Page 15 - History of Christianity - Student Textbook

Soldiers then grabbed him to nail him to a stake, but Polycarp stopped them: "Leave me as I am. For he who
grants me to endure the fire will enable me also to remain on the pyre unmoved, without the security you desire
from nails." He prayed aloud, the fire was lit, and his flesh was consumed. The chronicler of this martyrdom said
it was "not as burning flesh but as bread baking or as gold and silver refined in a furnace."

The account concluded by saying that Polycarp's death was remembered by "everyone"—"he is even spoken of
by the heathen in every place."

Peter wrote the Asian churches to "…sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give
an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear" (1
Pet. 3:15).
How about you? Do you know the Word well enough to answer those skeptics who may challenge
your Biblical views? If the government took away your Bible and your other “religious books”, how
much of the Word of God could you reproduce for others to read? Do you spend more time watching
TV than studying God’s Word? In eternity, which activity will have more value? Like the apologists of
the Early Church, we need to stand up by FAITH to defend the views and clear teachings of God’s
Word.

Polycarp of Smyrna

Nicaea to Chalcedon (325-451)

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We learned that the church in the 2 and 3 centuries endured great persecution from Rome.
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Thousands were burned, eaten alive, crucified, tortured and put to death because they would not
worship Caesar as God.

During the last great persecution of the 2 century (cir. 303 AD) Diocletian killed thousands of
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Christians. However, some believers under threat of death recanted and were called Tratatore or
lapsi. Diocletian even forced his Christian wife and daughter to recant their faith.
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