Page 152 - Biblical Backgrounds

Horace. 200 This enshrining of Caesar as God would be unthinkable for the Christians who only recognized
one God and king. This led to a refusal to take part in the worship of the emperor. That refusal led to the
mass persecution the Christians faced. Many of those killings took place in the Colosseum. The
Colosseum was used for public spectacles, executions, political theater, and other events. The structures
seen beneath the floor were covered by a floor at the time. The animals, gladiators, criminals, and
Christians would be led through different tunnels and lifted into the arena by various elevators.

These elevators have been duplicated in theory, but as none survive to be sure, it is only the best guess
of modern archeologists as to whether they are accurate. Regardless, the persecution of Christians
during the time of the apostles was very real. Paul continually warned Christians that they would face
persecution for standing for Christ. Christianity does not allow for others to claim the ultimate allegiance
of its followers.

Worship of the Emperor
Reverence for rules or emperors did not begin in Rome. In fact, the Romans were rather late in
accepting such a practice. While they revered the spirits of their dead ancestors, they regarded their
political leaders as mere men.
The worship of living rulers was practiced in many nations, including Egypt, Persia, and Greece.
Alexander the Great established his own cult of worshipers in Alexandria, Egypt.
Augustus Caesar was the first Roman emperor to combine the ideas of ruler worship and ancestor
worship in creating an imperial cult. He made it a sign of his subjects' loyalty to him and the Roman
state. He did, however, exempt the Jews from his cult.
Caligula (A.D. 37-41), who was known for being somewhat unbalanced, proclaimed himself a god and
loved to dress up as Jupiter. In 40 A.D., he even ordered that a statue of himself as Jupiter be erected in
the temple in Jerusalem. Faced with a likely revolt by the Jewish populace, the Roman governor
Petronius managed to get the order canceled.
It is surprising that Herod Agrippa I (41-44 A.D.), just a few years after the incident with Caligula, would
allow himself to be worshiped as a god (Acts 12:20-23). According to Acts, his failure to discourage the
shouts of the people, “The voice of a god and not a man!” and give glory to God resulted in his violent
death as worms ate up his body. The Jewish historian Josephus recorded that Agrippa died five days
after an attack of abdominal pains. 201
The Romans believed in many gods and tolerated those who believed in other gods, as long as they also
st
worshiped the Emperor as a god. In the 1 Century, the unwillingness of the early Christians to declare
the emperor a god resulted in great persecution and martyrdom.

P2507#y1
Ancient Rome 101
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXoEpNjgKzg

200 Christopher Bryan, Render to Caesar: Jesus, the Early Church, and the Roman Superpower (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2005), 25.
201 So That’s Why Bible, Thomas Nelson Publications, p. 1483.

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