a nut. Ive heard he most likely had problems in the head and it is widely believed that he tried to kill his mother which would indicate the said condition. God must have allowed it for a reason. Maybe the reason was to make Nero look evil so the people would revolt, Which they did. Nero fell on his own sword, Thus commiting suicide and ending his life. At long last the persecutor of Christianity was dead and christians could worship again. But the struggle for religious freedom was not done nor is it still. But soon enough god will come and he will judge the evil and the good and then people will see that christ was the only way and that they should have been christian. Nero will be among these non believers and will be cast into hell with Satan and his angels to endure everlasting torment for all eternity.

Now on a lighter note, Rome is now very religious and they have given up there pagan beliefs and accepted the one true god! Even the vatican trusts rome enough to call it its home.

Regardless of how you live your life, whether in the dark or in the light, someday you will be delivered to god for judgment and all things that are down in the dark will be brought to the light. The all consuming light of god will consume the evildoers and the braggarts, The two tounged and the scandalous. No evil will escape the peircing glance of god. Each individual will be judged on the deeds they did in there life. No man will be judged unfairly. Have you ever heard your parents say, "were only doing this because we love you." welll it is true and that is the same with god. He will only punish you because he loves you. But fear not, For a rightouess person will not be sentenced to death and a trechorous felon will not be pardoned and given life.

God bless you, and may you live a long a happy life. May god Give you health and may you be financialy safe in this ever dwindling economy.

Answer 2

Whilst the reliability of Tacitus is indeed questioned; there is no solid grounds for doubting his claims and as virtually the only chronicler of Nero's relation to Christianity whose work has survived, he cannot be so easily dismissed. Tacitus, continuing his above quote, goes on to say of the Christians that:

Besides being put to death they were made to serve as objects of amusement; they were covered with wild beasts' skins and torn to death by dogs. Some were crucified, others set on fire to serve to illuminate the night when daylight failed, fastened on crosses, and, when daylight failed, covered by inflammable matter, were set on fire to serve as torches during the night. Or tied to stakes in Nero's gardens while he drove around in his chariot, naked, indulging himself in his midnight revels, gloating over the dying agonies of his victims. The Roman Christians, accused by Nero of setting the city on fire, were massacred in a spectacular fashion on the Vatican Hill.

Which lays out a comprehensive list of persecutions that Nero inflicted upon Christians.

Another point: The Bible indeed makes many allusions indeed to the martyrdom of Christians. The book of Revelation is widely believed to be addressing Rome in its references to Babylon (this was a code of sorts, to prevent early readers from being persecuted); and note just two examples of martyrdom that are found in that book:

Revelation 6:9 And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

Revelation 20:4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

Answer 3

Nero did not exactly "persecute" the Christians in the sense of making the religion illegal as later emperors did. He actually punished them for the crime of arson. Now, even though the Great Fire of Rome started as an accident, the Christians were seen by eyewitnesses as hindering the firefighters and carrying torches to spread the fire. Okay, this does not make the Christians arsonists in the strict sense of the word, it just makes them religious fanatics. The early Christians had a belief that the second coming of Christ was imminent and it would be accompanied by the fires of heaven against all sin. Rome was supposed to be the sin capital of the world at the time. Those who took part in the hindering more than likely thought that they were helping God in his plan.

Answer 4

Emperor Nero has traditionally been accused of being the first emperor to persecute the Christian Church, but there is no reason to believe this to be the case, and this tradition only arose more than a hundred years after his death. He did, probably unfairly, accuse the Roman Christians of being responsible for the Great Fire of Rome.

To throw further doubt on the claim that Nero had instituted a general persecution of Christians, the third-century Church Father, Origen, writing of the total of Christian martyrs up to his own time, in Rome and elsewhere, states that there were not many - and that it was easy to count them (Origen, Contra Celsum, 3.8 - quoted by G. Walter in Nero).

Answer: Secular writers of the first two centuries also acknowledged the presence and influence of early Christians in their pagan world. For example, Tacitus, a Roman historian born about 55 C.E., tells of the rumor charging that Nero was the one responsible for burning Rome (64 C.E.), and then says: "Therefore, to scotch the rumour, Nero substituted as culprits, and punished with the utmost refinements of cruelty, a class of men, loathed for their vices [as the Romans viewed matters], whom the crowd styled Christians. . . . First, then, the confessed members of the sect were arrested; next, on their disclosures, vast numbers were convicted, not so much on the count of arson as for hatred of the human race. And derision accompanied their end: they were covered with wild beasts' skins and torn to death by dogs; or they were fastened on crosses, and, when daylight failed were burned to serve as lamps by night." (The Annals, XV, XLIV) Suetonius, another Roman historian, born toward the end of the first century C.E., relates events that occurred during Nero's reign, saying: "Punishment was inflicted on the Christians, a class of men given to a new and mischievous superstition."-The Lives of the Caesars (Nero, XVI, 2).

Answer 5

It seems more likely that Nero did little to persecute the early Christians. The strongest case is that he may have blamed some Christians for starting the Great Fire of Rome, but even here the evidence is inconclusive. Overall, it appears more likely that Nero largely ignored the Christians, as did most other Roman emperors.
The second-century Roman historian, Suetonius, writing of Nero (54-68 CE): "Punishment was meted out to the Christians, a class of men professing a new and wicked superstition." But he does not say what punishment was meted out, nor how often.

Another second-century Roman historian, Tacitus, is shown to have said of the Christians after the Great Fire of Rome, " ...then by their evidence a great multitude were convicted, not so much for the crime of arson as for their hatred of the human race." However, some scholars see this as a "later, pious interpolation by Christian apologists". Richard Holland (Nero: The Man Behind the Myth) says, "Perhaps the strangest thing is that none of the gospels, nor even Acts of the Apostles, makes the slightest reference to the persecution by Nero of any Christians at Rome, let alone 'a great multitude' of them. "

The apostles Peter and Paul are traditionally said to have been executed during the reign of Nero, but this tradition appears to have begun long after the end of the first century. Actscertainly does not mention these executions, although it can be assumed that it would have done so if the early Christians knew of them.

Answer 6

Nero persecuted the christians by letting the lion kill/eat them