Page 8 - History of Christianity I - Student Textbook

Study Section 2: The First Great Persecution under Nero – 64 AD. – 67 AD

2.1 Connect

There are many preachers in the world who are self-proclaimed revealers of God’s truth to mankind.
They claim that they have talked with God and God has given them special revelations. One such
preacher in Africa told his congregation that if they would bring him a bottle of water, he would
bless it, and that next week, if they drank the “holy water”, they would get a job or acquire a great
deal of money. Of course, you had to give him money for the blessing. If you did not get a job or
money the next week, he would say that you lacked the faith needed for the miracle, or did not
contribute enough money to him in order to obtain the blessing. Such false teaching is a sham on the name of
Christ.

It did not take long in church history for such false teachers to begin to challenge the teachings of the apostles
and of the new Scriptures coming together as the New Testament. Satan continually challenges God’s authority
and words. Today we will look at the persecution that came to the First Century Church as well as the challenges
to the purity of God’s Word.

2.2 Objectives

1. The student will be able to describe the first great persecution that came from Rome against
Christians.

2. The student will be able to identify several emperors of Rome that continued to persecute Christians.

3. The student should be able to state the five great false doctrines that challenged the early church.

4. The student should be able to state why the apologists of the first and second century were so important to
continue doctrinal purity in the developing church.

2.3 The First Great Persecution under Nero – 64 AD. – 67 AD

In 64 A.D., a terrible fire broke out in the grand city of Rome. It raged for almost six days, and
ravaged most of the city. Out of twelve districts in Rome, only four did not burn. Thousands of
people died and 2/3 of Rome was leveled. In the aftermath, rumors swirled like flies; some even
blamed the emperor of starting the inferno (which was a true rumor). Nero’s plan was to burn the
city and rebuild it, calling it Neropolis. To protect himself, Nero would have to act fast. And so he
did.

According to Tacitus, a Roman historian and senator that lived from 60-120 A.D., Nero used his position as
emperor to place blame for the fire on the Christians in the city. With the “culprits” fingered as guilty, there was
only one thing left to do: punish them.

Tacitus (who didn’t really like Christians or Nero) gave a fairly grim account of the punishment inflicted on
Rome’s Christians:

But all the endeavors of men, all the emperor’s generosity and the sacrifices to the gods, did not suffice to
allay the scandal or banish the belief that the fire had been ordered. And so, to get rid of this rumor, Nero set
7